Report: Microsoft Surface Tablet Costs at Least $300 to Make

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Best case scenario for MS is that this tablet turns out to be great for use with OneNote, and finds its way onto many office-users desks.

I have a real convertible tablet PC with Wacom pen tech, and it's great for taking notes with OneNote, that are automatically saved to their cloud storage, and accessible on my desktop office PC as well. I can also copy parts of my notes (drawings, etc.) and paste them as an image in emails and to aid in explanations that I enter into our bug tracking software.

As a device for home use, somebody needs to innovate in the area of ergonomics. The best config I've found for usability with my Android-based device is to use my left hand like a music stand to hold the tablet. The right hand handles the touch input, and I have the MessagEase keyboard that pops up in the corner and I enter the text with my right thumb.

There doesn't appear to be any real preferred way of holding and interacting with it though, since every configuration is at least somewhat awkward and uncomfortable after a sufficient period of time.
 
[citation][nom]southernshark[/nom]I don't see the RT tablet going anywhere.MS should have just focused on the x86 tablets and tried to bring prices under control. MS should not put any money into the RT version and should not waste money on developing software for it.[/citation]

I don't think it's a market Microsoft can afford to lose.
 
[citation][nom]frombehind[/nom]I'm sorry, can someone please explain to why ANYONE would want the surface... that (while a bit cheaper) CANNOT run x86 programs, and has no established device-specific app base. In case no one noticed, ppl dont spent over 500 bucks on current tablets to read email. The massive app base is the primary selling point of these devices is a sea of similar hardware.On the other hand, I am waiting for "the real" tablet with baited breath... I have no issue paying a small premium for the ability to run all my x86 software on what looks to be a decently spec'ed tablet[/citation]

Reason #1 - free version of Office 2013
Reason #2 - substantially cheaper

I'll be interested to see how battery life and weight compare as well.
 
[citation][nom]bustapr[/nom]i dont really care about any tablets at the moment, but Im sort of following this W8 tablet launch cycle. I really dont know how microsoft expects to succeed in the RT market. If it costs them $300 just to make their own tablet, how much will it cost OEMs who are paying an extra $80. If miscrosoft intends to succeed with W8 RT, they HAVE to sell cheaper than the iPad and so do the OEMs. That also means that if microsoft intends to have OEMs contributing to its success, they have to sell it to OEMs alot cheaper.[/citation]

I personally think they should go for the $300 price point (Ballmer's recent comments suggest that they might). They can subsidize the cost the way they did for Xbox (contrary to what the article said above that was a case of losing money on the hardware to make up for it on the software).

They really HAVE to do this because they need to buy market share at this point in time in order to justify app development, which is their biggest challenge right now. It will be the app eco-system that allows them to thrive in so many ways, once they've got that then prices can match those of the iPad and OEMs can come along with dozens of Surface like devices for more money but they need that initial market penetration, they also really need to bring a strong Microsoft product library to the table at launch (I think not having Outlook would be a huge mistake), and need to find a way to support WP7 apps to ensure the device isn't completely useless at launch. For now there's a lot of reasons to believe Windows RT and RT devices will fail, better to throw money at it early to buy market share than make the entire investment in vain.
 
[citation][nom]mcd023[/nom]I'm guessing about $500 for the RT, mostly for build quality and the keyboard bit and about $800 fro the Pro. I forgot the processor speed, but $800-$900 is what I'm guessing, but more on the $800 side. btw, I'm looking forward to the surface pro. If I do decide to go with that model, the lightness and versatility will be very welcome, since I travel a lot. My Asus G51VX is great, but super heavy. These new IvyBridge cpus will probably perform about the same as the Core2Duo, even when I overclock it to 2.4GHz[/citation]

Based on Ballmer's comments I think you're wrong, entry price of $300 would be wisest, $400 max, with the pro versions coming in at $700-$800 otherwise you get into too much competition with Ultrabooks. I think they'll definitely be under the Asus pricing, which I find a little too high to manage.
 
[citation][nom]Tab54o[/nom]I think this information is bullshit. How can it cost this much when all these materials are bought in bulk?[/citation]

The original Kindle Fire cost more than $200 so it doesn't seem unreasonable for Surface to cost around $300 with more hardware and better hardware.
 
[citation][nom]caedenv[/nom]I don't think the app issue is going to be much of a problem for long. In the games section alone of the win8 store it went from ~100 games before it was opened up, and now that it has been open for 2 weeks it is already past 300 games. Surely not all of them will be stellar, but 100 apps per week in just one category is not bad. It is surely more apps than I will ever use.[/citation]

It's not about the number of apps, it's about which apps. I'll take MS Office any day over all the office imitators. There are dozens of task management apps but I'll take Do.com over all of them. It's a bit like Halo on Xbox, they need high quality showcase apps to sell the platform, exclusive apps no one else is offering.
 
It seemed rather unlikely that it would sell for $200. Though I could see initial sales during the holiday season being that low to spike interest. I fully expected both version of the Surface to bein the $500 range, like most other tablets are.
 

The Kindle Fire is selling at a loss, as Amazon fully expects you to use it and buy their content, where they hope to make up a profit. There isn't that much expectation with the Surface. Yes you will likely get content from MS's app store, but not all of it, unlike the Fire.
 
For those of you crying foul over the price point, I heard a rumor (not gonna call it fact yet) that the Nook tablet's next iteration is supposedly going to feature Windows RT.

I can't quite remember, as it is late and I plan to go to bed quite soon, but I reaad it on either here on Tom's or on CNET. HOWEVER I doubt that at an approx $200 price point they would feature the free Office 2013 (a trial perhaps but not full versions), but it is something I plan to keep an eye on.

And I plan to buy the regular Surface at the $600ish price point because as someone not sold by mindless media hype *looks at iSheep*, I do not currently own a tablet because none can even remotely replace my laptop, and for that much it better come damn close at least in one aspect or another. Face it, without an addon Bluetooth keyboard, tablet based file creation is a nightmare. And being able to work on a report, update my resume, etc while in the waiting room at the doctors office or on the train, then being able to seamlessly transition that work to my desktop or laptop when appropriate would be a dream come true. If you want to sell me something for as much as a moderately sized television, I want more than email, youtube, and Angry Birds.
 
You folks have forgotten about Microsoft's venture into the gaming arena. The original Xbox was denounced as a futile attempt to enter a market too late to even be noticed. I remember it too well. No one ever thought Microsoft had a chance to break into this market and especially so late. They sold the units at an extremely discounted price.
Take a look at Xbox 360 now...It is the industry standard in gaming consoles. Where is Nintendo? They were in the #1 spot just a few years ago. In 2012, Xbox 360 reigns top in the gaming console market. If Microsoft could "underprice" the original Xbox, what makes anyone doubt that they can't "underprice" the Surface and once again fool all the nay-sayers and Apple fanboys!
 
I have been using windows 8 on both a tablet and a PC since the first dev preview. I can say that the RT surface has me the most excited. The RT will have the longest battery life and will run all of the apps that work best on the tablet. anytime I want to do something with my PC horsepower behind it I simply run the remote desktop app that is available in the market place and connect to my home PC. I have found that this works very well Usually when I want to do x86 style stuff I connect my keyboard and mouse because the apps tend to be less touch friendly. The crazy thing is I am finding myself going x86 with less and less frequency. Do not make your judgement regarding the RT based on the current app market, The RT app numbers are going to go up quickly and I can tell you from experience they are the easiest and sexiest apps when using a tablet.
 
[citation][nom]Zingam[/nom]+ Windows $200 + trasport, profit, etc = $1000 = joke[/citation]

windows RT build is being sold to OEMs for an extremely low price so your calculation is a joke
 
Prescott,

There are already RDP programs for ARM devices in the $5 to $25 range. Check out Splashtop.
 
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