DailyTech - Ballmer Says Surface RT Sales Off to "Modest" Start

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Gadgets Ballmer Says Surface RT Sales Off to "Modest" Start
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - November 13, 2012 9:03 AM

23 comment(s) - last by Pirks.. on Nov 14 at 4:10 PM

Modest sales blamed on supply constraint

Microsoft launched its Surface RT tablet last month. Early rumors had hinted that the sales price of the tablet would be around $199, but that turned out to be untrue. The actual starting price for the Surface RT tablet was a actually $499. That made the tablet significantly more expensive than some competitors on the market, including the entry-level Apple iPad 2.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has stated that Surface RT tablets have had a "modest" start in sales. Ballmer doesn't attribute the modest sales to the starting price of the tablet; rather he blames limited availability.

"We've had a modest start because Surface is only available on our online retail sites and a few Microsoft stores in the United States," Ballmer was quoted as saying.

The Surface RT tablet runs a limited version of the new Windows 8 operating system and has Office productivity apps preinstalled.

Here’s one interesting tidbit about the new Surface RT tablets: even though they are currently available in 32GB or 64GB versions, the actual amount of storage space available to users is much less. The space taken up by the Windows operating system and preinstalled apps means that the 32GB version only leaves 16GB available to the end-user, while the 64GB version leaves behind 46GB.

Source: Reuters

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Slow and laggy

By bigi on 11/13/2012 10:00:12 AM , Rating: -1

I've tried a few units out. The keyboard was fine, but the device and its responses are just slow.

The overall effect seems to be amplified by the fact that there is this 'spinning wheel' cursor shown where the device pauses.

Were those at $199? Yea, maybe. But, at $500 just forget it.

RE: Slow and laggy

By crispbp04 on 11/13/2012 10:07:00 AM , Rating: 4

As an owner of a surface, I can say with confidence that you're full of Sh*t. Did you ever think it could have been due to the wifi connection that you'd be seeing a 'spinning wheel' cursor? It probably was waiting for data. HERP DERP.

Haters are going to hate. In the mean time we are enjoying our surfaces and laughing at people like you.

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RE: Slow and laggy

By AssSpelunker on 11/13/12, Rating: 0

RE: Slow and laggy

By andrewaggb on 11/13/2012 11:42:47 AM , Rating: 2

The surface I used wasn't slow or laggy. I was very pleasantly surprised how fast and smooth it was.

I'd recommend anybody who is sort of interested to try one in person, I thought it was very smooth and that web scrolling was smooth.

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