[TrevorW]

Microsoft Surface RT ($679 RRP in Australia w/ Touch Cover)

How would you like a brand new convertible with a one-of-a-kind retractable roof for the reasonable price of $22,000? There’s just one catch. You must pay an extra $10,000 for the convertible roof you saw highlighted in all the commercials.


At its $559 base price in Australia, Microsoft’s first tablet costs a little more than the fourth-generation iPad, the well-established leader in the tablet market. The attractive Surface has a worse screen than the iPad, it lasts five hours less on a charge and, at launch time, had only a handful of decent apps for its nascent Windows RT operating system.


However, you may want the Surface because of its heavily advertised Touch Cover keyboard, a must-have accessory that will set you back an extra $140, even though it costs Microsoft only $16 to manufacture. That’s $679 for a new, unproven tablet which trails the $539 market leader in most ways.