Surface Pro pricing revealed: $899

[injapan]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

But the Surface RT is definitely not positioned as an iPad competitor, it is positioned to do 90% of what a real laptop can do. MS office, you can just plug in USB key boards and mice, even USB wireless ones. Real side-by-side multitasking. Make no mistake, it is a real PC. A great choice, for many, not all (gamers, graphic artists, CAD users, etc should stay away). If all your needs are covered by what it can do it is a much better choice than the Pro -- lighter, longer battery life and much cheaper. Especially when you figure the price of MS Office into the equation.

well, thats the real point isn't it? If it can't compete in a very competative market then .....

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by injapan

well, thats the real point isn't it? If it can't compete in a very competative market then .....

Sure it can compete -- you are just placing it in the wrong market. (The ipad is still selling even though the simple Kindle e-ink reader is only $69.-, the price of one doesn't affect the other). The market for the Surface Pro is those who also need a PC but want that PC to be as light and portable as possible -- and also want it to fullfil tablet functions. And most tablet users now still have PCs, some even have both desktops and laptops.

[HarryT]

Sounds like a very reasonable price to me. As others have said, they're competing against Ultrabooks, not low-end tablets. I shall probably order one.

[hrosvit]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sounds like a very reasonable price to me. As others have said, they're competing against Ultrabooks, not low-end tablets.

Agreed. This does not seem unreasonable to me. What will ultimately determine its fair value (to me) is the battery life. I don't need another Windows tablet with a four hour battery.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

The market for the Surface Pro is those who also need a PC but want that PC to be as light and portable as possible -- and also want it to fullfil tablet functions.

That would be me!

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I shall probably order one.

I'm inclined to as well - if only to avoid having to lug a great heavy laptop when I'm travelling.

Mike

[Anabran]

"it is positioned to do 90% of what a real laptop can do. MS office, you can just plug in USB key boards and mice, even USB wireless ones. Real side-by-side multitasking. Make no mistake, it is a real PC. A great choice, for many, not all (gamers, graphic artists, CAD users, etc should stay away)"

Well for $900 USD I would Demand the ability to run "real " Graphics & 3D animation and Video editing programs so yeah I would Definitely stay away.

[xendula]

The appeal of Utrabooks, to me, is their weight and battery life. At 4 hours, I will stay far, far away from it. I'd rather be getting the Samsung Ativ 700. I've been holding off on ordering one because I thought the Surface w/Win Pro was a contender.
Oh well. Missed opportunity again.

[Andrew H.]

The cost (with the keyboard) is $30 more than an 11" Macbook Air.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

But the Surface RT is definitely not positioned as an iPad competitor, it is positioned to do 90% of what a real laptop can do. MS office, you can just plug in USB key boards and mice, even USB wireless ones. Real side-by-side multitasking. Make no mistake, it is a real PC. A great choice, for many, not all (gamers, graphic artists, CAD users, etc should stay away).

I disagree. If you are a heavy Office user,then it may cover 90% of what you do with your laptop. The fact that you are locked into an app store, makes it just another tablet, but with a lousy screen resolution and an (at the moment) obscure OS. One can hope it will take off and get app developers excited enough to start churning out apps for it, but it may end up like the HP-whatwasitsnamecauseIforgot. Right now, it does not do a single thing that I use my laptop for, and much much less than what I use my iOS and Android tablet for.

[Anabran]

"Right now, it does not do a single thing that I use my laptop for, and much much less than what I use my iOS and Android tablet for."

My sentiments exactly
My Mac laptops were always cumbersome overkill for my mobile computing activities( web surfing,watching occasional video and casual reading/studying)

and the REAL PRODUCTION WORK I need to do on my Macs were not practical for the road such as long 3D animation render& video compositing and other VFX stuff where the computer needs to just sit and process frames for several hours at a time.

Hence the tablet craze with a "mobile OS"( IOS/Android).

Bigger than a smart phone for my aging 49 year old, bifocal assisted eyes.
but much smaller & lighter than my cumbersome laptop.

This $900 dollar surface does not fit my scaled down tablet needs nor would it suffice as a true windows laptop for the processor intensive CG work That I Do.

[vaughnmr]

Those of us in the AEC world (Arch/Engr/Construction) can't wait to get these in our hands, and out into the field.