Microsoft is ready to take a run at Apple by offering its original model of the Surface tablet for a Black Friday bargain of $199.

With Thanksgiving officially over, Microsoft's holiday store is now live and the savings are not exclusive to the store at the mall. Also included in the deals are bundles for the Xbox 360, Surface tablet, Nokia Lumia smartphone and more.

First, the Surface 1 tablet is going for $199, marked down from $349. That price will make it competitive with several tablets already on the market, like Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX on sale for $229.

The Surface offers either 32 GB or 64 GB of storage and 2 GB of RAM memory on a 10.6-inch screen. Another exterior draw for the Surface is its easily detachable keyboard/cover. While other tablets feature such an item as an add-on accessory, the Surface includes it in the tablet.

Despite having a newer model on the market, the Surface is plenty advanced in its own right, with a 1,366x768 display, five-point multi-touch and a battery able to sustain eight hours of usage.

The Surface also has features that enhance its user-friendliness like two 720p HD cameras, front and rear facing speakers, HD video out port and Bluetooth 4.0 support.

The main draw for the Surface tablet for consumers who do not want to spend extra on an iPad will certainly be the price. On CNET, 96 users gave the Surface an average of four stars out of five. The tablet received 67 five-star reviews, with the average being weighed down by scattered lower reviews. There is also not a better price-per-storage.

For $229, consumers can get the seven-inch screen Kindle Fire HDX at 16 GB. For $199, consumers can get a ten-inch screen 32 GB Surface.

There is not much to dislike about Microsoft's Surface sale, but according to CNET user reviews, a main drawback is learning the Windows RT operating system. Currently, many are used to iOS and Android, so Windows may take some getting used to.

Also on sale at Microsoft are various Surface bundles, an Xbox 360 + Kinect bundle for $179 and laptop and smartphone savings of up to $200.