Which tablet ???

[#1]

Apologies if this isn't in the right place...
My grand daughter has just started her second year at University and wants a tablet to take with her to lectures - yours truly is expected to pay of course but hey isn't that what grand dads are for ?
Like lots of kids she'd like an iPad (typical female picking the most expensive thing around).  One of the things she needs to be able to do is to download PowerPoint presentations off the Uni's wifi network and run them during lectures.  I thought that perhaps Word (for taking notes) and maybe Excel or something similar might be handy, in other words it would ideally need to be able to run Windows and be able to have MS Office installed.
I called at our local PC World, maybe not the best place for advice and though there were loads of tablets there apparently there were only two that would run Windows.  These were the Microsoft Surface RT and the Asus W3-810.  The Asus ran Windows 8, I can't remember what the Surface RT ran, a suitably modified version of Windows for tablets I presume.  The Acer seemed the most promising at £249...  The MS Surface was quite nice but a bit bulky.
My grand daughter tells me her boyfriend runs PowerPoint on his iPad, presumably using a third party app ?  However browsing the 'net a couple of nights ago I came across Quick Office HD Pro at £20 which apparently will run on Android tablets (and maybe the iPad ?) and will open MS Office documents and create docs that can be stored and run on other Windows machines.  I presume it's version of PowerPoint is also compatible with MS Office.
Quick Office could be the answer.  I wonder if anyone on here has any ideas before I part with a lot of my precious beer money for something that will only play silly games...
Incidentally I have a nice little 10" Advent net book which I said she could borrow but I won't repeat what she said when she saw it !!! 
John (with apologies for long posting)

[#2]

This is a start https://www.google.co.uk/search?site=&source=hp&q=which+tablet+runs+microsoft+office&oq=which+tablet...
It looks as though there are loads of options or soon will be
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407351,00.asp
http://techland.time.com/2013/06/05/free-microsoft-office-for-small-windows-tablets-wont-really-be-f...
However given that Office is really geared to typing you may want a tablet where she can add a keyboard http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-Attach-a-Keyboard-to-Your-Tablet-/10000000177629450/g.html

[#3]

I have Mobisystems OfficeSuite Professional on my Nexus 7 tablet:
http://www.mobisystems.co.uk/android_office/
It handles PowerPoint files no problem.
I'd say that Android is the best for your daughter's needs. If you can get a file on the device, whether via Bluetooth, HTTP download, or USB MTP drag and drop, virtually any app which supports that format can read it. iOS is more restrictive, and you would likely have to use something like Dropbox and still maybe not be able to do exactly what you want (as experienced by my colleague with his iPad).
Android is far from perfect, but it is the most PC-like mobile operating system in its flexibility; more-so than even Windows 8 RT.
(alternatively, there are Windows 8 tablets which run regular Windows 8, with full desktop support, such as the Acer W510, but you'll have to buy MS Office for that because it isn't included as with 8 RT).

[#4]

Quickoffice will do Powerpoint.
Google have now made it free (Android and iOS)  http://www.androidcentral.com/quickoffice-now-free-all-courtesy-google

[#5]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll have to go away and do some reading obviously.
I was put off slightly by the PC World 'expert' who said that Android tablets were for kids to play game on, that's obviously not true...
As an aside any ideas on which tablet I should be looking at ?    I presume they all have an usb port or something similar that i could use to load software via.  I'm thinking of something around the £150 - £250 mark, the cheaper the better as this girl has alredy lost a few expensive mobiles so I can see her leaving it somewhere - and forgetting where !!! 
Thanks again.
J

[#6]

look for the model that best suits the end user requirements (wifi, usb,keyboard available etc etc) then look for the cheapest offers via something like google shopping (none of the price finder websites are much good though and often fail to find the best bargains) compare it to major outlets like amazon and ebay, if you don't mind a slightly pre owned unit then ebay can be very good for bargins as can some of the major tech outlets like ebuyer or aria or scan or dabs
they all have price of the day offers and often don't show up in price search websites.

as for what device i'm afraid that as with all things tech its more about personal preference than the best advice (personally I prefer windows based devices but my kids prefer droid or ios based stuff) its very much a case of horses for courses  in that regard

[#7]

One thing to bear in mind, tablets are very good devices for consuming content, but while they can be used to create content, it's usually very cumbersome to do so.  They are also bad at multitasking,  so you could follow the presentation or take notes,  not both.

[#8]

I've had the Surface RT since it was launched nearly a year ago.  I've not had any issues with it at all, and really like it.  I use it a lot at work in meetings and presentations (both presenting and note taking), working in Word and Excel and then relaxing with films, kindle books and the like.
I've also got a couple of iPads, various Android tablets and a Windows 8 tablet (due to the nature of my work involving mobile devices), but I've been using the Surface RT as the tablet of choice.
Phil

[#9]

it rather depends on what sort of things your going to be using it for
the ipad's have something similar to those available though office 360, but they have limitations
for instance one of my kids was trying to put together a presentation using ShowTime on his Ipad but he has no way of putting any sound to it (unlike say PowerPoint) my wife on the other hand can build a fully featured rich looking presentation via PowerPoint on her SurfaceRT
me I tired to do the same job on an android device and spent half the time looking through various apps trying to find something that would do it..... and my daughter used a surface pro and built a completely interactive option (seeing who could make the best presentation for a school project using the different devices)
my wife and I took part purely as a mini competition, to see who could do it on there device best (needless to say I lost)  but it did prove to all of us that the best device for that was the surface pro out of the tablets, although in fairness I built a far better presentation on the desktop and was able to shove it in the SkyDrive for use later via the surface (RT or pro both can do the playback well)
personally i'd be inclined to get something that goes with the more fully featured device (so ipad +MacBook or surface +w8laptop) to ensure compatability and cross device operation,  notes on ipad+surface are brilliant (havnt forked out much on a droid tab so don't know what the higher end ones are like)  and both have a decent amount of connectable peripherals,

[#10]

Thanks to all those who replied and offered good advice.
We eventually bought a Samsung Galaxy tablet which appears to work well.  Whilst it's obviously good for games it also doubles as a small laptop - using office software etc.  I suspect I'd find it too small (it's a 7") but my grand daughter says it's ideal for Uni work.  She's in her second year so anything that helps to keep her going is good!
Thanks again.
JP