$499

Dell Windows 8 tablet now starts at $499

LAS VEGAS--The Latitude 10 tablet, which runs the full version of Windows 8, now starts at $499, Dell said today.

Dell claims it's the "first full-featured, enterprise-ready Windows 8 tablet experience at a price below $500."

True or not, it's clear that, so far, the Windows 8 tablets out there have not been cheap compared to some of their Windows RT and Android rivals.

Specs include 32-bit Windows 8, a dual-core Intel Atom 1.8GHz Z2760 processor, 10.1" IPS (1,366x768) LCD, Corning Gorilla Glass, Capacitive 10 Finger Touch, 2GB SDRAM, and 32GB of … Read more

Microsoft Surface $499 model 'out of stock' online

The $499 Surface model appears to be a popular item on the Microsoft store's Web site.

As of this afternoon, Pacific Time, that model (without the Touch Cover) is listed as "out of stock." Previously, it had been listed as "back-ordered", along with the $599 and $699 models.

The other two models -- both come with the Touch Cover -- are no longer listed as back-ordered.

"The store periodically will run out of certain models," a Microsoft representative told CNET in response to an e-mail query.

Calls to Microsoft stores in Century City, … Read more

$499 Microsoft Surface preorders slip to three weeks

Are we seeing the first signs of keen consumer interest in Microsoft Surface?

Answer: at this stage -- the first day of preorders -- we have no idea if Microsoft's first branded PC is a hit. But one backordered model may point to some momentum.

The $499 model is already showing shipments pushed back to "within 3 weeks," while the two other pricier models are available for delivery by October 26, when Surface goes on sale.

Without knowing how many Surface tablets Microsoft has in the sales channel ready to ship, we don't know what a … Read more

At $499, is Microsoft's Surface tablet priced to move?

Surface tablet pricing will start at $499, Microsoft confirmed today. But is that low enough to entice reams of buyers?

Right off the bat, that price does have at least two things going for it. One, it comes with 32GB of storage not 16GB like the identically priced Apple iPad. Two, it comes with Microsoft Office -- for now that means Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT Preview. (The final Office version "will be installed via Windows Update when available," according to Microsoft.)

However, that price doesn't include the slick 3mm-thick Touch Cover (the combination keyboard/… Read more

Sony slashes Tablet S price, signaling trend

Sony has knocked $100 off the price of its S series tablet, another sign that non-Apple tablet pricing is trending downward.

The 16GB Tablet S is now $400, reduced from $500, while the 32GB model got cut to $500 from $600.

Specs include a 9.4-inch 1280x800 display, front and rear cameras, Android Honeycomb, 1GB system memory, and eight hours of rated battery life.

Sony is by no means is the first to wield an ax on pricing. RIM's BlackBerry Playbook is the most extreme recent example of tablet price deflation. The PlayBook has been selling--depending on the week--for $300 off its original price.… Read more

Will Kindle Fire kill the $500 tablet?

Will Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire reset the tablet market, rendering the $500 tablet obsolete?

Let me preempt any challenges from Apple iPad folks. Yeah, I know, Apple will continue to sell the iPad at $499, $599, and $699. And, yes, Apple is slated to ship more than 12 million iPad 2s in the current quarter. Android rivals like Motorola's Xoom or Toshiba's Thrive aren't even close.

With that out of the way, the most immediate impact will be on the pricey Android guys. "I think [the Kindle Fire] resets the bar," Carter Nicholas, CEO of market researcher eDataSource told CNET this week.

To expand on Nicholas' argument, why buy a $500 Xoom if you can get most of what you need from a $199 Fire or a $199 Samsung Galaxy Tab? Or a $249 Nook Tablet? Or a 10-inch Lenovo IdeaPad for $349.99? … Read more

Motorola, Toshiba Android tablets go below $500

Motorola has at long last reduced the Xoom's entry price to $499, while Toshiba's new Thrive starts at $429, bringing some needed price relief to the tablet market.

Motorola today cut the price on the Wi-Fi only 10-inch Xoom tablet to $499, from $599. The Xoom's high price has stigmatized it from the beginning as being uncompetitive with Apple's iPad.

But today's price drop changed that: the Xoom's specifications now make it quite competitive with Apple's iPad. For example, the $499 Xoom with the Android 3.1 operating system has 32GB of flash storage and 1GB of system memory versus the $499 iPad's 16GB and 512KB, respectively.

Motorola's new pricing also takes on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, whose Android 3.1-based Wi-Fi version is priced at $499 with 16GB of memory and 1GB of system memory.

And Toshiba's 10-inch Android 3.1 tablet is even cheaper. For $429, the Thrive--now up for sale--packs 8GB of flash storage and 1GB of system memory. A model with 16GB of flash is $479, undercutting the price of the similarly configured iPad. Two features of note are the Thrive's removable battery and SD card slot, distinguishing it from the Xoom and iPad. … Read more