Surface for Windows RT
- OS: Windows RT
- Light(1): 676 g
- Thin(2): 9.3 mm
- Clear: 10.6" ClearType HD Display
- Energized: 31.5 W-h
- Connected: microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae
- Productive: Office ‘15' Apps, Touch Cover, Type Cover
- Practical: VaporMg Case & Stand
- Configurable: 32 GB, 64 GB
Surface for Windows 8 Pro
- OS: Windows 8 Pro
- Light(1): 903 g
- Thin(2): 13.5 mm
- Clear: 10.6" ClearType Full HD Display
- Energized: 42 W-h
- Connected: microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae
- Productive: Touch Cover, Type Cover, Pen with Palm Block
- Practical: VaporMg Case & Stand
- Configurable: 64 GB, 128 GB
(1), (2). Actual size and weight of the device may vary due to configuration and manufacturing process.
Suggested retail pricing will be announced closer to availability and is expected to be competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel Ultrabook-class PC. OEMs will have cost and feature parity on Windows 8 and Windows RT.
avianflu wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 14:13:
pricing is key
If it costs $1200 or up, the MS tablet is just another laptop with a keyboard and ports on the side.
Dmitri_M wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 11:49:TheEmissary wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 11:12:That's a very limited market. Unless MS are happy selling this device only to a niche community of tech geeks. There isn't a real tablet market. It's all Ipad. I have single digit IQ relatives who are about as tech savvy as a garden hose cavorting about with Ipads excitedly. MS's latest OS is rock solid and the BSOD meme is played out, and inaccurate, but the "ha ha bsod" BS is taken as fact amongst casual tech users. The comparisons to the Xbox, that MS can sell this at a loss are forgetting that unlike the Xbox there are no games to make money off of, no long term gaming community to build. Can't compare a console to a gadget like this.
A lot of people want and will pay the extra premium for the x86 tablets because they aren't confined solely to the walled garden and can run standard software from the back catalog.
HorrorScope wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 12:00:
Which will do more, this or a laptop? Whichever can do more, should be priced higher.
Verno wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 11:36:
I can't shake the feeling that everyone is just rebuilding the laptop, the keyboard almost seems like a direct admission that touch interfaces can't solely meet most users interaction needs. The form factor might be attractive to some people I guess more than anything else but laptops and netbooks seem to have some overlap there too. I don't really see the App ecosystem in place to drive this thing with casual users either.
I'll talk to some friends and family later to see what they think of it after the mainstream press does the rounds tonight.
TheEmissary wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 11:12:That's a very limited market. Unless MS are happy selling this device only to a niche community of tech geeks. There isn't a real tablet market. It's all Ipad. I have single digit IQ relatives who are about as tech savvy as a garden hose cavorting about with Ipads excitedly. MS's latest OS is rock solid and the BSOD meme is played out, and inaccurate, but the "ha ha bsod" BS is taken as fact amongst casual tech users. The comparisons to the Xbox, that MS can sell this at a loss are forgetting that unlike the Xbox there are no games to make money off of, no long term gaming community to build. Can't compare a console to a gadget like this.
A lot of people want and will pay the extra premium for the x86 tablets because they aren't confined solely to the walled garden and can run standard software from the back catalog.
TheEmissary wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 11:12:
A lot of people want and will pay the extra premium for the x86 tablets because they aren't confined solely to the walled garden and can run standard software from the back catalog. Being able to have full experience is a huge deal for tablets especially when most tablet apps are just phone apps on a large screen.
I have a feeling the ARM version will be the loss-leader for Microsoft kind of like what they did with the XBox. I can see that version being comparable in price to either to the iPad or a low end notebook.
Ultimately it comes down to what people need or want out of the device. If you want a media consumption device then the iOS/Android tablets will fill that need far cheaper. If you want netbook/ultrabook with different form factor you might be considering the Microsoft tablet.
Creston wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 11:01:Beamer wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 10:44:Creston wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 10:38:
Yes, but how often will it BSoD / do I need to reboot it to keep it working?
I'm gonna hazard a guess and say this will go the way of the Playbook and the TouchPad.
Creston
I doubt it. Plus, with Microsoft tightly controlling it, I doubt there will be many BSODs. I'd think this board is technical enough to know where BSODs tend to come from.
Bad drivers. What in Microsoft's history has given you any kind of idea that they can write drivers worth a shit?
Anyway, so far the Tablet market has seemed to be dominated by hipsters who will only buy something when it has Apple on it. Amazon managed to get good penetration with the Kindle because it was several hundred bucks below an iPad (and really isn't a competitor to the iPad to begin with.)
Every other iPad competitor has pretty much failed horribly, no matter its OS, specs, or company behind it. I'm not sure why MS thinks that they will be different, unless they truly believe that people are just DYING for Win8. (And Balmer is insane enough to actually believe that.)
The MS name attached to it is a burden, not a blessing.
Well, I guess it could be succesful if they sell it for 300 bucks or so. Which is pretty unlikely.
Creston
Verno wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 10:09:
The Xbox and Xbox 360 were largely failures on their own merits, Microsoft simply kept dumping cash into them until they had finally gotten where they wanted to go. They need to be prepared to do that again if they want to take on Apple and Google to a lesser extent.
Beamer wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 10:44:Creston wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 10:38:
Yes, but how often will it BSoD / do I need to reboot it to keep it working?
I'm gonna hazard a guess and say this will go the way of the Playbook and the TouchPad.
Creston
I doubt it. Plus, with Microsoft tightly controlling it, I doubt there will be many BSODs. I'd think this board is technical enough to know where BSODs tend to come from.
Creston wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 10:38:
Yes, but how often will it BSoD / do I need to reboot it to keep it working?
I'm gonna hazard a guess and say this will go the way of the Playbook and the TouchPad.
Creston
Verno wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 09:02:
2 years too late, I'm not sure they'll get any serious traction unless they sell it at a major loss for awhile. When it comes right down to it I'm just not sure there is this large untapped touch screen market, it seems like Apple already has the "casual Youtube and email" demographic pretty well cornered.
Verno wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 10:09:
I expected them to do something original and instead it's just yet another tablet, a bit disappointing.
Prez wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 09:30:
Typical of Microsoft - late to the party again. They have a habit of releasing good products to the marketplace too late that are liked by critics but ignored by most everyone else. It does look like a nifty device though; maybe this will avoid the fate of the Zune and Windows phone.