With Windows 8 due out in a little over a month, we expect companies will start talking about pricing and availability for their own Windows 8 devices pretty soon. Until that happens, though, all we've got to go on are rumors, and the rumor mill has a pretty high price tag on Asus' Windows 8 slate.
According to a leaked slide obtained by ZDNet, the Asus' Windows 8 RT slate is going to start at $599. From there, prices will head up to $1200. The $599 Windows RT-based Vivo Tab RT packs a 10.1-inch display, a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU, Office 2013, and an optional $200 keyboard dock. Next is the Vivo tab, which starts at $799 (plus another $200 for the keyboard dock), an 11.6-inch display, an Atom Z2760 CPU, and an Office trial. Lastly, there's the $1299 Taichi, which boasts dual 11.6-inch full HD panels and Bang & Olufsen speakers.
The slide is a roadmap for the holiday season, so Asus is clearly hoping to shift units during the most shopping-heavy period of the year. The question is: will people buy tablets at such a high price? The problem is that tablets, up until quite recently, have been entertainment devices. Built for reading, browsing and watching, they weren't billed as productivity machines. Slowly, though, the tablet model is shifting. PC makers are building devices like Microsoft's Surface, which boasts a full OS and doubles as a laptop when you add in the keyboard peripheral. Now the issue is convincing consumers that a tablet/notebook hybrid can do just as good a job as a laptop and is worth more than the average tablet in terms of pricing.
According to ZDNet, this slide is a preliminary roadmap, which means pricing could change before launch. How much would you pay for one of these devices? Let us know in the comments below!
