about Microsoft's new budget Surface tablet and how it will use Intel Pentium chips to save on cost. Well, the cat's now out of the bag and the Microsoft Surface Pro has indeed been shrunken down. Meet the Microsoft Surface Go.

The Surface Go successfully shrinks Microsoft's stellar design, but it's not for everyone.

Remarkably sturdy for its price; Beautiful design and display; Type Cover is impressive; Affordably priced

Clunky performance; Tablet experience is lacking; Type Cover is a pricey add-on

The Surface Go is an odd thing. Not because of the device itself, so much as how Microsoft ultimately arrived at it. The tablet was reverse-engineered, the low-end addition to the premium Surface line.

Microsoft's Surface Go, its latest tablet that aims to be a smaller, and more affordable, Surface Pro is finally here. The Surface Go doesn't bring about any major surprises, but perhaps that's a good thing.

Excellent design; Surprisingly strong graphics; Decent price; Fantastic display and speakers

Still no accessories included; Less powerful than an iPad; Screen could be sharper

Look, $550 is a lot of money... unless you're talking computers. Any computer you buy for that little is firmly a "budget" PC, as far as the people making them are concerned. They're not impressive, or especially fast, or pretty. They're purely functional-the Ford Fiesta of computers.

It's tiny; gorgeous; and more productive than an iPad or other cheap PC

The CPU is still pretty underwhelming

Conceptually, taking the favorite Surface Pro 2-in-1 PC and shrinking it down to a 10-inch model seems desirable, but with lowering the price and performance of the components there are questions. Is it usable in the lap How good is the performance Can you type well on it Does it even make sense

Comparatively fast performance; Outstanding build quality and hardware; All day battery life; Excellent display and inking experience

Windows 10 is still not a great tablet OS; 10-inch PC experience has obvious tradeoffs; No Thunderbolt 3

Microsoft's Surface Go is the cheapest way to buy into the Surface ecosystem, but sluggish performance keeps it from competing with Apple's iPads.

Excellent build quality; Sharp; bright display; Windows Hello support; Built-in microSD card slot

Sluggish performance; Janky touchscreen for some apps like Chrome; Keyboard and stylus sold separately; Huge; thick bezels around display

While I wouldn't make a Surface Go my primary machine for graphical/video creativity work or demanding tasks-Microsoft acknowledges this is not really its place-it's still a fine choice for a lean, mean travel companion.

Low-cost entry point to the Surface line; Build quality is high; Small, lightweight design; Good potential for education use

Middling speed; Keyboard is cramped and costs extra; Narrow for on-lap use; No full-size USB ports

Microsoft's 10-inch, $399 Surface Go tablet is a departure from the company's Surface tradition, which put forth expensive, ambitious designs to break trail for the rest of the PC industry.

Microsoft's history in the budget tablet space is a bit checkered. Remember Surface RT That was a flop. And other smaller Surfaces just never felt right. But the Surface Go ($349 to start, $549 as tested, before accessories) feels just right.

Attractive with strong build quality; Bright; vivid display; Affordable starting price

Short battery life; Doesn't come with keyboard