I don’t have any other dead horses around to beat today. Also, I just read a review of a different tablet that reminded me of something. Lots of electrons spilled so far, but most of what I read focused on comparisons with either the iPad or larger Surface Pro devices. Also, once the 23GB free number got out, it was like it was carved in stone, even before anybody actually touched said device. Then it comes out that maybe it’s more like 30GB free, but retractions are hard work, so you still see people complain about the old number. Anyway, how does the 64GB Surface Pro compare to other Windows 8 (not RT) tablets with 64GB of storage?

The Surface Pro was admittedly the only such machine I was really interested in, and so I haven’t been paying attention to other similar machines (mostly Atom based, and therefore definitely less interested), but today Engadget reviewed the ASUS VivoTab Smart. They make a pretty big deal about talking up how spacious the 64GB model is, compared to competitors’ lowly 32GB(!), such as the Acer W510 base model. Wait, what? This thing is running full Windows 8, not RT. It should be bogged down with all the same old school compat code as the Surface Pro, no? How much storage is free? Dunno, Engadget has decided that’s not important to tell us. How about Verge’s ThinkPad Tablet 2 review, also published today? Doesn’t even mention storage space, free, used, total, or otherwise. Finally, here’s a site I’d never heard of, but Laptop Mag’s VivoTab review tells us it has 34GB of free space. Probably the difference is due to 32 bit vs 64 bit.

It’s amazing. One week, I can’t stop hearing about how Microsoft is short changing consumers. There wasn’t a review on the internet that didn’t mention it. You’d think, going forward, every review would be careful to call out usable storage. But no, the witch has been burned, the fire is out. Using an i5 vs Atom does push the Surface Pro a little higher in the food chain, but let’s not pretend these other tablets aren’t “full-on Windows computers” (Verge). Where’s the anguish? When did 64GB suddenly become “generous storage” (Engadget)?

For the record, I think the 64GB Surface Pro model is a little silly, but it’s not scandalous.