Microsoft offers $200 off Surface Pro to celebrate its fifth anniversary

Enlarge / Surface Pro with a Cobalt Blue Type Cover.

Microsoft's first x86 PC, then known as the Surface with Windows 8 Pro, hit the market five years ago. The first version was a little strange-a bit too big for a tablet, a bit too small for a laptop-but with its third iteration, the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft's hardware hit its stride. From its first version, the device was an x86 tablet with an integrated kickstand and a detachable keyboard, but the third version changed the screen resolution to 12 inches with a 3:2 aspect ratio (up from 10.6 inches and 16:9) and used a kickstand that could be set to any position from about 20 degrees to 150 degrees.

This third version of Surface Pro spawned a number of copycats from companies like Samsung, Dell, and HP, and arguably it made Microsoft's concept-the laptop-like tablet-a permanent fixture of the PC landscape.

To celebrate this fifth anniversary, Microsoft is offering $200 off two configurations of the current model Surface Pro. The Core i5 with 128GB SSD and 4GB RAM is available for $799, and the Core i5 with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM is $1,099.

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