Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet Has ‘Half Battery Life of RT’; Price Confirmed

After announcing the entry level model of its upcoming Surface Pro tablet would be priced at $899 earlier this week, Microsoft let another intriguing detail slip about its new device: the Pro will reportedly have "approximately half the battery life of Surface RT," according to company's Surface twitter account.

After a Twitter user asked Microsoft's Surface-branded Twitter account if they had any comments on battery life concerning the new Surface Pro, the Microsoft account announced the Pro's battery life would be about half that of the RT tablet's.

"Microsoft has officially advertised the RT's battery life at 8 hours of reading and 7.5 of video time; some reviews, such as Engadget's, were able to eke out an extra 1.5 hours more. Thus, a conservative estimate for Surface Pro battery life would peg it at 4.75 hours. At worst, the tablet's battery life would last only 4 hours," noted The Huffington Post.

By comparison, Apple's iPad tablet can operate for 10 hours "while surfing the web on WiFi, watching videos, or listening to music," according to Apple.

"In 2012, a tablet device with a 4 or 5-hour battery life doesn't look all that appealing (especially when its price tag is significantly higher than the most popular device on the market)," The Huffington Post added.

Earlier this week Microsoft announced the entry-level model of Surface Pro with Windows 8 would start at $899 with 64 GB of storage. The gargantuan 128GB version will be available for $999. Both models will include a Surface "active digitizer pen" with "Palm Block" technology, but Microsoft's Touch Cover and Type Cover will be sold separately, as with the RT. As previously stated by Microsoft, the Surface with Windows 8 Pro will go in sale in January.

The Surface Pro employs the same design as the RT, and the form factor is virtually identical, although, the Pro is noticeably thicker and slightly heavier than its predecessor. The Pro weighs about 2 pounds and measures 0.53 inches thick, compared to 1.5 pounds an 0.37 inches thick for the Surface with Windows RT.

As far as specs are concerned, while the RT tablet uses a Tegra 3 ARM-based processor, the Pro version has an Intel Core i5 chip, and its 10.6-inch display has a resolution of 1920-by-1080, instead of 1366-by-768. "Its storage configurations are double those of the RT version, but Windows 8 itself will likely consume more of that space compared to Windows RT," noted PC World.

Of course, the biggest difference between the two tablets is that Pro runs a full-blown version of Windows 8, rather than the Surface RT's abridged version, Windows RT. "Although the price is much higher than the Windows RT Surface, which starts at $500, it's more akin to an Ultrabook in terms of its capabilities," PC World added.

The Surface Pro also includes a full-size USB 3.0 port, and will support pen input.

"This is an amazing feature for all you note-takers or document editors out there, especially since it has expanded capacitive and digitizing technology we're calling Palm Block that will prevent your handwriting from getting interrupted if you accidentally place your palm on the screen as you write," Panos Panay, General Manager of Microsoft Surface said in a statement. "This feature is pretty cool, and allows for a great inking experience alongside a great touch experience when needed."

Microsoft has yet to announce when the company will begin taking pre-orders for the Pro.

While Microsoft will reportedly spend $1 billion or more to advertise its new Windows 8 OS, according to PCWorld, a majority of U.S. adults have never heard of Windows 8, according to a recent survey released by the Associated Press. In a telephone survey of 1,200 U.S. adults, 52 percent had never heard of Windows 8. Granted, that statistic is slightly offset by the fact that the survey was conducted a mere two weeks follow the operating system's launch.

Pro could totally change the public's awareness of Windows 8 as the device will likely be Microsoft's best chance at showing off Windows 8's full potential. Now, if the company can just convince people to fork over $899 ...