Microsoft's Surface Tablet Listed for $1003 After Conversion

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Just look at it: That's not a tablet. It's an ultra-thin laptop that can run x86 applications in a native windows 8 environment. Now if they changed how they marketed it and started calling it an ultra-thin laptop, people wouldn't be so adverse to the $1000 price (it's really all in the name folks).

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Nowadays, a label could be worth a 1000 dollars.
 
Here is the updated article that Toms didn't read:
Released amid much excitement and fanfare, the Microsoft Surface tablet was shrouded in one particular mystery at its debut: How much would it cost? Wednesday, Swedish website Webhallen listed a retail price for the upcoming tablet: 6,900 Swedish kronor, which is $1,003.51 in U.S. currency.

That price is for the ARM-powered Surface tablet, which is running Windows RT with 32GB of storage. The Microsoft Surface Pro, a higher-end unit packing 128GB of disk space and running Windows 8, will reportedly sell for an eye-popping $2,152 (14990 kr) in Sweden.

We contacted Microsoft, asking if company representatives had any comment about these prices that are much higher than other tablets. We will let you know if we get a response to our query.

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson responded: “Suggested retail pricing will be announced closer to availability and is expected to be competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel Ultrabook-class PC. OEMs will have cost and feature parity on Windows 8 and Windows RT.”

We also got a response from Anton Nilsson, who says he’s purchasing manager of Webhallen in Sweden: “I can assure you that these prices are in fact just placeholders.
We put products online as soon as we have the basic info in order to grab those early pre-orders from people who are really in to this stuff.”

Here is the full quote from Anton Nilsson:

Hi Guys, I’m the Purchasing manager of Webhallen over here in Sweden. I can assure you that these prices are in fact just placeholders.
We put products online as soon as we have the basic info in order to grab those early pre-orders from people who are really in to this stuff.

Basically we guess what the final price will be and then add ~40% to that guess in order to make sure we are not making a loss when they arrive. And of course current orders will be adjusted to the final pricing before shipped so no one is getting a bad deal here.
It’s just a way we do things that historically has been very appreciated since customers can relax knowing they have a place in queue and they know we’ll adjust the price before shipping even though it seems high now.

We have also sent this information along to Mashable via their contact form.

Hope that clarifies things

Have a good day all!
 
You guys have to remember that US is VERY cheap compared to Sweden. But even so it's expensive..
 
I get that this is more of a news aggregation site, but I'd like to see the contributors do a little investigation when it comes to things like this. =-(
 
A 32GB iPad in Sweden costs 6395 Kr, does this means that in the US it costs 931$? No it doesn't, it costs 202$ less! When will people stop making direct comparisons of prices from different countries!
 
~1000 for surface RT? It's worse than the iPad. I would pay $500 at most. Maybe 1000 for surface pro, but in that range, there are better ultrabooks.
 
[citation][nom]scannall[/nom]The base unit is $499, or $399 for the iPad 2. iOS may not be your cup of tea, and that's fine. But it isn't as expensive as you have posted is all.[/citation]

dont go with ipad 1 or 2, look at ipad 3, the newest is the direct compediter.

[citation][nom]molo9000[/nom]The problem is that it's neither a good laptop replacement nor a good tablet.It sucks as a laptop because it only has a 10" display and no real keyboard. It's a glorified netbook for 3-4 times the price of a netbook.It sucks as a tablet because it's- Heavy (40% heavier than a regular 10" tablet. That's a big issue for a handheld device)- Only 5-6 hours of web surfing before battery runs flat (based on 11" ultrabooks with same specs. 42Wh battery according to MS), when ARM based tablets give you 10 hours of battery life watching movies.- More than twice price of a regular tablet.You pay all that money to get a bad tablet that's only advantage is being able to run desktop software on a 10" touchscreen. Not a good deal![/citation]

considering a budget laptop will barely give you an hour of non wall time.
its heavier... oh no, it now weighs 2 feathers and not just one.
a keyboard on a cover or external isnt that hard to deal with.
a 10 inch screen isn't that small, you can comfortably surf the web on it, granted if you are using it as only a multimedia device, than sure its a bit small.

and if it can run desktop software, lets say office, than most people who travel would love it because its light, and depending on how the app market pans out, may get this over a ultrabook just because of that.

you have to assume that windows 8 was built for this device, so it will probably be the best way to use that.

so far, i cant see this as a failure.
 
scannall :
The base unit is $499, or $399 for the iPad 2. iOS may not be your cup of tea, and that's fine. But it isn't as expensive as you have posted is all.
Click to expand...



dont go with ipad 1 or 2, look at ipad 3, the newest is the direct compediter.
Click to expand...

The iPad 2 is 399. The iPad [bold]3[/bold] is $499
 
I have notice something, that Samsung SHOULD really notice.

If apple doesn't sue Microsoft, HP and RIM (especially MS) for making tablets because its rectangle shape. It means Apple is making it a personal attack on Samsung because of its possible success.

Android OS, looks and functions like a mobile OS, but no one is going to think its an iPad, nor any of the Samsung tablets look like iPads.

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]A 32GB iPad in Sweden costs 6395 Kr, does this means that in the US it costs 931$? No it doesn't, it costs 202$ less! When will people stop making direct comparisons of prices from different countries![/citation]
So you mean to say the WART Tablet will costs about $700? Still rather high for an ARM tablet.
 
[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]dont go with ipad 1 or 2, look at ipad 3, the newest is the direct compediter.[/citation] You lied about pricing and direct competitor, hence you were voted down.
The iPad2 is $360~400 (16gb)/$500 with 3G. The iPad3 is $500 (WIFI/16gb) ~ $830 (64GB . 4G). The intro price of a plain 32GB MS tablet could be $400~700, we don't know yet.

The specs of the WART tablet puts it against the iPad2... which was released 1.5years earlier.

[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]considering a budget laptop will barely give you an hour of non wall time. its heavier... you have to assume that windows 8 was built for this device, so it will probably be the best way to use that.so far, i cant see this as a failure.[/citation]
Typical $300~500 notebooks of today will give you 2~3 hours. Higher end models (3~8 hours)

No shit Window8 was built for tablets. Considering that MS-Win7 tablets have been on the market for over a year at $1200~1600, I don't see them selling like hot-cakes. Windows8 is not designed for desktop/notebooks... thus, pissing off a lot of people who would view both the WP8/WART tablets negatively. WP7 is a failure compared to Samasung and Apple... even the sinking RIM does better.

The sweet spot for non-Apple notebooks is $400~700 for the mass market. Not many people are willing to spend $1200~1500 for the MS tablet.

As proven by Android and Apple, Windows is not longer important. Worse, Apple should stop waiting their energy on Android. A stronger Android market is better against Microsoft than a weak Android market.
 
[citation][nom]scannall[/nom]The base unit is $499, or $399 for the iPad 2. iOS may not be your cup of tea, and that's fine. But it isn't as expensive as you have posted is all.[/citation]
What? He's talking about the ipad 3.
 
If it comes in at that price, they can forget it. You can buy a decently equipped Thinkpad tablet (with an i7 & Wacom pressure-sensitive pen tech) for just over a grand.

It's a big thicker and heavier than the Surface will be, but it's also a more versatile machine.
 
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