The biannual "Peter gets a new tech toy" thing rolled around again.

This time out, it's a Surface Pro - i5/8GB/256GB.

I also got a pen, a type cover, and a UAG rugged cover. There was a bundle thing on, so I effectively got the pen for freesies.

It's a really nice piece of kit. Build quality is as good as or better than anything Apple produces, and the type cover is much better than the keyboard thingers you get for iPads, and it has a good trackpad built-in.

The screen is really good - bright and sharp and with excellent viewing angles.

The 10-point multitouch digitiser is very good also; the pen feels like a very natural way to interact with the device, especially as you can write on most things and the Windows Ink Workspace is just a tap away. The UWP version of OneNote is an especially fluent environment for the pen.

It runs pretty well - I've seen video of people playing Civ 6 on the model I've got - and charges up pretty quick, from 50% to full in about an hour.

I'd have one of these for work, no questions asked. As a personal computing device, it's probably overkill, but so what? I like nice things and this is a nice thing.

Plus Jo's now got the XPS13, so we're officially a HiDPI* household :D (even the telly is 4K)

For the more twiglet-wristed, that is :D

It weighs 770 grammes. That's what? A pound and a bit? Sure, you wouldn't want to hold it at arm's length, but it's perfectly handleable. Which is totally a word, so shut up.

The built-in stand makes life a lot easier, especially when you're just gawping at media. One thing I didn't mention is that the pen is magnetic, and sticks to the side of the Surface very neatly.

iPad Pros are a thing at work now, and every single user has to faff about (a) charging and (b) storing their Pencils. There's an AAAA battery in the Surface pen, and it allegedly lasts for a year.

Yep, I took it out to have a look. Teensy tiny indeed.