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Microsoft Surface Pro will go on sale from 9th February

by Mark Tyson on 23 January 2013, 10:00

Tags: Surface, Windows 8

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The Microsoft Surface Pro will be available to US and Canadian shoppers starting from the 9th February. Panos Panay confirmed the date on the official Microsoft Blog. The Surface Pro will be available via the Microsoft online store, Microsoft retail stores, Staples and Best Buy “and a number of locations in Canada” starting from that date. Panay said he was “pumped about all the anticipation and excitement.”

Here in the UK we aren’t so pumped, as yet, as there was no mention of any UK launch dates and also UK pricing still hasn’t been revealed by any Microsoft sources. We may well get the Windows 8 Pro on the same date as the North Americans; the Microsoft Surface RT was released on the same date here and over there.

Panos Panay reminded us that the Surface Pro will be powered by an Intel i5 processor and provides “the power and performance of a laptop in a tablet package and will run all Windows 8 applications as well as current Windows 7 desktop applications.” Also another differentiator is the larger amounts of built-in storage available, 64GB and 128GB, not forgetting the “Surface Pen” which “makes for an amazing experience for writers, graphic designers or even engineers”.

More accessories for Surface owners

Panay also took the opportunity to inform us of some new accessories for the Microsoft Surface being introduced during February. First of all there’s a new range of touch covers. These three new limited edition touch covers in red (orange?), magenta and cyan feature “unique laser-etched designs”. Also a special Surface Edition of the Wedge Touch Mouse is being released. It’s designed to complement your Surface with similar finishing to the VaporMg case.

New markets

The Surface RT will be made more widely available in the coming weeks. New markets with Surface RT availability will include “Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.”

Finally Microsoft says it has listened to feedback regarding the Surface bundles on offer and not everyone wanted the black touch cover bundled with the 64GB Surface RT. There will now be a standalone offering so customers can buy a touch or type cover in the colour of their choice without duplication of functionality.

HEXUS Forums :: 14 Comments

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Posted by crossy - Wed 23 Jan 2013 11:39
Pricing starts at $899 for the 64GB version.
At that price I don't really see the point of this - since that kind of moolah would surely get you a pretty reasonable laptop/ultrabook. Is the “attraction” of the SP purely then down to that it's a high-spec tablet?

Anyone buying one of these tell me why it's a better idea than an ultrabook - or is it just “office jewellery syndrome”? ;)
Posted by Spud1 - Wed 23 Jan 2013 11:39
£560+vat (so £670ish) + £100 for the type cover..call it £800 by the time shipping/currency fluctuations are taking into account, or £900 ish for the 128gb model.

Expensive but not prohibitively so..as long as the performance is up to scratch (key will be the graphics chip) and comparable to other cheap ultrabooks (by cheap I mean under £1200).

Heres hoping we get UK release details and final pricing soon!
Posted by iiee - Wed 23 Jan 2013 12:02
crossy
Pricing starts at $899 for the 64GB version.
At that price I don't really see the point of this - since that kind of moolah would surely get you a pretty reasonable laptop/ultrabook. Is the “attraction” of the SP purely then down to that it's a high-spec tablet?

Anyone buying one of these tell me why it's a better idea than an ultrabook - or is it just “office jewellery syndrome”? ;)

Because it effectively is a reasonably speced ultra book in a tablet form factor. I mean we are talking i5 processor, full windows 8 operating system 4gb of ram full hd screen. Now im not necessarily a fan of the tablet form factor but the last surface was well built had great ergonomics and was only really let down by poor performance, a second rate screen and a dearth of software. This fixs pretty much all of those problems and would therefore fit my usage much better. So long as the battery holds up i could easily see my self getting one of these to replace my 1st gen 11in macbook air.

EDIT: oh it has a digitiser too that will make it popular with the digital art crowd if that pen is any good.
Posted by Spud1 - Wed 23 Jan 2013 12:18
+1 to what iiee has said really.

My biggest “issue” with this whole form factor? When you want to use it as a laptop, the center of gravity is so far removed from a “normal” ultrabook that you can't have this on your lap. Not a dealbreaker for many (its never that comfortable to type/use on your lap, and if you are just browsing then the tablet form factor will work), but it does mean you need a stable surface to use it as a laptop, even with the type cover. It's just too rear-heavy. (so it won't stand up on your lapt with the keyboard docked + stand out - it must be a level/stable surface).

To answer your question crossy - it's an ultrabook with a touch screen. Even if you never use the touch screen, then the rest of the specs match a similarly priced ultrabook, so you still have a decent enough machine (in theory!) for the money. The proof will be in the reviews..but as I mentioned in the other thread, this is ideal for replacing my old Core2Duo Mac Air..
Posted by cptwhite_uk - Wed 23 Jan 2013 12:39
I'm really excited about the form factor and the potential power of these. It's a shame the capacity is so limited, I would've expected 128Gb in the base model for a starting price £800. To clarify I don't think the hardware is worth that, but the flexibility and functionality, and “gadget factor” mean I could understand a price of £800. £900 seems a little steep though for a med-spec machine with a barely acceptable 128Gb of storage space. These aren't intended as “pad” devices, more like a hybrid traditional laptop replacement (surely you wouldn't have one of these AND a traditional ultra compact? - not if you're any sense anyway!) but their limited storage capacity reduces their ability to be a full out replacement to carry a sizable set of games, programs and media locally. Shame.

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