Microsoft Type Cover 2 transforms Surface 2 from tablet to near-laptop

At NZ$130, Microsoft’s Type Cover 2 costs NZ$10 more than the NZ$120 Surface Touch Cover 2 keyboard, but it’s far better for productivity.

Switching from the Touch Cover to the Type Cover transforms the Surface 2. With the Touch Cover, the Surface 2 is just another tablet with a basic keyboard. The Type Cover turns it into a functional laptop replacement.

Surface 2 nearly a laptop

It’s not a full laptop, but it handles about 90 percent of the most essential tasks. You can manage email, social media, and web browsing with ease—even document writing. The RT version of Windows suffices for these needs, although it has limitations.

While the Surface 2 has enough power to get by, it’s no speed demon. Some apps can take a minute or more to load, though keeping them open in memory can help with efficiency.

Jumping into the Windows desktop for Microsoft Word is less than ideal; cutting and pasting text from Word into, say, WordPress isn’t as smooth as it would be on full Windows. Moving between apps on the Surface isn’t difficult, but it is a different experience, and you typically don’t view two windows simultaneously.

Integration limitations

The Surface with Windows RT has a few notable limitations. For example, if you receive an event invitation via email on a Mac, you can click the details to add them directly to Apple’s Calendar app. No such integration exists between Mail and Calendar on the Surface 2, which means you’re stuck toggling between apps to add event details manually—a clumsy process.

Internet Explorer: better but limited

The Surface 2 restricts users to Internet Explorer 11; you can’t install Chrome or Firefox. This usually isn’t an issue, as most websites display well, but a custom content management system I used had trouble displaying in IE. I found a workaround using the Mimic Browser app, which handled the CMS fine, though it has a less intuitive interface.

For most daily tasks, the Surface 2 could almost replace a laptop. While Apple markets the iPad as a supplementary device, Microsoft positions the Surface 2 as a potential laptop replacement, often shown paired with the keyboard.