http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2012/11/29/next-up-for-the-surface-family-surface-with-windows-8-pro-pricing.aspx

64GB standalone version at $899

128GB standalone version at $999

Still seems a bit expensive, even if it is a viable "PC replacement". Was hoping it would be ~$700.

1 minute ago, JohnAskew wrote

I think Pro will trounce RT in sales...

I think it would trounce a lot of general laptops in sales. Perfect school device.

14 minutes ago, Visible = False wrote

Wow, that's a steep price! If you get they keyboard you are looking at an entry level of $1000... for a device with a 10" screen. There's not enough magic going on with this device for justify that price.

In fact, it isn't steep. What did you pay for your last development capable laptop? Be honest!

edit: just saw on Win Supersite that the cover is not included. So the prices are really $1020-$1120? I can get a more powerful touch-screen laptop for that money.

1 hour ago, JohnAskew wrote

In fact, it isn't steep. What did you pay for your last development capable laptop? Be honest!

To be honest, I would never consider something with an Atom processor, a 10" screen, and only 64 GB of drive space a "development capable" anything. Not my idea of a productive environment whatsoever.

1 minute ago, Visible = False wrote

*snip*

To be honest, I would never consider something with an Atom processor, a 10" screen, and only 64 GB of drive space a "development capable" anything. Not my idea of a productive environment whatsoever.

Eh? Surface Pro has an i5.

40 minutes ago, Bas wrote

Steep? I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I think that's a great price for a laptop/tablet hybrid, or even a tablet with touchscreen and stylus.

I do think it's a bit much. This puts it into the realm of a MacBook Air which would arguably have a better feature list for the price. It will be interesting to see how well they sell in the market and where OEMs price their versions of the tablet. 

But can you touch the MacBook Air's screen? No, you can not.

Unless you want fingerprints.

This one has touch and a digitizer. 

2 hours ago, MasterPie wrote

@JohnAskew: I paid $1200 and it came with an i7, 8GB RAM, 300GB HDD, 1080p with a bluray player, and can play Arkham Asylum on high settings. And it is pretty light with good build quality.

Yours is an HDD rather than SSD, lacks touch capability, and has no digitizer (I'm assuming).

The difference in price would account for a good portion of the difference between the i5 vs i7, the the Blu-ray player, and extra memory.

BTW, I got an ASUS 17" notebook with i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 1920 x 1080 display, and a BD-R for only $1100. You got ripped off.

28 minutes ago, Visible = False wrote

*snip*

I do think it's a bit much. This puts it into the realm of a MacBook Air which would arguably have a better feature list for the price. It will be interesting to see how well they sell in the market and where OEMs price their versions of the tablet. 

No offense, but you're spouting off ignorantly (you thought the Pro was an Atom device?). The cheapest MacBook Air has exactly the same specs at exactly the same price. "which would arguably have a better feature list" is simply hogwash. Once you step down from your fanboi chair you won't be able to name a single feature the MacBook Air has over the Surface Pro. In contrast, as Bass points out, there are a few features in the Surface that don't exist in the MacBook Air (touch, digitizer/pen input). The price is high because this is a high end device, but it's more than competitive with devices in that range.

Note the very similar pricing. Then note this one is an Atom machine, has a lower res screen, less RAM, and USB 2 instead of 3. Search around... there's plenty of other comparable devices out there, and very few can compare on price, features and specs. Is this high for many? Yep, but those people are going to be fine with the $350-500 RT and Atom based tablets, including the Surface. In the class where the Surface Pro fits, $900-1100 is very competitive in pricing.

7 minutes ago, wkempf wrote

*snip*

No offense, but you're spouting off ignorantly (you thought the Pro was an Atom device?). The cheapest MacBook Air has exactly the same specs at exactly the same price. "which would arguably have a better feature list" is simply hogwash. Once you step down from your fanboi chair you won't be able to name a single feature the MacBook Air has over the Surface Pro. In contrast, as Bass points out, there are a few features in the Surface that don't exist in the MacBook Air (touch, digitizer/pen input). The price is high because this is a high end device, but it's more than competitive with devices in that range.

But the Surface doesn't have the world's most advanced operating system. MacBook Air wins.

Of course I'm shamelessly writing this on a MacBook Pro running Linux. I wonder, does this Microsoft tablet support running Linux?

1 hour ago, spivonious wrote

Eh? Surface Pro has an i5.

Good catch. You're totally right there. I read elsewhere that it was going to be a Clover Trail chip to help ensure battery life. Turns out that's not the case with the Surface Pro now, although several of the other OEMs are going the Atom route. Estimates for battery life with the i5 processor are a bit low.... in the 6 hour range. The Win8 tablets running Clover Trail have been getting much better battery life, albeit at slower clock speeds.

41 minutes ago, Bass wrote

@Visible = False:

But can you touch the MacBook Air's screen? No, you can not.

True, but on a development machine Visual Studio doesn't like me to touch it anyway. And touch at the command prompt is "bad touch". 

21 minutes ago, cbae wrote

*snip*

Yours is an HDD rather than SSD, lacks touch capability, and has no digitizer (I'm assuming).

The difference in price would account for a good portion of the difference between the i5 vs i7, the the Blu-ray player, and extra memory.

BTW, I got an ASUS 17" notebook with i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 1920 x 1080 display, and a BD-R for only $1100. You got ripped off.

But the question was regarding a development capable laptop. Also, ASUS is icky. I bet it had some ugly gloss cheap plastic exterior.

And of course, my laptop came with a keyboard, which for dev related tasks, is far more useful than a touchscreen or a digitizer.

28 minutes ago, Visible = False wrote

*snip*

True, but on a development machine Visual Studio doesn't like me to touch it anyway. And touch at the command prompt is "bad touch". 

@Visible = False:

Yes you don't need/want touch for VS but hit F5 and you probably do.

It all comes down to selecting the right tools for your toolbox.

2 hours ago, MasterPie wrote

*snip*

But the question was regarding a development capable laptop. Also, ASUS is icky. I bet it had some ugly gloss cheap plastic exterior.

And of course, my laptop came with a keyboard, which for dev related tasks, is far more useful than a touchscreen or a digitizer.

You must have ASUS confused with Acer. This machine is far from icky. Aluminum everywhere but the bottom.

http://usa.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/N76VZ/

That's a sweet laptop. I agree Asus makes some of the best laptops at the higher end.

3 days ago, Bass wrote

I wonder, does this Microsoft tablet support running Linux?

Not until someone jailbreaks it. The surface is just an ARM device under the hood, so it should be easy once someone has a full kernel jailbreak for it.

2 hours ago, evildictait​or wrote

*snip*

Not until someone jailbreaks it. The surface is just an ARM device under the hood, so it should be easy once someone has a full kernel jailbreak for it.

But the Surface Pro, which this thread is about, is just an Intel-based ultrabook under the hood, so running Linux on it should be trivial.

25 minutes ago, spivonious wrote

*snip*

But the Surface Pro, which this thread is about, is just an Intel-based ultrabook under the hood, so running Linux on it should be trivial.

On Surface Pro you will be able to, yes. Although you still might need to jailbreak or disable SecureBoot in order to disable the trusted boot into Windows.