Posted on 06/20/2012 6:31:51 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
During their splashy press conference on Monday, Steve Ballmer and the other Microsoft execs referred to the company's upcoming Surface devices as tablets. So it makes sense to compare them to other tablets, right?
Actually, that's only half-right. The ARM-based Surface for Windows RT looks like--and will be priced like--competing tablets, but the Surface for Windows Pro will be too heavy and expensive to compete head-to-head with the iPad. (For the sake of simplicity, I'll refer to the two models as "Surface RT" and "Surface Pro" hereafter.) Surface Pro's natural competition: Windows Ultrabooks.
The tricky thing is that the Surface Pro is the tablet that many Windows users think they've been waiting for. It's the one that can do anything a desktop can do: It can run the apps we have already (like Adobe Photoshop CS6, and Camera Bits Photo Mechanic), graphics-intensive games (like Diablo), and other tried-and-true Windows software; and it has a serious laptop processor, Intel's Core series, that can power through complicated work.
But the Surface Pro's price may not come in at what you'd expect for a tablet. You can buy a new 16GB iPad for $499, but Microsoft has said that the Surface Pro's price will be more comparable to that of an Ultrabook--likely hundreds of dollars more. Granted, that would put the Surface Pro closer in cost to a 64GB iPad ($700), but that price isn't the one that consumers have in their heads for a tablet. Nor is it a price that will generate mass-market tablet sales. Also, at nearly 2 pounds, the Pro will be far heavier than most tablets.
Evidently the Surface Pro won't compete with top tablets in display resolution, either.
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
Competition is a wonderful thing.
I bought iPads for my 3 grandkids but this looks interesting.
Bump for later
Bump for later
Impossible to compare until it is actually released. Right now it is the green grass on the other side of the fence.
If LGBT was done in tech this would be it... :)
But that green grass looks very pretty and pleasing. Assuming they trim it properly that’s where I’ll be playing when it hits the market.
Just plug some cables into my skull with a box and some batteries hanging from it.
"Wow, GTA in 3D."
There might be something to the RT, but the Pro looks like an odd duck.
This article is nonsense. MS hasn’t even stated the price of these tablets.
M$ has brought forth an expensive netbook. Lol
It’s, it’s quite really revolutionary!
This story is all speculation. Microsoft hasn’t even produced a final working model and their record of hardware launches for first generation “me too’s” is not good.
SOURCE:
How does the Surface measure up to the iPad, which so far dominates the tablet space? Hayley Tsukayama compares some of their features:
Screen size: Both versions of the tablet boast 10.6-inch screens, bigger than the iPad’s 9.7-inch display. The company promises that the Surface will have an “HD display,” but hasn’t offered specifics that could be matched up against the iPad’s “Retina display.” CNET reports that the Surface has a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Weight: The RT version is lighter than its counterpart, weighing in at 1.5 pounds rather than 1.9 pounds. Both are heavier than the 1.4 pound iPad (well, the cellular version is 1.46 pounds), but still impressively light.
Casing: Microsoft made a big deal out of its “VaporMg” finish on the case, which is supposed to make the tablet easy to grip. And where the iPad is all smooth aluminum contours, Microsoft has opted for a more angular approach.
Thickness: The RT tablet itself is about iPad-depth at .37 inches thick, while the Windows 8 Pro version is .53 inches thick.
The Associated Press outlines the unusual conundrum Microsoft faces with the debut of the device:
With the unveiling of the Surface tablet, Microsoft is heading into unusual territory: competing with its partners, the very same companies that make Windows PCs. But Microsoft has little to lose, since PC manufacturers are having little success with their own tablets.
With the unveiling of its tablet this week Microsoft Corp. is taking up the competition with Apple Inc. and its iPad by borrowing a page from Apple’s playbook. It is keeping both software and hardware development under the same roof.
“If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the compliments from Microsoft poured down like a torrential storm on Apple last night,” said analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets.
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