Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet at Ultrabook Price

Microsoft is going to release its Surface pro Tablet next month at the same price as that of ultrabook.

The device will go on sale in the United States on 9 February starting at $899, or about £565, without a Touch Cover keyboard.

It did not announce plans for a British launch, saying it will use a "phased approach" for the Surface Pro, with "additional markets to follow in the coming weeks and months".

The Surface looks very similar to the Surface RT, introduced in October, but contains a more powerful x86 processor to run the full version of Windows 8, allowing owners to use the full range of Windows apps. It also has a high definition screen and comes with a stylus.

The Surface RT contains power-efficient ARM-based processor and runs a slimmed down version of Windows 8 that only runs apps designed for tablet computing.

Although slightly thicker and heavier, the Surface Pro therefore has significantly shorter battery life of about four and a half hours.

Commentators have expressed doubts as to whether Microsoft can convince customers to pay as much for a tablet, albeit a powerful one, as they would for an ultrabook.

“The end result is a product that does a big chunk of what a tablet can do and a big chunk of what a PC can do, but it's not a perfect replacement for either,” wrote Peter Bright of Ars Technica.

“If Surface Pro is held up against conventional tablets, the result will be catastrophic, but the comparisons with Ultrabooks aren't clear-cut either.”

Microsoft is yet to release sales figures for the Surface RT, its attempt to respond to the iPad in the consumer market. UBS this week halved its estimate for the quarter to one million.

Apple sells tens of millions of iPads each quarter.