Ah OK. Then I guess a large part of it comes down to screen size. You can always hook up the Pro to an external monitor. I just found that without touchscreen I stay in the aero side 99% of the time, but if you’re going to just use that side anyway I guess it’s not the biggest deal for you. I will say that I love the pen input on the Pro as well and now I use OneNote for meetings and notes at work and home.
Honestly, I use my Surface Pro in my lap every day. I really don’t see what everyone is complaining about. It may not offer the different viewing angles that a traditional laptop does, but I don’t have any issues with it.
I’m going to assume that you would have Windows 8 on the Series 9 and that you’re not comparing Win7 to Win8. The touchscreen features is a huge advantage to the Surface Pro, as Win8 is significantly harder to use without it. I honestly don’t use the “Metro” side of Win8 on my Series 9 at all, and only use it on the desktop side. The Series 9, however, has a bigger screen and a much, much better trackpad.
I can’t say that I’ve been hampered by the difference in specs. I use my Surface Pro about 95% of the time. It’s more portable, it has touchscreen, the battery lasts a little (not significantly though) longer. I guess it depends on what your primary uses are going to be. I would definitely go for the type cover if you’re going to use it for a lot of Office work. And it might be worth investing in a bluetooth mouse and keyboard as well. If you find the screen too small for photo editing, you could always hook it up to an external monitor. Let me know other questions/comparisons you have!
