Image courtesy of AppleInsider

Uh-oh! Amidst all of the Apple tablet hoopla, a new survey of potential buyers finds that unless the price is right, they won’t be buying.

AppleInsider is reporting on the latest Retrevo Pulse Report which finds that a whopping 70 percent majority of those surveyed said that there’s no Apple tablet in their future if it costs over $700. Their study was conducted during the height of tablet mania -- Jan. 16 through Jan. 20, 2010 -- among 500 randomly selected potential buyers.

It’s been widely predicted among analysts that Apple’s fabled tablet will sell for less than $1,000 when it finally makes its appearance. Analysts from Piper Jaffray have forecast an average selling price between $600 and $800, but that price could fall if the device winds up being subsidized by a wireless carrier since 3G data is predicted to be part of the plan.

On that same note, 44 percent of Retrevo’s respondents said they wouldn’t buy a tablet at all if it requires a monthly data plan. Another 34 percent said that only having 3G data through AT&T would be the deal-killer for them, and 22 percent said that a lack of e-books would stop them from buying.

The most important feature among those surveyed appears to be long battery life -- a full 75 percent ranked that as one of the top features needed to buy in. At number two with only 39 percent was 3G data connectivity and in third was an e-book store with a large selection, at 28 percent.

Surprisingly (given the App Store’s popularity), there didn’t seem to be much worry about what kind of apps the tablet might run. Only 17 percent said they’d prefer it to run iPhone software, with 18 percent hoping it will be Mac OS X compatible. The vast majority -- 65 percent -- simply didn’t care.