Microsoft takes on the iPad with the cheaper Surface 3
Microsoft has announced the Surface 3, the latest in the Surface family, will be available in New Zealand in early May for a starting price of NZD$799.
Frazer Scott, Microsoft New Zealand marketing and operations director, says like Surface Pro 3 the Surface 3 is a tablet that can replace a laptop but is more affordable and is thinner and lighter.
He says the Surface 3 is optimised to run full Windows and Office features - it will ship with full Windows 8.1 and can be upgraded to Windows 10 for free when available.
It also comes complete with a one-year subscription of Microsoft Office 365 Personal, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus OneDrive cloud storage.
The ability to run Windows apps and the pen experience, which is designed for taking notes or marking documents, make Surface 3 ideal for students, schools and people looking for a portable device, says Scott.
"Surface 3 brings what customers love about Surface Pro 3 to more people, delivering the premium design and productivity of Surface in a more affordable device," says Panos Panay, Microsoft Surface corporate vice president.
"We've taken everything we learned making Surface Pro 3 and poured that innovation into this newest Surface," Panay says.
The device is powered by the new quad-core Intel Atom x7 processor and has up to 10 hours of video-playback battery life.
A range of storage and memory configurations provides choice for power and capacity.
The 10.8-inch ClearType HD multi-touch display features a 3:2 aspect ratio, and the device also comes with stereo speakers with Dolby Audio-enhanced sound.
It has a three-position kickstand and can be paired with accessories, which are sold separately.
The Surface 3 Type Cover is offered in a variety of colours and features an improved trackpad and responsive keyset. There are also four Surface Pen colours available: silver, black, blue and red.
The Surface 3 Docking Station lets people connect to an external monitor and all their desktop devices, and Surface 3's full-size USB 3.0 port, Mini DisplayPort, microSD card reader and Micro USB charging port make it compatible with the Surface Pro line of adapters and ready for connections to a variety of accessories.
Surface 3 can be purchased via three retailers in New Zealand – JB Hi Fi, Noel Leeming, and Harvey Norman.
It can also be purchased commercially through Datacom Systems Ltd, Spark New Zealand Ltd, Cyclone Computers Company Ltd, Acquire.co.nz, and The Laptop Company.
Pricing: Surface 3 - 2GB RAM, 64GB storage: $799.00 Surface 3 - 4GB RAM, 128GB storage: $959.00 Surface 3 Type Cover - $199.99 Surface Pen - $79.99 Surface 3 Docking Station - $309.99 Surface 3 Screen Protector - $79.99
