30 Days with Surface Pro: Day 20

Microsoft announced today that it will offer a free Touch or Type cover along with the Surface RT for a limited time. That seems like a conveniently appropriate time to finish posting the 30 Days with Surface Pro series, picking up on Day 20 with my thoughts on the Surface keyboard covers.

The iPad and other tablets are also sold without some sort of cover, and the first thing almost every tablet owner buys is a case or cover of some sort to protect the glass display from scratches and cracks. There are inexpensive cases out there, but the Apple iPad Smart Cover is $40, and a case that includes a built-in keyboard starts around $80. By comparison, the $120 for a Touch keyboard cover, and $130 for a Type keyboard cover are on the expensive side, but they are remarkably well-engineered. The magnetic connection is strong enough to pick up the Surface tablet–not something I recommend trying with an iPad Smart Cover.

Giving the keyboard cover away with the Surface makes sense. While the Surface RT and Surface Pro are tablets first and foremost, the devices seem naked without the keyboard cover. The Surface Pro in particular–because it runs the full Windows 8 operating system–is essentially transformed into an ultrabook with the addition of a keyboard cover.

This may be a short-term marketing promotion, but honestly the Surface RT and Surface Pro should always be bundled with one of the keyboard covers by default. For more, check out Surface Pro, Day 20: Touch and Type keyboard covers.