Is the Sony Duo 11 a "convertible?"

Yes, I would assume that anything that functions as a tablet (touch screen without a keyboard) and a traditional laptop like (with a keyboard) would be considered to be a convertible.

If you are considering buying one make sure to spend some time with it, PC magazine in their review

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410808,00.asp

had a couple of deal breakers for me. I'm not sure they have not fixed them by now or not. One was as a laptop, the screen was not adjustable, it had only one position. That just won't work on an airplane, every time the yahoo in front of you moves their seat you need to adjust the screen, and when used as a laptop there are delicate cables exposed.

Granted, at this time we don't know if the Microsoft Surface has the ability to adjust the screen or not, though most of the reviews do like the kickstand to prop it up.

Remember, the Surface RT does NOT run Outlook. Just Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. For me, that's a deal breaker.

Not making me ready to run out and by one. Who's in their focus groups anyway?

Me too. And for the record, if the iPad uses the same mail program as iOS 6 for the iPhone, I don't want it either. A truly awful mail program (email client?).

While I don't argue that Surface RT doesn't come with Outlook, I get the impression you could add it, if you wanted to, you'd just have to buy it.

Quoting from the Surface website, emphasis mine-

None of the Microsoft Office Home and Student Versions come with Outlook (or Access), but that certainly does not mean you can not add them on.

Not saying you can in the tablet, but just because they choose Home and Student instead of Professional to include does not in and of itself mean it can not run it.

This is actually not true. Given the Surface RT runs on an ARM chip and not a traditional x86 chip, all apps that will run on it have to be specifically compiled for it. Microsoft has no plans to release Outlook on ARM, so as I said, there is no way to run Outlook on the ARM-based Surface RT.

This is what bugs me about Microsoft's messaging of Windows 8 and Windows RT. you get the impression you can install other software like any other computer but this is not the case at all. You can add anything sold in the Windows Store that is Windows RT compatible, but you can't install regular x86/x64/Wintel stuff. It just simply won't work.

Unless Microsoft specifically comes out with Office Professional for RT or Outlook for RT, and they've indicated no plans that this is the case, you won't be able to run Outlook in the Surface RT. A shame, too. What a huge miss.

They actually have a page describing the differences between Surface Office and regular

Your Windows RT tablet does not support Outlook or other desktop email applications such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Opera. Due to this, certain email features available for Office documents in other Office versions are not supported in Office Home & Student 2013 RT:

"Send as … (attachment)" features in the Office Backstage view

Word mail merge features related to email

Sending email links to share slides using the PowerPoint Broadcast Slide Show button on the Slide Show tab

OneNote email share options and email-related options in the Tools/Options menu

Many email-related buttons in the Office Ribbon and Quick Assist Toolbar
Instead, you can open your Windows RT email app or use another email app that may be available from the Windows Store, manually create an email message and attach your document to it.

in addition the following are not supported

But because tablets have special needs for security and mobility, a few features are unavailable in Office Home & Student 2013 RT, including macros, add-ins, and other custom programs written by users or developed by third parties.

And if you have to reset the tablet, it will revert back to the trial version until it has a chance to fully download the regular version again.

Details here

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ho...103210361.aspx

As a power user, I want to agree with your last statement, but as I look at the general user base, outlook just doesn't matter. How many of your family & friends use gmail, yahoo mail, hotmail or other web based email program instead of outlook. Most people I talk to either don't know what outlook is, or just know they don't use it, and and don't want it. I'd argue 70%+ of typical consumers don't care about outlook.

Business users are the ones using outlook, and they would likely be more attracted to the Pro version of Surface anyways, which does run traditional desktop apps on x86/64 based processors.

I bought a 32GB Surface with a Cyan touch cover yesterday...
What sold me?
The kickstand, Excel, Word, ability to work on two apps (programs?) side by side, the microSD card slot, and of course the touch cover...
BTW, will Flash run on the Surface RT?
Also, will I be able to upload pictures from my Canon 7D (or other camera) to the Surface?

Flash - According to this post by a Microsoft support Engineer, yes Flash does run in RT mode - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/i...f-605385078009

Digital Camera - I'm running the preview version of Windows 8, and when I go into the RT mode to look at pictures using the photo app, I do see the option to communicate with your digital camera, so I'm going to say yes you can. With it having a USB port, I would be shocked if they somehow disabled that capability in Surface RT.

According to the order website:


You can only install printers, mice, keyboards, and other devices that are certified for Windows RT.


So devices may or may not work. Great way for the device people to sell a few more items.

I don't see the problem - a camera could certainly be certified for WinRT - in fact it probably is.

The following link is to install a codec pack that gives Windows RT (and Windows 8) the ability to view RAW format from a variety of cameras, including Canon EOS 7D. Supporting the RAW format for the 7D in RT all but confirms that it is supported as Big Mac is wondering about.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2712101