Pre-Launch tablet pricing shake up

[jdevenberg]

Asus announced today that $599 no longer buys you a Vivo Tab RT sans keyboard, but instead will be the price of the tablet keyboard bundle pack (hmm, this sounds farmiliar). The dock includes an intergrated battery and additonal ports. This tablet is also packing NFC, notably missing in the Surface. Launch is Oct. 26 Vivo RT and the dock will also be available seperately, pricing TBA. They also anounced the Vivo Tab Smart, which esentialy takes the Vivo Tab RT and swaps in an Intel Atom processor. Available accesories include a sleeve that doubles as a kick stand and a bluetooth keyboard. Tablet is $499, accessories pricing TBA. Vivo Tab Smart will not be compatible with any of the Vivo docking stations. Dell announced pricing for the very good looking (IMO) XPS 10 RT tablet. They are charging $499 ($599 grabs you a 64 GB version) for it, and while it runs an older Snapdragon S3 chip, it includes an active digitizer. Engadget is reporting that the $499 version is LTE capable and includes a one year data plan that you can opt out of to knock $100 off the price of the tablet. If true, this is the bargain tablet to get, but I cannot find any way to do this on Dell's website, and believe me I have been trying. Add $180 to either capacity tablet for the keyboard dock that includes an extra battery and additional ports. Launching mid-December

I'm just going to say it, todays pricing announcements/changes have me very glad I didn't pre-order a Surface. I'm torn on the Dell XPS 10 and the Vivo RT. Leaning Vivo due to release date, even though I'd rather have the active digitizer than the NFC.

 

[fierywater]

The S3 for the Dell is a typo. If you go to the pre-order page and hit the Tech Specs tab, it shows the S4, and on the Premier page it actually says the part number of the CPU, which matches up with an S4 chip.

 

[jdevenberg]

Okay cool. They must have fixed it because the Dell.com tech specs page for the XPS 10 is where I saw it listed as S3, and I was very surprised. It being an S4 makes a huge difference, as the dual core S4 has usually preformed on par with, if not better than, the quad core Tegra 3.

 

[fierywater]

Oh, also, it looks like they fixed the ability to ditch the warranty for a $100 discount. It was there earlier this morning but I don't see it anymore.

 

[jdevenberg]

Oh, also, it looks like they fixed the ability to ditch the warranty for a $100 discount. It was there earlier this morning but I don't see it anymore.

That sucks. I'd totally have gone for it if I could have gotten the bundle for under $600, even with the wait. Now it looks like I have to decide between the Vivo RT and the Surface RT. Heck, even the Vivo Smart is looking more appealing than the Surface to me at this point...

I'm really glad OEM's fixed their crazy early pricing.

 

[bauerbach]

all fine and dandy... but I want a pro device... sorry msoft, but to this point, your apps arent QUITE enough to justify a $600 tablet.

 

[power5]

What is the Asus Smart Tab running? An Atom is x86 which would make the tablet only capable of running full win8. I did not think RT ran on x86?

 

[theefman]

What is the Asus Smart Tab running? An Atom is x86 which would make the tablet only capable of running full win8. I did not think RT ran on x86?

Its x86, basically the Tab RT with an atom chip.

 

[bauerbach]

What is the Asus Smart Tab running? An Atom is x86 which would make the tablet only capable of running full win8. I did not think RT ran on x86?

yeah, but its still 2nd fiddle. what good is win 8 if its the hardware limiting apps instead of the OS?

samsung has an i5 pro tablet, but in true samsung fashion, its plastic.

No wonder msoft had to get into the fray, its OEMs dont seem to be able to put together a complete package.

 

[crystal_planet]

Regarding the XPS 10 pricing:

Naked 32 - 499.99
32 w/keyboard - 679.99
Naked 64 - 599.99
64 w/keyboard - 779.99

That is one expensive keyboard. Oh, that's pricing in Canada btw...

 

[jdevenberg]

yeah, but its still 2nd fiddle. what good is win 8 if its the hardware limiting apps instead of the OS?

samsung has an i5 pro tablet, but in true samsung fashion, its plastic.

No wonder msoft had to get into the fray, its OEMs dont seem to be able to put together a complete package.

For many, many users RT or an Atom Windows 8 will be enough. Most users are not power users.

Regarding the XPS 10 pricing:

Naked 32 - 499.99
32 w/keyboard - 679.99
Naked 64 - 599.99
64 w/keyboard - 779.99

That is one expensive keyboard. Oh, that's pricing in Canada btw...

Identical to the US prices. I agree, that is one spendy keyboard. I still think naked vs. naked it gets the edge over the Surface due to the included digitizer.

 

[crystal_planet]

Right. I forgot about the digitizer.

How does the S4 compare with the Tegra?

 

[jdevenberg]

Right. I forgot about the digitizer.

How does the S4 compare with the Tegra?

The S4 has consistently out performed quad core processors. Plus it has lte built in