Surface pro keyboard is also incredible--this is coming from someone who used thinkpads for over a decade and has a model M attached to his desktop. It isn't as good as a proper mechanical keyboard, but I'm nearly as fast and accurate on the surface type cover as on a proper keyboard.

To the parent- the surface works fine on a lap, provided you use a case with a solid kickstand (the stand on the actual tablet wants to fold in far too easily). For reference, the reason I abandoned the thinkpad is that I am managing a warehouse and spend ~50% of my day using the surface either standing, on my lap, or haphazardly resting on a pallet of product. I wanted something light and portable, I haven't regretted the tablet decision yet. I seriously considered iPad, but unfortunately it is essentially a phone OS. Win10 isn't the greatest, but it is a full-fledged OS for real work. My only gripe is that it isn't 100% touch optimized, so I can barely use the surface if I don't have the keyboard attached. Oh, and I do dearly miss the trackpoint. However, the keyboard has been great, and with WSL I don't really have any issues with getting the development side of my job done either. I have had a /. account long enough to be considered slightly 'rabid', but as much as it pains me to say Microsoft have made an excellent product.