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."

Comments

Not enough

[Maxo-Texas]

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.

Re:Not enough

[David Gerard]

If you never want to run apps on it, ever, then Windows 8 is apparently a nice interface for touch.

Re:Not enough

[icebike]

If you never want to run apps on it, ever, then Windows 8 is apparently a nice interface for touch.

That is pretty true of Surface 8 RT (although there are quite a few apps for it).

But Surface 8 Pro is a full fledged 64bit Windows (wintel) device that will run just about anything your desktop machine will run, and the performance is pretty amazing. Beats the hell out of my Android 10 inch tablet in terms of speed and responsiveness. It really is pretty nice hardware.

For my day job, (where I have to do Windows Development) I've had to travel with a monster laptop, but I've now got everything on a 128Gig Pro 8 with and additional 64gig MircroSD card for storage, and the click keyboard.
I have all my source code, compilers, linkers, IDEs and a complete replication of my work environment on the device.
I can even run VMware on it. Linux in virtual machines for supporting my other customers.

Yes, run time is not that great (although its way more than the 4 hours claimed because its battery saving strategy is very good).
Yes, Its heavier than my Android tablet, but nowhere near as heavy as even a small laptop).
And, IMHO, the touch interface is less than inspiring, but I spend most of my time working in an a software development environment (desktop) anyway do I don't notice.

Expensive! That's the only serious complaint. But as a business tax write-off, it didn't hurt much.

Hate on RT as you will, but Pro is a good product, and a pretty high price.

Re:Not enough

[ozmanjusri]

Bahahahahahaaha

Yeah, Icebike is a MS promoter from a long way back.

I prefer the Australian Financial Review's version:

Microsoft slashes Surface prices (for unlucky few)

Microsoft has slashed the price of its ill-starred Surface Pro tablet in countries around the world. But, in a lucky escape, the discounts don’t apply here in Australia.

Prices for the Surface Pro tumbled in the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan over the weekend. In the US, it’s now listed as “Starting at $799”, $US100 cheaper than it was a few days ago.

Meanwhile here in Australia, the Surface Pro still starts at $999, just like always. Fingers crossed the discounting doesn’t spread down here, otherwise people might be tempted to buy one, which wouldn’t be a good idea. Not just yet, anyway.

http://www.afr.com/f/free/technology/digitallife/microsoft_slashes_surface_prices_MjgML0oVz8scIMOLdJ78LL

Re:Not enough

[icebike]

I don't work for, or get paid by MS, I work for a small software development company that delivers systems designed to run mostly on windows, some Linux as well.

I've seen my mod trail, and as fast as someone knocks it down others kick it back up.

By the way, I've been accused of being a shill for Apple, Ubuntu, Google, HTC, VMware, OpenSuse, KDE, Foxit, Chrysler, Garmin, Samsung, Motorola, Microsoft, Intel, and Starbucks, to name just a few. If I got a pay check from all of them I could quit my job.

I'm sorry you don't like seeing positive posts about things you have CLEARLY never laid fingers upon, but that's YOUR problem, not mine.

I've been looking for a substitute for my monster Dell (oops, yup, must be a shill for them too, right?) laptop for years. Its heavy to drag around on business trips. Its battery life is way worse. I spent 25 minutes at a Microsoft Kiosk on the Surface Pro, (after having read up on it for a month). The guy let me download my compilers (not Microsoft products) and some free source code off the web and actually run some compilations. He let me install OfficeLibre (yup, shilling for this rat bastards as well), open some documents, update and save them to his device. (He didn't even complain that I wouldn't consider MS Office, although there was a bundle for that). He didn't care what I did to the machine, he had a fast wipe capability at the kiosk. I walked away. Had a Widmer Hef, (shill !) and thought it over.

Finished the brew, walked back and slapped down my Visa (shill). Done, and Done.

I like it. You don't have to. But grow the fuck up, and learn to see that everyone who disagrees with you is not being paid to do so.

Re:Not enough

[ozmanjusri]

Yea everyone knows a Nexus 7 beats a core i5! AMIRITE?

It does if your goals are to have a handheld tablet which runs cool, has great battery life, plenty of touch-optimised apps and low OS maintenance requirements.

And that's the problem with both the Surfaces.

The RT is late to the party with several irritations and nothing better to offer than the other tablet OSs, not to mention a lot less apps available. The Pro brings the same old Windows benefits, complexity and issues every other Windows machine brings, but also puts nothing new on the table. Technically there's lots of click-click cleverness and interface bling, but neither enables users to do anything new or better than what's already available.

Microsoft has been trying to do tablets for longer than most companies - I even still have a Compaq Concerto with Pen Windows on it - but they've never managed to give the actual users of the hardware any tangible benefit for the cost or complexity. For users, it's not so much "Where do you want to go today?" as a bewildered "Well, what can I do with this thing now?"

Pity it doesn't work as a peripheral...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

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.

Still useless

[girlintraining]

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.

"Unhappy" is the new strategy?

[bogaboga]

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?

Re:Excellent

[Bert64]

There is an entire world of people who still don't understand that Surface Pro is radically different than RT.

And the reason for that is misleading marketing... MS are so obsessed with the idea of forcing the windows brand everywhere that they are blind to the fact that this brand is poisonous on mobile devices. Windows is not a desirable brand, its something people put up with because they have no other choice in many cases, it's highly detrimental in a market where users realise they do have choice.
The only thing it has going for it is compatibility, and yet they dilute the brand with incompatible products, which again turns customers away.