Extremely cheap Surface Duos available, with a catch!

[agraham]

If any one in the UK is interested in playing with a Microsoft Surface Duo I have just ordered a brand new one from the USA via the eBay Global Shipping Programme for only £404.43 including delivery and all taxes! Here in the UK they are being sold by Curry's and Microsoft for about £1200 and the going rate on eBay for UK sourced and US import Duos is around £750+.

Microsoft Surface Duo Folding 2 Screen Smartphone (Locked AT&T) - Choose Size | eBay

Over in the US they seem to be being remaindered by some outlets in anticipation of the Duo 2 arriving this fall - but have you seen that camera bump on it I thought I would get one of the elegant original Duos as the camera is not important to me, nor are the other 'omissions' of the Duo 1 as I want to try it as a tablet replacement. The catch? It is locked to AT&T so will not work in the UK as a phone or for mobile data. That to me is not a problem as WiFi will work at home, my data is held on-device and when out and about, if needed, I can connect to the Internet via one of my phones hotspots.

I have used the eBay Global Shipping Programme in the past to get a brand new remaindered Palm PVG 100 miniature phone for £90 direct from the US and it was a very smooth experience with excellent tracking. As I type my Duo is in FedEx hands at a New Jersey depot.

 

[Daestrum]

You should be able to unlock it - it just needs the code.

 

[agraham]

You should be able to unlock it - it just needs the code.

I know but I'm not counting on it as there is some confusion between AT&T and Microsoft as to whom can issue unlock codes for the Duo. If you Google/Bing for "Unlock Surface Duo" you will find some peoples experiences of being sent round the houses for this. Also apparently third party unlockers who claim they can actually can't unlock Duos as they usually rely on accessing a manufacturers web site for the codes which is not available for the Duo. I will try Microsoft support in the UK but I'm not holding out any hopes so I factored that in when I decided to buy. Anyway, as I said above, I'm interested in it as a tablet, not a phone.

 

[agraham]

Well! Three days after I ordered my Surface Duo from the USA Microsoft UK has cut the price of an unlocked Duo to £679 from £1349! Luckily that is still £275 more than I paid. Obviously a clearance is happening here as well as over the pond. Presumably the Surface Duo 2 is definitely on the way.

I see that Currys is still selling it for £1199 but I guess they will have to chop the price soon as will the eBay re-sellers.