MICROCENTER ASUS VIVO TAB RT TF600T-B1 10" hd DISPLAY2GB 32 G BFLASH DRIVE 499.99 WITH FREE DOCK STATION VALUE 199.99 also use the $25 coupon to make it 474.99

Quote from ap3604 : I got this deal at the MS store for $399 a couple of weeks ago. Also the back button is trash on the browser. You often press back and it goes back for a second then reloads the same webpage you were just on I have never had this issue on my 4 year old netbook, only windows RT.

I own this device and agree that the Modern UI version of IE is limited and it does reload pages when you navigate backward and forward in the same tab. However, the browser does support horizontal swipes (left to right to go back and right to left to go forward) which is nice.

Thanks!

When it was time to replace my Motorola Xoom, this tab caught my eye. With the free keyboard dock option, I figured I can sell the keyboard for about $100, and will have the tab for $400 + tax, which would be the same as Nexus 10 16GB.

While checking out, the sales clerk couldn't find the keyboard to go with the tab, and I ended waiting there for a good 15-20 mind. Chatted up with the manager in the mean time, and when asked nicely, she knocked off $50 of the price for my trouble. Total out the door was $487 including tax for the tab and the keyboard.

Here are my impressions after using for a week.
1. Build quality
I have seen people complain about flex in the body, but I didn't find any, or maybe I wasn't trying to hard. It is very sleek, and looks better than the Android counterparts. Screen is beautiful, even though the resolution is not add high as iPad or Nexus 10.
2. UI takes some getting used to. Once you learn the different swipe actions, you'll start to appreciate the effort put in by MS into it. It is easy to switch between apps, access in app menus and so on.
3. Email app
The built in email client is just basic and bare bones. You can't even flag messages. Out of my 2 corporate accounts, I was able to set one up to receive email 'As items arrive'. The other one wouldn't give me that option, and the best option was sync every 15mins. Not sure what the issue was, spent some time scouring the web, but couldn't figure out why. Of course, this isn't a problem with any other email client.
The email doesn't highlight the unread messages very well, and I had to squint to differentiate them. Not a good experience.
4. Apps
This is the complaint you are going to hear the most. And, there's certainly truth to it. Is hard to find good apps even the most common ones. Of course, none of the Google ones, if you are tied to gmail, gvoice and so on. Some other app examples that I couldn't find good ones - banking, music streaming, magazines etc. Kindle reader isn't as robust as on other platforms, no search function (someone please correct me if I am wrong).
5. Browser
IE on Win RT is fast. Comparable to the ones on iPad and Nexus 10. And, this probably is the only great thing, software wise. This could compensate somewhat for the lack of apps, by accessing the adopts on native web sites, and I found the browser to be what I was using 80% of the time.
6. kids apps
Haven't really tried any, but wouldn't expect to find many.

Even though the keyboard retails for $100-$129, selling on eBay or cl, didn't seem to get me more than $70, after eBay fees. So, even after the $50 discount, I was looking at $437 after taxes which is exactly what I can get a Nexus 10 for. And, the only good thing in this tab was the browser. And, with the whole RT vs. Pro thing, and how MS put first gen Windows Phones out of Windows Phone 8 upgrade, and the fact that even after 3yrs windows phone can't seem to attract many developers, I don't have a lot of confidence in the future of this platform.
I would have kept this tab, if I could get it for about $250, not $400+.
Retuned it, got a Nexus 10.
Of course, this is my personal situation, and wouldn't be the same for everyone. I welcome contrasting arguments.
Hope this helps with your decision.

Quote from confused2much : It's crippled just as your reply states, can it run x86 programs? The answer is no. My whole reply isn't comparing prices on tablets that are alternatives to this one. Instead I stated that it is no more capable than my android tablet is and possibly even less capable considering how many more apps are available for android, or apple for that matter. I mean sure, it can run Office. That's not enough to adopt Windows RT. And yes it is pretty easy to print from Android and Apple tablets as well. Also, I didn't comment on the hardware either. My only gripe was the OS and what it was capable of running. Now if this was able to run x86 apps/programs, then it blows my android tablet out of the water with the number of software options. When I say crippled, I mean that this is a crippled version of Windows that has next to zero added benefit over my current tablet. However, I still gave the thread a thumbs up earlier because I feel it is a really good deal for anyone looking for this type of tablet.

Really - there are so many overlapping products.

What are the benefits of the ipad mini versus the ipad 2 or New Ipad or Retina Ipad? There are zero. It's slower, low resolution etc.. but I know plenty of people that bought BOTH!

The ipad is crippled when you can't even insert a memory card without an adapter. You can't output to a tv without a 2nd adapter. You can't hook up a usb flash drive to expand storage or copy files without a 3rd adapter. It also can't run Mac OS apps or X86 apps yet costs more than this with less memory.

I bought my wife the RT tablet MS Store for $400 (I own a playbook 16gb - $160 and a nexus 7 tablet 32gb for $198 myself).

My wife LOVES it. I find myself using her tablet a LOT more. The OS is very fluid and has a learning curve but works great.

I love that I put a 32gb card in there to put all the music and photos on it and I still have about 9gb left on the card.

Then I bought her this TINY USB flash drive - same size as the Logitech Nano receiver that can stay in the keyboard all the time.

She essentially has 13gb of storage (after the OS and Office installed) for system. She has 32gb for photos and music. Then she has 32gb usb for videos that the folder is mapped to.

What other tablet gives you the option to have 96gb total - 77gb after everything is installed for LESS than $500 with taxes, has 15 hours of battery life AND has a full keyboard option that comes WITH it?

My total cost about $440 for her.

Crippled - compared to what? Compared to the larger app stores - yes it would be considered crippled. But in that case then all IOS stuff is crippled compared to legacy Windows and it's millions of apps and billions of movies/games/music available.

If Windows RT has your app (or gets your apps) then it's great. XDA developers just "jailbroke" RT as well - so you can install outside of the store if you want

Also, with remote desktop, you can run all legacy apps on a home computer remotely on the tablet as well.

MS Office, Skype, internet, silly games, maps, weather, photos (download from the memory card even), synology access for music/playlist, photos and video - it was a complete laptop replacement for my wife and I'm jealous

Quote from hkk : When it was time to replace my Motorola Xoom, this tab caught my eye. With the free keyboard dock option, I figured I can sell the keyboard for about $100, and will have the tab for $400 + tax, which would be the same as Nexus 10 16GB. While checking out, the sales clerk couldn't find the keyboard to go with the tab, and I ended waiting there for a good 15-20 mind. Chatted up with the manager in the mean time, and when asked nicely, she knocked off $50 of the price for my trouble. Total out the door was $487 including tax for the tab and the keyboard. Here are my impressions after using for a week. 1. Build quality I have seen people complain about flex in the body, but I didn't find any, or maybe I wasn't trying to hard. It is very sleek, and looks better than the Android counterparts. Screen is beautiful, even though the resolution is not add high as iPad or Nexus 10. 2. UI takes some getting used to. Once you learn the different swipe actions, you'll start to appreciate the effort put in by MS into it. It is easy to switch between apps, access in app menus and so on. 3. Email app The built in email client is just basic and bare bones. You can't even flag messages. Out of my 2 corporate accounts, I was able to set one up to receive email 'As items arrive'. The other one wouldn't give me that option, and the best option was sync every 15mins. Not sure what the issue was, spent some time scouring the web, but couldn't figure out why. Of course, this isn't a problem with any other email client. The email doesn't highlight the unread messages very well, and I had to squint to differentiate them. Not a good experience. 4. Apps This is the complaint you are going to hear the most. And, there's certainly truth to it. Is hard to find good apps even the most common ones. Of course, none of the Google ones, if you are tied to gmail, gvoice and so on. Some other app examples that I couldn't find good ones - banking, music streaming, magazines etc. Kindle reader isn't as robust as on other platforms, no search function (someone please correct me if I am wrong). 5. Browser IE on Win RT is fast. Comparable to the ones on iPad and Nexus 10. And, this probably is the only great thing, software wise. This could compensate somewhat for the lack of apps, by accessing the adopts on native web sites, and I found the browser to be what I was using 80% of the time. 6. kids apps Haven't really tried any, but wouldn't expect to find many. Even though the keyboard retails for $100-$129, selling on eBay or cl, didn't seem to get me more than $70, after eBay fees. So, even after the $50 discount, I was looking at $437 after taxes which is exactly what I can get a Nexus 10 for. And, the only good thing in this tab was the browser. And, with the whole RT vs. Pro thing, and how MS put first gen Windows Phones out of Windows Phone 8 upgrade, and the fact that even after 3yrs windows phone can't seem to attract many developers, I don't have a lot of confidence in the future of this platform. I would have kept this tab, if I could get it for about $250, not $400+. Retuned it, got a Nexus 10. Of course, this is my personal situation, and wouldn't be the same for everyone. I welcome contrasting arguments. Hope this helps with your decision.

Great information - basically agree with everything. If you are mainly looking for a media device / apps and games - then RT isn't for you yet.

If have someone that uses internet, office often (even viewing) - then these are much better than android & IOS options.

BTW - the USB port on the keyboard will charge other devices (like my nexus 7). It's a 6000mah battery pack basically so in that sense it's really nice.

At $500+ it's tough but for $440 with 96 gb of storage (my wife hates cloud and can't connect tablets to cloud at work) it was tough to find her something more portable, in that price range with all those features.

Closest thing I found was a Vivo book - windows 8 ultra-book that was $500 + tax and the screen didn't detach and battery life was less than half this.

Quote from Graphikzking : Really - there are so many overlapping products. What are the benefits of the ipad mini versus the ipad 2 or New Ipad or Retina Ipad? There are zero. It's slower, low resolution etc.. but I know plenty of people that bought BOTH! The ipad is crippled when you can't even insert a memory card without an adapter. You can't output to a tv without a 2nd adapter. You can't hook up a usb flash drive to expand storage or copy files without a 3rd adapter. It also can't run Mac OS apps or X86 apps yet costs more than this with less memory. I bought my wife the RT tablet MS Store for $400 (I own a playbook 16gb - $160 and a nexus 7 tablet 32gb for $198 myself). My wife LOVES it. I find myself using her tablet a LOT more. The OS is very fluid and has a learning curve but works great. I love that I put a 32gb card in there to put all the music and photos on it and I still have about 9gb left on the card. Then I bought her this TINY USB flash drive - same size as the Logitech Nano receiver that can stay in the keyboard all the time. She essentially has 13gb of storage (after the OS and Office installed) for system. She has 32gb for photos and music. Then she has 32gb usb for videos that the folder is mapped to. What other tablet gives you the option to have 96gb total - 77gb after everything is installed for LESS than $500 with taxes, has 15 hours of battery life AND has a full keyboard option that comes WITH it? My total cost about $440 for her. Crippled - compared to what? Compared to the larger app stores - yes it would be considered crippled. But in that case then all IOS stuff is crippled compared to legacy Windows and it's millions of apps and billions of movies/games/music available. If Windows RT has your app (or gets your apps) then it's great. XDA developers just "jailbroke" RT as well - so you can install outside of the store if you want Also, with remote desktop, you can run all legacy apps on a home computer remotely on the tablet as well. MS Office, Skype, internet, silly games, maps, weather, photos (download from the memory card even), synology access for music/playlist, photos and video - it was a complete laptop replacement for my wife and I'm jealous

Not quite sure why you kept bringing up iOS in response to my post. I have not been an iOS user for over 6 years and didn't try to say it was better than RT. Given the choice, I would take RT over iOS any day. I would also take full Windows over the rest as well, which is all I have been saying this whole time. I have not bashed the OS or hardware for these tablets, I have only said that I'd rather have full windows 8 on my tablet. If full windows 8 wasn't an option, I would stick with my android tablets due to the fact that (like you said) they are basically overlapping devices and do the same things except that my android device has more apps available. That includes pretty much all apps that you mentioned.

As far as the RT jailbreak, they did accomplish that. However it has a long way to come before it's usable. Programs have to be recompiled to run correctly and even then there are some glitches. Believe me, if this were a viable option I would jump on it right now.

Quote from confused2much : Not quite sure why you kept bringing up iOS in response to my post. I have not been an iOS user for over 6 years and didn't try to say it was better than RT. Given the choice, I would take RT over iOS any day. I would also take full Windows over the rest as well, which is all I have been saying this whole time. I have not bashed the OS or hardware for these tablets, I have only said that I'd rather have full windows 8 on my tablet. If full windows 8 wasn't an option, I would stick with my android tablets due to the fact that (like you said) they are basically overlapping devices and do the same things except that my android device has more apps available. That includes pretty much all apps that you mentioned. As far as the RT jailbreak, they did accomplish that. However it has a long way to come before it's usable. Programs have to be recompiled to run correctly and even then there are some glitches. Believe me, if this were a viable option I would jump on it right now.

Gotcha.. i understand better.

But I just find myself using my 4.3" Rezound more than the nexus except for reading. The Asus RT tablet I find myself using much more for actual work when my wife leaves it around. The keyboard is a little small but it works great for typing longer stuff (especially for work).

The nexus is a great time killer / e reader. Word / Excel on there is not usable for the most part at all. I can view but not worth the headaches trying to edit with the tiny screen and touchscreen is not friendly for that type of work.

Quote from Graphikzking : Gotcha.. i understand better. But I just find myself using my 4.3" Rezound more than the nexus except for reading. The Asus RT tablet I find myself using much more for actual work when my wife leaves it around. The keyboard is a little small but it works great for typing longer stuff (especially for work). The nexus is a great time killer / e reader. Word / Excel on there is not usable for the most part at all. I can view but not worth the headaches trying to edit with the tiny screen and touchscreen is not friendly for that type of work.

I actually have a rezound as well and find that I only seem to use it when I'm out of the house due to the cellular data. When I'm home I use my Nexus 7 for everything except calls.

I'm trying to justify spending $1k on a Windows 8 tablet over what I currently have and it's tough. I don't know that the Surface Pro is worth so much more than the Surface RT. I might wait for prices to fall, though it might be a while and I'm impatient lol.