The basic model will start at $499 (£310) with 32GB of storage for the tablet alone. If you also want the fancy cover with the keyboard built in however, you'll have to shell out $599 (£373). The top 64GB model with the cover will set you back $699 (£435).
Compare that to the Godfather of the tablet world -- Apple's iPad -- and those prices seem pretty reasonable. The 32GB iPad comes in at $599 -- exactly a hundred dollars more than the equivalent Microsoft slate. The 64GB iPad shares the $699 price tag with the 64GB Surface, but you won't get a keyboard cover with Apple's tablet, so if typing is on your agenda then the Surface might be the way to go.
Microsoft sadly hasn't said whether the Surface will actually make its way to UK shops or not, so hasn't given any UK pricing (the prices you see above are conversions). Companies often have a nasty habit of whacking a bit of a premium onto their products for the UK market, so whether these prices stay exactly the same if we ever see it remains to be seen.
The prices specifically relate to the Surface RT, rather than the Surface Pro. The primary difference between the two is that the Surface RT runs on a lower-powered mobile processor -- such as those you'd find in other tablets and smart phones -- rather than the beefy laptop processor in its bigger brother.
It therefore runs on the tablet-specific version of Windows 8. You'll still get the Metro interface with the large, colourful tiles to swipe through but you won't be able to install desktop programs like Adobe Photoshop as you would with the Pro version.
Details are fairly scarce on the specifications of Surface RT for now, but it's powered by an Nvidia ARM processor -- probably the quad-core Tegra 3 found the HTC One X -- and will likely have a 1,600x900-pixel resolution.
More details about the Surface RT and Pro should appear in the coming days and weeks in line with the official launch of Windows 8 on 26 October. In the meantime, make sure to keep it CNET UK for all the latest news.
What do you think of the Surface tablets? Is there room for another slate on our shelves, or is it too little too late? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or over on our Facebook page.
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Comments 11
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anonymous 16 October, 2012 14:45
This is looking good, greedy crapple and there huge profit margins should hopefully take a hit from these. I'm defo going to sell my walled garden ipad 3 and get one of these. hopefully it will run elements
Peter Hudson 16 October, 2012 15:30
Looks good. Although unlike Anon above I'm not poor or such an idiot that I'll only own one or the other. I'll keep my iPad and buy a surface as well.
Melial 16 October, 2012 15:54
Funny how you neglect to mention that the cheapest iPad, the iPad 2 is only $399 while the cheapest iPad 3 with a screen resolution far higher than the Surface is $499.
Then of corse there is the soon to be released iPad mini which will be even cheaper again and the 3.5" and 4" iPad Nano (iPod touch) starting at $199.
I don't think anyone is taken in by this transparent attempt at justifying the higher price of the Microsoft Surface.
The lack of apps alone however is probably the biggest problem facing the Surface RT.
anonymous 16 October, 2012 16:26
@ Peter Hudson
So you're an idiot if you own only one of them? i'm pretty sure most would agree that you'd be an idiot for owning both.
Have a think before writing comments.
CaptainPicard 16 October, 2012 16:45
You can actually get a keyboard for the iPad, and most other tablets, but its manufactured by a third party. Hopefully, there will be cheaper alternative keyboards for the Surface tablet soon.
Peter Hudson 16 October, 2012 17:03
Yes you are an idiot if you buy an iPad, then moan about it being a 'Walled Garden', then sell it to buy a Windows 8RT tablet which is just as much a 'Walled Garden' as iOS is. MS will only allow applications that they approve on their software store. And from recent reports, MS are being even more strict with the windows 8 store than apple are with the app store.
Windows 8RT wont have access to the standard windows desktop, it is a Metro only OS. It won't run full windows software, just stuff from their software store.
anonymous 16 October, 2012 20:28
No. The complete iPad is priced the same as the complete surface device but the latter without the apps that the iPad has. The iPad also has loyal developers who actually are devoted to the iPad, not mere disgruntled coders who are reluctantly induced with a payment to make apps for MS.
Advantage: Apple's iPad
anonymous 16 October, 2012 21:35
It's free beer tomorrow in Mikeyland.
anonymous 16 October, 2012 22:06
Ground chuck is generally less expensive than sirloin.
anonymous 17 October, 2012 10:38
It always amazes me how much people who claim to hate Apple pay attention to their every move even more than people who actually buy their products. To those of you actually doing this... please... chill... just enjoy the little things... there's no need to hype another subtle advancement in hardware when software is still in denial trying to catch up or sometimes avoid as the hardware makers give little if no incentive other than a self serving approach. If I was running Apple... they'd be so ruthless that they'd embrace "certain things" loudly to a point that these "people" will walk to a urinal only to find that their "members" are gone and have no idea what happened. This world needs to be owned since the geeks are "unfortunately ignorant" beyond imagination...
Melial 18 October, 2012 23:14
The 32GB iPad is not the equivalent of the 32GB Surface because Windows 8 and the bundled Office take up a good 12GB of storage versus only 1GB for iOS.
This means that if MS shipped a 16GB Surface it would have only 4GB available versus 15GB available on the 16GB iPad.
As such, the iPad is $100 cheaper not more expensive than the Surface.