retrolefty:
WizenedEE:
Well the windows surface should be able to run anything that can run on windows 8, right? It has a USB controller on it.Thanks for that, I'll try and follow it when it is actually released. Sounds like it might cost a lot more then a simple functional netbook however, which is all the Arduino platform requires.
True. The only relevant differences between a tablet and a netbook is the processor type (and I think (with absolutely no reference) that the surface uses an intel anyway), USB hosts, and the fact that a tablet has a touchscreen.
tablets use cheaper processors, but the touchscreen is expensive.
avrdude hasn't been ported to an ARM, which seems like the main barrier to getting the IDE on a cheap device. So if you can't use the cheap processor, there's no real point in getting a touchscreen, especially since those are terrible for typing anyway. Furthermore, I think you can buy a netbook for under $200, which is the price of the cheapest tables I've seen (kindle fire and the nexus 7)
In short: there really isn't a reason to want a tablet over a netbook for this application.
Other: someone should really just port avrdude to the ARM -- code from raspberry pi to arduino would be neat. I might work on that when I get my pi in 11 weeks. Yes, the one I ordered two months ago 
.