Microsoft Surface Tablet announced

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Technosteve said:
i don't understand all people pissed about price, you think microsoft telegraphing that this is going to be a premium product by highlighting the craftsmanship and design of the product would put people in the mind set that this thing isn't going to be cheap.
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When you're trying to make a splash into a market you're largely irrelevant in, it's often good to find a way to make a strong impression on consumers that are looking at other hardware too. Click-clacking keyboard attachments aren't the ticket to high sales of $500 hardware. Microsoft would have been wise to undercut the iPad prices. The RT's Windows Store limitation makes it not much more interesting than an iPad, while having a considerably thinner marketplace than the Apple/Play store for who knows how long.

I don't see a compelling argument for buying an RT device over an iPad or Android tablet right now outside of Office, which all platforms are apparently getting early next year. I expected that price would be that compelling reason, but apparently not. I'm not sure if simply "being different" is a compelling enough reason for someone to drop $500 large on it. Hasn't been enough for WindowsPhone either.

-Pyromaniac- said:
Cheapest one with the cover 700 bucks after taxes.

Looks like the Surface Pro is gonna cost $5000.
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a grand at least. but the rational have accepted this some time ago.
 
Doffen said:
So you do not like the fact that you can choose to go for the 499 and then buy the type cover to save money?
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You can, but since its presentation the surface is seen as the complete package, so I don't know why MS didn't bundle a black touch cover in the $499 Unit, and if they wanted to be greedy, sell the $599 with the cover with physical keys
 
Gareth Bale said:
Bring your gifs. How many of you would pay $770 for the 32gb with keyboard?
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First: probably a similar amount of people who would pay $600 for a 32gb tablet with less accessory ports and no keyboard included.

Second: you can get the 32gb for $600 with the touch keyboard. Verdict is still out on how the touch keyboard feels, but lets not act like the type cover is the ONLY keyboard option.

-Pyromaniac- said:
Cheapest one with the cover 700 bucks after taxes.
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Over $100 worth of taxes? Really?
 
Doffen said:
So you do not like the fact that you can choose to go for the 499 and then buy the type cover to save money?
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No that's fine. I'm just saying that the public perception is that the touch cover is effectively one of the major selling points of the Surface and the idea is to have both. Thus, the base price point in terms of what the public sees is the 599 price point, not the 499 one. The "you can just buy the 499 version" idea sort of defeats the purpose of their marketing campaign.
 
Anton Sugar said:
First: probably a similar amount of people who would pay $600 for a 32gb tablet with less accessory ports and no keyboard included.

Second: you can get the 32gb for $600 with the touch keyboard. Verdict is still out on how the touch keyboard feels, but lets not act like the type cover is the ONLY keyboard option.
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When I said keyboard I meant touch keyboard. This is how much it costs here. I was asking how many of you would be willing to pay an extra $170?
 
aesop said:
Uh... Where did you learn math? I just ordered the 32gb with the cover and it was $639.43 (including tax).
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I learned it in Canada (ontario). Where our taxes are 13%. And where the price for some reason (I guess it's because it's the cool thing to do) is 20 bucks more expensive.

620 * 1.13 = 700
 
aesop said:
Uh... Where did you learn math? I just ordered the 32gb with the cover and it was $639.43 (including tax).

Edit: Oh. With the other keyboard.
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Could be Canadian taxes. $599 + tax in Vancouver would be $670 (before the electronics/environmental fees).
 
Divvy said:
No that's fine. I'm just saying that the public perception is that the touch cover is effectively one of the major selling points of the Surface and the idea is to have both. Thus, the base price point in terms of what the public sees is the 599 price point, not the 499 one. The "you can just buy the 499 version" idea sort of defeats the purpose of their marketing campaign.
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With the cover-less SKU they get a lower base price and it's still usable as a tablet. Some people who don't want to do any writing on it may note need the cover.

It's also the SKU that allows you to buy one of the colored touch covers or the type cover. So people might choose to buy them separately.
 
Gareth Bale said:
When I said keyboard I meant touch keyboard. This is how much it costs here. I was asking how many of you would be willing to pay an extra $170?
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Probably less people than would be willing to just stick with the touch keyboard? Which is what MS is banking on.

-Pyromaniac- said:
I learned it in Canada (ontario). Where our taxes are 13%. And where the price for some reason (I guess it's because it's the cool thing to do) is 20 bucks more expensive.

620 * 1.13 = 700
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Oh...Canada. Not applicable to me.
 
Dat Pricing.

lol.

And for people who plans to use this for their "work" using office, really? a screen as small like this can make you more productive than a laptop or an ultrabook? Its thin and light but when you use it with a keyboard its not that much of a difference.
 
Anton Sugar said:
First: probably a similar amount of people who would pay $600 for a 32gb tablet with less accessory ports and no keyboard included.
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They'd be paying for access to an ecosystem that's been built over 11 years that offers the largest selection of software and the most robust music and movie store of any such device anywhere in the world. They'd also be paying for hardware construction quality, design, and access to the largest 3rd party hardware and accessory market of any such device in the world. They'd be paying into the simplest, most stable and consistent tablet UI on the market.

Attempting to compare a Windows RT device -- which the world has neither seen in person nor embraced...one that we're still waiting on basic pricing on at this late date -- to a device family that has sold more than 84 million pieces and made the tablet market what it is today in 2 short years is a bit silly, to say the least.

On that note, I wonder how long it will take RT devices to reach 80 million in sales. Took the iPad about 2.5 years. Can RT devices beat that? Will the enthusiasm for them even be there in light of the limitations on the traditional desktop? Or is that level of sales better suited for the Pro version to tackle?

PSGames said:
Can I order the 64GB version with the Red keyboard?
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you can't order shit right now.

-Pyromaniac- said:
I'm joking but a grand isn't bad. But I'm serious when I say I fear it'll be more than 1000 for the cheapest model with no cover.
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I think that'll be a fair price, assuming the integrated graphics perform acceptably.
 
Anton Sugar said:
Probably less people than would be willing to just stick with the touch keyboard? Which is what MS is banking on.
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Eh? Maybe I'm not explaining this well. Forget the tactile keyboard. The $599 deal, i.e. Surface + touch keyboard, is $770 here. That's where the extra $170 comes from.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
On that note, I wonder how long it will take RT devices to reach 80 million in sales. Took the iPad about 2.5 years. Can RT devices beat that? Will the enthusiasm for them even be there in light of the limitations on the traditional desktop? Or is that level of sales better suited for the Pro version to tackle?
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Even if MS and its OEMs sell exactly one million of combined RT devices they will still be benefied with the apps/ecosystem on the Windows 8 devices so that point is moot, when you buy an RT tablet you know that it won't run x86 programs anyway


you can't order shit right now.
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Ummm

Uh... Where did you learn math? I just ordered the 32gb with the cover and it was $639.43 (including tax).

Edit: Oh. With the other keyboard.
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PSGames said:
I'm sitting at the preorder screen right now.
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oh? and what price are you seeing?

f0lken said:
Even if MS and its OEMs sell exactly one million of combined RT devices they will still be benefied with the apps on the Windows 8 devices so that point is moot, when you buy an RT tablet you know that it won't run x86 programs anyway
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not sure how your comment relates to what I said? what does that have to do with what you quoted?

Reallink said:
I wonder how much they paid their team of market strategists and analysts that actually sat down in a room somewhere and said "Hey guys, lets release a specually inferior iPad, with an objectively inferior app store, for the same price or more than the iPad".
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a lot of money. and lots of focus groups.

what could possibly go wrong.
 
I wonder how much they paid the team of market strategists and analysts that actually sat down in a room somewhere and said "Hey guys, lets release a specually inferior iPad, with an objectively inferior app store, for the same price or more than the iPad".
 
Biggzy said:
The iPad mini will most probably canalize the Kindle fire and the Nexus 7 sales, rather than the surface.
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We'll have to wait and see, but I think the iPad mini has a good chance of cannibalizing the entire tablet market - including Apple's own high-end iPads. I think for most people tablets are secondary devices and they don't necessarily need a top of the line product.

Anton Sugar said:
This.
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iPad 2 sells for $399 and the iPad mini (which will probably replace that) is likely going to retail for $299.

You can compare specs and whatnot but the average consumer is going to open their Best Buy flyer in November and see these devices listed right next to each other with a huge price gap and it's going to be tough for Microsoft to overcome that first impression.
 
Radec said:
And for people who plans to use this for their "work" using office, really? a screen as small like this can make you more productive than a laptop or an ultrabook? Its thin and light but when you use it with a keyboard its not that much of a difference.
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Not saying this device is useful at the office, but you can easily hook it up to another monitor and usb keyboard and mice.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
not sure how your comment relates to what I said? what does that have to do with what you quoted?
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That as a consumer one is benefied in buying the ipad because its huge marketshare and sells allows one to be benefied from the vast ecosystem even if you were to buy say, an iPad first gen, 90% of the apps run on it.

So as a consumer even if you buy a model which sells shit, you would still be benefied in the same way because of the large marketshare Windows 8 will have
 
Reallink said:
I wonder how much they paid the team of market strategists and analysts that actually sat down in a room somewhere and said "Hey guys, lets release a specually inferior iPad, with an objectively inferior app store, for the same price or more than the iPad".
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You forgot the "..and we have more ports and office, I think we can get away with it lol. oh and lets add $50 more to the keyboard and cover so we can get ahead with apple".
 
Dreams-Visions said:
They'd be paying for access to an ecosystem that's been built over 11 years that offers the largest selection of software and the most robust music and movie store of any such device anywhere in the world. They'd also be paying for hardware construction quality, design, and access to the largest 3rd party hardware and accessory market of any such device in the world. They'd be paying into the simplest, most stable and consistent tablet UI on the market.

Attempting to compare a Windows RT device -- which the world has neither seen in person nor embraced...one that we're still waiting on basic pricing on at this late date -- to a device family that has sold more than 84 million pieces and made the tablet market what it is today in 2 short years is a bit silly, to say the least.
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True, Windows RT is unproven, but it matches the iPad on everything you mentioned except the number of apps. It appears to be top-tier build quality, Xbox Music/strong media services, and an arguably better touch/tablet UI.

I'm not saying the price point is the best, but I can see why they went with it. Windows 8 isn't Windows Phone 8--there are far fewer reasons to think that the app store won't explode vs WP.

Sean said:
iPad 2 sells for $399 and the iPad mini (which will probably replace that) is likely going to retail for $299.

You can compare specs and whatnot but the average consumer is going to open their Best Buy flyer in November and see these devices listed right next to each other with a huge price gap and it's going to be tough for Microsoft to overcome that first impression.
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Compared to 1st/2nd gen iPads, yeah. It's not like the "new" iPad's sales were prohibited by the price, however.
 
f0lken said:
That as a consumer one is benefied in buying the ipad because its huge marketshare and sells allows one to be benefied from the vast ecosystem even if you were to buy say, an iPad first gen, 90% of the apps run on it.

So as a consumer even if you buy a model which sells shit, you would still be benefied in the same way because of the large marketshare Windows 8 will have
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I still don't know what you're addressing here. I asked 3 questions in what you quoted: (1) whether the enthusiasm for RT would be there in high numbers, (2) how long it would take RT device sales to reach 80 million units sold, and (3) whether that's not even realistic for the RT and better suited for the Pro models.

Which of these 3 are your replies seeking to address, because I'm still lost? You seem to be addressing a question that I don't recall asking here (whether RT adopters will be left to burn if RT doesn't catch on?). Yes, RT users will continue to benefit from the growth of the Windows Store. That has nothing to do with questions 1, 2 or 3. That said, I'm interested in seeing how the lack of use for the desktop (beyond Office and whatever else Microsoft allows to run on it) impact unit sales. Especially given the prices we're talking about.
 
Going by the specs sheets:

- The surface RT has only a 5 point multitouch display XD (The pro has 10-point multi touch).
- The processor in the pro is definitely an ivy bridge i5
- RT has a 31.5W-h battery, the pro has a 42W-h (was that revealed before? Can the battery life be estimated with that?)
- The RT has dual microphones, the pro for some reason has only one.
- Both has 2 720p cameras (front and rear)
- The power supply for the pro has twice the power of the Rt (24w vs 48w) the pro power supply also has a port for charging usb devices.
- The Office 2013 that comes with winRT is the preview, it will be upgraded to final free of charge some time next year.
- Apparently the pro will be sold only with the pen.


brotkasten said:
There is a official remote desktop app in the Windows Store and it's pretty good.

http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/en-us/app/remote-desktop/051f560e-5e9b-4dad-8b2e-fa5e0b05a480/m/ROW

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive...-windows-store-app-managing-multiple-pcs.aspx
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Yeah, i made a proof of concept by testing the remote client to a host on Ms azure. It was flawless.

I was afraid that the app was only available to x86, but glad that it's not the case.
 
I'm interested in reviews. They should come out today or tomorrow right? Journos got their Surfaces? Unless the NDA lasts until launch or something :/

I just want to see what they say about the touch cover. I don't get that thing at all, interested to see if it's as good as described.
 
Eh, went ahead and got a 32GB. Looking forward to trying it out.

I find it stupid, however, that we can't pick the color of the Touch Cover. Instead, you got to buy another one to get the color you might want, if it's not black. smh
 
-Pyromaniac- said:
I'm interested in reviews. They should come out today or tomorrow right? Journos got their Surfaces? Unless the NDA lasts until launch or something :/

I just want to see what they say about the touch cover. I don't get that thing at all, interested to see if it's as good as described.
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Writing a review takes a bit longer than a day. The good ones at least. I'd expect them next week, but before launch.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
I still don't know what you're addressing here. I asked 3 questions in what you quoted: (1) whether the enthusiasm for RT would be there in high numbers over the next couple of years, (2) how long it would take RT sales to reach 80 million units sold, and (3) whether that's not even realistic for the RT and better suited for the Pro models.

Which of these 3 are your replies seeking to address, because I'm still lost. You seem to be addressing a question that I don't recall asking here. Yes, RT users will continue to benefit from the growth of the Windows Store. That has nothing to do with questions 1, 2 or 3. That said, I'm interested in seeing how the lack of use for the desktop (beyond Office and whatever else Microsoft allows to run on it) impact unit sales.
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Oh I see, my bad, I should have quoted your entire post, but I will quote this:


They'd be paying for access to an ecosystem that's been built over 11 years that offers the largest selection of software and the most robust music and movie store of any such device anywhere in the world. They'd also be paying for hardware construction quality, design, and access to the largest 3rd party hardware and accessory market of any such device in the world. They'd be paying into the simplest, most stable and consistent tablet UI on the market.
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A Winbdows RT tablet is not a tablet in a vacuum like The HPtouchpad is, MS also has a vast escosystem, with is own renew music, video and app store, cloud services, productivity programs and services, entertainment, and everyone seems to agree that the Surface has hardware construction quality and design.
 
maeh2k said:
Looking at the used materials, the attention paid to details such as the stand, the angled camera and the covers, the Surface is about as premium as it gets. And people know that and want that.

That's why there's a 170 page long thread about the Surface as opposed to no thread at all for the Acer Iconia W510.
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hey, if other people want a quality magnesium case, more power to them! i prefer intel inside for the same price.





Windu said:
Lenovo Lynx > 510.
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that was my runner up
 
No fucking wonder they didn't mention the price till they absolutely had to. Jesus.

I'll wait and see how much the Pro is. If it's over 1k then I'm getting an iPad 4 and calling it a day.
 
Anton Sugar said:
Compared to 1st/2nd gen iPads, yeah. It's not like the "new" iPad's sales were prohibited by the price, however.
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iPad 2 and the putative iPad Mini are supposed to be functionally similar to the new iPad (they will sometimes even perform better than the retina iPad). There, people are ponying up extra money for a higher resolution display.
 
Technosteve said:
i don't understand all people pissed about price, you think microsoft telegraphing that this is going to be a premium product by highlighting the craftsmanship and design of the product would put people in the mind set that this thing isn't going to be cheap.
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i'm not upset! i'm just not considering it as an item i would purchase or recommend to others. good thing there are several OEMs that offer products with features and prices more to my liking!
 
maeh2k said:
Looking at the used materials, the attention paid to details such as the stand, the angled camera and the covers, the Surface is about as premium as it gets. And people know that and want that.
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Maybe pro, but no modern tablet with 1366x768 can count as premium anymore.
 
361928-surface-with-windows-rt-vs-apple-ipad.jpg


http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411035,00.asp

AdrianWerner said:
Maybe pro, but no modern tablet with 1366x768 can count as premium anymore.
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Do you know how much of a god damn pain in the Ass Retna displays are to design for!?!?!?!
 
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