The tablet beats the Apple LAPTOP.

So yeah they are going to be huge.

And for price Surface RT starts at same price of iPad $499 and still beats on its features.

In built kickstand. attach any USB drive ( killer peripheral support ) , and a significant multitasking.

Where it lacks - Ecosystem , Resolution and performance.  I can call it even ( since ecosystem and performance can improve using updates and apps) .

But think it as microsoft not competing with other OEM and pricing their device at $499 ( 53% profit on a device sell ).

THINK WHEN OTHER OEM WILL START SELLING ALL THIS AND MORE FOR THE PRICE OF $400 ( 20 - 25% profit)

I didn't say Windows 8 OS for PCs would be a disaster. Far from it. But on all other devices than PCs, yes.

What good MS news have released lately? Nothing positive about tablets and phones I reckon.

You know exactly what I meant. Making phones, aka. entering t5he mobile phone OS market and failing horribly at every step. Just because the Lumia 920 is doing better then expected ( that can mean anything without numbers) it still hold a tiny marketshare, and that wont change.

I still stand by my prediction that the only reason MS will stay in the tablet market for overa year, will be so that can keep a foot in the door... no, so they can keep a finger in the door.

40 million Win 8 licenses have been sold . that doesn't include phone but for sure does include the tablet .

Apple laptops have been on the rise for the past two years because of their compliment iOS devices success (  people like the same ecosystem and brand. iTunes etc) .

Now it still hasn't made their Laptops and PCs become huge because

• iOS devices are cheaper - (everybody needs a phone and tablet costs half of their laptops and PCs price)
• Mac isnt widely available around the world and no heavy customizations in specs and design.

That was a summary of SemiAccurate Charlie's opinion, which I largely agree with.

Win 8 OS for PC sales will be good, but it will be the basis to a process that alienates all customers including businesses.

So Windows 8 as a OS will be seen as a failure because it couldn't build the echo-system across PCs, tablets and phones, but instead started to alienate even the core business.

and where willl people go then ? 

I dont think you are pointing at Apple MAC OSX ( $1000 - for 11 inch laptop) or maybe Chrome OS ( ROFL)

or maybe you believe Win 7 ( seriously the one that is still inside the Win 8 with one touch away ?)

So with that price and spec, they're competing in the ultrabook/laptop sector with a hybrid tablet/laptop. Seems reasonable enough but I think that contrary to their expectations, other manufacturers will release better laptop/tablet hybrids for reasonable prices and out-compete them. I already saw a couple of third-party hybrids at Westfield the other day that looked fairly decent and at reasonable prices.

I really don't think the RT based tablets cut it at the moment though. Surface RT has poor hardware specs (especially for the price), immature infrastructure and the interface running on ARM based processors seems to lag a bit. For basic content consumption, iPad and Android tablets just offer much better value for money.

Considering how expensive the RT Tablet it, this is not surprising.

This guy is more of a laptop than a Tablet and should be compared as such (regardless of how MS is marketing it).

4.5h battery life is terrible for a tablet, but decent for a laptop.

The price is very high for a tablet, but about right for a laptop.

Yeah, the problem lies there. If I want a laptop I'm gonna search for a laptop, not a tablet. If I want a tablet, I'm gonna buy a cheaper one with more battery life.

I think this particular model has a problem defining itself.

Horrible battery life, less than 5 hours? I'll wait for the 2nd generation Surface.