Microsoft has revealed that the 128GB Surface Pro will ship with just 83GB of usable storage space. No word yet on how much space the 64GB version will arrive with but if the same 45GB is unavailable from the get-go, Microsoft may have a tough time convincing buyers to invest in a premium tablet with just 19GB of storage.

Redmond has yet to update their Surface storage FAQ to reflect Surface Pro figures. Instead, the company made the storage size admission to Softpedia in a recent statement, according to the publication. Microsoft is quick to point out, however, that Surface Pro tablets will come with a USB 3.0 port to connect external storage devices, a microSDXC card slot and 7GB of free space with SkyDrive.

You'd be correct in thinking this all sounds a bit familiar as Microsoft addressed similar issues late last year with Surface for Windows RT tablets. It was revealed at that time that 32GB versions of the tablet would only arrive with 16GB of usable disk space while the higher capacity 64GB model would have just 46GB of usable space on tap.

Microsoft is set to launch the new slates on February 9 starting at just $899. Surface Pro will come pre-installed with a full version of Windows 8 Pro as well as a beefier third generation Intel Core i5 Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000 and 4GB of RAM. Surface with Windows RT utilizes a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 chip with just 2GB of system memory.