Microsoft’s Surface Pro hasn’t really enjoyed relative success since its official launch back in January, and according to a new retail listing, a 256GB variant is soon to be headed to the U.S. market. In what will certainly go down as a win for power users looking for vast quantities of storage real estate, the device will cost $1199, and since the leaked listing has been sourced through one of the Redmond’s authorized resellers, should be available very, very soon.
Rather than try to compete with Apple’s domineering iPad, Microsoft has sought a different angle of competition with the Surface. Marketed as, to all intents and purposes, a portable computer with a touchscreen, it has proved a big hit with long-time Microsoft users, and having given the device a try myself, I have to say I’m very impressed with the quality of build and overall performance.
Although there’s been a strong emphasis on cloud computing, something of which Microsoft has been at the fore, there are still plenty of consumers demanding large amounts of immediate storage space. The 128GB iPad, which Apple rolled out earlier this year, is a testament to that, and it looks as though Microsoft is about to go down the same route, but aims to compete with the full-fledged desktop PC instead of a regular slate.
Despite the listing, which has been spotted over at CDW, being sourced from a legit Microsoft reseller, we cannot take this as gospel just yet. Having said that, it would seem as though the release of such a device is imminent, and if you’ve been sold by the Surface but have held out for a bit more storage space, now would be the time to begin reaching for your wallet.
The 256GB version first appeared in Japan a short while back, and it seemed only a matter of time before it manifested itself Stateside. The listing points to a price tag just shy of the $1200 mark, which, while seeming expensive to some, actually provides a premium notebook while going above and beyond what most would require of a tablet.
Unfortunately, it would seem as though the specs remain the same to all other Surface Pro models, which means those battery life benefits offered by Intel’s new Haswell chips will not be felt this time around. Still, there’s plenty of bang for the proverbial buck here, and if you want an all-in-one with a boatload of storage space, look no further than the forthcoming 256GB Surface Pro.
(Source: CDW) Thanks, Paul for sending this in!
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