Microsoft Surface RT discount unveiled for educational institutions
Summer is upon us, and as such Microsoft has rolled out a steep discount on the Surface RT for educational institutions, something revealed by Ryan Lowdermilk of the Windows Developer Show. The post in which he detailed the program has since been pulled, as well as the Microsoft order form that was available online earlier. We have the details after the break, however.
The special is a limited time offer, and is available for educational institutions K12 through college and university. Schools located in the following 25 countries can take advantage of the special pricing: the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Singapore, Russia, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland.
The limited time program kicked off yesterday, according to screenshots captured by the folks at ZDNet, although that may be a premature date given that Microsoft has since pulled all of the information related to it. According to that same data, the program will run through August 31 of this year. Only the Windows RT variety of the Surface is available under the program.
Pricing is steeply discounted at $199 USD for the typically $499 32GB Surface RT without a touch keyboard cover. The price goes up a tad from there for the same tablet with a touch keyboard cover – $249, with the regular price being $599. And finally, there's the 32GB Surface RT with a type keyboard cover rather than a touch cover, priced at $289 USD rather than the retail price of $629.
Microsoft details some information for the schools, with a rather large paragraph explaining the differences between Windows 8 and Windows RT. Educational institutions are not required to buy a minimum amount of devices in order to get the limited-time pricing, but it does end when the designated supplies run out. Ordering is done via an order form, which is sent to "surfaceEDU@microsoft.com".
SOURCE: ZDNet