News - Microsoft Surface Pro will go on sale from 9th February

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Pricing starts at $899 for the 64GB version.

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Read more.

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Pricing starts at $899 for the 64GB version.

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At that price I don't really see the point of this - since that kind of moolah would surely get you a pretty reasonable laptop/ultrabook. Is the "attraction" of the SP purely then down to that it's a high-spec tablet?

Anyone buying one of these tell me why it's a better idea than an ultrabook - or is it just "office jewellery syndrome"? ;)

£560+vat (so £670ish) + £100 for the type cover..call it £800 by the time shipping/currency fluctuations are taking into account, or £900 ish for the 128gb model.

Expensive but not prohibitively so..as long as the performance is up to scratch (key will be the graphics chip) and comparable to other cheap ultrabooks (by cheap I mean under £1200).

Heres hoping we get UK release details and final pricing soon!

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Originally Posted by crossy

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Pricing starts at $899 for the 64GB version.

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At that price I don't really see the point of this - since that kind of moolah would surely get you a pretty reasonable laptop/ultrabook. Is the "attraction" of the SP purely then down to that it's a high-spec tablet?

Anyone buying one of these tell me why it's a better idea than an ultrabook - or is it just "office jewellery syndrome"? ;)

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Because it effectively is a reasonably speced ultra book in a tablet form factor. I mean we are talking i5 processor, full windows 8 operating system 4gb of ram full hd screen. Now im not necessarily a fan of the tablet form factor but the last surface was well built had great ergonomics and was only really let down by poor performance, a second rate screen and a dearth of software. This fixs pretty much all of those problems and would therefore fit my usage much better. So long as the battery holds up i could easily see my self getting one of these to replace my 1st gen 11in macbook air.

EDIT: oh it has a digitiser too that will make it popular with the digital art crowd if that pen is any good.

+1 to what iiee has said really.

My biggest "issue" with this whole form factor? When you want to use it as a laptop, the center of gravity is so far removed from a "normal" ultrabook that you can't have this on your lap. Not a dealbreaker for many (its never that comfortable to type/use on your lap, and if you are just browsing then the tablet form factor will work), but it does mean you need a stable surface to use it as a laptop, even with the type cover. It's just too rear-heavy. (so it won't stand up on your lapt with the keyboard docked + stand out - it must be a level/stable surface).

To answer your question crossy - it's an ultrabook with a touch screen. Even if you never use the touch screen, then the rest of the specs match a similarly priced ultrabook, so you still have a decent enough machine (in theory!) for the money. The proof will be in the reviews..but as I mentioned in the other thread, this is ideal for replacing my old Core2Duo Mac Air..

I'm really excited about the form factor and the potential power of these. It's a shame the capacity is so limited, I would've expected 128Gb in the base model for a starting price £800. To clarify I don't think the hardware is worth that, but the flexibility and functionality, and "gadget factor" mean I could understand a price of £800. £900 seems a little steep though for a med-spec machine with a barely acceptable 128Gb of storage space. These aren't intended as "pad" devices, more like a hybrid traditional laptop replacement (surely you wouldn't have one of these AND a traditional ultra compact? - not if you're any sense anyway!) but their limited storage capacity reduces their ability to be a full out replacement to carry a sizable set of games, programs and media locally. Shame.

Still £800 is a lot of money for this.

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Originally Posted by Brewster0101

Still £800 is a lot of money for this.

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Cheers for the heads up Iiee and Spud1 - interesting that both of you posit the SP as a replacement for a Mac Air. So based on that survey I've got to wonder if this is bad news for Apple. But my opinion is still along the lines of Brewster0101's above and I think an ultrabook might suit me better (because I'm cheap!). Again, thanks for the feedback though.

Oh, and Iiee - I totally agree with you on that digitizer comment - I didn't see a big deal over the one in my Note 10.1, but now I've had it for a while I can see the uses - it's a boon for engineering diagrams!

I am quite tempted in getting one of these - much more portable than my current laptop and quite potent for a tablet. I wonder how long it will take for Haswell to make it into these, seeing as they are coming out later this year. Would definitely need to buy additional storage, I'm sure a quick USB 3.0 flash drive would be ideal and compact versus a full external drive.

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Originally Posted by crossy

Cheers for the heads up Iiee and Spud1 - interesting that both of you posit the SP as a replacement for a Mac Air. So based on that survey I've got to wonder if this is bad news for Apple.

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Don't get me wrong - I still love my mac air - but the thing is it doesn't need to be replaced at the moment..even with a core2, it does everything I need from an ultrabook.

My idea situation would be a macbook air with a touch screen, but those are a couple of years off..and I am curious about the surface pro. Apples big selling point to me is the unparalleled quality of their hardware - this applies to phones, tablets, computers...no other company comes close. The surface is supposed to change that, and if it does..then I can save £200 by going for surface pro over a macbook air, and I get a touch screen+digitizer to play with.

Apple don't need to worry imo :)

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Originally Posted by iiee

Because it effectively is a reasonably speced ultra book in a tablet form factor. I mean we are talking i5 processor, full windows 8 operating system 4gb of ram full hd screen. Now im not necessarily a fan of the tablet form factor but the last surface was well built had great ergonomics and was only really let down by poor performance, a second rate screen and a dearth of software. This fixs pretty much all of those problems and would therefore fit my usage much better. So long as the battery holds up i could easily see my self getting one of these to replace my 1st gen 11in macbook air.

EDIT: oh it has a digitiser too that will make it popular with the digital art crowd if that pen is any good.

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It's also a few hundred grams lighter than the average Ultrabook and the Mac Air.

I probably want one, the only downside for me I can see is it might be hard to use on the train with the keyboard on those tiny seat-back fold downs. Can't always get a nice table seat :-( My current 11.6" is too big for them but at least it sits on my lap if I turn to the aisle... although it does burn my leg...

I'm also annoyed by the price gouging on the keyboard, I think the price is pretty spot on for the tablet but the keyboard takes the piss. The keyboard pricing is making the difference between "BUY BUY BUY" and "hmmm I might" for me. Any 3rd party ones yet?

I really want it to replace my 2009 Macbook Pro. I love Win 8 on the touchscreen but hard to justify upgrading (sidegrading?) as the core duo mac does everything it needs to do.

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Originally Posted by iiee

EDIT: oh it has a digitiser too that will make it popular with the digital art crowd if that pen is any good.

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This is why I'm interested in it, I have an RT for kicks, but a truly productive tablet is the ideal. I use the RT on set to play back footage and take notes, but if I was able to sketch on the fly, it'd be killer. I think I can wait for a Haswell release, I'll just pass on my RT to the gf who loves it and doesn't need any more than it offers.

The longer I use tablets (iPad and N7) the more I appreciate my laptop with a proper keyboard. I was initially interested in the Surface Pro, but the pricing means I'll update my laptop to something light and efficient instead. That kind of budget gives me a lot of options.

I'm inclined to think the Pro is aimed at businesses, where budget is less important because it's a tax write-off.

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Originally Posted by Andrew McP

The longer I use tablets (iPad and N7) the more I appreciate my laptop with a proper keyboard. I was initially interested in the Surface Pro, but the pricing means I'll update my laptop to something light and efficient instead. That kind of budget gives me a lot of options.

I'm inclined to think the Pro is aimed at businesses, where budget is less important because it's a tax write-off.

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What I got told yesterday was that the Pro will (probably?) be the top end of the "ultra portable" line for those "road warriors" who can justify it ... so that'll be sales droids and pointy-haired bosses presumably. :(

The rest of us will have to continue to "slum it" with light weight laptops or ultrabooks.

Actually, the other comment that was made that some kind of mains powered keyboard dock (like a combo of the Asus Transformer's dock and the normal laptop docking station) would probably be asked for by most of the users.

It's an interesting device (but not revolutionary) and I'll be interested to see if 3rd parties (Dell, HP, Sony, Asus, etc) take it up too.