Hi, my name is Daniel Rubino. You may have heard of me as I think I'm the only here with a Surface Pro 3, yeah?
I use the SP3 in my lap all the time. On the couch, on the train, where ever I need to. Actually, when on the couch a lost of the time I just pull the KB off and use it as a tablet (or fold it around). If I need to write something, bam, full keyboard right there. The kickstand is really good and makes touchscreen gaming on a desk or table so much more fun (putting the kickstand down to 150%).
Personal opinion here: people are really going out of there way to say this won't work in the lap. People who haven't even touched a Surface Pro 3, let alone use it daily ("causing pain in the legs"? Really?).
Obviously the SP3 is not 100% the same in the lap as a traditional laptop. That is obvious by the sheer design and it's literally the most uninteresting observations I have read in these forums lately. Having said that, the SP3 very much works in the lap and so far I really like the keyboard.
Ultimately, the SP3 is its own category and that's a good thing. People who harp on the "it's not as good as a MBP" forget the whole it has a touchscreen, pen and becomes and awesome tablet part. That's kind of a big deal. SP3 is meant to replace not just ONE device but TWO and if you don't look at it from that point, than SP3 doesn't make much sense.
There was that figure at the beginning of the presentation: 96% of iPad owners still have a laptop. This is aimed at people who use a tablet a lot, and use a laptop a lot, who want the best of both. Is it for everyone? Nope. But when I show average, non-techy people the device, almost all are intrigued by it (pun alert). Even the lady who cut my hair last night knew about it. She didn't know the name, but she knew it was from Microsoft, and she was interested.