Microsoft Surface Prices Revealed?

jwcalla said:
Some of you people are crazy.

I can barely stand the thought of Windows taking up space on my desktop's disk, and you're talking about putting it on your phones and tablets and every other device too? And here's our chance to break free from the chains of the monopoly on consumer computing and you want to bring that craziness into your other electronic devices as well? WTF, over.

Tablets are for leisure and entertainment, not work. I would never want to do "real" and "useful" work on a tablet unless I was in one hell of a bind. Unless my "job" was no more difficult than flipping switches by pressing buttons, I would be in tears within no time.

Seriously... who are you people? You people who want MOAR Windows in your lives? And how do you live with yourselves? Or are these comments not even real, but merely Stuxnet run amok? And why am I going to have nightmares tonight?
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And why do you hate Windows so much? How about using some logic: If you have a device that can double as laptop and tablet, and you are someone who already does their productivity work on a laptop (most people, desktops like it or not are a niche) then this device can benefit you greatly.

In the office you can use it as a productivity device, and then when you leave you can use the tablet as an entertainment consumption device. How hard is that to understand?
 
chinesepiratefood said:
And why do you hate Windows so much? How about using some logic: If you have a device that can double as laptop and tablet, and you are someone who already does their productivity work on a laptop (most people, desktops like it or not are a niche) then this device can benefit you greatly.

In the office you can use it as a productivity device, and then when you leave you can use the tablet as an entertainment consumption device. How hard is that to understand?
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You act like this is the first ever inception of tablet/laptop hybrid device that can offer such things. :rolleyes:
 
pelo said:
But then why put it out for sale? Why not make the RT license cheaper if you know the consumer is getting the short end of the stick?
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You keep quoting that $85 RT license fee. It's highly unlikely that large OEMs would pay anything near that.
 
nOrVow said:
You act like this is the first ever inception of tablet/laptop hybrid device that can offer such things. :rolleyes:
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No its not, I have many of these kinds of devices over the years. But Surface hardware is VASTLY superior to current devices, and all the devices from OEMs are better than anything ever made.
 
heatlesssun said:
No its not, I have many of these kinds of devices over the years. But Surface hardware is VASTLY superior to current devices, and all the devices from OEMs are better than anything ever made.
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I admire your evangelism, I feel the same way about Unix/Unix-like OSs. :)

But nothings ever perfect - including the surface.
 
So they said they're paying $85 because they're not paying $85? Just like they're not competing with OEMs but are charging them massive licensing fees on already super-slim margin products against better devices with better software/application support?

$85 includes Student Office + winRT licensing. While that may look cheap to you (I have a feeling a million dollar golden turd from Ballmer would look cheap to you) is $85 on top of anything Android/iOS with equal specs because those operating systems are both completely free.

Paying for Metro is like an extra 'fuck you'. We've both seen its current state and its nowhere near good enough for anything productivity related. You'd need a mouse and keyboard for that. But then why bother with win8, Metro or winRT at all? And what about the Pro version? You'd get a better productivity machine in a thin and light laptop at those prices with better hardware than that tablet.

So I'm left asking the same question again: why? What's the point of this thing?
 
pelo said:
So they said they're paying $85 because they're not paying $85?
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Paul Thurott, Windows fanboy he may be, has blogged about this and his inside industry info is generally very good and he said there's absolutely no one that would actually known what big OEMs are paying has said this.
 
heatlesssun said:
Paul Thurott, Windows fanboy he may be, has blogged about this and his inside industry info is generally very good and he said there's absolutely no one that would actually known what big OEMs are paying has said this.
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Other than a couple of guys who spoke to some representatives of big OEMs who said they were paying ~80-90 with $85 being the norm?

That doesn't matter anyway. There's still absolutely no advantage in buying a winRT tablet over an Android/iOS tablet with better hardware, display and a much better application selection.
 
I never really understood why wi-fi cost more...if you compare a home phone and a cellphone the home phone will always work better, only that wi-fi is more convenient. So a tablet vs laptop and desktop, the desktop is way faster but wi-fi is more fun, yet the tablet should be cheaper cause its smaller. $299 im ready in line, $399 I might buy it, $499 Nah Ill wait till the price drops, $599+ ridiculous.

P.S. hope microsoft lets you upgrade the memory, unlike apple, you buy 8Gb iphone, then you are stuck with only 8gb and cannot upgrade just the memory.
 
nOrVow said:
I admire your evangelism, I feel the same way about Unix/Unix-like OSs. :)

But nothings ever perfect - including the surface.
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I've been into tablets for a long time, it is the most natural and portable form factor.

No the Surface isn't perfect, but again, it's a much better attempt at Tablet PCs than anything before it. But I do believe that the real potential lies in the x86 world. I don't expect Windows RT devices to do well, but they're mostly a hedge until x86 gets closer to ARM power efficiency and that's something that Intel is working feverishly on.
 
zomby said:
I never really understood why wi-fi cost more...if you compare a home phone and a cellphone the home phone will always work better, only that wi-fi is more convenient. So a tablet vs laptop and desktop, the desktop is way faster but wi-fi is more fun, yet the tablet should be cheaper cause its smaller. $299 im ready in line, $399 I might buy it, $499 Nah Ill wait till the price drops, $599+ ridiculous.

P.S. hope microsoft lets you upgrade the memory, unlike apple, you buy 8Gb iphone, then you are stuck with only 8gb and cannot upgrade just the memory.
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If you want a 299 device you get stuff like nook and kindle. BTW windows 8 phones support microsd and will also have internal storage like they do now 8,16gb so on. with cloud storage on skydrive there is no need to keep anything but apps on the phone music and other things can all be used and streamed from the cloud i have a 8gb lumia 710 tons of apps and full cloud access and have over half my storage still. No need for local storage of music ,photos , doc or my nes roms.
 
Time will tell.

The prices look high to me for a tablet and what they're asking isn't remotely what I'd give them for a tablet. Even if it does have a keyboard it's still a tablet on tablet hardware with limitations based on that hardware.
 
pelo said:
Other than a couple of guys who spoke to some representatives of big OEMs who said they were paying ~80-90 with $85 being the norm?
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$85 Fee to Use Windows RT? Please, Just Shut Up

I love these kinds of reports, because they get quoted and requoted around the interwebs as if they’re facts even though when you actually do the legwork to find out where a specific report originated, you find out it was just made up. The latest such rumor: Microsoft is charging hardware makers $85 to use Windows RT (the ARM-based version of Windows 8) on tablets and other devices, a heady fee that may make such devices uncompetitive. Aside from the fact that this “report” ignores the fact that Apple charges a pretty penny for its far less capable iPad, which runs an astonishing $500 to $830, with an average selling price of $665, let’s just examine the facts. First, Microsoft doesn’t charge “a” fee for any version of Windows. It charges different fees based on volume and other considerations. So while “Bob’s PC Shop” may in fact pay $85 to use Windows RT on its device, HP or Dell may pay as little as $5. And second, this story was completely made up. Point being, don’t stress over what Microsoft may or may not be charging hardware makers. And just wait for the actual hardware to show up.
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http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/paul-thurrotts-wininfo/wininfo-short-takes-june-15-2012-143450

pelo said:
That doesn't matter anyway. There's still absolutely no advantage in buying a winRT tablet over an Android/iOS tablet with better hardware, display and a much better application selection.
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I don't see a great deal in Windows RT currently and agree for the most part but
we really don't even know what the final specs of the Surface RT will be and where's an Android tablet better built than this? A molded magnesium body with that stand and cover mechanism? You ain't gonna get it for $200, that's for sure.
 
Built-in complete compatibility with all Windows applications is an enticing prospect. I'll definitely keep an eye on this one.
 
Asus paid $30 for their OEM license of win7. $85 sounds incredibly likely considering it's the winRT license + Student Office.
 
pelo said:
That's cheap for the i5 IB ULV model. At least $200 of that goes into Intel's pockets.

That price for the RT model is laughable, though. At least the x86-based one makes a bit of sense but the ARM based WinRT? No applications and no legacy at twice the price of an Android tablet.
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This is what I was thinking. Given the guts of the pro model that have been disclosed, and the pricing of the closest things functionality wise scheduled to hit the street with windows 8, it seems to be a reasonable price point. It's a hell of a lot less than the $1000 neighborhood that samsung and lenovo are talking about. Ipad aside, the transformer prime is $499 or less, and the keyboard is $120 with another battery in it. They have to do better than $599.

On the other hand, I also think someone realized they could get tons of press by making up numbers to fill in the gap left by microsoft. Given the lengths they went to demonstrating price consciousness with the lumia, I would be shocked to see them fail to keep up with the also rans, much less the market leader.
 
Steve's blurb from the article is pretty misleading...the article states "at least" before botht he $599 and $799 price points.

However if the pro version really is $800, I will likely get it pending how long the battery lasts. Although I think the ARM version is priced well at $599, I don't think it will compete considering Apple is the same price.
 
Folks, Digitimes is wrong somewhere around 99% of the time. They are the national enquirer of rumors. The exist to make shit up.

Those prices make no sense based on the HW involved. The RT tablet is similar to $400 Android tablets, and the Pro is closer to $1000 Ultrabook, or Samsung series 7 Slate.

So as usual this utterly meaningless digitimes nonsense. Though I am sure they appreciate the hits.
 
Snowdog said:
Those prices make no sense based on the HW involved. The RT tablet is similar to $400 Android tablets, and the Pro is closer to $1000 Ultrabook, or Samsung series 7 Slate.
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This is how I see it. But then I thought for a second, let's say it's right. If Microsoft can charge $800 for the Surface Pro, could that mean that there might be some really good $800 and under Ivy Bridge tablet designs? That would be a big deal for Windows 8 if possible but it does seem unlikely at this point.
 
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