Costco members thinking of pre-ordering a Surface 3 have a treat in store with the retailer putting out some decent sounding bundles. Along with the tablet your pre-order will get you a black Surface 3 Type Cover and a silver Surface Pen for $100 more than the RRP.
You need to be a Costco member to see the prices, but according to WinBeta the 64GB/2GB option will run you for $599, while the 128GB/4GB version will come in at $699. For that extra 100 bucks you're saving $80 all told, which isn't bad. It's still early days of course for the Surface 3, and we're sure this won't be the last bundle we'll see.
Any takers?
Reader comments
Costco putting Surface 3 bundles with Type Cover and Pen up for pre-order
i used my friends the other day, absolutly loved it as a tablet highbread, more tablet first and size was great as a tabvlet but when you put together the price with keyboard and pen its just way too much. And personally a 8gig memory would have been apricieated. aAs it stands its awsome but it should cost no more than 500 pounds uk with keyboard and pen and that should include 128gig storage and 4 gig ram version. Shame but looking forward to seeing if theres any price drop when surface 4 comes out. If it wasnt for the this it would be a huge buy. Also uk vat kills it too.
Just FYI for those saying Microsoft should offer these bundles officially: you can get the Surface 3, the stylus, and the keyboard cover together for almost exactly the same price through the Microsoft store -- if you're a student or school faculty member (or know someone who is). $701.08 all told.
Check out this item I found on the eBay : http://ebay.us/V3ITSP
Don't forget you can plug in the USB OTG cable to get dual USB without a hub
I'm waiting for the review
Wow not bad. That's actually enticing
Something like this needs to be officially offered from Microsoft. With 2 "primary" peripherals like this, not offereing a bundle just feels like nickel and diming. These same bundles should be on sale from MS for $629 and $729 respectively.
Crap.. Maybe
I hope the Microsoft Store will do something like this! Will they match price?
Costco is my favorite big box.
Looks like they're doing a promotion on SP3 i7 8GB 256GB as well - $200 off bundle with keyboard and screen protector, from 4/9-5/3
How's windows 10 on tablet
Should I do this or do the student discount with the Microsoft Store? Which is the best for my money? And can I still get Microsoft Complete if I buy it from Costco?
Good question... I hadn't thought about the student discount...
Yea you can still get Microsoft complete if you register and buy it in time
Don't know if you can get Microsoft Complete if you buy it from Costco, but, for the 128/4 model, it's a roughly $1.20 difference with Microsoft's student discount.
Good point! I don't see anyone in the world not getting a student discount, which renders other discounts invalid. They never add two discounts together.
Awesome, can't wait!
Tipped it like 12 hours ago
That dock looks like it was designed to double as a vehicle mount / dock. Why does it need to look that sturdy and secure?
Because its quality, built to last. Would you pay good money for cheap plastic???
Only CostCo stores in US?
Have patience. Prices always drop eventually. Some markets need to be different than others in the beginning stages.
It'll be nice if Microsoft made an offer for Windows RT users, trade in for a discount.
Like
They are more likely to offer iPad or MacBook Air users, like they have anyway done.
Yaw!
The devs from some of these hold out companies better start gearing up their Win10 universal apps. Surface 3 is the perfect driving force to push Windows mobile into the norm. I can't wait to see Windows branding along side the ever present Apple and Android on every app download page.
Can't be ignored anymore. When they see how easy deving is for UAP they'll freak.
Seriously!
Seems mostly like wishful thinking at this point. The S3 brings nothing new to the table that I can see as driving any momentum in the windows tablet space. I'm a Windows fan as well, but it's time we start seeing things as they are and not as we want them to be.
It's in the same price range as an iPad 16 gb. In addition to this, it's capable of replacing a laptop. Whereas the iPad is only a consumption device.
The problem with the previous surface was that it was an arm device with no dev support.
Windows x86 has the most dev support in the world.
This is what pricing should have been from the start. Costco will sell a ton of these things. It's the only logical place to buy one as it stands now.
You can join Costco, buy it, then get a refund for the membership fee. You will want to keep the membership though. Costco is the best ever.
I need to sign up. My friend has been telling me forever to join. How often is the membership cost? Yearly or monthly?
Yearly and it's worth it.
Just do it.
Costco rules.
Or get the executive membership for $110 with an annual reward of 2% back on all Costco purchases. I ussually get about $250 - $300 back end of the year or about $12 on this Surface tablet.
Well that escalated quickly.
Getting gas at Costco pretty much pays itself. I think its $55 per YEAR
This. I have a Camaro ss so I have to put 91 octane in my car. Here in Canada 91 octane is 1.20 per liter. At Costco its .90 per liter. Costs me like 65 bucks to fill my car with premium at Costco.
Over priced for eMMC. SSD is so cheap and they cant just put that in?!?
Atom x7 SOC supports eMMC (no SSD support)
Depending on the type, it could still have around 400MB/s read speeds, nothing to scoff at.
The Intel X7 uses eMMC 4.51 which has a theoretical maximum of 200MB/s
Oh, did not know that (or rather assumed it would support the faster spec), thanks for the info!
Still, while not a great speed compared to moden SSD, it's not that far off the ones that came out just a few years ago.
It's not the specs alone, it's the build, connectivity, quality etc.
Anyone....can pro3 run hardcore games like own build desktops...
They can run a lot of games but not at the same level as a dedicated gaming desktop.
It runs full windows so yes. Whether it can actually run the games good or not is a whole different story.
Keep in mind the specs on these are more towards the low end of the spectrum
The pro 3 can run a lot of games. But don't expect to get 60 FPS on Ultra settings.
If you want games, buy an alienware.. I wouldn't dare going beyond Minecraft or other Windows games. It's a tablet in the end, and only has one small fan.. Don't push it.
So many other options that are better than Alienware out there. Self-build machines are hands down the best price/performance wise, and many other OEMs make great gaming laptops.
it's more of an ultrabook int he end and none of the ultrabooks handle games well because they use an integrated video card.
If you're playing older games probably, would be fantastic for rts games, steam has AoE 2 HD and 3 for cheap!
My SP3 handles Skyrim on LOW but with the HighResTexture pack! I have other settings turned up (Such as Character Draw distance, and Items/Objects distance). The game runs ok, I haven't checked the FPS but its at the point of where you don't notice it much if at all. I also have larger mods installed (Including all the UnoficialSkyrimPatch mods, and the mods that add new islands/worlds mods. Soon ill have the Oblivion mod). I also have all the current DLC Including the SpaceCore Unoficial DLC.
After all that my SP3 handle it very well. The fan kicks on a few minutes into playing and its fairly loud but the game volume is easily enough to cancel it out
Maybe your "build own desktop" but not my "build own desktop"
You can run any games you like. But get an external USB fan, plug in to the mains, turn power management to High Performance, put on headphones, run the game once and see if you need to dial down textures, resolutions, fancy effects, antialiasing etc. I regularly play Supreme Commander on my Surface Pro 1 and run 3D modeling and simulations too.
Love this one.... will love to have this or pro4 if they have them coming to India...
The Surface 4 Pro in coming in Q3 with Windows 10!
Sold!!
Good deal, just wish they had colors. This is the same problem the Microsoft Store had with previous Surface bundles.
Seems you could buy this deal them exchange the cover at the Microsoft store for a colored cover of your choosing, as long as you have correct packaging. Not sure if this will be in a bundle package or the three items in their original packaging bundled together.
I just pre-ordered a 128GB/4GB version ($699) at the local Best Buy store. At first, the sales guy doesn't even know about S3 and they don't have demo units in store. But he did know the price matching policy with Costco. I finally talked him into matching the bundle price at Costco. I had to purchase a $50 gift card (refundable) to complete this deal. This is a better deal than Costco's offer, since I can choose any color for the keyboard at the time I pick up my order.
But Costco return policy rules them all...
That's true. But I prefer to have a blue color keyboard instead of a black one included in the Costco bundle.
not anymore for electronics, they have a strict 90 day return policy now
They may have a 90 day return policy, but they extend the warranty to 2 years automatically. This should be factored into the savings with this bundle, since MS store charges over $100 to do the same. Since the touch screen on my surface 2 died 9 DAYS (!!) after my warranty expired, I'll take the bundle price with the extended warranty over having a choice of colors.
How did you accomplish that? They told me Best Buy doesn't match bundles unless they have a bundle themselves which they currently dfo not have on the Surface 3
Any word on if they will have the LTE? I am curious if I will see Surface 3 in, for example, Costco's Verizon kiosk.
Mid summer
brebo33, are you just referring to Verizon releasing LTE or on Costco offering Verizon LTE S3s in their Verizon kiosks mid summer. I'm not sure how that works. Is it assumed that you can get anything Verizon at Costco through a Costco Verizon kiosk, or does Verizon only sell certain items through their Costco kiosks? Thanks!
Mid summer is when the LTE versions will start to pop up, but no information as to where you'll be able to buy one, at least not yet. Still have to wait on that information.
Wen in India?
^This.
No
no announcement. i'm sure windows central will post when an announcement is made. in the meantime, i don't think it's necessary to ask when in india on every article.
You're getting the 640 & 640XL before any other country so shut up! And it's "when"
wen in Uranus
When in North Korea! When.....
Fantastic!! Need to get one for school. Do you guys think this would handle college?? Or should I go with a Pro? (It's just so expensive)
Should be great for school. Unless you are in computer science and studying graphics, like I did. Otherwise, shouldn't be a problem.
Cool, Thanks :)
Even in computer science it should be fine, at least for coding. But if he has to do some 3d modelling or animation it might be a bit of a stretch (but then again any laptop short of a gaming laptop would be taxed in that regards).
Yeah it should run Visual Studo just fine (4GB version).
Heck, I made it through my undergrad with a Core 2 Duo and Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics. It certainly didn't perform amazingly in my computer graphics class, but it was good enough for the course work plus could handle the Orange Box. Considering that Bay Trail is about 3-4x the power, and Cherry Trail is about twice that of Bay Trail, I actually think that you could get away with it.
Depends what you're doing at college. If you're a media student doing heavy photo/video work then you might be better off with the pro.
If you're doing anything less heavy, should be fine!
For college your biggest concern is going to be battery life. I love the Pro, it's my primary work machine, but for note-taking and general college work I say go with the Surface 3, and get an external monitor, and Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo for when you're in your dorm room . You'll be thankful for the extra battery life in class.
Ok, I don't think I'll be doing anything super heavy, at least for a few years as far as I can tell. The external monitor sounds like a great idea too!! Thanks
I have the same question, I need to run software like matlab, but don't know how well the atom will perform
For number crunching work, you should definitely go with a Core i or m processor.
oh ok thanks, so no Surface 3and no SP3 (can't afford it) for me :(
Try Acer Aspire R13 Signature Edition for $699.
http://microsoft-news.com/deal-acer-aspire-r13-signature-edition-2-in-1-pc-now-available-for-just-699/
Actually, I got a better option from the same store for $100 less: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Dell-Inspiron-13-i7347-10051sLV-Signature-Edition-2-in-1-PC/productID.308794600
The acer looks a little stupid to me....when you said acer, I thought of the V5 series, which alot of people like, I never heard of the r13.
According to the Surface team, the Surface 3 has about 85% of the general performance of the Surface Pro 3 with Core i3 CPU. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. The Surface 3 has the latest Atom chip, which is a significant jump from last year's atoms (which were already respectable).
So I think it will do fine for most general Matlab stuff and even some light to semi-mid level graphics stuff.
A Surface 3 may handle MATLAB albeit painfully slow. A SP3 should handle it, but a SP3 won't handle graphis-intensive programs like SolidWorks or CAD programs.
An SP3 will most certainly handle graphics intensive programs. Here it is running Z-Brush https://youtu.be/--YCliLMhDw and Maya, Mud Box (and Z-Brush) https://youtu.be/Ep-H9QYdskc
I work on 4-500mb Revit models using the i7 SP3. It's just as fast as my 4yr old desktop that has Xenon processor, NVIDIA Quadro gpu...... Everyone I show the power to is seriously impressed. I also have a Dell Venue 8 Pro, that had the last Gen Baytrail Atom processor in it, and PhotoShop, Sketchup, AutoCAD all run totally fine on it..... Just don't use Chrome, it will eat your battery
A SP3 can handle SolidWorks and CAD programs. It just depends on what you're using it for. Sure it may not handle the most graphic-intense workload but it can handle the midrange stuff... That's not according to me, but the folks at Engineering.com
FYI: http://www.engineering.com/DesignSoftware/DesignSoftwareArticles/ArticleID/9840/Optimizing-Microsoft-Surface-Pro-3-for-CAD.aspx
I'm a graduating mechanical engineering student, and at least four of my classmates have CAD programs, specifically AutoCAD, AutoDesk Simulation Mechanical, and SolidWorks 2014 that do not work well if at all with SP3. Maybe their configurations was off, but nonetheless they did not use these programs on their SP3 as a result of their troubles.
Mind you, only one of those people had the i7 with 8GB ram. I'm only going by what they said because I was shopping for a laptop and considered the SP3 as one of the options.
that would mean they can't use any ultrabook. All the utrabooks use the same internals. sounds like you would have to get a laptop with a dedicated video card. however, the battery life will suffer.
Those kinds of laptops are usually 17 or 19 inches, so they usually do have big batteries, lol
That i7 will handle AutoCAD just fine. It'll get sluggish if you're hatching in 3D. AutoCAD's biggest problem is the SP3's wonky screen size. Hook it up to a regular external monitor and it'll be just fine. I run it on a i5 and no issues if I use an external monitor or reset the display on the SP3 to something more standard.
Matlab is an old software, you can run it on 10 year old machines with no problems. Wolfram, or heavy simulations is another matter.
Depends what you'll do. For writing papers, taking handwritten notes, doing PowerPoint presentations, checking email, web browsing, etc, it'll be fantastic. And in this bundle you're saving $80!
In the AMA interview, didn't they say the Surface 3 would be capable of video editing. If so, out may be able to handle more than it is being given credit for. It may not be as fast as the Pro, but it should be plenty capable. Once I get one, I fully intend on doing some graphic work on it.
They're trying to sell a product, of course they'd say that. There is no way a surface 3 will be worth a dam for video editing. Should be fine for drawing, though!
no, they said if you're going to be editing video a SP3 would be better for you. uime you apoarently, thdy are honest and not just out to make a buck.
Never said they were dishonest, but if you think making a buck isn't goal #1, you're delusional.
It's almost (85%) as powerful as the Core i3 in the Pro. That means it will take everything you throw at it. The only limitation seems to be two displays ideas of three displays, no big deal for most people.
I'm sorry, but that is just about the most ignorant statement I've seen today. 85% of a weak ass processor like the i3 is nothing to be happy about. If you want a good comparison, point out that it's about twice as powerful as most high end ARM processors. That still does NOT mean it'll take anything you can throw at it. It means it's good enough for basic, simple tasks, and very light, simple games.
to me im after a tablet first thats why im looking at the surface 3 and not pro, because its lighter smaller form factor and cheaper. Im also a video editor but i have no intention of editing on a surface 3, size of the screen alone isnt what id want. The surface pro i would use for editing and yeh the i7 is gona be alot faster at encoding video, its not even a fair comparison. But like i said im afetr a tablet and if i can buy the surface 3 with the keyboard and pen and with the 128 gig space 4 giog ram for 400-500 pounds i would gladly own it, but it isnt so i dont lol.
It´s amazing, Surface 3, great for school and most business.
If it's your only computer, i'd go with the pro. Wait to see when MS comes out with a Core M surface, will probably be about $200 more.
I don't t think its that straight forward. There is already too many SKUs. They will more likely keep everything as it is. There is no major advantage of the M over Atoms. It's best to try out your use case and go straight to Core i5 if Atom struggles.
Should be perfect for college. I used a surface RT for my school (I was a IT management major). It was quite doable for almost everything except for when it came to visio, Microsoft project and writing code (I could write the code on text files but I had to transfer it to a PC with the Java development environment to compile it).
So it worked for 3/4 of my years in school. The new surface won't have the limitations mine did so you will be fine.
Note that you will only be getting full MS Office free for a year, after that you will have to pay for it. You can either get the student discount version or just use the universal app versions.
Wait for the Surface 4 with Windows 10 coming in Q4 2015.
The Surface 4 Pro coming in Q3 2015 With Windows 10.