Microsoft Surface under fire from consumer watchdog

Choice has referred Microsoft to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) for "misleading claims" around its Surface tablet.

According to Choice, the issue is with Microsoft claiming it has 32GB and 64GB hard disc space on two models of the Microsoft Surface tablet.

Because of the preloaded software on the Surface, the actual amount of available space on its HDD is significantly different to the advertised number.

Choice said that while the Microsoft website clarifies that the 32GB model has only 16GB of space available, and 45GB on the 64GB model, this information is lacking on the packaging of the Surface products, making it difficult for consumers to make an informed decision about the product.

The watchdog noted that, while it is common for tablets to have slightly less storage space than the advertised figure, it felt that the Surface in particular has "much less than consumers would consider reasonable".

It contrasted the Surface with the Nexus 7 and the iPad 2, stating that they respectively had 85 and 84 percent of the advertised storage figures available for use: 27.33GB on the 32GB Nexus 7 and 13.43GB on the 16GB iPad 2.

It's unknown at this stage if the ACCC will investigate further.