$500 Surface 3 Announced

Microsoft on Tuesday announced the latest update to its line of tablets. The Surface 3--not to be confused with the Surface Pro 3--is being called the thinnest and lightest Surface tablet ever made. It starts at $500 and will ship starting on May 5, though preorders for the device are available from today.

Overall, the Surface 3 is aimed at offering a more affordable alternative to the Surface Pro 3, which starts at $800. “We've taken everything we learned making Surface Pro 3 and poured that innovation into this newest Surface," Microsoft Surface corporate vice president Panos Panay said in a statement.

In terms of technical specifications, the Surface 3 features a quad-core Atom x7 processor, 10.8-inch 1920x1280 HD touch screen, and stereo speakers. It also comes with two 1080p cameras, including a rear-facing 8 megapixel camera and a 3.5 megapixel front-facing camera. The Surface 3 also features a full-size USB 3.0 port, a microSF card reader, and a micro USB charging port. Battery life is about 10 hours.

In terms of memory and storage, the $500 model comes with a 64 GB hard drive and 2 GB of RAM. Pricing scales up from there for additional memory and RAM.

The regular Surface 3 and the 4G LTE model will ship with full Windows 8.1 and are eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10 when the new operating system arrives later this year. The tablets also come with a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Personal.

For lots more on the Surface 3, be sure to read GameSpot sister site CNET's in-depth coverage.

Are you interested in the Surface 3? Let us know in the comments below!

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