Surface RT Discounted $150 at Staples This Weekend
Nothing gives you that Friday feeling quite like a sale.
If you've been considering a Microsoft Surface but have been off by the price, this news might be enough to tip you over the edge. The company is cutting the price of the Surface RT come Sunday. The news was first reported by the Verge, which cited unnamed sources that said Microsoft was planning to lop as much as $150 off the price of the Surface RT. It's since been confirmed by Staples promo flyers that say the device will indeed by discounted by $150.
The Staples flyer dates the deal for Sunday, July 14 and says it will run through to July 20, which is the following Saturday, so you have a whole week to take advantage. Though the flyer lists only the Surface RT 32 GB as part of the deal, the Verge reports that the Surface RT 64 GB will also be discounted, as well as packages comprised of each model plus a Surface Touch Cover. The 32 GB Surface RT will apparently drop to $349.99, while the Surface RT is rumored to be going on sale for $449.99. The 32 GB model with Touch Cover will cost $449.99, while the 64 GB model with Touch Cover will cost $549.99.
The Surface RT was release in October of last year, at the same time as Windows 8, and is based onan Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset. It packs 2 GB of RAM, up to 64 GB of storage, a 10.6-inch 1366 x 768 display, two cameras (both front facing and rear-facing and both are 1.2 MP), WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB, and HD video out.

Talk to me when you have a product that I can make my own, as I can with a PC running DOS through to Windows 7 or any version of Linux/FreeBSD. I'm not interested in buying product that is locked into a "walled garden", limited ecosystem that may well be killed off at any moment. You know, like Windows Vista/7 desktop gadgets, the Blackberry Playbook, WebOS, and all those other "closed systems" that make the OWNER OF A PRODUCT at the mercy and whim of the product creator.
If it's not open like the PC, fuck off.
Talk to me when you have a product that I can make my own, as I can with a PC running DOS through to Windows 7 or any version of Linux/FreeBSD. I'm not interested in buying product that is locked into a "walled garden", limited ecosystem that may well be killed off at any moment. You know, like Windows Vista/7 desktop gadgets, the Blackberry Playbook, WebOS, and all those other "closed systems" that make the OWNER OF A PRODUCT at the mercy and whim of the product creator.
If it's not open like the PC, fuck off.
Whoa you need a chill pill and calm down. No one likes a hot headed kid.
Fine to have a negative opinion about the product but leave out the colorful language. It points to a diminished capacity and takes away from legitimate discussion. Unless of course you are actually an angry idiot - in which case there's not fixing stupid.
Wow, this thread/deal is pretty clear evidence that some people are really letting their hatred for all things MS/Windows 8 get to the point of pure unreason.
Windows RT is a disappointment - not that I ever really had high hopes for it. Windows 8 pro tablets are pretty damned good for what they do, and RT is the lame legged bastard stepson that MS is ashamed to talk about. That being said though, why is RT so lame? Because it basically does what a normal Android or iOS does - run apps, media consumption, web browsing, basic stuff. It is, essentially, a toy and can't run as a full computer. The thing is, those "toy" tablets can be quite fun to play with sometimes and actually can even be handy in a working situation (student, light business, etc). RT tablets are more than enough for a lot of peoples' tablet needs.
With that in mind, this deal? $150 for a basic Surface tablet is not bloody bad. The Windows 8 ecosystem is getting respectable. When you're looking at the $150 price range for "toy" tablets you can either get less than half of an iPad mini or an Android tablet from a no-name Chinese manufacturer that likely isn't Google certified, no USB port, no hdmi out, bare bones. Even the smaller hardware deficient Kindle Fire goes on sale for more than this.
If you can't see this as a good deal, you've let your hatred for MS/Windows 8 go beyond the point of reason. The Surface RT is not a bad tablet, it was just horribly overpriced for the initially app deficient device that it was. At this price, it's a steal, and a pretty damned handy thing to get for $150. I doubt I'm getting one, but... I may get one for my girlfriend for her birthday.
You mean like the Acer Iconia W3? Granted, it's 8-inch but it's also $399 and running dual-core Atom.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.282303500?WT.mc_id=PromoEmail_AcerIconia_7-9-13_ShopnowCTA
You mean like the Acer Iconia W3? Granted, it's 8-inch but it's also $399 and running dual-core Atom.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.282303500?WT.mc_id=PromoEmail_AcerIconia_7-9-13_ShopnowCTA
Thanks aicom. This particular model is still listed $420 in most place. I don't intend to pay $399+shipping+tax for this tablet (this give a total over $399). A real 7-in will be probably $299-$329 which is $100 under the current item price. The second problem is the usb port. Most W8 10-in tablet have 1 usb 2.0 port. Interresting if you want to connect a usb drive or a headset. This one have 1 micro usb port. They don't give detail but it's probably just good for connect it on your pc. Review give it 2.9/5.0. Not what I'm hoping for so I still waiting.
I have a nexus 7. The GPU is trash that lags even in tegra optimized games. Battery consumption is quite high due to 40nm process and the battery saver core is nothing but marketing rubbish.
M$ thought people would buy if they saw the nvidia logo on the device? well not me.
The problem for Windows 8 tablets is not Microsoft, but Intel. These things just scream for a low power Haswell chip. As nice and smooth as the W3 is, the Surface Pro just plain glides next to it. The problem is, its battery lasts only 3 hours when playing games on it (Plants vs Zombies in my case) vs 5 hours on the W3. The Surface Pro has an ULV Ivy Bridge CPU which is not nearly as power efficient as the Atom or the new Haswell chips. Surface Pro actually spins its fan up while playing games and you have to be careful where you hold it. The W3 has no fan of course.