New Microsoft Surface 3 Model Goes Cheap and Easy

Microsoft announced on Tuesday a brand new Microsoft Surface 3 model, a step down from the already-released Surface Pro 3, yet sporting a refreshing take from the company on their idea of what a cheaper model should be.

In the past it’s been the Surface RT models, which confusingly ran a simplified version of Windows and, frankly, never sold very well. This new model, simply called the Surface 3, is the new “cheaper,” running the same Windows as every other PC, while, at a starting price of $500, still trying to make a case as a competitor to mid-range tablets already popular in the market (iPads, mostly).

The Microsoft Surface 3 is already available for pre-order and will start shipping out on May 5, in a baseline model and a 4G LTE-ready model. Notably, the device won’t ship with the stylus that comes with the Surface Pro 3, and neither will it ship with the compatible keyboard that’s always sold separately to any Surface device. Those products cost $50 and $130, respectively, amping up the price from the original $500 to a solid $680 if you want the full package.

Of course, if you want the full package, you should just by a Surface Pro 3, which starts out at $800 and shoots up from there, depending on your needs. The Surface 3 is not the full package; it’s not meant to be.

It’s important to remember that Microsoft is on the verge of releasing to the world the new Windows 10, an operating system they hope will unite its splayed user-base into one cohesive whole (and is a free upgrade for anyone running Windows 7 or 8). What that requires is a slick combining of touch-screen friendliness and productivity efficiency, a task Windows 8 was built for but failed to effectively accomplish.

By splitting the touch-screen tiles and traditional desktop modes apart in Windows 8, Microsoft created a schism. Windows 10 looks like its going to do everything it can to put the touchscreen into the desktop and repair some of the lost faith of its hypercritical masses. Now is the time to remember that the Surface 3 will indeed run Windows 10 in its fullest.

The new device is a bit smaller than the Surface Pro 3 at 10.8 inches, with a 64 GB hard drive and 2 GB of RAM. There’s also a new quad-core Atom x7 processor in there. All of that translates to this: it can run Windows, but not nearly as well as a Surface Pro 3. On the flip side, it will do all the tablet things very well without losing the baseline functionality of a true windows laptop.

If that last sentence speaks to you in some way, then a lot of tech writers need to talk to you. So far Microsoft hasn’t made the case to them that the Surface tablets should exist, but the product line is clearly popular enough for the number 3 to enter into the equation.

Here’s Microsoft’s official press release on the announcement.