6 ms·

Never say never. If someone had told me that i'd be able to buy a high-end(processor and brand) tablet for $200, I would've laughed in their face.

by gvnonor 14y ago

tomkarlo 14y ago
According to Microsoft, Surface pricing is "expected to be competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel Ultrabook-class PC" (paraphrasing from the original presentation.) It's pretty clear that's closer to the $800 mark than the $200. If they want to compete with the iPad, they'll need to get down into the $500-$700 range, but I doubt they'd be giving that kind of price guidance if anything under $400 was remotely possible in Microsoft's own view - their estimate is probably a "best case" outcome given how incredibly fuzzy they were about it. (Arguably they could deliver at $1000 and claim they're still "competitive" with an Ultrabook.)
- noveltyaccount 14y ago
  To clarify that, the RT version will compete with ARM tablet prices; expect ~US$500. The Pro version will compete with Intel-based ultrabooks; expect ~$1200.
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    $500 is the price of 16GB tablets, Surface's minimum is 32GB.
greedo 14y ago
Sure. Care to specify the "high-end" tablet you're buying for $200? I'm a bit skeptical. If you're claiming the Nexus 7, that's not in the class of the iPad nor the proposed Surface.
- CraigRood 14y ago
  Not really sure what you mean by "not in the class of the iPad". For less than half the price you get more than half the performance. I don't think theres benchmarks out there yet but I don't think its fair to say that a Tegra 3 Quadcore is 'low-end'. It's on par with the A5& A5X technically.
  - greedo 14y ago
    I think counting cores (should be a band name) is a useful metric. By iPad class, I mean similar build quality, similar battery life, similar size, similar responsiveness.

6 ms·

Never say never. If someone had told me that i'd be able to buy a high-end(processor and brand) tablet for $200, I would've laughed in their face.

by gvnonor 14y ago

Never say never. If someone had told me that i'd be able to buy a high-end(processor and brand) tablet for $200, I would've laughed in their face.

tomkarlo 14y ago
According to Microsoft, Surface pricing is "expected to be competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel Ultrabook-class PC" (paraphrasing from the original presentation.) It's pretty clear that's closer to the $800 mark than the $200. If they want to compete with the iPad, they'll need to get down into the $500-$700 range, but I doubt they'd be giving that kind of price guidance if anything under $400 was remotely possible in Microsoft's own view - their estimate is probably a "best case" outcome given how incredibly fuzzy they were about it. (Arguably they could deliver at $1000 and claim they're still "competitive" with an Ultrabook.)
- noveltyaccount 14y ago
  To clarify that, the RT version will compete with ARM tablet prices; expect ~US$500. The Pro version will compete with Intel-based ultrabooks; expect ~$1200.
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    $500 is the price of 16GB tablets, Surface's minimum is 32GB.
greedo 14y ago
Sure. Care to specify the "high-end" tablet you're buying for $200? I'm a bit skeptical. If you're claiming the Nexus 7, that's not in the class of the iPad nor the proposed Surface.
- CraigRood 14y ago
  Not really sure what you mean by "not in the class of the iPad". For less than half the price you get more than half the performance. I don't think theres benchmarks out there yet but I don't think its fair to say that a Tegra 3 Quadcore is 'low-end'. It's on par with the A5& A5X technically.
  - greedo 14y ago
    I think counting cores (should be a band name) is a useful metric. By iPad class, I mean similar build quality, similar battery life, similar size, similar responsiveness.