Three years later, Surface Pro 4 problems persist. Isn’t it time for Microsoft to do something about it?

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The old Surface Pro 4 defects keep, uh, resurfacing. There are even more complaints than before about bad TypeCovers and, now, mysterious battery drai
[See the full post at: Three years later, Surface Pro 4 problems persist. Isn’t it time for Microsoft to do something about it?]

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WildBill, GreatAndPowerfulTech

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Why would e expect Microsoft to fix anything with their current record

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Microsoft would do well to do just what you said – replace defective Surface Pro 4 devices with refurbished Surface Pro 5s devices. Not only would it be the right thing to do, but it would do some much needed repair to their reputation.

With each hit on Microsoft’s reputation, it won’t be long till they lose their spot as the ‘default’ solution to your computer needs. If that ever happens, they will never regain that spot. They need to act fast if they don’t want that to happen.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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flackcatcher, WildBill

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Does Microsoft even care, the Surface line isn’t a huge impact on revenue whereas replacing units would be a hit. Considering most Surface 4 out of warranty, what would make Microsoft go the extra mile? Most likely nothing at this point.

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Selling junk like the Surface as if it were top-of-the-line, and then not making it right for the customer, has a huge impact on Microsoft’s reputation. This will at some point begin to have a negative impact on revenue. This negative impact on revenue won’t start until Microsoft’s reputation has been sufficiently damaged; by then it will be too late to fix things.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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WildBill, lurks about

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It many years of incompetence before IBM really became an also-ran in IT that has a few profitable niches. MS is doing similar antics to IBM before the incompetence hit. Right now it is masked by the profits that are still rolling in, same thing happed with IBM. With IBM many saw the problems before they destroyed IBM’s reputation and value but the profits were rolling in and nothing was done to fix the internal problems. History may not be exactly cyclical but the same type behaviors always have the same end result eventually.

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WildBill

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While I agree with you, there are way too many Surface fanbois that shun other devices and will gladly spend their $$ on the latest Surface device no matter how poor others perceive it. Surface is a niche device catering to a niche crowd. This niche will continue as long as Microsoft wants it to despite the problems and bad publicity.

Microsoft is making most of its money in the cloud (M365 & O365, etc.). Some things that we care about like Windows and Surface devices seem to be just an after thought to them.

Microsoft will replace SP4s with refurbished SP5s just as soon as they change Windows 10 to have only one feature upgrade a year.

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Looking at Microsoft’s track record with devices they’ve always been a write-off.  Remember Zune?  WinRT? Windows Phone?  From a dev side, there’s Kinect and soon Win IOT.

They won’t replace Surface 4s with 5s because they don’t want to support their own devices.

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Some devices just are not engineered right. But anymore you get a dud you get a dud. Not much anyone does about making right anymore. Even Apple which I used to characterize as being better then some at support. Has lost some of that dedication to a happy customer.

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Now, if they used a better quality glue, like Guerrilla Glue instead of Elmer’s paste, they might get better results.

Or not. (I kid, I kid!!)

Here’e the iFixit breakdown of the 4

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+4+Teardown/51568

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Isn’t it time for Microsoft to do something about it?

But.. but… they have!

You even posted about it! The new Surface Pro! Taa-daah!

Time long overdue for upgrading such an old system… it’s lived through six or seven full OS versions, for crying out loud!

Out of warranty, out of support, out. Keep up! QIQO…

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I have to give kudos to Microsoft on my first Surface Pro4 (i7, 16GB/256GB).  I bought it at BestBuy but they gave me blank stares when the surface delaminated from the body due to a battery defect, after the warranty expired. Fortunately I live within driving distance of the Silicon Valley Windows store.  They replaced it and I purchased a 3 year warranty (but they failed to link it to the new machine).  The battery on the second machine also failed.  It took a bit of work to link the warranty to the replacement machine and Microsoft replaced my machine.  I just pray that the next battery failure is still within the warranty period.  As much as I like the machine, I found that the use of the machine as a tablet with pen still has a long way to go in software development to make it really useful.  I am averaging 15 months between battery failures.

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Surface is a try of Microsoft to be Apple. Doesn’t work. They were never that great at hardware and for sure they don’t have the decades of experience needed to produce stable computers. They also are not known as a company with a great help desk and /or service track record. I wouldn’t bet my budget for company investment on it, there are absolutely better choices in this price range.

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I just had my Surface Pro replaced. The battery lasted less than an hour.

Phone support refused to replace it. I took it into the official Microsoft store and they were more than happy to give me a new one.   I didn’t get a newer model though…

I still had warranty thankfully.  New one has a much better battery.

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Best Microsoft hardware device ever?

Microsoft mouse.  Anything else more complicated is a loser.

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rc primak

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