Microsoft Surface Pricing Goes Toe-to-Toe With Apple iPad

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.

Comments

Microsoft advantage and disadvantage

[goombah99]

An older relative has been asking me what pad he should get.

I had written off the surface for myself but this forced me to reconsider. The surface has 2.5 advantages that in his case might be the killer app.

First it has that amazingly clever keayboard + kickstand that lets you have your cake and eat it to. It's got the access modality of a laptop. No weight and clumsiness penalty like the fliptops or ultrabooks.

second, it's the only tablet that has both a bonfied tablet interface (metro), and a bonified desktop interface.

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. Now granted you might want to buy new tablet optimized ones. but if you are very familiar and comfortable with a keyboard driven internet explorer, or office program or payroll program or genealogy program, you are going to want a desktop mode.

Notice that will all the other tablets you have to have a secondary computer. your genealogy program or payroll program just isn't going to work on the tablet. without a desktop mode You won't have access to the file system so you can't store and edit and send bulk things like photos easily.

With surface you can get by with just the tablet.

FOr someone like me, my preferrences are
1) 7" tablet = Fire HD (no video out on the nexus, better screen, sound, and faster internet than nexus).
2) 10" tablet apple ipad3. If you are paying more than $200 for a tablet, you want a good one, and apple is the best overall. an extra hundred or so to get the least dissapointing one is not worth worrying about when you just paid atleast 499.