- Earlier this week Microsoft and Qualcomm
revealed the first Always Connected PCs
running Window 10 on ARM.
Some people though have complained
that they're too expensive.
Are they?
Let's talk about it.
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So, the first device is from ASUS
and HP where announced this week
the ASUS NovaGo and HP Envy x2
are coming out in early 2018.
Now, we don't have the pricing for HP unfortunately
and that does seem to be the more premium device.
So, we'll just have to wait and see on that
but ASUS did reveal it's pricing, 599 and 799.
One of those is gonna be for 64 gigabytes
of storage and another for 256.
Some people have been telling me
they think it's too expensive.
Now, I just wanna caution a bit here.
We're at the very beginning here
of the Always Connected PC revolution.
Qualcomm and Microsoft see this
as a very long term plan.
That is, this is gonna be five, 10 years out.
This is where they see computing is going
and I think there's a lot of truth to this.
Mobile computing is the new thing.
So, the best way to do it is the bring
Windows 10 to as many mobile devices as possible
and they're doing a good job here
by using the Snapdragon 835,
initially, in Snapdragon 845 in 2018.
Now, let's talk about those processors.
The 835 is out right now and these first devices
are coming out with it but Qualcomm
also announced the 845 and so that bothers
some people because why get an 835 device.
Now, we should have a little caution here
as it's the Snapdragon 845 is still very new
and there's gonna production limitations
at the beginning.
A lot of companies are gonna be fighting
for it including Samsung and Jami
and then you got LG, HTC, OnePlus and others.
So, when a new chip launches, it's gonna be
very tight and you won't see mass production
probably till mid-2018 and, by then,
we'll probably see more Always Connected PCs.
Now, let's talk about the ASUS NovaGo.
Specifically, it starts at 599
which is not crazy expensive to me but some people
think it is a little too much money.
However, that device is kind of interesting.
First of all, it has a touchscreen
and supports Windows Ink.
There aren't many devices in that category
that support that and have LTE on board.
For instance, we can compare it to the iPad Pro 13 inch
and that's a little bit unfair.
Let's face it the iPad Pro is a very premium device
but that starts at 799 but once you throw
LTE in there it goes up to $929.
That is significantly more expensive versus 599
and that's both for 64 gigabytes of storage.
So, in that comparison, which I admit
is a little bit unfair but still
there aren't many devices out there
that support what the ASUS NovaGo does right now
which is a touchscreen, inking
and it has Windows Hello too with a fingerprint reader
in that full keyboard.
When you toss all that in there,
even compared to a Surface Pro,
it is actually a fairly good price
and that's kind of the difference here.
These devices that are coming out from HP
and at least ASUS right now represent
all that Windows 10 is capable of doing.
If it didn't support Windows Hello
or Windows inking, well that'd be a little bit weird.
Now, having said that, I think you will
see devices coming out that don't support
Windows Ink, that maybe don't have a touchscreen
and do drop that price down to maybe 399 or cheaper.
That is totally possible.
OEMs can do whatever they want here with these devices
but I think at least for these launch ones
they want to do everything that Windows 10 can do
and that's why the pricing represents that.
Now, the HP one I wouldn't be surprised
if it goes for 899 or maybe even higher.
That is a very premium device but even there
you're going to get LTE support.
You're going to get Windows Hello
with facial recognition and you're also
going to get their pen built-in
and you're going to get that keyboard.
So I think that's probably a good value
and HP makes very good hardware.
We'll have to wait till we get our hands
on it though to actually evaluate it.
So, in conclusion, the pricing here
doesn't seem too crazy to me but remember
we're at the very beginning.
I expect many more devices to come out
in 2018 and they're gonna hit all different price points.
That means we may have ones that go down
as low as $399 but ones that go over $1,000 as well.
We'll just have to wait to see what the market does
but I'm very excited about this technology.
It's gonna allow manufacturers
to create all sorts of new devices
and I think we haven't seen anything yet.
So, there are my quick thoughts
on the pricing but you tell me what you think
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