Choice is very similar to the US Consumer Reports organisation, as they both provide independent reviews of products and services, and in this month’s magazine they had a tablet feature in which Windows 8 tablets scored surprisingly well in the current edition. Surprisingly well? Let me explain…

There was a time when I tended to avoid reading their PC related articles, as I was pro-Microsoft and tended to read their reviews as written through the eyes of Apple users. This view surprised my neighbours, one of who worked at Choice at the time, and of course had a Mac in her home office. In my eyes Apple still gets too easy a ride from Choice, but I think they would have to start absolutely trashing Apple for me to see it as a balanced discussion.

Anyway, back to the current review, where the scores are as follows…

1. iPad 4 81%
2. iPad Mini 80%
3. Acer Iconia W510 79%
4. Apple iPad 2 78%
5. Samsung Ativ Tab 78%
6. Microsoft Surface RT 77%
7. Google Nexus 10 76%
…
11. Microsoft Surface Pro 73%

Okay, Apple still take 3 of the 4 top positions, but Windows devices aren’t doing too badly at all in comparison. But here’s where I can sense that Apple bias creeping in again… the Windows devices are all listed as having a negative for slow startup. I’m not quite sure how they were testing this versus the iPads, and going through the full article online (I’m a ten plus year subscriber, in case anyone thinks I have a bias against them overall versus just what I perceive to have been a strong Apple bias in the past). Were the Windows tablets being shut down rather than going to sleep? 5 seconds resume seems way too high to me, but I’ll see if they have any answers in their discussion area.

They don’t turn a blind eye to many of the flaws that those of us not enamored with iOS devices like to point out, and apart from the startup times of Windows devices, the bad points they highlight in the WIndows tablets are correct, so it really does seem that this is definitely a huge step in the right direction in my eyes. Recent and upcoming Windows tablets really have started redefining what should be expected of a tablet, I eagerly await the next review that is performed to see how things change.