I recently toured the Microsoft store at the Mall of America and chatted with Tommy, the store’s manager. He gave me so much information about great back to school buys including the new Surface Pro 3, a tablet so powerful it can replace a laptop! I got to try it out and learn about deals they offer for back to school, particularly their offering 10% off for students, teachers and staff so they can save on the latest Windows PCs, Surface, accessories, software and no-contract Windows Phones!
Though the Microsoft store at the Mall of America has been open since 2010, this was my first visit, and I could see how anyone could spend hours here, trying out the latest tech products and playing the new Xbox One console!
Surface Pro 3
Tommy showed me a lot of cool features of the Surface Pro 3 and how it’s ideal for students, with many features including One Note where students can write notes on the screen with the stylus just as they would a pen on paper.
The Surface Pro 3 is thin and light runs Windows RT 8.1 Pro, and you can install the full Microsoft Office Suite and thousands of programs created for Windows. It starts at $999 but with the 10% discount that’s $100 off. There is also a great selection of accessories for the Surface Pro 3.
Office 365 Personal
I also learned about Office 365 Personal. The Office 365 Personal subscription is
new and allows users to install Office apps on one PC or Mac, and one tablet. It’s great for students as it allow them to easily access documents with Office Mobile apps for iPhone, Android and Windows phones, and store up to 20GB of data on Microsoft OneDrive online storage. It includes Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Publisher – everything a student needs. It starts at $69.99/1-year auto-renewal, or $6.99/1-month auto-renewal.
What’s neat about the subscription is that for one yearly fee (payable also monthly), you always have the latest version of Office, which could save you money if you typically upgrade your version of office whenever a newer version comes out.
XBox One
Of course, I have to include XBox One info (with gamers like my husband in mind!). You can try it in the store (though you may have to wait your turn – the Xbox One you can try on a big screen is popular!)
When all the homework is turned in and the studying is complete, all students deserve a little down time. The new Xbox One Titanfall Edition includes the all-in-one entertainment console, custom Titanfall packaging, a full Titanfall game download and a free month of Xbox Live Gold. Plus, did you know Skype has been specially designed for Xbox One? Now they really won’t have an excuse not to call home. Starts at $499.
FREE workshops and summer camps!
Microsoft Stores are a great resource for teachers and students, as they offer complimentary tech trainings including free Educator Workshops that help teachers focus on building out their lesson plans.
Microsoft Stores also offer FREE weekly summer camps for kids ages 8-13. Children can learn how to build websites and video games, direct movies, and snap the perfect photos!
Check out their website for more information: http://content.microsoftstore.com/en-us/detail/mallofamerica.
