Microsoft on Tuesday announced the latest update to its line of tablets. The Surface 3–not to be confused with the Surface Pro 3–is being called the thinnest and lightest Surface tablet ever made. It starts at $500 and will ship starting on May 5, though preorders for the device are available from today.

Overall, the Surface 3 is aimed at offering a more affordable alternative to the Surface Pro 3, which starts at $800. “We’ve taken everything we learned making Surface Pro 3 and poured that innovation into this newest Surface,” Microsoft Surface corporate vice president Panos Panay said in a statement.

In terms of technical specifications, the Surface 3 features a quad-core Atom x7 processor, 10.8-inch 1920×1280 HD touch screen, and stereo speakers. It also comes with two 1080p cameras, including a rear-facing 8 megapixel camera and a 3.5 megapixel front-facing camera. The Surface 3 also features a full-size USB 3.0 port, a microSF card reader, and a micro USB charging port. Battery life is about 10 hours.

In terms of memory and storage, the $500 model comes with a 64 GB hard drive and 2 GB of RAM. Pricing scales up from there for additional memory and RAM.

The regular Surface 3 and the 4G LTE model will ship with full Windows 8.1 and are eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10 when the new operating system arrives later this year. The tablets also come with a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Personal.

For lots more on the Surface 3, be sure to read GameSpot sister site CNET’s in-depth coverage.

Are you interested in the Surface 3? Let us know in the comments below!

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