TBH i think the price might be spot on. It comes with office and touch cover with 32GB. If it runs well which it seems it does i think they have it right.

I just checked apple, for the 16GB IPad its $539 here in AUS.

Fixed

Not RAM: 32GB of storage. 2GB of RAM.

More expensive than an iPad, with lower screen resolution, and probably 4 hours of battery life (if I read their spin correctly). Meh.

ooops that's a typo fixed.

The Ipad its $649 32GB here in Australia. That doesn't come with office or a keyboard cover. So its still much cheaper then the Ipad and it will work for what i need it for.

3vi1, where did you read the specs from? i dont think ive seen full specs yet.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msaus/en_AU/pdp/productID.257917600?WT.mc_id=MSCOM_EN_AU_HP_FEATURE_132F1ENAU31157

There are the spec's

100-200 Premium? I think itll be closer to a grand total...

It's not more expensive than the iPad, it's resolution may be less than retina but it's still HD and has better specs on reflectivity index and contrast ratio to compensate. The $499 iPad only comes with 16GB and no microSD card or USB port for expandability. While the 32GB iPad is $599, so you could get the Surface with 32GB and Keyboard Cover for the same price, which you'll have to add the cost of a keyboard on top the iPad.

Along with other differences like HDMI out, fully functional USB 2.0 port, MIMO WiFi, etc.

Sure, it may have been wiser to go lower but you still pay more for a new iPad...

While the 8 hour run time should be pretty close to reality, considering the Nexus 7 manages 9 hours and is also a Tegra 3 based device.

Mayhem I completely agree. The "retina" resolution screen on the x86 model is going to be adding another $100 to th price. Weren't the SSD's for for th surface x86 going to come in 64gb and 128gb? Or 128/256... Either way add another $100-200. It's going to have more ram most like 4gb on the low end and 6/8gb on the high end add another $100~. Core i5 CPU over th ARM model add another $50-150. Larger battery add another $50. Beefier cooling add $10. I'm even going to correctly assume that the power adapter will be bigger than then ARM version as well add $5.

Those are just th known components that will be upgraded that we know going from ARM to x86 surface.

Keeping all that in mind the base configured wi-fi ONLY MS Surface Por x86 will sell for is $899. And there is always the chance that MS could include a 4g LTE by default on all surface pro's since it's being marketed to power ans business users driving the cost up $130 like it does on iPads.

I'm expecting the pro with the higher clocked CPU and higher ram configuration will unfortunately come with the larger SSD option and will set me back $1200 HOPEFULLY post tax, but not likely.

Basically the base Surface will offer 32GB to 64GB capacity with 2GB of RAM, and the Surface Pro will offer 64GB to 128GB capacity with 4GB of RAM.

Mind also that they would be moving from LPDDR2 RAM and eMMC storage for the Tegra 3 system and going to DDR3 and more proper SSD for the Core i5 system.

LPDDR2 shipments comprise about 70% of all DRAM as of this year, so cost per unit is likely much less than DDR3, along with consuming less power.

While eMMC (embedded Multi Media Card) is pretty much the same storage technology as used in say USB Flash drives and SD Cards. So don't provide the kind of performance as you would get with the type of SSDs used in laptops.

Along with pushing USB 3.0 support and the Core i5 alone would cost up to $200 more than a ARM or Clover Trail... So I agree, it's likely to cost quite a bit more but you'll also get quite a bit more...

The move to MCM and the 10W 22nm Haswell coming out next year though should help lower those costs. So some should maybe just wait for the second generation Surface Pro to come out.

The Ipad its $649 32GB here in Australia. That doesn't come with office or a keyboard cover. So its still much cheaper then the Ipad and it will work for what i need it for.