Is the Surface Pro Signature Type Cover with Alcantara worth the extra cash?

To Alcantara, or not to Alcantara? Is there even a question?

Microsoft offers only a couple different Type Covers for the Surface Pro: the regular ol' Surface Pro Type Cover and the fancier (and pricier) Surface Pro Signature Edition Type Cover, I bought both, to see which one I liked better. After using the two, these are my thoughts.

To be clear, the two Microsoft Surface Pro Type Covers are exactly the same, except for two things: that Alcantara, and the price. The Alcantara version costs $160 compared to the $130 regular Type Cover. Both keyboards are solid.

The Alcantara feels a lot like suede, but it's not made of any animal products, which I appreciate. For more details on this Italian-made fabric, read our post detailing everything you need to know about Alcantara.

The regular Type Cover is made of a smooth, soft plastic. My palms tend to get a bit sweaty when I type for extended periods, and after a while, I found that my hands kept sticking to the material, as if it was gripping them a bit. That's a turnoff for me.

The Alcantara feels great. It's soft and my palms don't stick to it, even when they're all swampy. Of course, I've read numerous reports that suggest Alcantara does not hold up well at all over time. However, it also appears to be easy to clean, which can apparently go a long way toward extending its life. In my experience, the ligher color Alcantara accessories definitely show more wear than the darker colors, so keep that in mind if you want to make a purchase.

So the Alcantara Type Cover is worth the extra cash?

Yep. The cost of the "upgrade," $30, really isn't a lot of money when you consider that you'll probably be using your Surface Pro for at least a couple of years. That extra cash breaks down to roughly $1.25 a month over two years, or about $0.04 a day. Again, not a lot o' scratch.

How you feel about the way Alcantara looks is a personal preference thing, but I think most people will agree that it feels great, at least when it's new. The plastic on the regular Type Cover doesn't feel bad, but it also certainly doesn't feel good.

The Signature Edition Type Cover also comes in three different and better looking colors — platinum, cobalt blue, and burgundy — while the regular version is only available in black at the moment.

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