Microsoft is offering a free Surface Touch or Surface Type cover for free with any purchase of its Microsoft Surface RT tablet.
Anyone purchasing a new Microsoft Surface RT tablet on the Microsoft website will get either a Surface Touch or Surface Type cover for no additional cost.
Usually the Surface Touch cover is priced at £99.99 and the Surface Type at £109.99, but Microsoft is giving them away for free with any Surface RT.
The Surface Type cover is a slim, detachable keyboard for the Surface RT complete with Windows shortcuts, function keys and media controls like any classic keyboard. It also includes a trackpad for easy navigation without having to use the touchscreen.
When flipping the keyboard back underneath the Surface RT to only use the touchscreen, the Type cover’s keys are disabled so users won’t be pressing them with their knees. The Type cover also doubles as a screen protector and shuts down the display when closed in a clam-like fashion.
The Surface Touch cover is a pressure-response keyboard that doubles up as a cover to protect the Surface RT’s screen. Like the Type cover, it includes a trackpad and shortcut cuts and disables the keys when folded back. It also powers down the Surface RT when closed too.
Coming in three colours – black, white and cyan – the Surface Touch cover, in our review, is the better choice as the Type cover “doesn’t feel as sturdy as a Touch and our model suffered from repeated unregistered keystrokes, especially if used on a lap rather than a desk.”
The Microsoft Surface RT has 10.6-inch ClearType HD display with 1366 x 768p resolutions running an Nvidia T30 CPU with 2GB of RAM. Offering up to 8 hours battery life, the Surface RT has two 720p HD cameras, a microSD car port, USB 2.0 and HD video out ports.
With internal storage options of 32GB or 64GB, the Surface RT can be purchased from £399.99.
Prefer Apple’s tablet offerings? Read our review of the iPad 4.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
