Microsoft discounts Surface 3 education bundles by up to 30 percent
Microsoft is offering discounts of up to 30 percent on Surface 3 Education bundles.
The price cut, announced on the company's UK Higher Education Blog on January 19 to coincide with the BETT 2016 show, is not just for the UK. It is for all qualified educational institutions in all markets where the Surface 3 Education Bundle is commercially available, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed.
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Starting on February 1, all Surface 3 Education Bundles will ship with the new Surface Pen -- the one that comes with Surface Pro 4. Those pens will be included in the price of the bundle along with Surface 3 and the Surface 3 Type Cover.
So, what is the exact price of the Surface 3/pen/type cover bundle? It depends, as it is up to individual resellers who are qualified to offer the bundle. On the Microsoft UK Higher Education Blog, there is a list of resellers there who are offering the discounted education bundle. So far, I don't know if there's a list of other educational resellers who also are offering it in other countries. (I've asked.)
Update: A Microsoft spokesperson says the list of resellers for each country or region is localized, so when users click on "Find an authorized reseller," they are taken to the list of authorized resellers in their market. Here's the authorized reseller list for the U.S.
Normally, the Surface 3 -- which Microsoft began shipping in the U.S. in May 2015 -- goes for about $700, when the separately priced pen and keyboard are added. One of the primary target markets for the device have been students.
The Surface 3 is a 64-bit Intel Atom x7 (Cherry Trail)-based tablet. A Surface 3 tablet with 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, minus the add-on keyboard, starts at $499 -- though right now here in the U.S. there's a deal on the 128GB version, which is going for $449 for a limited time.