Microsoft Surface RT Pricing Set and Pre-Orders Begin
posted Tuesday Oct 16, 2012 by Scott Ertz
Ever since Microsoft Surface was first announced, the question that remained was "How much will it cost?" There were some massively different ideas, ranging from Kindle Fire range ($200) to iPad range ($830). I always assumed that they would premiere the RT version of the tablet somewhere in the middle trying to find the balance between the glorified eReader and the overpriced.
Today Microsoft finally answered that question when the Surface with Windows RT officially went on pre-order. As I suspected, the RT models, which are identical in look and feel to the full Windows 8 models without the ability to run standard desktop software, started at $499 and go up to $699 for the top storage model. Let's break down the 3 available models. For $499 you will receive the standard tablet with 32GB of storage, but without the sleek keyboard cover. If you are interested in the cover you can purchase it separately for $119, or you can bundle it with the 32GB model for a total of $599. That takes care of the second price-point. Finally, coming in at $699 is the 64GB model, also complete with the Touch Cover keyboard.
As for the pre-orders, there appears to be no way to purchase the 64GB model without the keyboard, or to bundle the keyboard in any color other than black. What is nice about the RT tablets is the inclusion of Office. For no extra charge, Surface RT will include Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT, which is a pretty nice inclusion. You know the $499 iPad model doesn't have Office on it. For full details on the device you can check out our announcement article or head over to the pre-order page and pick yours up now.
So, are you pre-ordering the Surface RT or are you waiting for the Pro model? Let us know in the comments.
