Microsoft Surface 3 goes up for pre-order, starting at £419, $499

[HEXUS]

With 10.8-inch full HD display, stylus, 10 hour battery and Intel Atom x7-Z8700 processor.

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[shaithis]

Full HD Display

Resolution: 2,160 x 1,440

That's actually QHD (Quad-HD)

[DDY]

1,920 x 1,280

3:2

Uncommon aspect ratio (for computer displays) but a very good one for what the device is designed for, well done MS.

I'd be very interested if I needed a device for taking notes.

[LSG501]

My initial thoughts were... oooh nice, not too bad then it all went down hill.

It's quite simply too expensive, by the time you add in a pen (which is on the s3pro) you can get the i3 64gb model for only a small amount more. The keyboard cover is looking to be ANOTHER £100+ too (sorry but why are they so expensive...).

Surface Pro 3, from £639.00 is wrong in the table, it's available for around £530 in some places and even MS's own store has it at £579.00. It just shows how much of a bad deal this is in my opinion.

The price simply put needs to be inclusive of the pen and keyboard in my opinion, if the likes of asus can do a product with a keyboard/stylus and tablet for around £300-400 there's no reason that MS can't.

[smilertoo]

MS are trying to compete with Apple, and Apple are greedy sods.

[Odeas]

You can currently buy the Surface Pro 3 with an i3/4GB/64GB SSD for £520 making this launch price not look so great, think there's also a deal with Currys/02 Priority letting you get it for around £490ish.

Both seem like pretty good bits of kit but the non pro seems like it's coming in very close to the Pro version price wise.

[TheAnimus]

Passive cooling I guess is the big hitter. The mass and size is also a benefit for some (like me!).

I can dig out a photo of my desk last year, as I was back and forth between London and my GFs place, I was lugging a Surface Pro 3, Series 9 (2012) and Surface 3. This would happily let me just lug a Surface 3, Surface 2, Surface Pro 3. What a great set up!

It still love it if they just produced a Surface 3 Monitor, that is the same size as the pro, but is just a dumb displayport driven monitor, with daisy chaining support. Suddenly, in <2kg, you could get an amazing workspace.

[daddacool]

I think it's expensive for an Atom based machine. Especially when you factor in the keyboard cover and compare it to the bottom end i3 machine.

[shaithis]

MS are trying to compete with Apple, and Apple are greedy sods.

I would bet a tear-down would show a large discrepancy in source part prices though.

[CustardInc]

That's actually QHD (Quad-HD)

Quad HD is 2560x1440.

[LSG501]

It still love it if they just produced a Surface 3 Monitor, that is the same size as the pro, but is just a dumb displayport driven monitor, with daisy chaining support. Suddenly, in <2kg, you could get an amazing workspace.

What about USB monitors... unless you need the 'graphic performance' for say gaming you'd likely be fine with this.

[TheAnimus]

What about USB monitors... unless you need the 'graphic performance' for say gaming you'd likely be fine with this.

Portability and resolution. At least, I've never seen one that fits those boxes.

[LSG501]

Portability and resolution. At least, I've never seen one that fits those boxes.

there's a few out there in my opinion.... I'd say 15.6inch is more than portable and asus do a 1080p for around 150, the case is also a stand and it's fully usb powered too.

[Myss_tree]

Noticed that the 640XL is priced on the MS site at £219 whereas on Expansy's its £186 so its just as likely that other retailers will discount the Surface 3 once its available.
The 128GB Surface is £80 cheaper than the 64GB i3 Pro (on MS site). If there was a 128GB i3 Pro then the Surface would look bad value. To get 128GB built in a Pro you have to go up to the i5 model which is an eye watering £739 (on MS site).
The form factor is the right size for me. If other retailers sell the 128GB model for near the £400 mark i may be tempted.

[crossy]

My initial thoughts were... oooh nice, not too bad then it all went down hill.

It's quite simply too expensive, by the time you add in a pen (which is on the s3pro) you can get the i3 64gb model for only a small amount more. The keyboard cover is looking to be ANOTHER £100+ too (sorry but why are they so expensive...).

Surface Pro 3, from £639.00 is wrong in the table, it's available for around £530 in some places and even MS's own store has it at £579.00. It just shows how much of a bad deal this is in my opinion.

The price simply put needs to be inclusive of the pen and keyboard in my opinion, if the likes of asus can do a product with a keyboard/stylus and tablet for around £300-400 there's no reason that MS can't.

^-- This. £419 for the whole magilla, or at least tablet + keyboard is attractive. But having to add another £80 for the keyboard makes this "too rich" for my taste.

Shame, as I was hoping that Microsoft would finally "get" the lower end market. Obvious that they still don't.

[DanceswithUnix]

The keyboard cover is looking to be ANOTHER £100+ too (sorry but why are they so expensive...).

That baffles me too. You can but a tablet sized USB keyboard for very little, you can buy bluetooth devices like games controllers for very little. Why is a bluetooth keyboard so damned expensive? Even the Hudl2 one at Tesco was pretty costly.