There was a lot of speculation regarding what the price would be. Unfortunately, it’s not the previously rumored cost of $199. Instead, it’s more comparable to Apple’s iPad. Coming in at $499 for the 32GB version for the basic  tablet only model (no keyboard cover). The 32GB model with the attachable keyboard cover will cost you an additional $100 at the official price of $599. And the 64GB model with keyboard comes in at $699. The price of the Touch and Type Keyboards were also announced — yes, in typical Microsoft fashion there’s two different versions of the keyboard cover. The first is the Touch Cover which is a flat surface keyboard that clicks on to the tablet. The price of it separately is $119.99. Then there’s the Type Cover that’s touted to feel like a real keyboard with raised keys presumably to make productivity work easier. It goes for $129.99 separately. Both keyboards will be available in five colors – black, white, magenta, cyan and red. Only the 32 and 64GB models with Touch Cover are available now for pre-order on Microsoft’s site to be delivered on October 26th — the official Windows 8 release date. For the $499 version, there’s a three week delay before shipping. You’ll also be able to purchase a Surface RT from one of Microsoft’s retail stores on October 26th. Will there be lines outside the stores? In its press release, Microsoft also listed the Surface specs and included apps. My guess is Microsoft doesn’t want to run this at a loss but honestly… This price will be rough on them breaking into the iPad market. For an RT tablet… I guess why do you want a keyboard anyway? The UI is optimized for a tablet and touch. So, I see no point in spending an extra $120 – 130 for it. It’s a tablet! sigh… And why are there two different types of keyboards? Why would I want a flat touch keyboard when it looks to me like using the onscreen one would be essentially the same experience… Of course, no one has even tried these things so only time will tell, but right now I am definitely leaning on the “no buy” side, when until now I was expecting I would get one. Comment

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