[NewsPoster]

A page on Microsoft's web site appears to have quickly leaked the pricing for Microsoft's forthcoming Surface RT tablet ahead of its official unveiling later this month. The Surface RT, which will not run the full version of Windows 8, will likely start at $499 and will range in price up to $699. The leaked pricing figures, while comparable with the tablet market-leading iPad, are well above the expectations Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer set recently for Surface pricing. The pricing page has been taken down, though, so the price points are not necessarily final.

The page was discovered this morning by TechCrunch, which captured a screenshot of the Surface RT product page before it was taken down. That page shows a 32GB Surface RT without the capacitive Touch Cover keyboard attachment priced at $499. A 32GB model with a Touch Cover is priced at $599, while a 64GB model with Touch Cover costs $699. The page also gives the option to swap the Touch Cover for a Type Cover, which features hardware keys, for $10 more. Notably, the Surface models with Touch Covers are listed as "Out of stock," even though the device has not yet been released. Since the company unveiled the Surface tablets back in June, there have been no hands-on reports on how well the devices' signature keyboard covers work. That these may not be available when the device launches could signal that Microsoft is having some issues with the keyboards, either in producing them or in making them functional. A brief overview paragraph indicates that Microsoft will be shipping the Surface RT with a copy of Microsoft Office 2013 RT2 preloaded, along with "Xbox apps and other essentials." Of the two Surface models, Surface RT is meant to be the more consumer-oriented, and it is expected to be the lower-priced of the two. Surface Pro, which is not detailed in the leaked page, runs the full version of Windows 8, is expected to be priced more like an Ultrabook. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently hinted that Surface devices would be priced "probably $300 to about $700 or $800."

[gregindc]

Honestly, the concept is interesting and competition is good. But will people really want a device that has a footprint larger than a laptop? And requires a flat surface??

[coffeetime]

Price point is big issue here. For this price, people would rather get a full functional PC laptop. If they go lower, they will piss off Acer CEO again & turn off other PC makers.

[SockRolid]

Originally Posted by gregindc 

... But will people really want a device that has a footprint larger than a laptop? And requires a flat surface??

Those two problems, together, are killers. You can't use Surface with Touch Cover or Type Cover on your lap unless you use the kickstand and you're really really careful. But if you use it on a desk, Surface is just an under-sized desktop computer with an uncomfortable keyboard. The absolute worst of both worlds.

(And I didn't even bring up the "WTF are all these rectangles?" issue for your average Windows user.)

[SockRolid]

Originally Posted by NewsPoster 

... Since the company unveiled the Surface tablets back in June, there have been no hands-on reports on how well the devices' signature keyboard covers work. That these may not be available when the device launches could signal that Microsoft is having some issues with the keyboards, either in producing them or in making them functional. ...

Oh the irony. Microsoft used to be famous for its keyboards.

Microsoft clearly felt the need to pre-announce an unfinished product. Too bad for them their FUD doesn't work any more. FUD only works when you dominate a market, consumers and IT managers actually pay attention to what you say, and you can scare everyone away from potentially better, younger competitors simply by mentioning vaporware. It doesn't work when you're a hopeless wannabe, you've wasted a decade trying to push Windows Slates into an indifferent market, and the competition is delivering hardware + OS + apps + user experience + cloud-based infrastructure like clockwork.

So yeah, take your time with the keyboards, Microsoft. Get at least that one thing right.

[ggirton]

I have a sinking feeling that after the Surface launch, FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) is always going to apply, by default, to all new Microsoft product announcements.

[qazwart]

The problem is that this is the same price as the iPad. Heck, the iPad 2 (last year's model) is $100 less.

This feels very much like the Zune: Develop a product that has dubious "delta" value over Apple, but sell it at the same price. The Zune was going to unseat the iPod because the Zune had the ability to share song (called squirting), and an FM receiver.

The Surface has the keyboard. But, that's not how I use my iPad. I lie down on my couch and flip through it. I flip it horizontally and vertically depending on what I'm viewing.

The surface is built to be table top. It has a keyboard (which may not be so good for typing) and a kickstand. Is it a tablet or a laptop? Is Windows 8 suppose to fill in the desktop market or the tablet market. Maybe the two will one day merge into a single OS, but right now Windows 8 just feels awful. Metro is confusing as a desktop OS, and the old Windows desktop keeps popping up when you use it on the tablet.

Microsoft is drinking its own Koolade here. They wanted to prove that WIndows is the world's greatest tablet OS as they've been saying since 2002 with Windows XP. It's why the tablet and desktop HAD to have the same operating system.

Will people pay the iPad price for a non-iPad? Android has become popular because it does its best to undercut Apple's price. The Nexus 7 is only $199. Amazon's tablet is about the same price. Even Apple is now getting into the game with its 7" iPad (if rumors are to be believed).

Windows 8 will succeed because the criteria for a Windows 8 success is so low. Every $300 PC will ship with Windows 8. It doesn't matter that 30% of Windows PC end up being informational displays and cheap processors for cash registers, ATMs and ticket machines. Windows 8 will sell simply because you really have no choice. Microsoft will plump out the numbers as success like they did with Vista.

It's sad because there was a lot of innovation in the previously-called Metro design, and Windows 7 is really a fairly good operating system.