back_by_demand :
stevejnb :
My response is that my point isn't that the Surface Pro 2 is not an awesome hardware unit... But it's an awesome hardware unit that will likely cost more than other hardware units that will cost less and do as much or almost as much. There will be lots of Windows tablets out there for which every single thing you said are also possible and I'm betting a lot of them will cost less. My point is, what's SO compelling about the Surface compared to similar products that are not notably hardware inferior and actually cost less? Unless you DESPERATELY need 12 hours battery life instead of having to plug it in after 8, or *slight* more hardware power is worth hundreds of dollars more, or some sort of Surface cover is something you *need* compared to a competing tablet keyboard, what justifies the extra cost?
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XE700T1C-K01US-11-6-Inch-128GB-Velvet/dp/B00CTHQORA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379981319&sr=8-1&keywords=ativ+q
The price point of this device is like any range of devices, it used to be crappy 10" netbooks running Linux compared against Alienware laptops - all those plastiky crappy windows tablets that are made by Acer and such are trying to live in the same space as cheap Android tablets - whereas the Surface exists in the same space as highend ultrabooks and certain other tablets like the Samsung Ativ Q, the price of which far exceeds the Surface and yet you as a Surface owner (or so you say) diss the cost.
As a company, you can do 2 things, either exist as a bottom feeder, scraping the margins from products that are almost impossible to differentiate by their boringness and when you use then it is hard to contain your indifference. Or you can make the absolute fastest and most powerful item you can, that can work or play and have subtle refinements and awesome engineering.
The new Surface exceeds all other high-end tablets, including the $1200 Samsung posted above, but undercuts it by $200 even if you include the keyboard, then try to compare the price of some high spec ultrabook knocking around for $1500 or more. It is not an over-priced product, it is a comparative product on performance, but for price it is excellent value.
Oh, and if that makes you think i'm an MS employee, that's real easy to say but so difficult to prove, i'm sure there are plenty of Google and Apple shills in these forums too, go wave a flag for world peace.
JD was not wrong about that misinformation. Not only did you cherry pick possibly the most overpriced Windows 8 tablet you could find, but you also based your argument about one that was released in 2012... One which I had looked at when I was looking at buying the original Pro and turned down because of the *stupidly* high price.
Again, at around the same time that came out at $1200 (before the Surface Pro, actually) the Iconia W700 came out for less money than the Pro with equivalent or *better* hardware (see: significantly more battery life, though no micro SD card) AND it came with a Bluetooth keyboard/stand AND a docking bay very similar to what you can buy separately with the Pro now. Also, read some reviews on the Iconia W700 - many of them comment on the excellent build quality, not your usual Acer junk. In almost every measureable way, there was a better Windows 8 tablet on the market compared to the Surface Pro when the first Pro was released.
So you come in here talking about misinformation while cherry picking the most expensive Windows 8 tablet you could find released in 2012 to compare against the Surface Pro 2 not even released yet... Very honest of you there - and you have the gall to accuse me of misinformation.
So, let's compare the Surface Pro 2 to something it will actually be competing against, Asus's Transformer Trio:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/03/asus-announces-the-transformer-book-trio-likens-it-to-a-laptop/
Every model comes with 6 gb of ram, compared to 4 for two of the four Surface Pro 2 models. Every model comes with a SSD drive AND a one terabyte hard drive built into the keyboard dock, which also has another battery built into it. Whereas the Surface is limited to i5 processors, some models of the Trio have an i7 processor. Lastly, the thing runs Android as well as Windows 8, something no Surface model can do. And yes, unlike the Surface, the keyboard comes included, and not as a $100'ish add-on. In at least a few ways, this device is clearly superior to the Surface Pro 2, though not in others. Not suggesting its for everyone, but it *certainly* muddies up that "market leader" statement you made.
There is no price released, but if MS actually expects the Surface Pro to actually be the "market leader" you proclaimed it as, they had better hope this thing costs significantly more than the Surface, and that no other company releases competitive products - like they did last year. Also, this is the same company releasing the T100, a device with superior hardware to the Surface RT, runs FULL Windows 8, comes with a keyboard, and costs the same as the RT - so they've proven to undercut the Surface line on another product, why not this one too? If the Trio is actually cheaper than the Pro 2, I would have a hard time suggesting the Pro 2 to any but a few very select users.
Your post was outright disingenuous. You came in here and posted year old hardware pretending like it was the cream of the crop that the Surface Pro 2 would be competing against, when it was the overpriced model I had passed by last year when I was looking for tablets.
Oh, and lastly...
http://i41.tinypic.com/or8neb.jpg
My Acer Iconia (hooked into my HDTV, not on screen) sitting beside my Surface RT, which has your post open up on it. Photo taken with my Lumia 900. Your smear campaign and puffing up of the Surface brand - which frankly, I'm very fond of - is a joke. They are good products - no, great products - but the prices are just not that compelling.