Dell cuts price on XPS 10 tablet with Windows RT to $299.99

It hasn't been easy going for Windows RT, the mobile-friendly version of Windows 8 that launched with much fanfare, but has struggled to make a mark in the increasingly crowded tablet market. Samsung scuttled plans to introduce the Ativ Tab in the US, a Toshiba exec recently complained that Microsoft confused buyers with Windows RT and Windows 8, and manufacturers have been slashing prices of Windows RT tablets.

One of those manufacturers is Dell, which cut the price of its XPS 10 tablet a bit last month and is now at it again. The company has just reduced the starting price for its 32GB Windows RT slate to just $299.99, or $200 less than what Microsoft is charging for its Surface RT tablet. You can get a case thrown in for an additional $30, or a keyboard dock for $50 more.

Dell is trying to spin the price cut, calling it an "exclusive online price" and a "limited time offer" and pointing out the "market value" of $449.99. But you don't need to resort to such semantics if you have a hot-selling product. And while it looks like Windows 8 tablets are starting to get a bit of traction in the marketplace, signs like Dell's latest price cut point to Windows RT failing to match Microsoft's expectations for the new OS. Maybe the Windows Blue update to RT can breathe some life into it — or maybe it will wind up being a last-ditch effort to save it.