The Surface Pro 3 has been be a success for Microsoft, it has sold relatively well and had very good reviews from the tech press. I love my device with the only issue being that they are premium devices with a starting prices of £579 without a keyboard. Microsoft seem to be addressing this with a brand new Surface 3.
The Surface 3 isn’t an ARM powered device as the Surface 2 instead it has an Intel processor system on a chop Atom x7 processor which means it can run the full version of Windows 8.1 and be upgraded to Windows 10. Prices start at $499 for the 64GB WiFi edition, $599 for the 128GB version with 4G devices coming soon. As with the other Surface devices you are still going to need buy a keyboard at $129.99. UK prices: £419.99 64GB, £499.99 128GB. Keyboard £109.99 and Pen £44.99.
The specs are 8.7mm thin, 622 grams and a 10.8 inch screen which is more like the size of the Surface 2 but with the 3:2 aspect ratio like the Pro 3. It has a 3.5MP front camera and 8MP rear that can capture 1080p video. Displayport, USB3 and Microsoft say you will get 10 hours of battery life charged via MicroUSB charger. It has a 3 position kickstand and the new keyboard has the same flipup style as the Surface Pro 3. It also supports the Surface pen which are sold separately ($49) and come in blue, red, black and silver. You also get one year of Office 365 Personal thrown in which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote.
At $499 + $129 for a keyboard you are still paying a premium over traditional notebooks and some of the convertibles from Acer and Lenovo but it is good to see a cheaper Surface device that unlike the Surface and Surface 2 will run any Windows software.
The Surface 3 is available for pre-order from the Microsoft Store or UK Microsoft Store today and will be on sale May 5th in the US and May 7th in other markets (including the UK). Anybody ordering one?
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