Asus Vivo Tab RT priced $600 on preorder at Staples, keyboard dock extra $170

Microsoft's strategy is apparently not including cheapo tablets like the Nexus 7, at least not from other OEMs, as the cheapest Windows slates we've heard so far hover in the $500-$600 range. 

Maybe it is keeping the low prices for the Surface slates, or maybe it just doesn't want to go downmarket at launch, but the latest preorder price that appeared shows that Windows 8/RT tablets will be priced comparably with Apple's iPad.

The Asus Vivo Tab RT slate is up for preorder at Staples and other online retailers now for $599, including the free copy of Microsoft Office RT tablets come with. 

It features a 10" IPS LCD with 1366x768 pixels, quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, and HDMI output. The keyboard dock will run you $170 extra. So far Acer seems to be the cheapest of the bunch, with $500 asked for a full-fledged Windows 8 tablet, the Iconia W510.