Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested a similar price range last week, when he told The Seattle Times that $300 to $800 is the "" for the PC market. Those prices represent a ballpark figure for Microsoft's , which will come in Windows RT and Windows 8 flavors.

Although the higher end of Microsoft's price range looks the same as Asus' supposed Vivo Tab pricing, the Windows 8 Pro version of Surface will use an , rather than the weaker Atom chip found in the Vivo Tab. Asus is making its own Core-based Windows 8 hybrid called the Transformer Book, but according to the leaked roadmap it will be much pricier at $1399.

Something doesn't add up here. Either the leaked roadmap is inaccurate, or Asus has gone mad and priced its Windows 8 devices high above the competition. And this doesn't seem very Asus-like. The company, after all, is delivering the Android-based for $199, and all its previous Android tablets have undercut the pricing of direct competition. This is what Asus generally does. It sells great hardware at killer prices.

With so many other PC makers preparing their own Windows 8 hybrids -- many with designs that are -- any type of high-end pricing approach could spell big trouble for Asus.