Asus Windows RT Vivo tablet now available for preorder
updated 03:22 pm EDT, Sun October 14, 2012
Device gives first look at Windows RT pricing
Asus' Vivo Tab RT has shown up as available for preorder at a number of online retailers. The Windows RT tablet is now available at Staples, Newegg, TigerDirect, and FutureShop, and gives consumers an early idea of what they might expect from Windows RT devices in terms of pricing. The Vivo Tab RT is listed at those retailers for $600 -- about the price of a comparably-equipped 2012 iPad -- though some show it with a list price of $630.
The Vivo Tab RT sports 32GB of internal storage, a 10.1-inch touchscreen, 2GB of RAM, and a 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. With the exception of more RAM, its internals roughly match those of Asus' Transformer Prime, which retails for $100 less.
The price difference between the Transformer Prime and the Vivo Tab RT is likely explained by Microsoft's licensing fee for Windows RT. Google's Android operating system is licensed for free, but Microsoft has carried over its old hardware licensing regime from the previous generation of computers to the new touch-centric generation.
