Newsletter Archives

• Original Surface Books with Swollen Batteries, a Cautionary Story

  Posted on December 5, 2019 at 14:28 CST by digitalmediaphile • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft’s Answers “Community Forum” for Surface Book (original) seems to be receiving a growing number of posts from unhappy customers whose $3000 computers have become a risk for fire or explosion because of lifted screens due to swollen batteries. And the issue is discussed in other online communities. Some of the images posted of these devices are frightening and appear in some of the threads below.

  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/surface-book-battery-swelling/42e3f18c-ac08-4eba-aa85-50e5acf220f8

  https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6vu8mj/surface_book_battery_swelling_out_of_warrenty

  https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/1988534-surfacebook-battery-exploding

  http://www.surfaceforums.net/threads/surface-book-bulge.20471/

  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/surface-book-battery-expanding/d538e963-4a1e-4e81-bf3b-6528dcbce71e

  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfbook-surfdrivers/i-have-got-a-lifted-screen-on-the-right-edge-of-my/14b4196d-0fa8-4187-a032-f0f04a9b9976

  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/is-there-a-chance-that-we-can-sue-microsoft-for/9de99789-c491-4285-bc38-1f9d0a9cca64

  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/microsoft-surface-book-screen-has-a-large-bulge-on/c913011d-3d00-48d0-b68f-85ee0be4ddd4

  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/microsoft-surface-book-failure-screen-edge/e1dd3918-2702-42f3-8cc2-1c9d53c0e0d0

  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/surface-book-battery-swollen/a4482480-7f50-4945-bbb7-439894d81c19

  While Microsoft won’t comment (other than “contact support”) on these issues, it seems that they decided that if these were within 3 years of original purchase, they’d replace free of charge (which can depend on which agent handles your case). The catch is that more and more of these devices are now beyond the three year from original purchase time frame, and phone and online support won’t budge on this “policy”. And sadly, some customers can’t be convinced of the danger of continuing to use the device.

  I’m a Microsoft MVP and a Volunteer Moderator in the Microsoft Surface Community Forum and I cringe every time I see a new report. Almost daily. (And there have been a few MVP’s and friends who have had this horrendous experience.)

  We think that the official Microsoft Retail Stores (at least in the USA) have more latitude to replace devices beyond the three year date, at least if a customer is able to go there, and make some noise. A lot of noise. Below is a tale of woe from a respected former MVP that speaks for itself. Should Microsoft replace these beyond three years? As a MSFT stockholder and MVP and Surface owner, my answer is a resounding yes. I expect my laptops to last more than 3 years, do YOU?

  Dian’s tale:

  Microsoft Annoyance!
  by Dian Chapman
  Retired Microsoft MVP 1995 – 2015

  In March 2016, hubby bought me a Microsoft Surface book computer because he recently bought one for himself and really liked it. I quickly fell in love with it, too.

  While he was traveling to TX on business, he realized the screen was being pushed away from the computer. He took it to a Microsoft office in TX and they replaced it on the spot. The employee there said, “Oh wow, yeah, we don’t want THOSE out there!” They imaged his current PC to a new one over a few days and he returned home with a new Surface book. His was two years into using it. He was also VERY glad it didn’t explode or start a fire while flying to/from IL/TX.

  A year later (2019), I started to notice that now MY Surface book was expanding and I could no longer close it because the bottom of the screen was being pushed away from the computer.

  

  Fearing a fire/explosion myself, I called the Schaumburg, IL Microsoft Store and was told that my computer was past the three year ‘swollen battery warranty!’ I didn’t realize MS had a warranty for crappy computers!

  He told me I would have to pay $599 to replace it at this time! Other fellow MVPs told me that they DID get theirs replaced after the three years, so I grabbed my computer and travelled the 1.5 hrs to the Schaumburg MS Store to try to get a replacement.

  Lilly was the employee who greeted me and asked I was I doing today. HA, NOT good! After telling me that I needed an appointment, she relented and made a ticket for me and listened to my argument regarding why I NEEDED a replacement from this defective computer that was broken and dangerous…through NO fault of my own.

  After about 20 mins of me explaining that I was NOT leaving without a new computer and that I would stand outside the store (in the mall) and tell anyone who listened why MS computers were defective…she went back to “check” with her manager.

  She returned a bit later to tell me that she did have one in stock to replace mine and told me that it would take several days to copy my data to the new system. I didn’t have time to be without my computer that long and I also did not look forward to driving 1.5 hrs (one way) back into the city to get it in a few days. So, I said I’d just F-Disk it. I found the reset to erase all the data and she said they’d do it a second time JUST to be sure it was cleared.

  I left with the new computer.

  Several people have had this problem and it’s REALLY pathetic that MS makes people go through this crap to get a new computer. MS is pretty good with software, but as the MS phone demonstrated…they’re NOT very good when it comes to hardware! They need to admit this series of PC has a SERIOUS problem and fix it without a hassle for those suffering with these DEFECTIVE systems.

  Let’s hope none cause a home or plane fire!

   

  Surface Surface, Surface Book

• Why I won’t buy a new Surface Pro: Battery problems and support

  Posted on August 29, 2019 at 06:50 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  With new Surface Pro(s) and Surface Laptop(s) likely coming soon, a friend has asked me if she should plan on buying a new one.

  My answer? A resounding no.

  Yes, I know that thousands (millions?) of people are very happy with their Surfaces. But many are not. The biggest complaints I hear are about the batteries and TypeCovers.

  According to Barb Bowman, Surface Pro 5 and 6 and Surface Laptop 2 batteries are going down the tubes. If you’re using Win10, open the Feedback Hub and type “battery drain.” You’ll see what she means:

  .@NorthFaceHiker further to our conversation yesterday (and not even triaged into a collection). pic.twitter.com/n9ga3uHk2H

  — Barb Bowman 🌷💙💛 (@barbbowman) August 29, 2019

  It isn’t just the bad batteries or dead Type Covers. The over-arching problem: The way Microsoft is handling the problem.

  In short, they aren’t.

  Complaints on the Microsoft Answers Forum go unanswered. Complaints on the Feedback Hub go unanswered. Complaints from key players – MVP Barb included – go unanswered.

  Every hardware manufacturer has battery problems. Keyboard problems, too. Most of them at least take a swing at customer support. From Microsoft these days, it’s just crickets.

  That’s no way to run a support organization. And that, more than anything else, is the reason I won’t buy — and won’t recommend — a Surface Pro or Surface Laptop, of any version.

  Buying New Hardware, Microsoft News Surface Book, Surface Pro

• Problem reported with the latest firmware update for Surface Book

  Posted on August 5, 2019 at 15:23 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  UPDATE: More details in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Have you updated your Surface Book with the latest firmware/driver release (dated July 31)?

  Can you connect to WiFi?

  thunder1025 reports on the Microsoft Answers Forum:

  I updated the wifi driver to “Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. – Net – 15.68.17013.110”, and after that update, I can’t connect to a 5GHz wifi connection, I can only connect to 2.4 GHz. when i try to connect to the 5GHz, it says: “Unable to connect to this network”. Uninstalling the wifi driver, and restarting the device did help me get the 5GHz connection back to my Surface book, but when i decided to try to install the same driver again, and try to connect to 5GHz again, the same “Unable to connect to this network” appears.

  There’s also a post from Andypeppa:

  I have the same problem with the same driver version as well, applied on 8-1-2019. Your post gave me an idea that maybe it was just the 5GHz channel, but alas, I have the same issue with the 2.4GHz spectrum as well; I went to force the band of the Marvell AVASTAR WiFi adapter to 2.4GHz only and it still would not connect.

  I have the Surface Pro (Gen4.5? it’s the one where they didn’t announce the version) but my experience is the exact same as yours; the moment that driver was applied, I can no longer attach to my home WiFi system (UniFi). Interestingly, the Surface Pro WILL attach to the WiFi hotspot on my iPhone.

  And from Nicholas Barsotti:

  I have the same problem with my Surface Pro 6.  Upgraded to driver 15.68.17013.110 and I couldn’t get connected to my wifi either.  I tried forcing 2.4 and 5 Ghz neither worked.  I am using UniFi AC pro access points.  Rolling back to an older version got me back online.

  Thx @BarbBowman

  Hardware, Microsoft News, Wi-Fi Surface Book

• Surface Pro, Surface Book firmware updates

  Posted on February 15, 2018 at 07:15 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I flagged these two KB articles on the KBNew list:

  KB 4037238 Surface Pro update history (which also lists the new firmware patches for Surface Pro with LTE)

  KB 4023488 Surface Book update history

  I don’t see any mention of Meltdown/Spectre-related changes, but if you have a Surface Pro or Surface Book, you might want to think about delaying your Windows Update run until we get more reports — good or bad — about the stability of the patches.

  Thx Günter Born, Rich Woods at Neowin.

  Windows Patches/Security Firmware, Surface Book, Surface Pro

• Original Surface Book on sale – 50% off, if you really want it

  Posted on December 29, 2017 at 07:11 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Today, the Microsoft Store on Amazon has cut the price of the original Surface Book by almost 50%. For example, the Microsoft Surface Book (128 GB, 8 GB RAM, Intel Core i5) which normally sells for $1,499 is down to $789. The top-of-the-old-line Microsoft Surface Book (512 GB, 16 GB RAM, Intel Core i7, with NVIDIA GeForce graphics) gets marked down from $1,625 to $1,074.

  If you’re tempted to buy one, remember that the original Surface Book is one of a handful of Surface machines that led Consumer Reports to pull the “Recommended” tag from the entire Surface line.

  The Surface Book was originally released in October 2015 and now it appears they’ve truly reached the end of the line.

  Microsoft News Surface Book

• Reported Type Cover problems with undocumented Surface Pro 4/Surface Book firmware update

  Posted on July 24, 2017 at 04:57 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft released a new round of firmware and driver updates for the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 on Friday. There’s no documentation and plenty of complaints.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  UPDATE: Will wonders ever cease…. three days after pushing the patch on Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 owners, Microsoft just published the details.

  Microsoft News driver update, Surface Book, Surface Pro 4

• Microsoft releases documentation on Surface Book firmware/driver update

  Posted on November 19, 2016 at 04:35 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Day late, dollar short, the Surface Book firmware/driver update released on November 17 has finally been documented. Short version:

  • New Precise Touch driver 1.2.0.70 “reduces false touch events when the device is closed.”
  • New NVIDIA GeForce driver 21.21.13.6961 “improves system stability.”
  • Surface UEFI driver 90.1380.768.0 “improves system stability.”

  Which might lead you to believe that the Surface Book has stability problems – a point that shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone who’s been following the Surface Book saga. I count 19 firmware/driver patches since the Surface Book was released a little over a year ago.

  Other Surface Book

• More Surface Book, Surface Pro 4 driver updates roll out

  Posted on May 25, 2016 at 08:18 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  And this time we get full details.

  Somebody’s listening and doing a good job.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security driver, Firmware, Surface Book, Surface Pro 4
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