According to the Washington-based firm, the base model for the new 10-inch Surface Go will cost buyers $399. Unfortunately, consumers might be a bit underwhelmed with what they get for their money. When shipped with a base configuration, the Surface Go will feature an Intel Pentium Gold processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of rather plodding eMMC storage.
Not too great a start.
Add to that price the almost essential need to buy an expensive Type Cover and the Surface Go might give customers pause.
It might not be fair, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I'm skeptical that iPad users are going to ditch their devices for Microsoft's hardware rebuttal to the venerable tablet. But, then again, I'm not too sure Microsoft is even gunning for Apple with this new product. Sure, with it's sleek design it looks like an Apple-made product, but the Go seems to find a better market fit with less-expensive computers—think the Chromebook’s niche.
If Microsoft is trying to bounce the Chromebook from the laps of budget-minded users plucking away at schools and airports around the globe, then they might actually find many takers. Not only do the performance stats measure up to and exceed Chromebook standards, the aforementioned packaging of the product and attention to design detail make it an alluring upgrade to the oftentimes flimsy builds of older Chromebooks.
Will Microsoft's new Surface expansion pay off? Will users adopt these new machines? The answer to those question should become a bit clearer in August when the Go hits shelves.