Analyst: Microsoft to price Surface RT tablet at $400 to $500

Microsoft's new Surface tablet, slated to ship later this month, will be priced between $399 and $499, an analyst said today, in the same ballpark as Apple's iconic iPad.

Sameer Singh, an analyst with Finvista Advisors, an India-based mergers and acquisitions consulting group, pegged the price of the Windows RT-powered Surface based on his preliminary -- and sight-unseen -- estimate of the tablets BOM, or "bill of materials."

Source

I saw a contest where the estimated retail price of the Surface RT being given away was listed as $350.

A Guy

 

[pparks1]

Both the Surface RT and Pro includes a keyboard. Also, how is the iPad looking like a cheaper device when it starts at $499 and goes up to almost $900?

Sorry, I might have just recalled the earlier discussions where Microsoft had not confirmed whether the keyboard would be included or an add-on extra.

I was saying it would appear cheaper when I thought the keyboard was an extra. But if the pro version, the one that most people would probably want is $800-$1100..it will be costlier than a $500-$600 iPad.

500 dollars for a large ipod touch for middle aged people versus a tablet PC that can get legitamite work done? I see an end in sight for the ipad...

Well, i guess we will see. I'm not a believer that at the cost it's going to be, that somebody is going to pay more for the MS tablet than they would a more functional laptop or ultrabook. I sure as heck won't.

I played with the lighter, sexier, Apple Mac Book looking Dell XPS Ultrabooks and felt they were crap. Would never elect one of those over a latitude with real functionality, more ports, expandability and just better features. But others really think these Ultrabooks are sweet. It just comes down to what you expect from a computer.

 

[Coke Robot]

Speaking of tablets, I read today about an enterprise geared tablet, which by the way the enterprise Windows 8 tablets PCs seem to be what tech heads would like, and it seems beastly. It has an add-on battery, a credit card reader add-on, several ports and I think some other things too.

And I read that a concept gaming tablet WILL in fact be a real deal soon. It strikes me as an Xbox controller of sorts with a large touch screen.

I think we can all agree: there are going to be a CRAPTON of tablet PCs and options and different form factors.

 

[pparks1]

Speaking of tablets, I read today about an enterprise geared tablet, which by the way the enterprise Windows 8 tablets PCs seem to be what tech heads would like, and it seems beastly. It has an add-on battery, a credit card reader add-on, several ports and I think some other things too.

But will it be usable in the enterprise?????

Our company has been evaluating the Dell Ultrabooks, as a potential replacement to our Latutide E6400 series laptops. The Ultrabooks are smaller, lighter and many maintain "Sexier" looking However, after evaluating, they just lack in so many areas that almost unanamously, anybody who is a power user has instead elected to get a Latitude E6430 instead.

 

[Coke Robot]

I think it'll depend in general on the enterprise and its use of tablets. A few enterprise tablets, like one from HP in particular, has a docking base and has extra I/O ports for use like HDMI and USB. And it'll also have to depend on the tablet itself and how much connectivity it can offer. The compromise of thinness will need to be made to pack on a lot of connectivity. I'd be on the look out for an enterprise oriented tablet for decent amounts of ports and such for those wanting more connectivity.

I'll post a link to an article about this tablet I found the other day as I do believe it actually has Ethernet built in...or at least an add-on accessory for such...

 

[Coke Robot]

Hands On With The Kupa UltraNote, A Modular, Customizable Tablet That Makes Windows 8 Shine | TechCrunch

This is the tablet I speaketh of.

 

[R0bR]

122687]Sorry, I might have just recalled the earlier discussions where Microsoft had not confirmed whether the keyboard would be included or an add-on extra.

I was saying it would appear cheaper when I thought the keyboard was an extra. But if the pro version, the one that most people would probably want is $800-$1100..it will be costlier than a $500-$600 iPad.

.

[/U]

Actually Microsoft confirmed the keyboard was included at the Surface unveiling event. As for the iPad you would have to compare the top of the line $900 ipad to the Surface Pro and even that doesn't come close considering the Pro is a full OS. So for $200 more the Pro is a better deal than the iPad for what you get. If you want to compare a full OS then it's the Pro against the Mac Book Air and again the Pro is the better deal.

 

[jimbo45]

Both the Surface RT and Pro includes a keyboard. Also, how is the iPad looking like a cheaper device when it starts at $499 and goes up to almost $900?

Sorry, I might have just recalled the earlier discussions where Microsoft had not confirmed whether the keyboard would be included or an add-on extra.

I was saying it would appear cheaper when I thought the keyboard was an extra. But if the pro version, the one that most people would probably want is $800-$1100..it will be costlier than a $500-$600 iPad.

500 dollars for a large ipod touch for middle aged people versus a tablet PC that can get legitamite work done? I see an end in sight for the ipad...

Well, i guess we will see. I'm not a believer that at the cost it's going to be, that somebody is going to pay more for the MS tablet than they would a more functional laptop or ultrabook. I sure as heck won't.

I played with the lighter, sexier, Apple Mac Book looking Dell XPS Ultrabooks and felt they were crap. Would never elect one of those over a latitude with real functionality, more ports, expandability and just better features. But others really think these Ultrabooks are sweet. It just comes down to what you expect from a computer.

Hi there :

I travel a lot so SIZE and WEIGHT is of paramount importance.

I have a fully functional 11.1 inch Acer laptop fitted with SSD , 8GB of memory and an I3 processor as well as one USB3 port, two usb2 ports and decent sound out plus HDMI HD video out. It's not much thicker than a tablet too.

The I3 processor is perfectly adequate for what I need to do on a computer most of the time and its power consumption is less than the faster I5.

This laptop cost me (tax free at an airport) 275 GBP / about 340 EUR --- and is INFINITELY better than any low powered tablet --doesn't take much more space either.

Why on EARTH would I even CONSIDER using a tablet -- I could almost buy 2 of these light small laptops. for the price of a much less powered tablet with definitely a lot less functionality as well.

With screen resolution of 1366 X 768 it's actually usable for a lot of applications a typical tablet won't handle.

There aren't many 11.1 inch laptops around -- but for travelling etc you can't beat it -- ever tried taking one of those HUGE Alienware laptops on to a crowded plane (even though they are great machines). Just carrying it is bad enough.


Anyway here's one dedicated "Tablet hater".

cheers
jimbo

 

[WestOkid]

The prices of these win8/RT tablets will be there undoing. The Win8/Pro line may ultimately replace ultrabooks as a natural evolution, But so what. they dominate that space anyway. That does not ensure a transition into the mobile space they crave. The RT line is where they need traction, yet it is that line they are guaranteeing failure. I have seen them priced between $600 and $1000 for the RT arm based tablets. That is ridiculous. There is already an established market and MS is a late comer. Regardless of the fact that a win8 tablet may have more potential than Android/IOS, you have to at least acknowledge the price point they have established in order to eat into their market share. Only techies will buy a tablet for this kind of money and hope it works out. They don't mind if they end up like windows phone. There are few pluses to buying an RT that can only run Metro apps. It's library is paltry compared to Android and IOS and all we have is hope that it will grow to even a respectable fraction of the others. That said, why would any sane person pay more for a windows RT tablet over a cheaper iPad or Galaxy Note? What am I missing?