If you only compare it to the Surface Pro 3 with the new pen technology then maybe yes. I'm not too convinced about it though, it seems to be an equal horrible experience on both. The Surface Pro and Pro 2 are even worse due to the Wacom technology which has an offset problem as well as the display itself (they changed the display in the Surface Pro 3 to make it thinner as part of reducing the offset problem).
The same can be said about the Surfaces (noisy, heavy, gets hot and has bad battery life...power comes with disadvantages as well!). It just depends on what you want to do with it so I wouldn't say the iPad or the Surface is the better one overall.
Not really. The problem is control, especially with people writing with their fingers/wrists instead of their arms. The surface of both the pen and whatever you are using it on are quite important. If it is too smooth you'll have no good control, if it is too rough you also have no good control. Having no good control will show in your handwriting (chicken scratch) and you'll notice it as fatigue. Glass also has the problem of being easy to stick to although this is easy to overcome with special sleeves (Wacom has some). You don't need those for normal paper, only some people might need it.
That's because most people nowadays are really lousy handwriters. They have used the keyboard too much vs actually handwriting things. Handwriting is a skill you have to maintain. If you don't then you lose the speed, you lose legibility and other things as well. Most people would also pick the keyboard instead of the pen because they do things digitally and are quicker with typing. People who have maintained their handwriting skills see little to no difference in speed. Also, in some cases speed or rather the lack thereof is very important. Being quick isn't always that good, sometimes you just need to slow down. Writing on a subpar surface (too smooth, e.g. glass or too rough) also slows you down tremendously.
I'm going with the same thing for you. This is actual real life findings from many people using the technology. You basically have to choose between keeping it turned on and thus lose batter life or safe batter life and lose ease of use due to having it turn on. The 7-8 hrs of note taking is wishful thinking. Windows tablets on average have less than that for battery life. If you use the machine for more than the occasional handwriting session then this might not be an issue though. I have tested this with various devices and the experience is all the same. The glass surfaces is too smooth and too hard, especially when you write with pens that have a solid plastic nib that doesn't have some form of spring. In long writing sessions this causes your hand to fatigue and ache.
Tablet pc's used to be outdated, now they're back as 2-in-1. Not being able to retain what has been taught is a bigger waste. It has been scientifically proven that handwriting makes you retain things much much better than when you do it all electronically. It has to do with the areas of the brain that you use when you handwrite vs when you do things digitally. Maybe handwriting on a digital device might be somewhere in between. The problem with digital is the added functions that allow you to record audio and such. They make you lazy and not pay as much attention as without these tools. If you don't have such tools the only thing you can do is pay attention. Paying attention and being more aware of what you need to remember is what creates good notes.
Besides that, typing or writing on paper is much more comfortable because you are not constantly fighting the pen going everywhere. During meetings using pen and paper is also much easier. You can quickly hand it to someone else and they can all use it without any problems. We've tried it with digital devices and becomes rather cumbersome mostly because everybody has their own settings that work great for them but not so much for someone else (I work at a place that sells these kind of products).
Highly debatable. One is a Windows machine, the other a portable UNIX workstation. If you are in networking and/or security then the MBP clearly does far more than the SP3. Why? Because nearly all the tools you need are not for Windows and non-Windows support on the Surfaces is not that great (especially the writing part). I've seen it also in physics and chemistry. Some stuff simply requires the use of Macs/Linux so Windows is of no use there. Again, different devices, different uses so neither is better than the other.
And do remember: digital has its uses but it is not the answer to everything.
