Microsoft Surface Pricing Goes Toe-to-Toe With Apple iPad 521
Nerval's Lobster writes "Microsoft has finally revealed the pricing of its upcoming Surface tablet to a small group of journalists, including Time's Harry McCracken, who wrote in an Oct. 16 posting that the device's 32GB version will retail for $499 (or $599 with the flexible keyboard cover) and the 64GB one for $699 (cover included). Preorders will apparently begin by midday Oct. 16. Microsoft unveiled Surface over the summer but kept the pricing a secret until now. That information vacuum led some to hope against hope that Microsoft would attempt something radical and price Surface extraordinarily low—$199, perhaps—in an attempt to undercut Apple's iPad. While that didn't happen, Surface at least matches its biggest rival's low- and high-end price points. The WiFi-only, 16GB version of the iPad retails for $499, while the WiFi-only, 64GB version costs $699 (iPads with a cellular connection cost a bit more)."
A related article at BGR explains why the Surface is Microsoft's latest attempt to re-invent itself.
Merry Christmas! (Score:5, Funny)
Somewhere, a kid has been begging and pleading to get an iPad for Christmas.
Somewhere, a parent is thrilled to find that Microsoft's iPads are on sale for $100 off.
One day, both of them will relate the story to their therapists.
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"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Insightful)
"...or an ill-conceived also-ran like the Zune."
No. It is a delusional, strategic blunder.
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Insightful)
I find it interesting that every post you've ever made is singing the praises of Microsoft, Windows, and closely-aligned vendors like Nokia. I also appreciate your consistent message that the world is ready for Microsoft's new Enterprise-friendly offerings.
Fess up: does it at least pay well?
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Come on, Slashdot is brimming with Linux and Apple fanboys. It can't be *that* surprising that there is at least one Microsoft fanboy who reads the site, as well...
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:4, Interesting)
1) /. ers are paranoid about paid shills. I've been here well over a decade and and a rather frequent poster and well I still get accused of being a paid shill because I think Microsoft is going the right thing with Windows 8.
2) That being said there are accounts that never post. And then post some sort of bland non technical pro Microsoft message. I've seen ACs identify them look at their history and they are right.
I've asked the people who make these sorts of posts, but they never respond. So maybe I'm catching the paranoia but I do think there are some rather odd paid pro Microsoft posters.
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:4, Funny)
I still get accused of being a paid shill because I think Microsoft is going the right thing with Windows 8.
I happen to agree with you on this point, because the right thing for Microsoft to do is to destroy itself as quickly as possible.
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Insightful)
It wouldn't be surprising if there was a comment on anything OTHER than Microsoft. One of the key aspects of a paid shill account is that everything they post is only about the thing they are being paid to post. See all those Linux and Apple fanboi's actually post on other topics occasionally while still maintaining their rabid posting on their chosen fanboi topic.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Informative)
This is the Windows RT device. It's for consumers. No Domains. Not for Enterprise.
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, here's an Android 4 tablet with similar specs, but better screen (1900x1200) than SurfaceRT for $500.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230481&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA [newegg.com]
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Insightful)
Surface? It's Unpossible. A turd. On a silver platter.
I watched the entire Zune BS from inside MS - and predicted the entire trajectory of the "chase Apple, xerox their market" strategy.
Have you been into a "Microsoft Store"? [avenue-mag.net] It's like the Bizarro World [imarc.net], from Superman Comics.
This is phase two, of the Bizarro strategy: Now that they have a consumer store, they will produce a product to sell in it.
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They aren't "bringing something new" by dragging along something old. :-P
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Interesting)
If Microsoft is really transitioning away from making all its money on Windows licensing (and the follow-ons), why not release it to the largest market for mobile devices? Ballmer just said that Microsoft's a Devices and Services company, so it's possible stand-alone software isn't seen as such a big deal anymore, despite it currently being almost all of the income.
Microsoft has a long term question to answer here. If they're phenomenally successful with the Surface itself, iOS and Android will matter less, but so will OEM sales of the OS... in fact, they may get to a point where that stops altogether. And that could be their choice, or it could be like the HD-DVD market that MS did with Toshiba, where the hardware pricing didn't leave any room for other companies to sell hardware. Microsoft is matching Apple and the Android folks here, but other Windows RT companies are at a $75-$100 disadvantage.
And if they're not successful with Surface, will they even be successful with Windows on mobile devices? Keep in mind, Lotus and WordPerfect were once the reigning kinds of Office Automation. They lost that largely by being late to the WIMP party, and allowing Microosoft to claim that ground. I don't really know for a fact that Microsoft is doing Office for either iOS or Android (yeah, seen the rumors), but by claiming those platforms, they're ensuring that Office remains viable in that market. Leaving 97% of the mobile market (and 16% of all consumer personal computing, but growing FAST) without Office is a great way to make people stop caring about it.
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Microsoft is developing Office for iPad and Android. Honestly, I don't understand why they're doing it for Android. Maybe it was part of their cross-license agreement with Samsung?
Many people think that Microsoft makes almost all their money on Windows. However this is not true. in the last three years to July, "the Business group has been Microsoft's top money-maker in 10 out of 13 quarters" [computerworld.com]. Everywhere else; in development tools, with partners, with games and in anything they can get publicity or perception from Microsoft can afford to sacrifice other things. With the Office Division, Microsoft's future and money is available.
Releasing for Android is a clear statement tha
Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." (Score:5, Interesting)
Like it or not, for all it's faults, the iPad is the best enterprise tablet (in that enterprises actually use it).
I think the iPad is a terrible enterprise tablet. Ultimately as an enterprise vendor because the people buying the devices are not the people using the devices you have a conflict of interest. You inevitably have to ask the question who are customers, the end users or the people who purchase the devices. Microsoft's focus on the consumer dropped off drastically once they were able to be an enterprise OS and replace: IBM, Unisys and DEC. They choose bosses over workers, made a ton of money doing it but ultimately created a situation where most people's day to experience with Microsoft's OS and software is negative. People think Microsoft is a less capable system than it is because they use a less capable version.
Apple conversely has as far as enterprise so far mostly sided with users over IT management. They have been reluctant to add IT features that make the devices easier to manage, that is easier to disable consumer oriented features. Apple wants to be high margin unique vendor and they know enterprise while currently desperate for a phone and tablet solutions provider will quickly demand multiple suppliers to give them pricing leverage. So their consumer orientation is unlikely to change unless market conditions change substantially.
Someone is going to have to own the enterprise space. RIM and Microsoft are far better choices than Apple but both at least today have inferior product eco-systems.
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Yes they are going cloud oriented. And they have lots of Android and Apple. So, there are conferences now daily about the problems they are having with BYOD security. If they had a good option, they'd take it.
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Only the Surface Pro runs the Windows desktop. The Surface/WinRT machine mentioned is Metro-only.
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this last one is killer. it lets you use this as a servicable desktop or laptop replacement. jack in a real screen, KB, and usb disk and you have a desktop computer that is probably better than the 4 year old peice of dell junk your older relative is using now.
and 2.5 it lets you use your old applications.
No, it will only run Metro apps ('Windows Store apps' or whatever they're called now) and a tweaked version of Office. If you want to run Windows software, you'll need the 'Pro' models which look to cost about twice as much.
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No, it doesn't (Score:5, Informative)
and 2.5 it lets you use your old applications
You absolutely cannot use your old applications on the Windows RT ARM-based device.
Re:Microsoft advantage and disadvantage (Score:5, Informative)
SurfaceRT has things that your company won't like.
1. No AD.
2. No GPOs.
3. No backwards compatibility.
4. Limited email functionality.
http://techpinions.com/windows-8-tablets-and-email-a-disaster-in-the-making/10360 [techpinions.com]
5. Slightly limited Office functionality. (Scroll down a ways, they buried it)
http://blogs.office.com/b/office-next/archive/2012/09/13/building-office-for-windows-rt.aspx [office.com]
Re:Merry Christmas! (Score:4, Funny)
Surface is the new Zune!
"LONG LIVE ZUNE!" :-)
Just saying this has me bursting into laughter.
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PUNCHLINE:
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/How-to/wp7/mac-connector [windowsphone.com]
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There aren't. We just "slashdotted" 'em.
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Everything!
Except follow you on every device you own, anywhere you want!
OOPS! "Hey, let me just plug my XBOX 360 into my cigarette lighter, and stream the music over bluetooth. This thing rocks for discovering new stuff!"
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I don't know all that much about Xbox Music, but I do know it's not Xbox-specific. It will be on Windows 8 PCs, tablets, and phones as well. Software-wise, the GP is probably correct - it has a lot of features, and iTunes really is a piece of crap anyway. But a piece of crap with massive distribution.
And I can't *imagine* how you'd make that assumption that "Xbox Music" was for Xbox only ;) Microsoft branding gnomes strike again!
Re:Merry Christmas! (Score:4, Funny)
it already works in Windows Phone
And I'm sure both users have given it great reviews.
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Zunes could have been extruded from solid gold, and filled with angel kisses.
There was room for exactly ONE player in the market Apple created, and they occupied it.
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Re:Merry Christmas! (Score:5, Interesting)
Ours is collecting dust (iPad). The smaller tablets are more than adequate. They are functionally equivalent while being much more mobile. The eBook vendors were all onto something when they chose that size for their devices.
Re:Merry Christmas! (Score:5, Funny)
That kid is Eric Cartman [southparkstudios.com] (audio is NSFW).
Re:Merry Christmas! (Score:5, Insightful)
Somewhere, a parent is thrilled to find that Microsoft's iPads are on sale for $100 off.
Microsoft's tablet has the screen fidelity of an iPad 2 at the price of an iPad 2, and it only took them an extra 1.5 years to come out with it. Here's a hint to the parents: Apple still sells iPad 2s. Just buy one of those.
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Ok...I'm waiting for the punch line... (Score:4, Funny)
Who's his co-workers?
Jack Mehoff?
Chuck Roast?
Phil Magroin?
Seymour Butz?
Re:Ok...I'm waiting for the punch line... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ok...I'm waiting for the punch line... (Score:5, Funny)
Awesome! (Score:5, Insightful)
I've always wanted to pay over $100 for the pure pleasure of typing on one of those rubbery keypads with a lot of squish and almost no travel!
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After tapping on glass, it's bound to feel like a significant improvement...
Re:Awesome! (Score:4, Funny)
After tapping on glass, it's bound to feel like a significant improvement...
If you have Android there are competing virtual keyboards (including e.g. Swype) and you'll find they can be much better than normal alphabetic keyboard layout. In fact once you get used to them they are faster and more practical than a portable keyboard too.
I adherer! it's do easy yup type by swirling your honey I can't inside going back to topping on flags.
-sent from my nexus
Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you really think that buried somewhere inside the prototype development labs at Cupertino that they haven't put a touchscreen on a MacBook at one point or another? There's a long history of Apple prototypes that get built and never shipped, because of various reasons.
Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, you mean just like the Lenovo X230 Tablet that's on my desk? Or maybe the X220 Tablet right next to it? Or the X201 Tablet or X200 Tablet in our lab? Or maybe the X61 tablet right next to those? Where did I say that no one has done this before? I'm saying that the above post is ridiculous to think that Apple never thought of a touchscreen notebook before, and would have a huge research gulf to cross in order to "catch up".
They probably just didn't think it would be a model that would actually sell, and looking at the rest of the convertible touchscreen notebook market, I'd say that they were right.
Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Funny)
Just bring the Surface adaptor for your trusty IBM 42H1292 Model-M 101-key!
SPROIIIING!
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There is no travel at all on Touch Cover. (Score:3)
Have you even touched one of those keyboards to know what you are talking about? Or are you just assuming it is like other portable keyboards that have come before?
Read the specs. The Touch cover has no travel, it has no keyswitches that move to activate.
It is a flat piece of plastic with touchscreen like capacitive sensors, similar to a smartphone/tablet screen.
Re:There is no travel at all on Touch Cover. (Score:5, Funny)
Read the specs. The Touch cover has no travel, it has no keyswitches that move to activate.
It is a flat piece of plastic with touchscreen like capacitive sensors, similar to a smartphone/tablet screen.
So they've made something even worse than the Sinclair ZX80 keyboard...?
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Re:There is no travel at all on Touch Cover. (Score:5, Funny)
I think the only useful question remaining then is...
Will it blend?
Re:Awesome! (Score:4, Insightful)
Nah, the thousands that used Sinclair ZX-81, Atari 400 or 600, Tandy TRS-80 or SpectraVideo... the early one with such a keyboard... can flex treir skills again :)
FAIL ! (Score:5, Insightful)
When your competitor has OWNED the market for several years, you don't MATCH their price, you blow it away.
Who would be dumb enough to pay the same price as a 3rd generation device to guinea pig a 1st gen device from a company that is known to suck at first releases?
And then there's Google's tablet for a dainty $199/$249
Microsoft really does suck at new things.
Re:FAIL ! (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft doesn't like price wars. I suspect Gates and Ballmer feel it's beneath them. Plus they're used to decades of charging monopoly prices on Windows and Office.
I walked into a Microsoft Store the other day and looked around. Everything there was priced the same or higher than at Fry's or Target.... even though the place was mostly empty and it seemed like they badly need more traffic in the store.
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Microsoft doesn't like price wars.
They prefer to fail on MERIT!
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It's strange, Slashdot blasts Microsoft for entering the hardware space saying they're going to screw over their partners, and then when
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Or $689 if you want to add in an office suite
...which almost no one, anywhere, actually wants to run on a tablet. That actually made me LOL as an advertising point - "run your favorite office apps!" - as though there were a non-zero-after-rounding desire for people to run Excel on an iPad (or -alike).
I just crossed the Surface off my Xmas list. (Score:5, Interesting)
This Christmas I was hoping to get a Nexus 7 for my son and the Surface for my wife. At around $200 each, they'd be pricey but possible gifts. Now, cross off the Surface - may check in with the Kindle Fire 2 instead.
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Now, cross off the Surface - may check in with the Kindle Fire 2 instead.
You must be one of those parents who always buy the wrong thing. [youtube.com]
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It was the rumor [engadget.com] a while back. Gruber [daringfireball.net] made the point that $199 would be a very aggressive play against the iPad, but that if it wasn't true (and it wasn't) then it's the sort of thing Microsoft set themselves up for by announcing an iPad competitor without pricing in tow for several months (as opposed to Apple which announces products with prices)
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Re:FAIL ! (Score:5, Interesting)
If they are keeping the Tegra3 and 2GB of memory, which I've read of before, the MS tablets have some advantages over the iPad3.
The Surface will only have a 1280x720 display [pcworld.com], compared to the iPad's 2048x1536 – and the Surface actually has a *larger* screen. That's a huge difference, apparent at first glance – anyone with 20/20 eyesight can see the massive advantage of the iPad 3 over a low-DPI tablet. In contrast, the processor and RAM advantages of the Surface are buried in a spec sheet and will not even be noticed by most prospective buyers (who, remember, aren't all geeks and in many cases wouldn't know what Tegra 3 even meant.) Besides, who knows if some of that extra capacity is necessary just to run WinRT? There's no telling if it is as streamlined as Android and iOS – they may have had to throw hardware at it just to get it up to par.
Too little, too late (Score:5, Insightful)
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You're right, when it comes to the consumer market. But Microsoft is still firmly entrenched in business. I predict large corporations will eat up Microsoft's new tablet.
Re:Too little, too late (Score:5, Insightful)
You're right, when it comes to the consumer market. But Microsoft is still firmly entrenched in business. I predict large corporations will eat up Microsoft's new tablet.
Yeah. Microsoft is like RIM. Entrenched in business. They have nothing to worry about from Apple.
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When Apple makes a dent in the enterprise market, then MS can start to worry, but since Apple is stopping any sort of move in that direction I don't think MS has anything to worry about.
Re:Too little, too late (Score:4, Interesting)
Perhaps this post was post-dated from 2008 or 2009. iOS (and Android) devices are all over the place in the enterprise market. We do a lot of government contract work, and we had a big two day seminar that was about half bureaucrats and half contractors like myself. I'd say about 2/3s of the contractors had iPhones and Androids, and about half the government workers were on iPhones, which also tells me that Blackberry's penetration is slowly winding down. Plenty of Windows notebooks, but also many Macbooks, and the only tablets I saw were iPads.
The only chance Microsoft has is trying to grab on to the fading Blackberry market, but so far as I can tell iOS and Android are both making pretty deep inroads in the enterprise market. What's more, it's not as if Windows 8 RT actually offers any substantial benefits so far as enterprise integration. iOS's email and calendaring works pretty well integrating with Exchange, and Androids is almost as good. Since enterprise is not going to have any particularly ability to integrate Windows 8 smart devices into AD networks, where exactly is the enterprise advantage here?
Re:Too little, too late (Score:5, Interesting)
You're right, when it comes to the consumer market. But Microsoft is still firmly entrenched in business. I predict large corporations will eat up Microsoft's new tablet.
Yeah. Microsoft is like RIM. Entrenched in business. They have nothing to worry about from Apple.
Right now MS Office compatibility, lack of mouse support and USB host file access on an iPad are the only things stopping me from taking away the laptops from our sales force, so for now they're getting both a laptop and an iPad. They're all leaving their laptops at home and using them at the end of the day.
Apple have every chance to kill Microsoft if they so choose, they just don't know it yet.
Re:Too little, too late (Score:5, Informative)
They definitely will love the groundbreaking "no, you cannot bind it to a domain or control it with AD policies, not even with the purchase of some CAL or extra license" feature...
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Of course this makes one wonder, will it be "real" MS Office? Or some incomplete remake, like Office for Mac... or even worse?
I agree the focus on the enterprise is their best hope. The "surfing youtube" niche is full.
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Wrong!
And I say this as someone who a long time ago purchased a handful of Microsoft's tablets for a business.
The people in business who are asking for a tablet are not asking for an MS tablet. There's virtually no difference between them and the kid talked about in the first post...
Re:Too little, too late (Score:4, Funny)
You want to wear the CONE OF SHAME in a meeting? Bring a Surface. :-)
Why should the Blackberry users hog all the ignominy?
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Yeah, I found it funny that iOS had encrypted ActiveSync before Microsoft's own phone OS.
You pays your money and takes your choice (Score:2)
When are the x86 Surface tablets coming? (Score:2)
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There is a Windows desktop in RT, but it doesn't let you run your own apps, only what comes with it (Explorer, IE, Office, PowerShell etc).
No More Line Between Tablet & Laptop (Score:2)
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It's not the first tablet to do that. Microsoft tried the same idea back in 2004-2005 with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. The technology was immature, the implementation sucked and the market was not ready.
As someone noted in the comments above there may be a business-user, business-app market this time around. I'm thinking about a user who realizes he needs to make some minor last minute edits to an Excel file and then update his Power point presentation to reflect those changes. That sort of stuff.
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I'll move to a desert island and go back to cuneiform on clay tablets, before using a Google-powered device.
Time to pick one up! (Score:5, Funny)
With the Metro interface we all love so much here on slashdot and of course being forced to use this wonderful browser! [youtube.com]'
What is there not to love?
Squirt (Score:5, Funny)
How does this tablet Zune squirt? Is it available in brown?
Come on Apple haters... (Score:5, Funny)
Start your bitching about how Microsoft is gouging for the extra SSD storage. ZOMG $100 for another 32 gig, I can buy 32 gig sd cards for $19.00! What a ripoff! ZOMG!
You might not be able to install SW on the microSD (Score:4, Interesting)
Note that it does have an microSD card slot. With that in mind, the point of the 64 Gb version eludes me completely.
Since this is a walled garden system, you might not be able to install software on the microSD storage.
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You think they will let you install any apps or place any DRM protected video and audio content on that SD card? Only dirty dirty thieves would want to do that.
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Given that WinRT does give the user direct access to the file system (like Android, and unlike iOS), it would be a pointless bet.
I really don't get it (Score:4, Insightful)
The hardware design looks amazing, and would be very welcome when all non Apple hardware tends to be awful, with some notable exceptions like Asus.
The rest I don't understand. $500 and no retina/high ppi display? A 16:9 ratio on a device that is supposed to be meant for productivity? 10.1" is really pushing it for productivity, the wide narrow screen would just kill it. No stylus support. $100 buys you a crap keyboard - at least Asus docks include a big battery.
The Windows 8 tablets looks nicer but then the pricing gets ridiculous.
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Just wait for the Surface Pro.
It will have a stylus, it will have 1920x1080 resolution, it will have an Ivy Bridge Core i5 CPU, well, if the reports are correct.
I'm thinking of replacing my current Thinkpad with that when it comes it, to have something that I don't have to think twice if I feel like carrying it with me when I go out but that I can also run something like Photoshop on when I need to.
I really wasn't expecting the RT one to be any better than any other tablet, which is to say, a toy.
This is what I was afraid of.... (Score:5, Interesting)
I had high hopes for the Surface...if only to keep Apple and Google and Amazon honest. But the $499 price is a complete non-starter. First of all, if you want the cover/keyboard you have to fork over an additional $100. Seems a little steep to me. $50 is more like it. Secondly, when you buy one of the other tablets you're buying into a vast ecosystem of apps. Microsoft? They have relatively little to offer. Sure they have Office but this is supposed to be a consumer tablet, not a corporate tablet.
Unless you are just a huge Microsoft fan to begin with I don't see any compelling reason to buy one of these. You can get an iPad with vastly more apps to choose from. You can buy an Android tablet for much the same reason, and cheaper to boot. You can buy an Amazon tablet for half the price and, if you have a Prime membership, access to tons of movies TV and books.
I was hoping that MS would price it at $399, including keyboard/cover. That would give them a fighting chance against the other guys. Even if they have to sell it at a loss at least they can get them in peoples hands and give developers an audience to write for. As it stands now, this will be Touchpad II.
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Yup. I was lucky enough to snag one of those fire sale Touchpads. After playing with WebOS for a few days I found out that they had little in the way of useful apps so I dual booted it with Android. It makes great little dirt-cheap tablet.
This could be a big mistake on Microsoft's part (Score:3)
They should lose money on every tablet they sell initially to get the damn things out there!
This is falling into the same trap as everyone else who has matched Apple's price --- Apple has the mindshare, the apps and the cool factor. You have to undercut that at least until you are well established!
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Who will find out none of their Win7 software runs (Score:5, Interesting)
targeting the existing 1.3 billion Windows users.
I wonder how many Windows users will mistakenly buy a Surface tablet expecting it to run their "Windows" application/gaming software.
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I can do that now. In fact I have had a windows 8 tablet for 6 months now at close to that price point.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834680442 [newegg.com]
Installed Windows 8 beta on it and have been playing for months.
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Mod parent down.
God; I was afraid it was a link to a browser exploit that would automatically add you to the queue to get a surface. After thinking that Goatse seems quite innocent.
Re:Not Exactly The Same As An iPad (Score:5, Informative)
I will probably buy one of these. They run Windows. They have a USB port. They will run a piece of software I want to run that will not run on IOS or Android, although it also has a version for OS-X.
No, they won't!
Windows RT is *not* Windows. It's a new operating system for ARM processors that is designed to look and feel like Windows, and shares some of the original code base. It has no backwards compatibility with existing Windows applications. Just in case I didn't make that clear, it will *NOT* run *ANY* existing desktop Windows applications. In fact, you can't even recompile or write new desktop application for WinRT. There is a desktop, but it's only allowed to run a few programs, such as Microsoft Office. (Why the FTC is letting them get away with that blatantly anti-competitive decision is beyond me.) Oh, and WinRT can't join domains either, so businesses won't be interested in using it.
If you want to run existing Windows software, you'll have to wait for the x86-based Surface *Pro*, which will set you back nearly a thousand bucks. *That* will indeed be basically a PC in a tablet form factor, and compatible with the usual Windows ecosystem stuff.
Microsoft is setting itself up for a massive backlash with this device. If Slashdot readers are thinking this way ("it's Windows, it will run my software") then how many ordinary users will make the same mistake? They will not be well disposed towards Microsoft products after that experience, I guarantee you.