????蘋果（Apple）iPad 2發售后不久，我母親就給我打電話征求建議。她看到了iPad做出改進、上架新應用的消息，覺得它的功能也許已經足夠強大，能夠替代她的筆記本電腦了。我問她想用iPad來干什么，最常用些什么程序。討論到最后，我們認為對她而言，iPad還不適合作為筆記本的替代品。

????大家可以走進任意一家百思買（Best Buy）門店，逛逛筆記本電腦專區。在那里，你可能每天都會聽到很多人問銷售助理類似的問題。到底該買筆記本還是平板電腦？這個爭論的產生合情合理。應用和運行應用的平板電腦的功能已經越來越強大。同時，兩種設備的界限已經越來越模糊。

????微軟（Microsoft）相信這個問題已經得到了解決。在5月20日的新款平板電腦發布會上，微軟高管帕諾斯?潘乃說：“今天，我們會給這個爭論劃個句號，我對此完全有信心。我要向各位隆重介紹Surface Pro 3。”

????這番講話值得我們注意。即便Surface的前兩個版本銷量平平，但微軟依然將這款新產品定位為Windows筆記本、iPad以及使用谷歌（Google）安卓系統的類似設備的替代品。

????光說大話很容易。我決定帶著Surface Pro 3出去轉轉。這段旅途很長：潘乃的宣告仍然在我耳畔縈繞，而我要帶著Surface Pro 3前往日本出差一周。為了公正地評估性能，我把MacBook Air留在了家里。

????這是我第一次在出差時不帶MacBook Air，更別說還是出國了。我心里難免有些打鼓。

????微軟在給Surface Pro 3減重瘦身方面花了不少心思。它的厚度略大于1/3英寸，重量只有2.4磅，外接Type Cover鍵盤。用蘋果的MacBook Air直觀地做個比較：它的重量稍低于3磅，最厚處的厚度略大于2/3英寸。

????微軟重新設計了這款最新版的Surface，更值得注意的是，他們還重新設計了包含標準鍵盤和觸控板的Type Cover。在日本之行往返的長途航班上，我讓Type Cover派上了用場：利用鍵盤寫郵件和小故事打發時間。至于觸控板？簡直太難用了。有時我只用一根手指輕擊觸控板，但它卻會判定我用了兩根——這會觸發單擊右鍵的操作。由于在Windows 8.1中沒有禁用觸控板觸發單擊的選項，因此我似乎沒辦法避免無意中觸發的右鍵單擊操作。

????Surface在背面安裝了新款的“摩擦力鉸鏈”支架，大家可以根據需求，調整平板電腦的傾斜角度。這比起只有一兩個固定視角的前代產品而言是一項改進。你可以把鉸鏈調到150度，讓Surface幾乎平放著。我覺得在這個角度下，用Surface Pen寫字或做筆記非常方便。預先提醒：展開這個支架需要較大空間，如果你打算在經濟艙的折疊式桌子上使用Surface和Type Cover，可能會發現自己幾乎沒有動彈的余地了。即便是在頭等商務艙，支架展開后給我留下的空間也非常少。有很多次，Surface的支架后端都滑出了我的桌子。（蘋果的iPad沒有自帶支架，不過許多第三方公司都為它制造了保護套和立式支架。）

????哦，我還要談談剛剛我提過的Surface Pen。微軟表示，它做了很多努力，試圖模仿傳統的標準拍紙簿和鋼筆的使用體驗。這也是公司選擇了3:2的屏幕縱橫比，而不是其他平板電腦更常用的16:9的原因。在使用中，我發現Surface Pen的書寫十分流暢，超過所有其他我用過的觸控筆。在會議中，我沒有用敲起來劈啪作響的鍵盤，而是用了Surface Pen和OneNote軟件。我幾乎忘記了我是在數碼平面上寫字——數字化的筆跡看起來就和在紙上寫出來的一模一樣。這種模數轉換太神奇了，以至于坐在周圍的人都問我如何在iPad上復制這種體驗。

????潘乃和他的團隊創造了一個術語“筆記本能力”，用于強調Surface Pro 3完全有能力完成筆記本環境下的一切任務。如今的市場上，傳統PC機（包括筆記本）銷量跳水，移動設備銷量攀升，這句話具有巨大的吸引力。

????在飛機、火車和汽車這些旅途中遇到的交通工具上，我對Surface進行了測試。（途中我還坐了船，不過我不敢把這個待驗品隨身攜帶。）大多數情況下，我都可以把新款的Surface和相連的Type Cover鍵盤放在膝蓋上使用。而在另一些情況下，我在打字時難以固定設備，以至于不得不調整坐姿及設備放在膝蓋上的方式。如果你用的是筆記本電腦，就完全不必進行這樣的調整了。從技術上說，Surface Pro 3確實擁有“筆記本能力”，但使用它時，很難得到同樣的快感。

????軟件是平板電腦最重要的一部分。Surface Pro 3的操作系統是Windows 8.1，不僅擁有以應用為核心的時髦用戶界面，也有傳統的桌面視圖。多一種選擇似乎更好，不過事實證明并非如此：以應用為核心的那一部分操作系統中，Windows 8的應用數量有限。為了性能考慮，用戶不得不使用傳統的桌面視圖。對微軟而言，這是一種恥辱：盡管它給開發者提供了移動先行的開發環境，但他們依然缺乏開發應用的動機。

????Shortly after Apple’s AAPL -0.35% iPad 2 launched, my mother called me asking for advice. She had been reading about the iPad’s improvements and new apps, and determined it might just be powerful enough to replace her laptop. I asked her what she wanted to use it for and which programs she used the most. By the end of the discussion, we determined that the iPad would not be suitable for her as a laptop replacement.

????You can visit any Best Buy and walk around the laptop section, and you’re likely to hear this same question posed to sales associates multiple times per day. The debate over a laptop or tablet is a justified one. Apps and the tablets on which they run have become more powerful. The line between the two devices continues to blur.

????Microsoft MSFT -0.34% believes this a problem to be solved. “Today, we take the conflict away and I’m absolutely sure of that,” declared executive Panos Panay on stage during the May 20 introduction of its new tablet computer. “I’d like to introduce you to Surface Pro 3.”

????This is a remarkable statement. Microsoft has positioned its new device as a replacement for the Windows laptop as well as the iPad and its Google Android-powered peers, even as sales of previous versions of the Surface have fallen flat.

????Anyone can talk the talk; I decided to take the Surface Pro 3 for a walk. A very, very long one: With Panay’s declaration still fresh in mind, I took a week-long trip to Japan with the Surface Pro 3 in tow. To fairly assess its abilities, I left my MacBook Air at home.

????It was the first time I had traveled without my MacBook Air on a business trip, let alone one to a foreign country. I was nervous.

????Microsoft worked hard to put the Surface Pro 3 on a diet. It’s slightly more than a third of an inch thick and weighs 2.4 lbs. with the Type Cover click-in keyboard attached. To put that in perspective, Apple’s MacBook Air weighs slightly less than 3 lbs. and is just over two-thirds of an inch at its thickest point.

????Microsoft redesigned the latest Surface, but more notably, the company also redesigned the Type Cover, which includes a standard keyboard and a trackpad. During my marathon flights to and from Japan, I put the Type Cover to task: I passed the time by typing emails and short stories. I moused around using only the trackpad. I found the keys on the cover to be responsive and well spaced, but extremely noisy. And the trackpad? Nothing short of finicky. At times it would register a two-finger tap—which triggers a right-click action—when I only had one finger on the pad. With the omission of an option to disable tap-to-click in Windows 8.1, there seems to be no clear way to avoid the accidental right-clicks I found myself unknowingly causing.

????A new “friction-hinge” kickstand on the back of the Surface makes it possible to adjust the tablet’s viewing angle to suit your needs, an improvement over previous versions, which allowed only one or two viewing angles. You can nearly lay the Surface down by placing the hinge at a 150 degree angle, which I found to be a comfortable position for using the Surface Pen to sketch or take notes. Be forewarned: The kickstand setup does require a bit more room to implement, so if you’re planning on using the Surface and Type Cover on a fold-out tray table in economy class, you may find yourself hard-pressed for room. Even in the Business First cabin, I was left with precious little space. On more than one occasion, the back of my Surface setup slipped off the rear of my tray. (Apple’s iPad has no built-in kickstand, but several third-party companies make cases and stand-like accessories for it.)

????Oh, and about that Surface Pen I briefly mentioned above. Microsoft claimed it put a lot of work and effort into mimicking the experience that a classic legal pad and pen provide, and it’s one reason the company chose a 3:2 aspect ratio over the more-common 16:9 found on other tablet computers. In practice, I found the Surface Pen to write more smoothly than any other stylus I have ever used. During meetings, I eschewed the clickity-clack of the keyboard and instead used the pen with OneNote. I found myself nearly forgetting that I was writing on a digital surface—my digitized handwriting reflected exactly what I would expect on a piece of paper. The analog-to-digital translation was uncanny enough that people sitting around me asked me how to mimic the experience on an iPad.

????“Lapability” is a term coined by Panay and his team in an effort to underscore that the Surface Pro 3 is fully capable of playing in the laptop’s namesake environment. It’s a direct appeal to address a market in which sales of traditional PCs (which include laptops) are plummeting and sales of mobile devices (which include tablets) are rising.

????During my trip, I tested out the Surface on every mode of transportation I encountered: airplane, train, and automobile. (A portion of my trip involved a boat, but I wasn’t brave enough to take the review unit along with me.) For the most part, it’s possible to use the new Surface in your lap with the Type Cover attached, though I found some positions where the unit would move excessively while I typed, forcing me to adjust how I was sitting or how the device was placed in my lap. This “reposition dance” is something you don’t really have to do with a laptop. While the Surface Pro 3 is technically “lapable,” it’s hardly enjoyable to do so.

????The most important aspect of a tablet is the software. The Surface Pro 3 comes running Windows 8.1, which offers a modern app-centric user interface as well as the classic desktop view. More options would appear to be better, but reality says otherwise: the app-centric side of the operating system still lacks a robust library of native Windows 8 apps, forcing you to the desktop side in search of capability. For Microsoft, it’s a shame: even though the company provides a mobile-first environment for developers, they lack sufficient incentive to develop for it.