Information About the w700

I can't say anything about the i3 version, and I've only had the i5 Pro version for a few days.  I will contribute a few observations, though.

Check out Wikipedia article on the various versions of Windows 8 for a good comparison.  The only thing that made any difference to me was the ability to install Windows Media Center, which requires the Pro version.  Other differences include the ability to accept Remote Desktop connections (the non-Pro version can only be a client) and virtualization support.

The differences between the W700 and the Surface Pro can be summed up fairly easily: the Surface has an active digitizer and a microSD slot to add storage, and its screen is an inch smaller.  The W700 comes with more accessories (notably, a desktop dock and a keyboard cover are included; the Surface doesn't offer a dock and requires you to buy the keyboard cover separately), and it has, conservatively, a couple of hours more battery life than the Surface.  For me, the dock and the battery life were substantially more important, so the decision in favor of the W700 was easy for me.  (I'd also note that the capacitive stylus that came with my W700P -- not sure whether it comes with any other models or not -- is accurate enough for my uses, i.e., selecting text regions and small screen elements; I don't need pressure sensitivity, hovering, and the extra level of accuracy you get with an active digitizer.)

So  far, I've been extremely pleased with my W700P.  The screen is very bright (I keep it set on 25% and it's as bright at that level as the external monitor I use it with) and clear.  The battery life seems excellent, although I haven't done a run-down test and have mostly used it plugged in so far.  The performance (non-gaming) is very good.  I haven't had any of the problems with wifi that other people have reported: no dropouts, and the speed and signal strength are fine at the opposite end of my house from where the router is.  The keyboard case works fine -- well, about as well as you can expect from a keyboard that's about an eight of an inch thick, which only allows a half-millimeter for key travel.

My only complaint, if you can call it that, is with the dock, which has some small deficiencies.  First, although there are pass-throughs for power and USB, the microHDMI connector on the tablet is left exposed, which means I have to plug and unplug the video cable separately whenever I dock the tablet.  Second, there are only two angles at which the support in the back can hold the tablet in landscape mode, and neither one was ideal for my desktop use.  I addressed that by putting a thick paperback book under the front of the dock so it leans back somewhat further.  However, at that angle the torque that holds the support into the slot on the dock is reduced, rendering it more likely to slip out.  I wedged a couple of toothpicks between the support and the back of the dock and haven't had any further difficulties.

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase.

wmm, Wonder if you could tell me if you have the Dagi 508 that has a spring and clear disc on end.  Not your standard nib.  Thats what came with my W700P.  It's style that I had not seen elsewhere.