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Microsoft Cuts Surface Pro Price By $100
SmartAboutThings writes "After discounting the Surface RT tablet worldwide by 30 percent, Microsoft is now cutting the price of its Surface Pro tablet by one hundred dollars. Steve Ballmer himself has recently declared that he was unhappy with the number of tablets Microsoft has managed to sell. The price cut offer is valid between August 4th and August 29th. It might continue or stop, according to the supply. The price cut is applicable to Surface Pro 64 GB & 128 GB models."
Omg
Sorry but that's not enough- not nearly enough.
Perhaps if they were between $350 and $550?
Otherwise, I can have a 10" tablet for $300 (or much less) or I can have a laptop for $450 (or much less).
The touch is okay but the price point isn't right.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
I really enjoy mine and the more people that use it the more developers can start taking advantage of some of the half-tablet half-laptop features that make it a damn good travel companion - aside from battery consumption.
"Anybody who tells me I can't use a program because it's not open source, go suck on rms. I'm not interested." (LT 2004)
I can finally run Fred and Mike's apps with me and the other guy who own them.
NOT
http://saveie6.com/
Heres laughing at you Balmer
I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
At that price, the Surface Pro is more or less even with the Wacom stylus-input displays (of similar size, larger ones are substantially more expensive) that don't have a computer attached to them...
Unless the pen input is totally gimped, this seems like it would be a serious competitor to those for everyone except people whose photoshopping is serious enough that the Surface's specs can't handle it. Especially if your demands are at all mobile, it's hard to justify buying the Wacom when you could get the screen and stylus input with the laptop thrown in for free. It's a pity that the Surface can't act as a monitor/input device (optionally, while charging at your desk, for example, it could go from a waste of space to an extra monitor) for more powerful computers.
aside from battery consumption.
...Low Storage Space; Need a table; Heavy; Poor connectivity options(Lacks LETE,3G, or 4G); Pen Attached through Power connector; None Upgradable.
Ooooh Look Google have just released the Nexus 7 version 2
The Surface Pro is actually a really nice device. But at it's price point why would you get it over similar devices that have the haswell chips in them or the devices from Lenovo/Asus/Acer/Sony which each have differing advantages ranging from lighter, longer battery life, better screens or more powerful. I like the device but if you want a windows device their are better value/performance options.
Not interested. Won't buy it. No use for it. Wouldn't take one as a door prize if was bacon wrapped, dipped in milk chocolate and came with a free weekend on Martha's Vineyard with Warren Buffet's Gold Card. I'm confident that even if they were pulled back and sent to the crusher, the crusher wouldn't want them either. Ballmer isn't going to learn until losses like this start coming out of his lily white hide. Let the lesson begin...
Quick question:
I have a pile of bricks for sale. You're building a wood house. If I cut the price of the pile of bricks, does that make you more interested in buying them?
Of course not; You still have no use for a pile of bricks.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Much ink has been spilled about the failure of the unloved RT model...One that other than it being severely crippled with Secure Boot was ARM, something I liked a lot...the pro has a fan! I don't see what is compelling about another Windows 8 Ultrabook (Pen input aside...that is great)
What we do know is that the $900m writedown was related to Surface RT only, but the $853m revenue figure includes sales of Surface RT and Surface Pro combined. Microsoft upped its sales and marketing budget for the Windows Division in 2013 by a jaw-dropping $1bn, which included an $898m increase in advertising costs "associated primarily with Windows 8 and Surface.
The Surface Pro is actually a good product, for what it is (the world's only high powered tablet). Was hoping for a Surface Pro 2 that's lighter and with better battery life.
Steve Ballmer himself has recently declared that he was unhappy with the number of tablets Microsoft has managed to sell.
Can someone please pass the message on to Steve Ballmer that being unhappy isn't a strategy for business growth?
Where do you expect this Windows 8 and Surface fiasco will ultimately take Microsoft? What will happen?
As much as I have been fairly anti-MS over the years (except their backend stuff, that's decent), they have been such a staple of nerd\geek culture over these many years that I find myself saddened and feeling quite bad for them as I watch them make such huge, and possibly in the long term, suicidal mistakes. It is only as I watch them die a slow death that I realize I have had an affection for them all along.
Sorry, nothing insightful or informative to mod up here. I just wanted to say my piece.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
Windows 9 will be 'The best Windows ever! Now with NEW mouse and Start Menu support!'
Why would you think that? Windows 8.1's is an example that Microsoft doubling down on its strategy(start screen seriously) of creating a self styled ecosystem, alienating its traditional users.
So is this retroactive? Will Microsoft be sending a $100 check to the two dozen know-nothings in the Pacific Northwest who bought one of these?
If I'm asked, should I tell them to return the things to the Office Depot or Staples store where they bought them? Every single one would qualify for a return as "unfit for purpose". Hell, most of them would qualify under the store's "no questions asked if returned in 60 days" policies. Then if they really wanted to, they could buy another at the lower price.
Will
The summary nor the article itself mention how much these things cost. Does the $100 discount bring it down to $90? $900? I have no idea. /shrug
handy wheel chock....just saying
These devices came out about a year too early in my opinion. If these had has well ultra chips, the battery life would be incredible and even the original price would have been a steal. I would already have one.
Somebody needs to remind MS that they are not Apple, and can't get away with charging full price for the entire lifecycle of the item. Unlike Apple, which has no direct competition in the OSX/iOS hardware market, the surface is actively competing with other tablet/convertible units out there, and now that Haswell is on the street all the Ivy Bridge units are being discounted to get them out of the way. MS is trailing on this one.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
This is just a sale before the fire sale on these high end Windows touch tablets since they have tons of them collecting dust and need move them or write off lots more money.
I think Mr Ballmer thought that because Apple and Google were selling lots of tablets that if they once again tried marketing a Windows tablet that the mainstream would like it. Wrong. As stated in the subject line, there have been high end Windows tablets for about 20 years and they are used in small dedicated areas where full blown Microsoft Windows OS APIs were needed or picked. They never took over the mass market back then because they were heavy, high priced, and battery life was not something a general user would be willing to deal with. Putting lipstick on this pig didn't change the markets perception Steve and deciding that Windows RT was going to be bastard Windows child for either technical reasons or marketing reasons was a mistake.
Watch out now too because the incoming gravy train from desktop and server Windows is slowing and you have yet to come up with anything else to replace that slowed growth or these losses.
"If you can only sell on price, you have nothing worth selling."
for as good as the surface pro is, i'd rather have a Windows 7 laptop for half the price.
my fucking horrible samsung windows 8 laptop (NP550P5C-A01UB, catchy name, no?) types wherever the hell the cursor is, not necessarily where i had intended to type. fuck windows 8.
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
So does the Surface pro use the same keyboard as the RT?
if so, no price drop will make it worth anything. It literally can't accept keyboard input.
Better start cutting the price back some more. This isn't gonna cut it.
Does it run Linux?
The OS is.
If they sold one with the choice of Android or Ubuntu, I would have bought one at the previous price.
"If you can only sell on price, you have nothing worth selling."
In context of this article its kind of ironic that he never saw the massive slump in iPad market share going from 60% to 40% growing sales at half the speed of the rest of the the market. Perhaps cutting some of those excessive mark-ups in light real competition would not be such a bad thing after all.
People seen to have forgotten how hard it was to compete with the iPad on (just) price for so long. It successfully staved of competition for a long time on that, and a few tricks like retina(When it meant high resolution instead of low resolution) displays.
Well, if the price gets low enough I might get one to use as a coffee cup coaster... Say $1. Maybe...
I can get a Samsung 10.5 inch Note for literally half the price of the discounted Surface Pro. MS is apparently still going on the assumption that people will buy it because it's Microsoft. I don't see how that works now.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Wow, I can't believe it! At $999 the Surface Pro was a great deal on a wonderful device, and now at $100 less, it's even a better deal!!! Buy one before they sell out!! I'm going to sell my car and put all my money in Surface Pros!
(Well, you know someone was going to say it.)
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I will buy some when the price will have been dumped low enough that I can make a benefit reselling components.
People don't want it? Price must not be low enough right?
Holy crap Microsoft! Reality is in your faces. People don't want what they don't want. Your market is saturated. You can't grow. Anything "new" is heartily rejected, opposed, protested and battled against. In the history of all consumer products in the world, I can think of no other product so publicly rejected as Microsoft's newest products.
People don't want your crap, Microsoft. Take a good hard look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. Find out why people don't want your crap and then do whatever is needed to address the WHY. Just creating new crap and expecting people to buy it like they did in the 90s (hint: that was 20 fucking years ago!!) is ridiculous and demonstrably does not work any longer.
Reality check - the price of a generic tablet is under $100. You don't even have to get low-priced tablets direct from Shenzhen via Alibaba any more. They're on Amazon now. Many below-$100 tablets are available. Some are quite good.
Microsoft would like to think they can price their device much higher than that. But they can't. Google's own Android tablets are down to $229 and falling. Microsoft tried to price theirs over $1000, and even now they're only down to $350.
There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.
That one is my favorite.
I'm going to fucking kill Google.
How's that one working out for you?
Why was this modded "troll" when in fact the MS camp on /. is obviously trolling:
Look at the scores. Remember that one a few days ago that got a +5 Informative for being an obvious MS Shill?
Some of the trolls language: "DAMN GOOD travel companion", "Drawing right on
the tablet screen IS AWESOME." "it's predecessors were ...(AWESOME)...The surface
Pro VASTLY OUTSTRIPS either of those..", " This machine REALLY SHINES with
the Click Keyboard."... Boots in 7 SECONDS FLAT.
And its PERFORMANCE is AMAZING, and the
interface is WELL THOUGHT OUT". I could go on. Include any of those keywords
and automatically get 1 mod point for at least 2. An army of moderators needs to go
out and downgrade these unworthy posts about Microsoft or it's products, changing points on some of these clowns'
postings, some of which are from people who post like 5 or more times each. Are we living
in a world where talk is cheap and we can just use ultra-positive words without
giving actual evidence as to _how_ the product is great. Go back to English 101. Explain your point and develop an argument. Shame on these
moderators!
I have an Android tablet and it's the biggest POS ever.
And I will buy some of them just to throw them at walls.
microsoft is dead.
Metro or whatever it is called nowadays has little support.
It might continue or stop, because these are two mutually exclusive outcomes which cover 100% of eventualities.
FTFY, pedantically.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
If they hadn't arrogantly locked the ARM-based devices into Win8 ONLY with UEFI/SecureBoot, there might have been a market for them among people that would have bought them, wiped them, and put something else on them.
I'm sure the dev community would have come up with an Android load for them, and I'm sure Linux hackers would have had fun with them too.
Instead, they will follow the fate of the Zune, and MS are stuck holding millions of near-worthless paperweights.
Good for them.
In Finland the Surface pro costs 899 Euros. No wonder, if the thing won't sell. Who would pay over 300eur for a puny tablet computer?
When a product is being rejected by the market as clearly as this one has been, price is rarely the issue, so trying to solve the problem by lowering the price is like checking your tire pressure when you run out of gas.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Ultrabooks can be used on your lap with a keyboard. Try doing that with a Surface Pro. Ultrabooks let you decide on the angle the screen sits on a table, try doing that with a Surface Pro. It's severely limited as a laptop replacement because the keyboard and screen can't be connected at an arbitrary angle with only the keyboard supporting the device. Ergonomics for the use as an ultrabook competitor are severely flawed this way.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
still not getting one...
Does anyone know of any efforts to port Android to them?
The Surface (RT or Pro) has a tiny screen and a high price. I predicted it was doomed from the moment they announced it. Anyone who wants a tablet will buy a cheaper one, and anyone who wants a laptop will buy a cheaper one with a bigger screen.
Oh yes, that wildly successful ultrabook market.
Not just failing to compete in a market, they picked a tiny niche market to fail in. Then they trimmed 2-3" off the screen size compared to a real ultrabook - which at 13" Intel had already been identified from customer feedback as too small!
If you're going fail, might as well fail big and comprehensively. And lie about who and what they're really competing with. It's the Ballmer way.
1) Nobody who posts on /. actually needs one.
2) Its from Microsoft. That's a LOT of baggage.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Who does MS think they are? They have a long history of making crappy OSes and other hardware, yet they expect people to forget all that and plop down $800 for a tablet that runs Windows? Gimme a break!
I'll wait for 6 months until they write them off (thank god tax payers are happy to subsidize epic fails like this) and dump them on the deal-a-day sites for $150, then I'll root it and put a decent OS on it.
So they're going to try to use the Xbox model to try to get as many devices out there as possible. Unfortunately for MS, Android already beat them to this. Sure, it's possible to late to the game if you have a way of upping the ante in the market, but when you come to the table with a device that is at best on par or slightly below what is already there, then you can't hope to break into the market.
They should have spent more time/effort getting a foothold in the phone market. Windows Phone was DOA and hasn't gone anywhere lately. Do they even still make it? Both Google and Apple were smart to get their foot in the door with a device everyone carries. Then they expanded to the middle ground devices that people weren't convinced they needed. Why would buy a Windows tablet if you have an iOS or Android phone?
Its still not enough of a price drop.
Price drop, plus unlocking the bootloader for an alternative OS.
Otherwise let it go the way of the brown, squirting Zune.
What aren't you getting Microsoft? Too expensive, too crippled, so you have to make it worth it!
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
Well maybe if anytime anyone says anything not bad about Microsoft they weren't berated and accused of being a paid shill we wouldn't get so pissed off. But come on. I really doubt the paid shills they are spending much time on slashdot. 1 we tend to judge hardware on it's merits, 2 we are a very small community, 3 why would they waste their time on a site that refers to all Microsoft praise as official PR.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
I can think of no other product so publicly rejected as Microsoft's newest products.
You must not be old enough to remember new coke. Windows 8 has been welcomed with loving arms by comparison.
When there's a fire sale and I can pick up a pro for $250 let me know.
I don't think I would ever buy anything from M$ when I can get a better, safer product. I think M$ is going the wrong direction and the only way things will change if they fire and hire someone else to improve the company. M$ products lack and just aren't worth the money. Actually I think M$ junk should be freeware. Commercial software should work smoothly but through the years it's been more of a problem then open source products. Just isn't worth my time or money. M$ is second rate junk.
I thought the whole point of the Surface Pro (over the Surface RT) was that it could run Windows x86 software?
What would be the benefit of removing the Windows OS?
If users wanted to install Android or Linux, then wouldn't they be better doing so on a cheaper tablet? (such as the RT)
Apologies, just realised you were talking about the ARM-based RT (not the Surface Pro) *hangs head in shame*
this version of office is white only
I wish this thread required everyone to state if they have A) used a Surface PRO, B) actually owned a Surface Pro, and C) what their environment of choice is. I bought a Pro, and it was the best money I have spent on tech since I bought the IPad 1 back in the day. I do business travel, US and overseas. I consume media, I present things, I take notes, I type memos, I do timecards, I review documents, I read books, etc...
I used to carry a laptop and an ipad; that's cumbersome, especially when fumbling around on a plane.
I tried going to just an ipad (the 3rd gen); too limiting, especially for longer trips.
I tried an android tablet (ASUS transformer infinity), and it was the worst of them all (laggy interface, bad media interface, media rentals stopped working overseas, productivity options weren't nearly as good as the MS Office suite, especially with business compatibility concerns, etc.).
I have run every flavor of Windows. I have run RedHat, Ubuntu, Mandrake, Debian, and Slack. I avoid Mac OS, and plan to continue to do so. I stick with Windows because I game, and games run best on Windows.
I have Kali Linux installed in virtualbox on my Pro, as well as MS Office, IE 10, Chrome, and Firefox. The only place where I am irritated with the Pro is the media interface--I was far happier with Windows Media Player than the crappy thing that they replaced it with... Then again, I hate iTunes too, though I could *also* install that on my Pro if I wanted to do so.
The Pro with a Type keyboard is great for business travel. Oh by the way...the best, under-reported feature: the power brick has an additional USB-out for charging a phone or another device. Power sources are worth their weight in gold when swapping countries regularly.
Businesses are not in business to ship tablets. They are in business to make money. ... Apple has a long history of getting this right.
Businesses have a thing called going concern, and Apple in their pursuit of chasing (hardware) profits sent them with begging bowls to Microsoft...maybe your history is a little different.
Ironically your example is ideal, Where apple made money on printer hardware...the opposition made money on cartridges. If they had done the same with the IPhone and iPad maybe Android would not have more Apps than Apple, and more downloads. Apple is becoming irrelevant.
How would MS make money from their new Windows Store lock-in idea if people replace the OS on their personal Windows Store kiosks?
I don't use it when it was given to me for free, as in my company giving me one to test develop on. Not sure $100 off is incentive enough.
I don't mind that Microsoft has a tablet offering, but the Surface Pro is a disaster.
As a desktop platform it sucks because using the stylus to interact with desktop applications which have had no touch optimization is like trying to cut a lawn with a pair of tweezers, sure its possible, but it's a fucking nightmare in inefficiency.
Also mashing in Windows 8 Metro to the desktop was the worst mistake Microsoft has made because it has pissed off both desktop and new Tablet users.
Expensive, underpowered, and useless with desktop touch, the Surface Pro truly is what was predicted as a fridge with a toaster mangled into it for the sake of appeasing the enterprise crowd unwilling to give up their beloved desktop Apps but want something cooler than a shoebox computer to work on.
I think Microsoft needs to take it all back to the drawing board and try again, if they can survive this round.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Those that astroturf for M$ will always claim they are not a shill yet always write shill pieces for M$ under numerous accounts, paid for by M$. M$ realizes it is near death due to constant failures. People have wisened up to the upgrade myth M$ has been pushing on the computing community. In the end free software will prevail over non free software, especially non free software from M$.
--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.