I’m one of the few people who actually love the look, feel and function of Windows 8. I’m not sure why exactly, but I found it somewhat exciting to use and learn. Maybe because it was finally something new from Microsoft whose operating systems previously all looked and functioned quite similar.

Microsoft’s first tablet, the Surface RT, also looked quite exciting and fresh. It still looks quite appealing aesthetically. I love the simple design with the new Windows logo sitting down at the bottom beneath the screen. I love the Windows RT (not quite Windows 8) with its live tiles and ‘pretty’ colors.

A part of me really wants to try the Surface RT (the Surface Pro won’t be quite as affordable when it hits stores in a little over a week for $899) but I’m not going to. Why? Because there’s one tech personality whose opinion I value more than any other, and that’s Chris Pirillo. His LockerGnome YouTube channel is filled with tech news and opinions and I’ve followed Chris ever since he was a host on TechTV’s Call 4 Help many, many years ago.

His Surface RT unboxing and Surface RT review have persuaded me to pass the Surface by and consider an iPad as a full sized tablet (I own a 7″ Kindle Fire HD which is a pretty good affordable, smaller tablet).

Chris starts off his review (below) by quoting several reviews from other reputable sources, most of which caution against purchasing the Surface RT, one of which causes it “in most ways inferior” to the iPad. Chris notes that the sound quality of the Surface is quite bad and the 32gb Surface only has 16gb of usable space. He praises the ‘modern UI’ interface and live tiles, calling it one of the best tablet experiences, and yet the desktop mode is “sloppy” and not optimized for a touch screen device (who wants to see a desktop on a tablet anyway?).

So in the end, the Surface looks appealing, but looks can be quite deceiving. Maybe the next gen Surface will offer a better experience, but for now if I do decide to pick up a ‘full’ sized tablet, I’m going to have to go with the 4th gen iPad.

What was Pirillo’s final thoughts on the Surface RT? As you can see below, he returned it to the store.