Despite having been thrown the rather modest bone of being told how much we can expect to pay for one, Microsoft seems intent on keeping us largely in the dark about its elusive Windows 8 Surface Pro Tablet. True, we may now know that the Surface Pro will ship with Ivy Bridge Core i5 chips, storage options of 64GB and 128GB for $899 and $999 respectively, but when it comes to even more crucial details like release dates, so far not a sausage.
Microsoft has thus far only gone so far as to say that the Surface Pro Table will go live in January, though they haven’t made it clear whether or not this amounts to a release date or a shipping date. Plans to ship the Surface Pro in January could suggest preorders being taken later this month, though if they actually plan to begin preorders in January the picture could be a quite different one.
A late January launch date and the beginning of online orders for example could see deliveries crossing the line into February – assuming of course they keep to their January promise at all.
Another subject of debate is that of the processor as while we may know for sure that Ivy Bridge Core i5 chips from Intel are on the cards, we don’t yet know which version of the chip, nor the clock speed.
And a similar lack of clarity when it comes to storage as while we know that the Surface Pro Tablets will launch in 128GB and 64GB version, we also know that a sizeable chunk of this space will already be taken up – so how much to expect will actually be free for personal data?
Last but not least, the Microsoft Surface RT Tablet isn’t setting any new records in terms of battery life, but from what we’re hearing through the grapevine, the Surface Pro is about to redefine power-hungry tablet computing. According to various reports hitting the web over recent weeks, the Surface Pro will serve up about 50% of the battery life of its little brother, which means we can expect in some instances about four hours and little more.
4 hours for $999?
Of course, all of the above shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign not to buy a Surface Pro, but should instead highlight the urgency of Microsoft filling us in on the details…and explaining themselves if necessary.
