$500 Budget - something light and portable

[bgt123]

I've avoided the Surface brand for a long time now, due to it being extremely pricey and it not being a total laptop replacement as advertised. But, I really like the idea of having tablet that I can use as a laptop when I need to for school work (I have a desktop for any heavy lifting).

I'm here to ask what you think of this deal I found online for the Surface Pro 10.6 inch model (I think the Surface Pro 2) with 128 GB and (3rd gen? The spec list makes it unclear) i5. I usually wouldn't consider this an option, but the price is $419.99, which I think is pretty reasonable. The majority of my computer usage is internet browsing, video streaming - your basic light weight everyday computing, so I was thinking about purchasing a tablet. However, I felt that it wasn't a smart purchase because I there's no good way to be productive and do "real work" on most tablets. That's why I'm drawn to the Surface Pro.

Here's a link: http://

Do you think it's a good deal considering my usage and low budget? Should I keep looking for other alternative or go with a traditional laptop? Are there any alternatives I should look at?

Thanks

 

[digitaldoc]

If you are looking to take notes for school, I would suggest a cheap laptop, and not the Surface 2.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-ES1-411-C1P2-14-Inch-Diamond/dp/B00MNOPRHW/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1413168126&sr=1-4&keywords=laptop

For $249, you are getting a lot more functionality, for less money.

 

[bgt123]

I should clarify that by "cheap", I'd like to keep it under $500, but could go as high as $600 if something really blew me away.

I really need something that's light and portable, so I think the Acer that Digitaldoc suggested is too bulky for how often I'd need to carry the device with me in an already heavy bag of books.