Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet Goes on Sale Alongside Trade-In Scheme

Microsoft's latest Surface tablet, the Surface 3, has gone on sale in select countries. Additionally, the company has also introduced a limited period trade-in scheme where Surface RT or Surface 2 owners can trade-in their working Surface tablet to get up to $150 towards a new Microsoft Surface 3.

To recall, the Microsoft Surface 3 was priced at $499 (approximately Rs. 31,750) for the 2GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage variant while the 4GB RAM and 128GB built-in storage variant was launched at $599 (approximately Rs. 38,000). The new Surface 3 tablet can be grabbed via Microsoft Stores, microsoftstore.com and select retailers in the available markets.

Announcing the availability, Brian Hall, General Manager, Microsoft Surface revealed that starting Tuesday Microsoft Surface 3 will be available to buy in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. Some of the accessories that will be also available to buy alongside the new Surface 3 tablet include the Surface 3 Type Cover, Surface Pen, Surface 3 Docking Station and Surface 3 Screen Protector.

Hall also confirmed that starting Thursday, the Surface 3 tablet will be available in more markets including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

It's worth noting that the limited period trade-in scheme for the Surface 3 tablet is for select markets such as Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United States. The company has detailed the trade-in scheme where the company will first determine the value of the trade-in after which it will accept the old working Surface tablet. The company after checking the tablet will send an email with a promo code that can be used against the purchase of the new Surface 3 tablet.

For specifications, the Microsoft Surface features a 10.8-inch full-HD display and runs Windows 8.1 out-of-the-box. The company at the launch had promised that Windows 10 upgrade will be available to the tablet. Microsoft had also claimed that the new Surface 3 tablet was the thinnest and lightest Surface ever, weighing 622 grams and sporting a 8.7mm thickness.

As mentioned above, it will be available in two built-in storage models- the 64GB model featuring 2GB of RAM, and the 128GB model featuring 4GB of RAM. Other features on the tablet include a USB 3.0 port, a Mini DisplayPort and a microSD card reader. It comes with an optional dock with four USB ports, Ethernet jack, and a Mini DisplayPort. The Surface 3 includes a free one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal, including full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote as well as 1TB of OneDrive storage. It also supports the Surface Pen.