Fans of Neil Diamond and Surface Pros alike will be happy to hear that the 256GB Surface Pro is coming to America through select resellers, just in time for Independence Day. An eagle-eyed shopper noticed the 256GB model of the Windows 8 flagship tablet on CDW’s site with a price tag of $1,200. Previously, the largest amount of storage available for the Surface Pro was a less-than-ideal 128GB.
Back in May, the Japanese version of the Surface Pro, uh, surfaced with a 256GB solid-state drive. In fact, Japan didn’t even get the option of the paltry 64GB version that was for sale here in the U.S. With any luck, this is a sign that Microsoft is phasing out the ill-advised 64GB version of its flagship Windows 8 tablet. It’s a constant, painful reminder of how much space Windows 8 gobbles up – once the OS is installed on the 64GB version, there’s only 28GB left for user storage.
The Next Web talked to Microsoft to squash any doubt that this was more than just an inventory glitch. The company issued a formal statement saying, “There will be limited availability of a 256GB version of Surface Pro in the U.S. exclusively through the commercial channel and the authorized Surface resellers.”
Translated: CDW, Microsoft Stores, and authorized resellers will soon be able to hook you up with the larger model of the tablet. Presumably, Best Buy will also sell it since it just struck a deal with Microsoft.
Based on the specs listed on CDW’s site, nothing else is updated on this particular model, which is a bummer because we were really hoping to see an Intel Haswell-powered Surface Pro debut at last week’s Build conference. We love the idea of a larger hard drive though. It gives the tablet more legitimacy as a primary computing device instead of a secondary screen like many smaller tablets, which is what Microsoft wants us to believe it is. However, you’ll need to add on a keyboard to truly use it as a laptop replacement.
Would you buy a 256GB Surface Pro? Or would you spend the money on an Ultrabook instead?
[Updated on July 3 at 1:30 p.m. PST: The 64GB Surface Pro actually has 28GB of free storage available after Windows 8 is installed, not 23GB like we originally stated.]
