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Leak Hints Windows 8 Tablets May Be Dearer Than Makes Sense

MrSeb writes "If, like me, you thought Microsoft would price Windows RT competitively, you were wrong: A leaked slide from Asus says that its Vivo Tab RT, due to be released alongside Windows RT at the end of October, will start at $600. Unbelievably, this is $100 more than the iPad 3, and a full $200 more than the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. For $600, you would expect some sensational hardware specs — but alas, that's sadly not the case. The Vivo Tab RT has a low-res 10.1-inch 1366×768 IPS display, quad-core Tegra 3 SoC, 2GB of RAM, NFC, 8-megapixel camera and that's about it. Like its Androidesque cousin, the Transformer, the Vivo Tab RT can be plugged into a keyboard/battery dock — but it'll cost you another $200 for the pleasure. (Curiously, the Transformer's docking station only costs $150 — go figure.)"

16 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. Re:My god, slashdot editors are retarded by alphax45 · · Score: 5, Informative

    RT is what Microsoft is calling the ARM version of the OS. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_RT. Windows Runtime ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Runtime ) is the Run Time. Confused yet? :)

    --
    K Man
  2. Re:Margins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I would assume a price sheet from ASUS would contain prices decided on by ASUS. Why are people blaming MS when it's the vendor's choice to go with these price points?

  3. Re:My god, slashdot editors are retarded by WolfgangPG · · Score: 3, Informative

    Windows RT is the name Microsoft gave Windows 8 when it is running on ARM chips. WinRT is the name of the new Metro framework.

  4. Re:Windows RT + Office by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    British English! Dearer = more expensive.

  5. Re:Margins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    IIS is about 13% of the web server market.

  6. Re:My god, slashdot editors are retarded by not+already+in+use · · Score: 2, Informative

    "Windows Runtime, or WinRT, is a cross-platform application architecture on the Windows 8 operating system. WinRT supports development in C++/CX (Component Extensions, a language based on C++) and the managed languages C# and VB.NET, as well as JavaScript. WinRT applications natively support both the x86 and ARM architectures, and also run inside a sandboxed environment to allow for greater security and stability."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Runtime

    I've never met a group of people so boastful with their ignorance. No wonder Rob Malda jumped ship, I'd be ashamed too.

    --
    Similes are like metaphors
  7. Re:Dearer? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I just checked two US English dictionaries and they both listed that use. I don't think we can blame the original poster for your poor command of the language...

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    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  8. The update is free. by westlake · · Score: 4, Informative

    Trialware is great and all, but I'd hardly call it a feature if you have to pay for the 'upgrade'

    From the MS "Office Next" blog:

    Getting Office Home & Student 2013 RT

    Office Home & Student 2013 RT is only available on Windows RT devices and is not sold standalone. The Windows RT devices available at Windows RT General Availability will include preview editions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. After the final edition of Office Home & Student 2013 RT is released in a customer's language, their Windows RT device will be automatically updated with the final edition for free via Windows Update (Wi-Fi connection required). Customers can expect to get these updates starting in early November through January depending on their language. We'll publish the specific update schedule on October 26 on the Office blog.

    Office Next

    1. Re:The update is free. by RoverDaddy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Exactly. Windows RT = Windows on ARM. Windows 8 = Windows on x86. Microsoft announced this nomenclature a few months ago. In fact the Asus information includes a Windows 8 tablet running on an Intel Atom processor (starting at $799).

      --
      RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
  9. Re:Winning by binarylarry · · Score: 2, Informative

    No, you have it all wrong.

    Now it will be annoying Microsoft fanbois talking about how 2013 will be "The Year of The Windows Mobile Device."

    Which we know will never happen, Apple and Android/Linux own that market.

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  10. Re:Asus not MS... by 0123456 · · Score: 1, Informative

    Remember that these are Asus device, MS doesn't set the price on an Asus product.

    Again, Windows is likely to be one of the biggest single costs in these tablets. If they charge $100 for Windows, the retail price is going to end up about $200 more than the same hardware with Android.

  11. Re:Windows RT + Office by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Dearer"? You mean more expensive?

    In NZ and Oz, "dear" is more commonly used than "expensive".

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  12. Re:Capacity? by Missing.Matter · · Score: 3, Informative

    So, I found the almost full specs.

    Vivo Tab RT | iPad
    Resolution: 1366×768 | 2048 × 1536
    Screen Size: 10.1" | 9.7"
    CPU: 1.4 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 | 1.0 GHz dual-core
    GPU: 12-core ULP GeForce | quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4
    RAM: 2 GB | 1 GB
    Rear Camera: 8 MP LED Flash | 5 MP no Flash
    Front Camera: 2 MP | 0.3 MP
    Sensors: Mag, Accel, Gyro, Light | Mag, Accel, Gyro, Light
    Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 | 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
    Expansion: USB port | Apple 30 pin + $30 dongles Office: Office RT (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote) | None Storage: 32GB | 32GB
    Price: $599 | $599

    So the iPad wins on the screen and that's about it. Now, the iPad is about 6 months old, so it's a bit of an unfair comparison, but this is the comparison people will make until the iPad 4 is released. This particular tablet has more horsepower, better cameras, equivalent sensors and storage, included Office, native USB port.... What's left to know is size/weight/battery, but those should be comparable as well. All for the same price as the iPad.

  13. Re:Windows RT + Office by Paul+Rose · · Score: 4, Informative

    Webster (a US dictionary) shows the 4th definition of the adjective dear:

    high or exorbitant in price : expensive "eggs are very dear just now"

  14. Dear Slashdot by brit74 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This article is horrible. It lists prices for the ASUS tablet and then concludes that Windows RT (the Operating System) is overpriced. The only relevant piece of information in this article is the fact that manufacturers have said that "in June multiple OEMs said that Microsoft was charging between $80 and $95 for a Windows RT license". Using the overall price of the tablet and then concluding that the cost of Windows RT is the reason is horrible, horrible logic. Go to the primary source and figure out how the price of Windows RT ($80-$95) differs from the price of Android.

    Second, you may have noticed that "Sebatian Anthony" is the author of the article (he probably gets paid by ExtremeTech according to the number of pageviews he gets). You may have also noticed that the submitter for this article is "MrSeb" and if you follow the link it leads back to Sebastian Anthony. Yup, the article's author is the same person who submitted it to Slashdot so that he could make money. This wouldn't be so bad if the article wasn't so horribly written. Just take a look at the comments in the article (mostly negative about Sebastian's leaps of logic) and compare them to the comments on Slashdot (mostly positive, probably because Slashdot loves bad press about Microsoft). Stop getting this shitty article-writer paid.

    On a side note, I happen to remember seeing Sebastian Anthony on the old (now gone) "Download Squad". He was a huge advocate of piracy and used all kinds of crappy logic to justify piracy. I'm glad to see his lack of intelligent reasoning extends to his other articles as well.

  15. Re:Winning by Rockoon · · Score: 4, Informative

    I wouldn't laugh too loud. In the last 12 years Microsoft's stock has fallen off a cliff

    MSFT $23.73 - Sep 20th, 2002.
    MSFT $31.17 - Sep 18th, 2012.

    I didn't read the rest of your post because you began with complete bullshit proving that you are completely willing to make up whatever the fuck you want while pretending to be a fucking authority.

    I have this awesome idea.. what you don't know what you are talking about, simply don't open your fucking mouth pretending that you do. Its such a simple thing.. even easier than checking the historic price of MSFT .. and that was fucking VERY easy.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."