Microsoft Surface And Its Rivals: The First Wave Of Windows RT Tablets

The Surface RT isn't the only Windows RT tablet coming this year. Four others will debut over the next few months to challenge Microsoft's likely Windows tablet dominance.

Windows RT tablets are coming. Soon. Very soon. "What's Windows RT" you ask? Well, it would take a scientist to explain it and we unfortunately don't have one on staff (yet). Thankfully, we do have Seth Rosenblatt, who's all too happy (or as close as he gets to happy) to break it down for you.

For those not looking to have anything broken, I'll give you the basic gist. Windows RT is essentially the "lite" version of Windows 8. It runs on ARM processors (cheaper and more energy efficient than their Intel counterparts) and is optimized for Microsoft's Windows 8 Metro interface.

Of the first batch of RT tablets, the most anticipated is undoubtedly the Microsoft Surface RT. The future of Windows tablets is riding on the success of the Surface, which itself is riding on the price Microsoft decides for it.

Let's hope it aims low, but based on the Windows RT prices we've seen so far (see below) you may want to start saving those pennies.

Anyway, here a list of the first wave of Windows RT tablets. All of which should be on shelves by the the end of the year.

Dell XPS 10

The Dell XPS 10 houses an as-of-yet unidentified ARM CPU and will include microSD, USB slots, and a touchpad keyboard. No word on price yet, but expect something in the "Wow, I'd love for that price to be a bit lower" range, though I'm hoping for lower.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11

At $799, the Yoga 11 is currently the most expensive RT tablet. That's partly because most RT tablet pricing has yet to be revealed, but additionally, the Yoga 11 is just really expensive. It does come with an attached keyboard that flips under the tablet, propping it up, yoga-style. Now it all makes sense right? Right?

Asus Vivo Tab RT

The Vivo Tab RT will sport a $599 pricetag, a Tegra 3 CPU, and a 1366x768 screen. That price unfortunately doesn't include the optional keyboard dock to be offered by Asus.

Samsung Ativ Tab

The Ativ Tab goes the Qualcomm route, housing a Snapdragon S4 (APQ8060A) processor as its brains. It'll also sport dual cameras and be available on AT&T's 4G LTE network.

Microsoft Surface RT

Ah, the big daddy of Windows RT tablets. Microsoft's Surface will be the standard against which all other Windows tablets are judged. It's feature-rich with high levels of production pumped into it, but the biggest question is still price. With only a few weeks left before its assumed late October debut, we still have no official word on how much it'll cost. Surface's price relative to other tablets in the market will factor very heavily into its success or failure.