Microsoft Surface Pro said to arrive at the end of the month

We heard in the past that Microsoft's upcoming Surface Pro line of tablets would be releasing sometime in January, which created speculation that the new tablets might make an appearance at CES 2013 next week, even though Microsoft isn't attending this year. However, several sources say that the Surface Pro will be released later this month.

According to CNET, several Microsoft retail store employees expect the Surface Pro tablet to make its appearance at the end of the month. Starting at $899, the Surface Pro will sport an Intel Core i5 processor and a 1080p HD display. It will also run a full version of Windows 8, unlike the Surface RT running on tablet-optimized Windows RT.

Microsoft originally opened up pre-orders for its Surface RT tablet 10 days before the tablet's release on October 26. If the company is to follow a similar pattern, then we'll likely see an official announcement shortly after CES, with pre-orders starting at that time as well.

The Surface Pro will act more like a laptop than the regular Surface tablet, which was more of a hybrid. Of course, you'll still have the ability to easily use the Surface Pro as a tablet, but using either keyboard attachments will no doubt give the Surface Pro more credit as a powerful laptop of sorts.

[via CNET]