An insufficient argument, and yet a somehow valid one.
While on the topic of 2 gen Windows 8 tablets. I was talking with a friend at work about the Surface Pro 2 launch. And he has a friend that was looking at the Surface Pro 2 and ultimately decided not to buy it for what I felt was possibly the dumbest reason on the planet, but which I later realized perhaps doesn't matter and exposes a flaw in Microsoft's pricing for the Surface Pro 2.
And that argument was this; After upgrading to all of the hardware components I wanted, the tablet cost $1500, I might as well go buy an iPad instead. Well, to get to that $1500 price point, you're talking about tablet with a Core-i5, 256gb Solid State drive, and an extra battery inside of a cover with a built in backlit keyboard. In every single respect, this device blows every single iPad out of the water aside from perhaps retina display and battery life without the cover. This is a laptop in the guise of a tablet that can perform all of your productivity needs and more. Yeah, and iPad would cost him less, but would also provide less dollar for dollar that the Surface Pro 2. And, if he went down the cheapest model and threw in the battery cover the price difference would be much lower. There are other ways to increase storage... remember this isn't an iPad, it supports USB and all you're really losing by going lower is storage. Everything else still crushes the iPad.
To my point however. Yes, this guy is a moron. He poured on every bell and whistle. Ended up with a FAR superior tablet and then whined that it costs too much. It still would have kicked the iPad's ass in the base model. But that is the problem with Microsoft's pricing. They have too many tiers of this product and the price range gets too high too quickly. I think if they had stuck with cheaper cameras front and rear they may have been able to put the 128gb drive in the base model, reduced the cost of the 256gb model and killed the 512gb model entirely. Then, they would have just two models, and a much smaller price gap to scare off customers with.
If drive prices become more affordable, they can always release a Surface Pro 3 with the 512gb option.
Or, another option is they could simply offer the highest end models to corporate users only and not show them on their consumer facing web sites.
And that argument was this; After upgrading to all of the hardware components I wanted, the tablet cost $1500, I might as well go buy an iPad instead. Well, to get to that $1500 price point, you're talking about tablet with a Core-i5, 256gb Solid State drive, and an extra battery inside of a cover with a built in backlit keyboard. In every single respect, this device blows every single iPad out of the water aside from perhaps retina display and battery life without the cover. This is a laptop in the guise of a tablet that can perform all of your productivity needs and more. Yeah, and iPad would cost him less, but would also provide less dollar for dollar that the Surface Pro 2. And, if he went down the cheapest model and threw in the battery cover the price difference would be much lower. There are other ways to increase storage... remember this isn't an iPad, it supports USB and all you're really losing by going lower is storage. Everything else still crushes the iPad.
To my point however. Yes, this guy is a moron. He poured on every bell and whistle. Ended up with a FAR superior tablet and then whined that it costs too much. It still would have kicked the iPad's ass in the base model. But that is the problem with Microsoft's pricing. They have too many tiers of this product and the price range gets too high too quickly. I think if they had stuck with cheaper cameras front and rear they may have been able to put the 128gb drive in the base model, reduced the cost of the 256gb model and killed the 512gb model entirely. Then, they would have just two models, and a much smaller price gap to scare off customers with.
If drive prices become more affordable, they can always release a Surface Pro 3 with the 512gb option.
Or, another option is they could simply offer the highest end models to corporate users only and not show them on their consumer facing web sites.
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