It's not really worth comparing costs until artists weigh in on the drawing capabilities of each piece of hardware. Wacom has had a corner on the market, and a lot of patents for a long time. I know comparisons of Surface Tablet vs. iPad Pro vs. Wacom still have Wacom coming out on top, but a lot of that could be because iPad Pro doesn't have access to the full software artists/designers need to do their job efficiently.

At least one artist (the guy from Penny Arcade) says the Surface Studio compares favorably to his Cintiq: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2016/10/26/the-surface...

Thanks for sharing! I recall reading his Surface reviews previously. I appreciate his honesty, and Microsoft's willingness to tap into him for advice on their products.

the surface (pro 3 and onwards) has an ever-so-slight delay compared to the cintiq and as i follow gabe it looks like it's something he has made his peace with.

some artists just absolutely cannot get used to it and so moving off to surface is not something they can do yet.

that's just the value prop of cintiq. the display may be crap but the drawing experience is by far and away the best in its class.