Microsoft Cuts the Price of the Surface Pro by $100

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Move in the right direction. Another $100 off of each model of both the RT and the Surface and they're *very* compelling products. I still feel like paying over $300 for a 32 gb RT is a lot, and Pro is still hovering at the top end of the tablet spectrum and even into the ultrabook spectrum when it just doesn't have the name brand to warrant significant attention at that price point. The Pro is an awesome device, but you can buy four pretty decent Android tablets for the cost of one of them, or even the status-symbol (though vastly overrated at that price point) iPad. Who outside of tech nuts know what a Surface Pro is, or wants one?
 
Unfortunately, the Surface Pro is no longer an interesting product with rumors of the Surface Pro 2 and other Haswell machines announced.

Personally, I wish they'd make a 13.3in or larger Hawell tablet with a proper dock for those who really need it for work and a 8in to 10in Bay Trail tablet for dedicated content consumption and occasional work.
 
Surface tablets should have been priced like Nexus tablets

Just like the Xbox One should be priced like the PS4

MSFT wants to make money at the point of sale and after....
 
I always considered Windows 8 to be a tablet OS, and since I will never install it as a desktop one, the price cut may be compelling enough for me to jump on board.
 
A 13" Surface Pro would be nice. 11" is too small if you're trying to compete with the ultrabook market, which is basically what the Surface Pro is - otherwise it's extremely overpriced to be competing with the tablet market. Microsoft's execs keep missing the mark, where other companies have already pioneered the markets, painting a big bulls-eye for them.

Sell us a 13" Haswell-based Surface Pro 2 with 128GB storage at $899 or go home, Microsoft. (And sell the tactile keyboard attachment for half its current price.)
 
The problem is that MS went too far outside of what people expect. Some think that a tablet should be cheap, because they expect low end hardware. Surface is a pretty good idea, but MS is not Apple, and people wont buy it because it not a cool thing. People bought the Xbox because thats what everyone else had. Start at the lower end, take a slight hit on POS profit, establish a name for tablets, then work the high end.
 
As someone mentioned the keyboard cover should be included. Both the PRO and the RT don't work as well without a keyboard.
 


I actually do quite agree with this. A) the prices are outrageous for something that is advertised as a major selling feature - whenever advertised, the Surface is presented with the touch cover as if it were a part of the machine. Then, you find out that it's an extra $100 on an already high price. My guess, a lot of people bought iPads upon finding this out.

B) Regular Bluetooth keyboards, which work just as well and cost significantly less. I like the idea of the touch cover but, honestly, for about half the price you can get a working Bluetooth keyboard.
 
100 bux off but no cover? you dont save anything, the cover is a big part of it. This is not worth talking about unless its 100 bux off without giving things up. They need these down to 699 for a 128gb model then they can sell em. They are way too pricey despite the fact they are many times more powerful than any android/apply tablet. Definitely wait for haswell or for another brand's tablet with an AMD APU.
 
Considering the performance the price wasn't as high as people are complaining, it is not just a tablet OS as it has full desktop OS also - even if you pay extra for the keyboard it is very competitive as an ultrabook - what the hell is wrong with all the ignorant comments? By all means hate what you want, as long as it's real, but don't invent things that are wrong as it makes your argument less valid.
 

That creates another issue with that product. If the device only works well with a keyboard, it means its a failed design of a tablet. also, as far as the joe-blows know... there are no other non-ms made win tablets.
windows is irreverent. I'm posting this from my android phone... even thou I am 5 feet from my quad core I5 win7 desktop.
 


Demand, my comments of "they should drop it more" are based more on public perception and what might actually help MS sell these damned things rather than a statement that I believe they are overpriced. I actually agree with you, they are quite competitive with ultrabooks for hardware. The problem is, at this point, the average potential buyer thinks "tablet = iPad" and honestly looks at it like some gold standard and everything else is just some sort of knock off. Even though the iPad is the horribly overpriced device and something like the Pro is actually competitive with Ultrabook pricing, most people don't see it like that - they see a $900 tablet that doesn't run Apple apps.

MS wants to advertise it as a tablet but price it like an Ultrabook, but when people think tablet, they don't think "this could replace my PC if I wanted it to," they think "I could play music and web surf and maybe even write a document on this if I had to!" Like it or not, in the eyes of the public, the Pro is competing with the iPad, and it's a much more expensive competitor.
 


Actually, both of them work just fine without a keyboard. I've got an Acer Iconia W700 - basically an Acer version of the Pro (far better deal, I might add) - and it functions very well as a tablet without the keyboard. The thing is, since it is capable of functioning as more than a tablet and as an ultrabook, it does need a keyboard to function full.

If you don't want to word process, you don't need a keyboard with the RT any more than you need it with an Android tablet or an iPad. Metro is actually a rather well designed tablet OS and once you learn its gestures - which MS admittedly doesn't make that easy - I find it actually more slick than my Android tablet in comparison.

If there is a "problem" with Windows tablets, it's that a lot of them have Micro HDMI outs and the full version ones are very well suited to plug into a monitor/TV and operate as a desktop. This added functionality requires a keyboard and a mouse though. Having this option is wonderful but it does require the keyboard/mouse combo. Is having this option, which iPads and Android tablets largely lack, to be held against them though?
 

Ignorant comments? Not really.

They simply aren't buying into the Slate and Ultrabook hype. Once you ignore the hype, Surface Pro and Ultrabooks in general look more like overpriced laptops than anything else. If you can live with a 1/4" thicker, 1lb heavier and 2" wider machine (due to 15" instead of 13" screen), you can get a regular laptop that comes standard with keyboard and does just about everything just as well (minus touch-screen) for $200-400 less.

People will stop complaining about ultrabooks once they become the new standard defining the $500-700 price range. For that to happen though, Intel needs to quit charging $300-600 for the $100 CPUs they want OEMs to cram in those machines.
 
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