Surface with Windows 8 Pro pricing revealed

That is some powerful crack MS are smoking

Who is going to pay $899 dollars for a tablet, keyboard or no.

I think I'll just go a decent desktop at that price.

By Ulfarus on 29 Nov 2012

No keyboard isn't good

At that price, it should have included a keyboard for both models.

By Grunthos on 29 Nov 2012

I want one to be honest

It fulfills my requirements for a laptop, tablet and general computer.

By skarlock on 29 Nov 2012

Convergence in action

And the part that I like is the inclusion of a stylus. I use an iPad and the biggest bugbear for me is the lack of a really good stylus system.

I think Jobs was wrong on that front.

By kaneclem on 29 Nov 2012

Good price...

compared to the competition so far, the price is competitive.

By big_D on 30 Nov 2012

Review?

When will you be reviewing the final product?

By llcoolj40 on 30 Nov 2012

UK Pricing

"UK prices weren't immediately available, but will likely consist of swapping the $ for a £ and leaving the numbers unchanged." TIFTFY :-)

By nichomach0 on 30 Nov 2012

PC Pro readers aren't the mainstream...

Let's face it, I guess we know we're odd. But increasingly in terms of what we look for, I do think PC Pro readers are less and less mainstream. Like kaneclem, I quite like the idea of a stylus. But then, I liked my Windows Mobile phone with slideout keyboard and stylus, 6 years ago. (Sure, the Samsung Note series has been selling well, so maybe there is some demand).

On a slightly wider note: I'm in the market for a new laptop and/or tablet. Even some quite pricey ultrabooks have a resolution of 1366x768. To me, that looks like a toy. But having trawled the streets of London - and having found some vaguely knowledgeable retail staff (wow!) - they tell me no one wants more than that. John Lewis, for example, don't even display the resolution as part of the spec. And the staff - who do know their beans, at least a bit - tell me no one asks. Yet every review on this website criticises such low resolution. But Joe Public ain't interested. Indeed, one client recently complained at his (high) resolution, 'cos the text is too small. I spent quite a while talking with a Sony rep at a trade fair, and he told me I was the first person to mention this - we were looking at their new Windows 8 stuff, pre-launch.

I think there's a few reasons for this. Partly, we (if I can generalise for PC Pro readers) know our stuff. We go into Control Panel and tweak. We have a dozen or more windows open. A good number of us use e.g. AD Users and Computers and other tools with lots of options. And we want to get it all on screen. But the mainstream consumer, increasingly, doesn't. How often, I wonder, do most people use MS Office other than at work (on a desktop, with a monitor)? Lots of folk have never got as far as Excel, and for lots of people word processing is nearly as defunct as typewriting, in these days of email.

So something with just large buttons you prod with a finger works fine for most people. Which means it will be interesting to see how many want this hybrid - which must be how one has to view a Surface Pro, given its price - as a hybrid between tablet and laptop. But - unless I've misunderstood - I think it has a fatal flaw, in that as far as I can see, it can't be used with a keyboard other than on a desk, because the keyboard/screen hinge isn't weight-supporting (it needs the kickstand to rest on). I'm not sure if that will work on your lap? Anyone know? (BTW, I'm heading towards a Dell XPS 12, I think...).

By JimmyN on 30 Nov 2012

@JimmyN

My RT works on my lap ok with the kickstand out.

By AlphaGeeK on 30 Nov 2012

Battery Life?

Isn't it strange how M$ are hiding all information about the battery life of the Surface Pro?

Does anyone have any idea of Battery life on the i5 model? Personally I think it will realistically be something rubbish like 3 hours.

By BobSmith on 30 Nov 2012

Having seen the Wii U release today I got thinking about how to utilise some of this technology together.

I'd like to see a Win8 tablet docking station that would allow for either a keyboard/mouse/screen to be attached or would link up with a desktop (to provide more processing power). With Win8 having desktop and tablet modes each screen could utilise one and work together allowing the touch functions to work alongside desktop functions.

Gaming would change with RPG inventories or racing game rear views on the tablet screen whilst the main action occurred on the monitor.

If someone could develop a Win8 PadPhone style tablet so you dock your phone into a tablet screen and then dock that into a desktop setup to give you the above idea then the business world may lap this up as much as the consumer market.

By richierace on 30 Nov 2012

Can't wait

I've been holding off until the Pro version. Every week my wife asks when we are going to get one after seeing the Surface RT on Hawaii 5-0. (Sadly, much to my dismay, in-show advertising has worked!)

By stephen_d_morris on 30 Nov 2012

Liking the idea of the stylus personally, not for everyone but handy for me for note taking as I'm a mature student.

Agree it would have been nice to have a bundle with the keyboard included, the keyboard is too pricey in itself.

Think I'll still be buying it though unless MS really bugger things up.

By Deano on 30 Nov 2012

weight

It seems to cut a good balance between laptop and tablet but at £800 it has to be usable as a workhorse not just a gadget.

The weight is put at about 1kg plus (I assume) keyboard/cover. Does that make it too heavy to carry around all day when you are out and about?

It would be good to try one out.

By Zippy204 on 30 Nov 2012

weight

It seems to cut a good balance between laptop and tablet but at £800 it has to be usable as a workhorse not just a gadget.

The weight is put at about 1kg plus (I assume) keyboard/cover. Does that make it too heavy to carry around all day when you are out and about?

It would be good to try one out.

By Zippy204 on 30 Nov 2012

@jimmyn
Agree with you on consumers being ignorant of resolution. When buying a phone I had to explain what resolution was, and the difference between that and screen size, both to the staff in the store and the sales staff in the call centre (they simply didn't have access to that information). At work the monitors are all at 1024x768 instead of the native 1280x1024 and when hotdesking I have to change it back to the lower one or my colleagues find it unusable.

The move to Retina displays, and operating systems that can display properly with them, pleases me as it means resolution becomes a non-issue for both me and the plebs... as long as the OS doesn't throw some of that advantage away by limiting the size and position of windows a la Metro

By Mark_Thompson on 3 Dec 2012