Microsoft Surface starts at £399

Microsoft has revealed the pricing for its Surface tablet, and in the UK, the device will start at £399.

That’s for the basic 32GB tablet with no touchcover, and it’s in line with the US pricing announced yesterday, namely $499.

It also attacks the iPad on price, as the 32GB Wi-Fi model of the latest Apple tablet is £80 more at £479. The Surface goes on sale at the end of next week.

However, one of the big draws of Microsoft’s slate is the touchcover which adds a further £80 to the cost (according to the Guardian), predictably bringing the price of the 32GB Surface with keyboard cover to the exact same price as the 32GB iPad 3.

So basically, with their £480, punters will have a choice between Apple’s app ecosystem and the new iPad’s far higher quality retina resolution screen (the Surface is a mere 1366 x 768) – while Microsoft’s tablet offers its software such as Office, and the built-in keyboard touchcover.

Microsoft is counting on the prospect of tempting folks away from the Apple brand name, and luscious high-res screen, to capture an audience of users who want a tablet you can also effectively work on, with Office and a usable keyboard.

However, neither tablet is exactly cheap when you look at the likes of the £159 Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD.

There will also be version of the Surface running Windows 8 Pro, as opposed to this base version of the tablet which is ARM-powered and runs Windows RT.

While the Pro version will have considerably more horsepower, and a full HD screen which isn’t too far off the iPad’s resolution, it will cost a fair bit more. How much isn’t clear yet, as no pricing details have been made available.

With the pricing, Microsoft is certainly showing that it’s serious about making the Surface a competitor – and rumoured estimations of production volumes indicate this, too.

With the portability of a tablet, and something close to the productivity capability of a laptop via the touchcover – along with a reasonable price – the Surface may well make an impact.