# Microsoft Surface

64 Hacker News commenters recommended Microsoft Surface and 60 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 2 years (7 owners).

**Verdict:** Recommended for a lightweight tablet with a detachable keyboard that runs full Windows or Linux. Common caveat: reliability problems and a weak tablet experience.

## Why people recommend it

- Tablet with detachable keyboard (6 comments): "Only the Surface line, as in where the tablet is the main form with an optional keyboard makes sense here." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50278935)) "the MSFT surface is brilliant because you can fold it down into an iPad like device" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50278251)) "I'd also go for an iPad/Surface form factor with detachable keyboard if I had to." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50288705))
- Runs full desktop OS (5 comments): "Surface Pro with Debian KDE here. I just dressed it up like Windows 7, because I need more Fruitiger Aero in my life." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48475614)) "I have been using a Surface Pro with fedora as my main portable device for the last 2 years and enjoyed it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48361941)) "They're decent tablets that run full Windows/Linux instead of some neutered tablet OS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48324450))
- Well-built hardware (5 comments): "they actually cared about build quality in a way pretty much no other PC manufacturer did" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48360281)) "The Surface Pro is a nice piece of hardware, but I wish it had macOS instead of Windows." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277310)) "as someone who has used the Surface line of devices since they became good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48731902))
- Lightweight and portable for travel (3 comments): "It was great for travelling with since it was so lightweight and easy to use in cramped airplane seats." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48399344)) "It was a phenomenal device for me in college for notes given I had my own wireless keyboard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48364853)) "Tablet form factor, lightweight, multitouch, with a real desktop OS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48362224))

## What people warn about

- Reliability problems and hardware failures (4 comments): "The worst my family have had was an MS surface running a rolling release distro because it was the only way to get the touchscreen working which failed at a bad time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50167567)) "Or every model after that just slowed down to a crawl after a year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48353809)) "I have regular issues with waking from sleep, or more commonly, the battery will just be completely dead in the morning" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47266239))
- Weak as a tablet (3 comments): "The surface make a poor tablet but that's mostly because the hardware isn't suitable for it anyway" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45823522)) "The surface laptops have ended up being good laptops and mediocre/bad tablets IMO." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47899873)) "I had a surface pro and later a surface book, and i think i can count on 1 hand the number of times i found touch to be useful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50278455))
- Microsoft software and Windows complaints (4 comments): "I'm very unlikely to buy or recommend a Microsoft computer again, even though I liked the hardware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47500959)) "The Surface Pro is a nice piece of hardware, but I wish it had macOS instead of Windows." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277310)) "the confusion (is it arm is it x86 will your printer drivers work?) and some questionable decisions, it fell flat" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48391955))
- Build quality declining over time (2 comments): "I can't think of another company on the PC side whose consumer line of hardware's build quality hasn't declined to the level of junk." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251382)) "Plenty of cases where Surface isn't. Microsoft like to think they can make hardware but they're no better than other OEM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48363108))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Lenovo Yoga](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lenovo-yoga.md): 15 recommend
- [Microsoft Surface Book](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-surface-book.md): 13 recommend
- [Microsoft Surface Go](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-surface-go-2.md): 12 recommend
- [Asus ROG Flow Z13](https://hackerapproved.com/p/asus-rog-flow-z13.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Microsoft+Surface+Pro&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Microsoft Surface", https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-surface/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).