Well, Microsoft announced today that they are releasing the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro 2 on October 22nd (pre-orders are slated to start tomorrow).
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/pre-order
So, what did we find out about the announced sequels?
* Price: $449.00 (32G) / $899.00 (64GB) Pro
- this still seems too high to me, but only by about $50.
* Kickstand: now has two angles instead of one. This could be interesting as before it didn't work well on laps and such
* Battery Life: 10 hours / ??
- the Surface ran battery life at around 7 hours. The Pro version is supposed to have much better
battery life than its predecessor, but apparently numbers aren't out there.
* Processor: Tegra 4 / Intel i5
- One of the biggest problems I had with Windows RT was that the Tegra 3 seemed underpowered
for such a device. i'm not sure of the differences in the pro model
* Other:
- USB 3.0 port, Higher Resolution on the Surface 2, Surface 2 is apparently silver now. Surface Pro available in 4GB and 8GB RAM. Surface 2: 32/64GB. Surface Pro 2: 64/128GB (4 GB RAM), 256/512GB (8GB RAM).
* Extras:
- One year free Skype, 200 GB SkyDrive for 2 years
So what is my take-away from this (except that I should have waited to buy a Surface until the second generation)?
The Surface line still faces an uphill battle. The price seems to be a little bit high (and the lack of a cheaper 8" model hurts the line - $299 max). For what they are, the Surface tablets seem to be an improvement over the previous iteration. An improvement in battery life and better processors are definitely welcome additions.
So, if I won the lottery what would I get? The Surface Pro 256GB (overkill). Though what I really wish I could do (still if I won the lottery) would be to trade in my Surface RT (for store credit - come on MSFT make it happen), buy a PRO and an 8" (if that ever is going to be a real thing).
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