*** The Official Microsoft Surface Thread ***

Has anybody heard anything on pricing yet?

I want to set aside money for a Surface Pro but its annoying not knowing (I know its not out till Jan/Feb '13). On the one side you would expect them to undercut the top/bottom range iPad's which makes sense as their the new kids, they have to be cheaper to attract a following especially as their app store will be very out gunned to start off.

But then there's the other end of the stick, depending how you look it it the Pro is a tablet that can turn into a ultrabook or an ultrabook that can turn into a tablet, but either way from a purely hardware point of view the Surface Pro looks to be a direct match to the 11" Macbook Air, and considering its tablet/ultrabook morphing ability I would venture it has the MBA totally out gunned as a portable machine. Im hoping they won't shoot for MBA prices but tbh I will still buy one even if they do as a device that can replace my work laptop and double up as a tablet is too good to pass up.
 
Nothing offical rumors is $300-800, which sounds far to cheap to me, unless they are doing a loss leader.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...eals-Surface-pricing/articleshow/16449272.cms

Interestingly just found this.

Microsoft Surface RT tablets are due to take on the tablet and laptop competition on October 26 and the Surface Pro 90 days after that.
Click to expand...

:( I want a pro first. Spend huge amounts of time in hotels and want to play games like FTL/kSP/xcom.

Although likely to end up with both due to battery, weight, heat.
 
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EDDS said:
I don't even know what that means, how is Windows unproven? If anything it's one of the most proven products in the world.
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Surface.
The new MS ecosystem.
Windows RT.

Android and iOS are well established eco systems and platforms in the mobile space.

At 400 quid you could get the new transformer which is pretty similar spec bar it's on a proven mobile platform ; Android.
Why would you risk the unproven product, which would be Surface when you can go for the safe bet?

To break into the console market Microsoft lost money in the Xbox 1.
To get marketshare, I'd argue they have to underprice this product due to competition which are proven and in the public eye.
 
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I agree that a reason to under price would be due to getting their foot in the door but I don't think it's unproven as it's just basically putting Windows into tablet form. Even Windows RT is still Windows just minus the legacy stuff.

I can't see anyone walking into a shop and seeing a Transformer next to a Surface and deciding to go with the Transformer because Windows is unproven. If anything I would say Android and IOS have still got a lot to prove if they still want to be around in 10 years time.
 
It's not basically windows into tablet form though.
Surface Pro is however.

But RT? It's "Metro" as the interface and only that (Which I don't mind for the tablet) but when it comes to app's? It'll have no where near the range that Android and iOS do.

It'll have some of the better office support on a tablet though with Microsoft Office, but there's a plethora of other app's that it simply won't have at first, if ever (Which is why they need to underprice to make developers want to develop, as there needs to be a viable userbase)
 
If they get the business Apps right which will come from MS anways, that will get them sold, as i know of some business that are liking their corporate lock down features ( they control what apps and how its used etc), but will get other to buy them, higher numbers will get more Devs on board.
But the crucial thing to keep remembering, if a Dev company makes an App for W8, itll run the same on RT with very little work for them.
 
Theres a article on Anandtech about the new Clover Trail Atom CPU's in upcoming Win 8 tablets.

Long story short... they have the same power consumption as ARM and the same level of performance, if not better. The tablets will be just as thin and light as ARM alternatives, AND these tablets should be around the same price points. Intel are obviously threatened by ARM so they're being very aggressive here. As Anand puts it "ARM are the new AMD".

This renders ARM and Win RT almost totally pointless. The only advantages Win RT had before was lower price points, thinner and lighter designs, and longer battery life. Thats no longer the case and Win RT isn't even released yet. It's dead on arrival. I'm sure years ago when MS started making Win RT this all seemed like a good idea as Intel were miles behind and had nothing remotely close to ARM regarding power consumption, but this has totally changed.

Theres always the fact that RT comes with Office but would anyone actually choose that over a full blown PC thats the same price and lasts just as long on battery?

A Surface with the new Atom would have been the perfect device. The Surface Pro with it's Core i5 is overkill for many, will not last as long on battery, and be heavier + thicker (and if i want high performance i'll use my desktop PC).
 
It's not completely dead, as we have wp8 and many people will not want the full experience and will want there phone but bigger.

MS would off been insane not to do RT, RT will still be huge. The good thing, is it doesn't really matter as they share a lot of the same kernal and future windows will share even more.
 
Glaucus said:
It's not completely dead, as we have wp8 and many people will not want the full experience and will want there phone but bigger
Click to expand...

But Win 8 on Intel tablets will literally offer the exact same experience. They both have identical Metro UI and run all the same Metro apps. And the desktop is still there on both RT and Win 8, the only difference being the desktop on 8 runs anything that Win 7 does. All Win RT will do is confuse people when they see the desktop and try to install their Windows x86 software.

I think MS needed to support ARM because they're only going to get bigger. But having RT was a mistake. Like i say though, i'm sure it seemed like a good idea years ago, but if MS knew Intel would have something like Clover Trail by the time RT was finished then i think they wouldn't have bothered and instead supported ARM in some other way.
 
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I don't agree at all, people will still go and buy arm. Which means not only is it not a mistake it's essential.

Where clove tail will come into its own is for cheap business devices.
 
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