Microsoft's official online store has cut prices on a handful of Window 8 devices. These systems, from HP, Toshiba, and others, are all different, but each straddles the line between laptop and tablet and falls into the growing hybrid category; you can see the current discounts on the Microsoft Store site.
With these new discounts (no word on if they are temporary or permanent), our initial reviews of these specific systems deserve a second look, if only because a big knock against each one was the unrealistic asking prices.
Are they much better machines at $100 to $250 off, or are we still waiting for the perfect mix of price, performance, and design in a hybrid?
HP Envy x2 (Was $849, now $599)
The Envy x2 was already a really nice machine, if you could accept a high price tag for its lower-performance Atom processor. At $850, it was also close enough to several slick ultrabooks that it just felt far too expensive, given the clunky body with its big, ugly center button for detaching the screen. At $599, it hits the price of a budget Windows 8 laptop, and now feels like a good overall value. Verdict: The discount makes this a real contender.
The Envy x2 was already a really nice machine, if you could accept a high price tag for its lower-performance Atom processor. At $850, it was also close enough to several slick ultrabooks that it just felt far too expensive, given the clunky body with its big, ugly center button for detaching the screen. At $599, it hits the price of a budget Windows 8 laptop, and now feels like a good overall value. Verdict: The discount makes this a real contender.
Toshiba Satellite U925t (Was $1,149, now $799)
With a Core i5 processor lurking inside, the U925t is a full-featured ultrabook trapped inside the body of an experimental sliding tablet (Sony has a similar Vaio slider). The price drop puts it more in line with what similar touch-screen ultrabooks cost. But the design, while cool, never felt practical, and no price cut can change that. Verdict: That's a big price cut, but this is still probably not the hybrid for you.
With a Core i5 processor lurking inside, the U925t is a full-featured ultrabook trapped inside the body of an experimental sliding tablet (Sony has a similar Vaio slider). The price drop puts it more in line with what similar touch-screen ultrabooks cost. But the design, while cool, never felt practical, and no price cut can change that. Verdict: That's a big price cut, but this is still probably not the hybrid for you.
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