Microsoft’s Surface RT is a tablet with a 10.6 inch display, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, and Windows RT software. It sells for $499 and up, and the price includes a free copy of Microsoft Office.

But aside from Office and the option of paying extra for a slick keyboard cover, there’s not really much reason to buy a Surface RT instead of an equally-priced iPad or an even cheaper Android tablet at the moment.

Soon Microsoft may sweeten the deal a bit by offering deep discounts to schools that want to pick up Surface RT tablets for use in the classroom. Prices could start as low as $199.

Microsoft Surface RT

ZDNet reports that a special “Microsoft Surface for education” offer will run through August 31st, 2013. The product brochure has been pulled offline, but ZDNet posted a picture which outlines the pricing:

  • 32GB Surface RT tablet for $199 (normally $499)
  • 32GB Surface RT tablet + Touch Cover for $249 (normally $599)
  • 32GB Surface RT tablet + Type cover for $289 (normally $629)

At those prices, if the Surface RT did nothing but let you surf the web using Internet Explorer and edit Office documents, it might be worth the cost.

There still aren’t nearly as many third party apps available for Windows RT as there are for other mobile platforms including iOS and Android. But Office is a pretty important app, especially in the education and business worlds.

Of course, Microsoft Office is also now available for iOS, but it’s currently optimized for iPhones and not iPads and you’ll need an Office 365 subscription plan in order to use the software.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

13 replies on “Microsoft Surface RT tablets coming to schools for $199 (less than half price)”

  1. I’ve been using it for a while and it’s great. better than my Android tablet

    1. Has USB port

    2. Has Office

    3. Has good keyboard + touchpad and can connect mouse

    4. The really useful apps are available

    5. I can ‘Remote Desktop’ to Servers wherever I am

    6. IE10 is much better than crashing Android browsers I used

  2. I have been using my Surface RT for six months now and it is awesome. I always thought it was the perfect solution for students, coming with MS Office and a keyboard. Now that I have learned to about OneNote, I find my Surface even more valuable than before. It is a great product for education.

  3. Macrohard, too late
    you should sell it for $300 when it is released, not now $200

    1. Android on phone is just fine but as laptop OS? Come on, who’re you kidding…

  4. Give it away give it away give it away now
    Give it away give it away give it away now
    Give it away give it away give it away now
    I can’t tell if I’m a king pin or a pauper

    1. This feels like saying “we shouldn’t have created it in the first Place” 😀

    2. Apologies to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
      Worst part? They’ll probably tax a huge tax writeoff on these giveaways, evading more of their responsibilities and shifting more tax burden onto working people.

  5. I’ll be the one to say it: foisting

    Foisting otherwise unwanted stock onto the educational system.

      1. I’m no fan but $249 for a Surface RT is an excellent price. If that becomes the clearance price, I’d have a hard time resisting buying one.

Comments are closed.