[Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) General] BarryH_GEG:
I totally agree with you. No Android tablet can be considered a viable laptop replacement.

I totally disagree with this. Here are the devices I use:

TVs with 32-50" displays

High-end home desktop with a 23" monitor

Work desktop with a 23" monitor

Work laptop with a 13" display

N10.1-14 with a 10.1" display

N3 with a 5.7" display

Galaxy Gear with a 1.63" display

Which device I'll use depends on access to it and what I'm doing. Consuming media at home the TVs win. Creating or editing large complex spreadsheets the desktops win. Consuming media while traveling the N10.1-14 wins. Sending and reviewing short e-mails and SMS the N3 wins. Looking at notifications as they come in the Galaxy Gear wins. None, at least to me, is a "slam dunk" replacement for another.

The N10.1-14 and Surface share a limitation - 10.1" and 10.6" displays aren't great for creating big complex documents (PPT, Word, Excel). Even at 13" I'd still consider my laptop limited and would prefer to use a large monitor on a desktop for any serious creation. Very few people I know (and me) consider the Surface (any form) a full-time laptop replacement. With that, it and N10.1-14 really serve double duty. Light editing and creation and consumption when away from better alternatives. I'd choose the N10.1-14 in that scenario because Surface sucks at consumption; both available sources (especially in Modern mode) and the battery life deficit when consuming compared to Android. The biggest advantage, at least to me, of the N10.1-14 as a laptop alternative when I'm traveling is its size and versatility. As a pure tablet (very light creation and consumption) it embarrasses the barge that is Surface and you can't argue with a 299 PPI display. With a BT keyboard, mouse, and Microsoft RDP I have access to full Office no differently than I would via a Surface. I have a 3G N10.1-14 so I'm always "on." Prior to the N10.1-14 I had two other Samsung 10" tablets including last year's Note 10.1 I'd rarely rely on either as a laptop alternative when traveling because faux-Office and peripheral support was such a kluge. Now I find myself relying solely on my N10.1-14 and leaving my laptop home more and more.

As for PDF editing and hand written note taking I'd still pick the N10.1-14 but agree that given a choice between S Note and OneNote I'd pick the latter; mostly because of the ability to share across a multiple OS environment. The N10.1-14 with its charger, mouse and BT keyboard takes up 1/2 the space needed for a Surface layout and about 1/3 of what my 13" laptop requires (EG: power bricks, accessories). And I double the battery life of my N10.1-14 with a 9,000mAh Samsung battery booster that's the size of a pack of cigarettes so I can get 14 hours of non-stop work/entertainment out of it which is longer than the longest plane flight.

So I'm glad your wife is finally happy. She picked a set of compromises (weight/bulk, duopolis environment (native Windows/Modern), average screen resolution, limited battery life) to get what she considers a better (but still compromised) productivity environment. She shouldn't be offended when others might disagree with her choice. ;)