The Microsoft Surface tablet finally has an official price — and it’s about time! The price was accidentally leaked early this morning, and the company confirmed it a few hours later. Two of the models are available for pre-order to be delivered by October 26th.
There was a lot of speculation regarding what the price would be. Unfortunately, it’s not the previously rumored cost of $199. Instead, it’s more comparable to Apple’s iPad. Coming in at $499 for the 32GB version for the basic tablet only model (no keyboard cover). The 32GB model with the attachable keyboard cover will cost you an additional $100 at the official price of $599. And the 64GB model with keyboard comes in at $699.
The price of the Touch and Type Keyboards were also announced — yes, in typical Microsoft fashion there’s two different versions of the keyboard cover. The first is the Touch Cover which is a flat surface keyboard that clicks on to the tablet. The price of it separately is $119.99. Then there’s the Type Cover that’s touted to feel like a real keyboard with raised keys presumably to make productivity work easier. It goes for $129.99 separately.
Both keyboards will be available in five colors – black, white, magenta, cyan and red.
Only the 32 and 64GB models with Touch Cover are available now for pre-order on Microsoft’s site to be delivered on October 26th — the official Windows 8 release date. For the $499 version, there’s a three week delay before shipping. You’ll also be able to purchase a Surface RT from one of Microsoft’s retail stores on October 26th. Will there be lines outside the stores?
In its press release, Microsoft also listed the Surface specs and included apps.
Software – Surface with Windows RT comes with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT Preview (2) (which includes Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote)
Exterior – 10.81 x 6.77 x 0.37 inches, 1.5 pounds, VaporMg casing, dark titanium color, volume and power buttons
Storage – 32 GB (3); 64 GB
CPU – NVIDIA T30, 2 GB of RAM
Wireless – Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 technology
Cameras – Two 720p HD cameras, front- and rear-facing
Audio – Two microphones, stereo speakers
Ports – Full-size USB 2.0, microSDXC card slot, headset jack, HD video out port, cover port
Sensors – Ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass
Power Supply – 24W power supply
Warranty – One-year limited hardware warranty
Apps (included) – Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT Preview (2) (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote), Windows Mail and Windows Messaging, SkyDrive, Windows Internet Explorer 10, Bing, Xbox Music, Xbox Video, and Xbox Games
5 Comments
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JM
That price = set sail for fail.
Amwey
What a dud! At $499 for the basic version without the Black Touch Cover, Microsoft just discouraged a lot people, including me, from buying this tablet.
Steve Krause
I agree. The cover needs to be default for every purchase. It’s a huge selling point.
My guess is Microsoft doesn’t want to run this at a loss but honestly… This price will be rough on them breaking into the iPad market.
Austin Krause
Yup, they should have followed Amazon’s example and just taken the hit to get the product in the hands of the consumers. Lord knows Microsoft has enough money to.
Brian Burgess
This price definitely deflated my excitement about it. I was hoping to see under the $400 price point for an entry level including the keyboard…
For an RT tablet… I guess why do you want a keyboard anyway? The UI is optimized for a tablet and touch. So, I see no point in spending an extra $120 – 130 for it. It’s a tablet! sigh… And why are there two different types of keyboards? Why would I want a flat touch keyboard when it looks to me like using the onscreen one would be essentially the same experience…
Of course, no one has even tried these things so only time will tell, but right now I am definitely leaning on the “no buy” side, when until now I was expecting I would get one.