Microsoft Surface Pro 3 MQ2-00001 with Intel i5, 128GB

The MQ2-00001 is currently the best selling model from the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 12-inch Windows tablet series. Although it’s the cheapest Surface Pro 3 configuration currently available, the MQ2-00001 isn’t the lowest-end one. UPDATE: This model is no longer the cheapest, since the Intel Core i3-based version is available.

It’s a kind of lower-mid-range configuration because the included Intel Core i5 processor sits between the low-end i3 and high-end i7, while the storage space and RAM size are 128GB and 4GB respectively, as opposed to the available 256GB / 8GB version. However, the i3 variant with 64GB of storage will be the cheapest one when it hit the market in late August. The i7 SP3 with either 256GB or 512GB will arrive at the same time.

Besides higher performance, the included i5-4300U brings some other benefits over the i3, mostly related to use in business environments. You can check out the complete Surface Pro 3 CPU speed and features comparison in this article.

For general information about the Surface Pro 3 you can visit this page. In short, it’s the most talked about tablet and Windows computer in general this year. That’s because the giant Microsoft stands directly behind it, but also because of the innovative adjustable kickstand design and some major changes over the previous-gen Surface Pro. The larger display of 12″, up from 10.6″, is the biggest change. Also the screen resolution of 2160×1440 is higher than the previous 1920×1080 and aspect ratio of the screen is now better optimized for productivity rather than movie watching. The tablet supports pen input and comes bundled with a digitizer pen.

With the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft actually targets laptop users, but the keyboard which is a must for a laptop-like experience is sold separately.