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

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

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 16, 2012 @05:43AM from the because-high-prices-drive-adoption dept.

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.

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Awesome! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-10-16 05:46 · Score: 4, 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!
1. Re:Awesome! by toriver · 2012-10-16 06:13 · Score: 3, 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 :)
2. Re:Awesome! by MachineShedFred · 2012-10-16 06:41 · Score: 4, 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.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
3. Re:Awesome! by MachineShedFred · 2012-10-16 07:28 · 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.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
FAIL ! by VonSkippy · 2012-10-16 05:50 · 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.
1. Re:FAIL ! by Missing.Matter · 2012-10-16 06:12 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  They undercut the iPad price by $100. Surface starts at 32GB for $499 (and includes Office). The equivalent iPad costs $599 (Or $689 if you want to add in an office suite and a couple of USB/SD/HDMI port adapters for a level comparison). Besides, even if the Surface isn't the cheapest windows tablet, other manufacturers like Dell can step right in and make a $399 tablet.
  
  It's strange, Slashdot blasts Microsoft for entering the hardware space saying they're going to screw over their partners, and then when they don't completely screw over their partners by drastically undercutting the entire market, they get blasted on Slashdot again.
Too little, too late by coinreturn · 2012-10-16 05:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

Finally, they enter the ballgame, just as Apple is set to debut the iPad Mini. Good luck with that, Microsoft.
1. Re:Too little, too late by localman57 · 2012-10-16 05:58 · 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.
"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-10-16 06:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

"...or an ill-conceived also-ran like the Zune."
No. It is a delusional, strategic blunder.

--
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
1. Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-16 06:50 · 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?
2. Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-10-16 07:38 · 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"? It's like the Bizarro World, 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.
  
  --
  "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
  Never been known to fail..."
3. Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." by rtfa-troll · 2012-10-16 07:45 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  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" . 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 that Microsoft do not believe in the Windows 8 strategy themselves. Microsoft know that Android is the most likely dominant operating system of the future and the know that they must be visible there or they risk one of the better alternatives becoming more popular than Office. In the end, Windows will be sacrificed to save the company.
  The high price of these tablets for a much worse specification than an iPad is also a statement. Windows will not die. Just as people are using VMS today, Windows will be with us in ten years time. However it will gradually become irrelevant for normal people and prices will be ramped up. They will squeeze every last little extra drop of blood out of customers with CIOs so incompetent that they have almost total lock in.
  
  --
  =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
4. Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." by Dahamma · 2012-10-16 08:10 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  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...
5. Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." by rahvin112 · 2012-10-16 08:31 · Score: 4, 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.
6. Re:"This is not a secondary business like Xbox..." by NatasRevol · 2012-10-16 10:28 · Score: 4, 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
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
I really don't get it by dell623 · 2012-10-16 07:01 · Score: 3, 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.
Re:Merry Christmas! by samkass · 2012-10-16 07:27 · Score: 4, 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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E pluribus unum