[Windows 8 General] _gl:
Also the motherboard would have to know how to interface with it etc. Unlikely to work.

:).

OK here goes.

Ups:

+ much faster than the W3. Bit faster than CoreM (especially if you get the 4300U i5 CPU version, 15-20% faster than the older 4200U I have (got a super deal)).

+ doesn't seem to throttle like CoreM (tested CPU load only (a little), not sure with GPU). May be better than SP3 which is said to throttle a lot.

+ pressure sensitive Wacom stylus for high accuracy desktop clicking + art/note taking etc

+ sharp, optically bonded classy 1920x1080 10.6" screen. + super bright @ ~420 nits max, great outdoors!

+ more sensitive touchscreen than the W3 - W3 isn't bad (a Teclast X90HD I tried is worse), but the SP2 is like an iPhone, only lightest touch required.

+ SSD + 4/8GB memory.

+ fullsize USB3.0 port (like W3), but that actually works with my Seageate external USB3 HD.

+ better speakers than W3 with better stereo. (strangely this is done through software processing, if you turn that off they only sound a little better)

+ (optional) Touch Cover 2 is good (except the trackpad sucks but less important with a pen) AND backlit.

+ accessories are much cheaper for SP2 than SP3 (eg. on Amazon UK you can buy a new Touch Cover 2 for £30, ~$45US).

+ can get a rugged case for it (I bought an Urban Armor Gear case as I plan to use it outdoors a lot).

+ DisplayPort (erm) port if you need it.

+ 2 position kickstand, perfect (you need 2 imo).

+ black back (rather than SP3's silver :))

+ magnetic charger (doesn't stick out and tablet won't go flying if you trip over the cable).

+ no bugs that I've found yet, firmware seems regularly updated etc. Well it's from MS.

Downs:

- thicker + a little heavier

- fans (but pretty quiet & only when CPU/GPU are stressing).

- whole (metal) back can get warm under sustained load, especially when charging.

- maybe slightly worse battery life? (not sure yet)

- 16:9 aspect (euch), though the surround is more 16:10 so it looks less bad to me (still not a good aspect for productivity & art/photo work).

- screen only covers 72% of sRGB (W3 and many new China tabs are ~100%), although colours look pretty good anyway.

- no extra USB2.0 port (real shame, W3 wins)

- no HDMI port (guess you can run an adapter/dongle off DisplayPort?)

- almost no BIOS options (at least I can't brick it! :))

- keyboard only covers the front unlike W3, so back isn't protected & can scratch. Although you can get pouches etc.

- proprietary charger (though 3rd party replacements are available).

Apart from the specs, it just feels so much more throught-through and classy. The minute you see it and play with it you know that. I'm not going back to China tabs with their lies, dodgy sellers & import hassles, bugs that don't/can't get fixed etc. SP3 is too expensive for me right now, a good deal on a used SP2 though gives you all that class & reliability but much cheaper. Mine didn't cost much more than the W3 did new. If you're planning to buy one:

- check if it's got the 4300U CPU (unless you get a good deal on the 4200U)

- check the battery life as you can't replace it without paying MS hundreds (literally, unless it's still in warranty)! Ask the seller to run: Command Prompt (Admin) -> powercfg /batteryreport. This saves an HTML report on the battery that logs charge cycles, capacity & history.

BTW I don't actually have my stylus yet (seller forgot to ship it), should have that soon.

Phew :).