I ordered my Surface RT when it came available in Germany. I had lots of fun with it. The differences between a Surface PRO or a Windows 8 laptop are obvious. On a Windows RT you are not able to install desktop apps (for example Visual Studio). Only apps from the Windows Store can be installed and used. Confusingly on both Windows RT and Windows 8 there is a desktop, which suggest and confuse the same time. A Surface RT is accompanied by a free version of Microsoft Office. And now with Windows 8.1 their is also a real Outlook client available.
A Surface RT is a great device to defeat an Android device or an iPad. And that is how you should use them, like you use those devices. It is a real kitchen table device, you pick it up for a quick search on the internet or to use one of the many available apps. Different from this competitors the Surface is more personal due to the inlog capabilities and more users on 1 device.
Surface RT is followed by Surface 2. There are some differences. The hardware of the Surface 2 is upgraded. The screen resolution is now 1920×1080. But the color is also adjusted from Black to Gray.
That is not all. The Surface 2 is lost some weight. Although this is not a official scale, the difference is clear.
The kickstand has two positions, the second position is really great when you use the device on your lap.
Nevertheless Surface 2 is clear upgrade of Surface RT on the hardware specifications. With Windows 8.1 both devices are really upgraded. Which makes the Surface RT a good alternative to the Surface 2.