Microsoft slashes Surface production.

[ultimatebob]

This should really go in the Mobile Devices and Gadgets forum. I'm not really a forum Nazi or anything, but I have a running bet with the posters there that we'll be seeing a $200 Surface liquidation on a site like Woot by Christmas 2013

 

[lxskllr]

I agree with the whole tablet realm is on a track to be nothing more then a trend but again, as stated above... check out the IBM Ideapads, its literally a two-in-one device.... the best of both worlds wrapped into one. That is where the money is better spent! a full featured product that acts as both a notebook and tablet when desired.
Edit: I ment this post to also piggy back on what Vdubchaos stated as well..

Oh yea. I love the concept, but not the price so much. I'm a fan of bottom end portables. I like something that can break or get stolen, and not be a heartbreak. I'm still using my netbook from 2008. It does everything I need on the go, and it only cost me $200 :^)

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Surface Pro starts at $899:

ouch

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33642_7-57556219-292/surface-pro-price-tag-$899/

+100 for a touch cover or a type cover, so you're looking at a 1K tablet w/ keyboard.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Since I can get a laptop that's 2x the specs at half the price...I will take the compromise of the size/weight over tablet ANY day of the week and twice on sunday.

Someone should send MS a memo. Tablet hype is dying. THere is 0 innovation at this point.

Also people are finding out that these devices are simply "nice to haves" for travel or toilet material. Outside of that, the entire "its cool to have a tablet" thing and fad is not worth the premium price these companies are asking.

It's a dying trend ....mark my words.

Show me a laptop with a 1080p IPS screen for $450 with an ivy bridge quad core and 128gb SSD, twice the specs of surface with an equal screen.

 

[shortylickens]

I cant believe the company who brought us Flight! could make such a huge error........

 

[Dumac]

Show me a laptop with a 1080p IPS screen for $450 with an ivy bridge quad core and 128gb SSD, twice the specs of surface with an equal screen.

Yeah, I'd like to buy that

 

[SparkyJJO]

Might get a Pro. The iPad and Android tablets really turn me off since I have to rely on apps being released to the market. I'd so much rather have an actual x86 OS so I can install the same programs on my tablet as my PC.

Client at work is thinking the same. Surface pro or something similar. They have ipads now and they kinda sorta work for what they need but not too well.

 

[child of wonder]

Client at work is thinking the same. Surface pro or something similar. They have ipads now and they kinda sorta work for what they need but not too well.

Exactly. I can't load the vSphere client, SCVMM client, EMC Initialization utility, and all the other applications I use to do my job with an iPad or Android.

I want a portable touch capable device I can install x86 applications on with the ability to use it as a laptop or a tablet.

 

[ponyo]

Surface Pro is niche product. I don't see many people buying $1,000 tablet. Same with $1,000 Ultrabooks. Ultrabooks are not exactly flying off the shelves.

 

[xanis]

Seems pretty cool on paper, but between the iPad and the plethora of Android tablets, there just was never a chance for this IMO.

 

[postmortemIA]

Time for Microsoft to learn from the current mistakes. They could have learned from their own past mistakes, and mistakes of the others. Win 8 is going to be a failure as well, since it is obvious that goal of having (read forcing) lots of users into new platform is not going as planned.

 

[Skel]

This should really go in the Mobile Devices and Gadgets forum. I'm not really a forum Nazi or anything, but I have a running bet with the posters there that we'll be seeing a $200 Surface liquidation on a site like Woot by Christmas 2013

Were you the one that said they'd be on Woot this Christmas? I remember someone was...

It really depends on which Surface you mean, this year's model will be around on those sites. If MS continues with the name and releases a new version next year, then I doubt those will be up there.

 

[Nintendesert]

RT prices needed to be lower. That being said I'd rather have the x86 device if I'm spending money on a tablet/ultrabook device.

 

[SparkyJJO]

There was one by Lenovo that I thought was interesting. The Ideapad Yoga. Best of both worlds? Expensive however.

 

[Dominato3r]

So something that was already in low production, is going into a lower production?

 

[Doppel]

What would have surprised me was if this tablet actually sold well. Tablets are a damn toy used by people who want apps (I have an iPad. I like it, but it is just a damn toy). Apps = Apple. EVERYBODY else is sloppy seconds and that is a fact. If you can't/won't foot the bill on a $330+ Apple product, you go with Kindle. The rest are noise and irrelevant outside of geek circles (as proven by sales).

Apple like pricing without ANY hype or hipster following

EXACTLY.

--

In general I disagree with the above about tablets being a fad to end up dying out or curtailing. On the contrary they are great devices for simple consumption of internet-noise and I think there's a healthy future to us having small, light things we can keep unplugged kicking around the general living space.

 

[Hugo Drax]

So I take it you don't buy any tech anymore? The other guys are pumping out updates faster than MS has been.

But at least with Apple you get a couple of updates.

 

[rudder]

I don't own a tablet, I have a Windows Phone 7..which I regret, it is still in its infancy and needs a lot of work. The apps aren't as good as other platforms and Microsoft already made the decision to just make something else. What does this mean for me? I still get to have a phone...but if I want any of the new functionality..I have to buy a new Windows Phone 8 to get it. I just got this phone last year, its practically brand new..and now its a brick..unless all I care about is calling people.

Atleast with Android, if you weren't compatible with a new OS update..it was because you had one of those cheapo Android phones. Not with Microsoft, spend $300 on a phone..use it for a year...time to buy a new one for continued support.

My nokia lumia 900 won't get updated to windows 8 because the hardware is not there to be enable some functionality. Apple does the same thing with their OS.. they just don't tell people they will not be getting the full update. Whereas Microsoft says people like me will get windows 7.8.

My daughters have iphones, the wife has a HTC... I have the nokia. I hope Windows takes off in the smartphone/tablet world because of all 3 OSes I like it the best.

 

[halik]

apple price point w/o the apps to show for it; kind of expected. Will likely get one once the prices drop.

 

[Miramonti]

Build it and they will come, on Balmer's face.

 

[Hugo Drax]

The Microsoft Pro tablet will do as well as the hundreds of other Microsoft Pro type tablets released in the last 2 decades.

 

[bigrash]

Hope the Pro drops in price as soon as it's released.

 

[The_Dude8]

Seems pretty cool on paper, but between the iPad and the plethora of Android tablets, there just was never a chance for this IMO.

if the surface drop to $200 or less, they will sell well, but not at $400.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

I want to see what happens with the Pro.

I never saw much attraction in the RT. Where I think there may be a market niche is a tablet that is not a toy -- that is, has a real processor and can run x86 apps. Once the price of the Pro comes down, I think it could do fairly well.

The pro and windows 8 convertibles in general make a lot of sense. RT was clearly just a stop-gap product and / or a hedge to offer something at a lower price point. It was pretty obvious to those outside of MS that it was going to fail.

 

[bradley]

What happened to all the visionaries at Microsoft? Seems like ego clashes over there with no singularity to the voices.

The failures at Microsoft almost seem like huge blows to the affordable non-proprietary PC. Good luck catching Apple now.