[zbrozek]

This reply comes to you via a Surface Pro on my lap as I lay on a couch. #1 is true but not as bad as it might come across to someone who hasn't used one. If they used a friction hinge range than a true flap this would be largely ameliorated, but I don't know if you can pull it off without ruining the form factor.

#2 is subjective and depends on your use-case. I find that for mine (circuit design, PDF markup, email/web, low-requirements mechanical CAD, casual gaming) it's totally fine.

#3 is very real. I don't use the Surface Pro as a pure tablet almost ever. The only exception is if I'm stuck on a plane and there's no room for the keyboard and all I'm doing is reading.

I really wish the keyboard could talk wirelessly back to the tablet so that I could put the keyboard behind the screen and still type on it every now and then when I'm primarily drawing with the computer.