Microsoft Surface Pro VS MacBook Air

This is what it all seems to be coming down to Microsoft Surface PRO vs MacBook Air.  Both have completely different pitches and yet both are aiming for the same market space and now it seems, after Microsoft’s press announcement about how much the surface pro is going to cost, the same price point. Is anyone out there thinking that Microsoft have set the price intentionally high so that the third-party manufacturers can come in way below their price point?

As with the entire Surface range, the Surface Pro doesn’t come with the keyboard. Meaning to get all the joy and excitement that Microsoft seems to think you get from using a keyboard, as demonstrated in their horrific Surface “click” adverts, leads you instantly having to purchase an accessory.

Build quality has never been an issue with the surface in fact pundits alike and even Apple fan boys ever heralded what a triumph in design and engineering the cases for the surface. Inside the case is a fairly competent array of components within Intel i5 processor and storage options starting from a 64 GB SSD. Remember that you won’t have the full 64 GB available as the operating system itself takes up 16 GB (it might even be more for the pro version of Windows)

$899 gets you:

• A Surface Pro with 64 GB of storage. (MS go to great lengths to say how it’s used.)
• 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000 4GB RAM—Dual Channel Memory
• No keyboard. +$100
• 4.5 hours of battery life

Granted this is a fully fledged PC allowing you to run anything and everything from the Windows world on there, yet how can Microsoft sold this without a keyboard? There are plenty of other ultra books in the market of more than compatible specifications that come with the most simplest of things, a keyboard.

Office Bundled With Surface RT but Not Surface Pro

Of course people say that if you were to buy a standard laptop and then add the cost of office to that purchase you’d end up with something a lot more expensive. So with this in mind does anyone here really think that if Microsoft removed office from the surface platform they would deduct the full retail value of Office from the product? If you do you’re wrong.

If Microsoft were to remove office you could guarantee it would be priced in the dangling carrot range. So if the version of office you wanted was $120 you could bet that Microsoft would only reduced the price by about $50. Microsoft’s cost of purchasing office is a hell of a lot less than anyone in the distributorship channel.

So yes, if you were to look it in a retail sense a traditional laptop plus office purchase could cost you more. Although you might want to look on YouTube for examples of keyboard like when using Word

Editorial

I’d like to say at this point that I’m not completely against Microsoft’s own attempt at tablet. If anything it’s a welcome attempt from the software giant of yesteryear and I have been tempted to go out and get one.Have I got one, no, why?

All the reviews so far that I’ve read have been okay but none of them have said this is an amazing product. If you are releasing something new and coming at the gates as a Yet another iPad killer contender then it really does have to be as close to flawless as a company can get. Glaringly obvious flaws and software bugs just aren’t acceptable

Granted Apple’s first iteration of an iPad was far from perfect but that was a long time ago and the whole market space and user expectations have moved on. In the mountains sleep populated compute in arena you better make done well sure that your product has less issues than your competitors.

The Android Marketplace Relevancy

The android marketplace and my experiences with my recently purchased Google Nexus 7 hasn’t helped matters none. Many times I’ve gone to download an application only to find it’s not compatible with my Google Nexus 7. Was I wrong to be under the impression that the Nexus seven was a flagship model and I shouldn’t have any problems installing applications from the Google store. unless I’ve missed something glaringly obvious that doesn’t even seem to be a way to filter for apps compatible with my device.

My frustration levels were rising when I would find an application I really wanted to use and like the sound of only to find that it wasn’t compatible with my device. Microsoft are heading deep into this territory.

That’s a lot of nots

If you look at the adverts for Windows 8 currently being airing at the moment you’ll see those little terms and conditions at the bottom of their adverts saying that some features may not be available on all devices, some applications may not be compatible and some applications may not be available in your area. that a lot of things you have to be aware of.

Rumours abound that Microsoft are going to release a 64 bit version of the Surface RT but that has been nothing but wild speculation. Imagine if they did; I don’t see this being a particularly healthy thing to do.