Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book

[DJ-1701]

If anyone gets a Surface Pro 4 or a Surface Book, I would be very interested to hear how you find using it :-).

[Asgard]

Surface Pro 4 is the best version yet. Mine did have a wierd issue were if it went into sleep mode or you forced it into standby mode it wouldn't wake up - but that was a a graphics driver issue which they quickly fixed.

 

The new pen is miles better too

[abillybob]

Surface Pro 4 is the best version yet. Mine did have a wierd issue were if it went into sleep mode or you forced it into standby mode it wouldn't wake up - but that was a a graphics driver issue which they quickly fixed.

 

The new pen is miles better too

 

This is what frustrates me!! I love the whole concept of the surface brand hardware wise but software wise it's just yuck. Had 2 Surface 3's and all I did was have non-stop issues with it so eventually sold the thing. This worries me and is one of the reasons why I haven't took the plunge for the SurfaceBook or Surface Pro 3 due to the consistent software glitches, couple that with carp hardware such as a MARVELL wifi chip and I need to question why these devices are so expensive.

 

I bought a MacBook 12" and haven't looked back, had 0 issues with it and it's my first Mac. The build quality is robust, it is a lot more powerful in practice than on paper and the battery life goes on for yonks, add the fact in I can charge it using my portable USB Battery and it's a win, win. I'm even running their latest el capitan software and have always updated it on the day yet still no problems! Very impressed. This video demonstrates just how powerful good software development can be:

 

It's even more worrying that this device is being made by the same company who makes the Hardware and they still can't get the drivers and other problems right! If I was to buy a Windows device again I'd probably go towards a Dell XPS 13 or 15 as I have heard nothing but good reports.

[ZeroHour]

This is what frustrates me!! I love the whole concept of the surface brand hardware wise but software wise it's just yuck. Had 2 Surface 3's and all I did was have non-stop issues with it so eventually sold the thing. This worries me and is one of the reasons why I haven't took the plunge for the SurfaceBook or Surface Pro 3 due to the consistent software glitches, couple that with carp hardware such as a MARVELL wifi chip and I need to question why these devices are so expensive.

 

I bought a MacBook 12" and haven't looked back, had 0 issues with it and it's my first Mac. The build quality is robust, it is a lot more powerful in practice than on paper and the battery life goes on for yonks, add the fact in I can charge it using my portable USB Battery and it's a win, win. I'm even running their latest el capitan software and have always updated it on the day yet still no problems! Very impressed. This video demonstrates just how powerful good software development can be:

 

It's even more worrying that this device is being made by the same company who makes the Hardware and they still can't get the drivers and other problems right! If I was to buy a Windows device again I'd probably go towards a Dell XPS 13 or 15 as I have heard nothing but good reports.

 

In all honesty there have been a lot of wifi issues with each version of OSX when it came out, I have literally had 2 macbooks of different ages next to each other and one could connect to the wifi and the other couldnt.

[Arthur]

It's even more worrying that this device is being made by the same company who makes the Hardware and they still can't get the drivers and other problems right!

Microsoft still has to rely on other manufacturers (such as Intel) for drivers. They don't write all of them themselves.

 

If I was to buy a Windows device again I'd probably go towards a Dell XPS 13 or 15 as I have heard nothing but good reports.

Dell's XPS laptops have had plenty of issues too. The Broadwell-based XPS 13 (model 9343) for example has a very annoying dynamic backlight control feature that can only be disabled on the QHD screen model via a Dell utility that isn't distributed on Dell's own website. If you had purchased the 1080p version of this XPS 13 you would be out of luck since the LCD panel cannot have its firmware updated by end users and some people have found it impossible to get Dell to replace the LCD panel.

 

• https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues/2#issuecomment-158986439
  
• https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues/2#issuecomment-160930553
  

[sted]

Surface Pro 4 is the best version yet. Mine did have a wierd issue were if it went into sleep mode or you forced it into standby mode it wouldn't wake up - but that was a a graphics driver issue which they quickly fixed.

 

The new pen is miles better too

 

please please please tell me they have replaced the marvel wifi cards fitted in previous models as they suck. They do seem to have teething problems for a flagship device that you think any amount of qc would pick up and are it has to be said ludicrously expensive (i bought a surface pro 1 when the 2 came out as it was cheap) and i wish they would be better with options i.e. want a decent size drive needs a cpu upgrade as well whacking the price up even more (and presumably killing battery life)

[tmoon-mint]

Too little too late for me. I got a MacBook Pro better spec for around the same price. Shame as its a nice piece of kit.

[abillybob]

In all honesty there have been a lot of wifi issues with each version of OSX when it came out, I have literally had 2 macbooks of different ages next to each other and one could connect to the wifi and the other couldnt.

 

True and I have heard of the odd person whinging although nothing to the degree of the Surfaces. It's not just limited to wifi either though with the Surface range, things like the touch screen not responding correctly or a device not waking up from sleep properly or even the type pad's mouse not responding and tracking correctly. You shouldn't expect this much degree of issues with a product that's supposed to be premium. Apple to be fair do fix their issues pretty quick and their support is second to none unlike the surface rep I had to deal with. I'm no h8er but I think the Surface range leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to reliability of a product.

 

Again its my personal experience with it all and I've never had a problem with the Broadcomm/Intel wifi chips they use in the Macs nowadays. They're very reliable.

 

Microsoft still has to rely on other manufacturers (such as Intel) for drivers. They don't write all of them themselves.

 

Which is fine and would be a valid excuse for them if only they would have picked quality components in the first place such as Intel, Broadcomm, Samsung. But they didn't and went with some weird Chinese LCD manufacturer for the screen of the older models and a MARVELL wifi card... Use better quality components and the system will be more stable, that's just common knowledge and Microsoft should have thought of all that before it decided on it's rubbish components.

 

Dell's XPS laptops have had plenty of issues too. The Broadwell-based XPS 13 (model 9343) for example has a very annoying dynamic backlight control feature that can only be disabled on the QHD screen model via a Dell utility that isn't distributed on Dell's own website. If you had purchased the 1080p version of this XPS 13 you would be out of luck since the LCD panel cannot have its firmware updated by end users and some people have found it impossible to get Dell to replace the LCD panel.

 

• https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues/2#issuecomment-158986439
  
• https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues/2#issuecomment-160930553
  

 

I should have clarified I was speaking about the Skylake models as they seem to be more stable. I'd pick a Dell XPS over the Surface for the same price is what I was trying to say because I've had much better experience with Dell products. It could be a piece of rubbish (I wouldn't know have never owned one) but I've had less to no problems with Dell machines verses anything that Microsoft has made in the surface line of which every device I've owned (I've had 3 in total including the first Surface Pro) I've had some sort of issue with it.

 

---------

 

Don't get me wrong I actually prefer the overall design and the way a Surface works compared to my MacBook and I still get shiny shiny syndrome when I see the Surface Pro's in PC World. I think they look beautiful and the concept is just what I'm looking for in a device it's just a huge shame they don't seem to do proper quality control before they release the product and use awful hardware! They could very easily strike a deal with Intel and Samsung and only use their components for the device which I believe would make it more trustworthy and reliable device.

 

For some reason though and this is only my personal opinion it seems they are more bothered about making the $$$$DOLLA$$$$ than they are with giving customers a good experience.

[halbaradkenafin]

If anyone gets a Surface Pro 4 or a Surface Book, I would be very interested to hear how you find using it :-).

 

Boss has a surface book and has a few issues with it (American keyboard so might be different with UK keyboard) :

 

*) Keys don't have much tactile feedback to if they were pressed or not.

 

*) function keys need a toggle key pressing (like caps lock) to work. Leading to some confusion where you have to keep checking if it's on or off for the different uses, made worse by page up/down etc being on those keys and him actually using a lot of the Fx keys.

 

I think he had a few other issues with it but nothing too major, just usability issues for his use case.

[abillybob]

please please please tell me they have replaced the marvel wifi cards fitted in previous models as they suck.

 

After a little bit of research today it appears not. They still use Marvell Cards. The picture below is the SurfaceBooks logic board taken from IFixIt.

[flyinghaggis]

Just wondered if anyone on here has bought or had a chance to try out a Surface Pro 4 for an extended period? I need a new laptop and it was one of the ones I was contemplating (probably the base spec m3 version).

[abillybob]

Seems like a problem with the new firmware update... Congrats Microsoft!

 

Firmware update for Surface 3, Surface Pro 3 causes blue screens, lockups, other problems | InfoWorld

 

Just wondered if anyone on here has bought or had a chance to try out a Surface Pro 4 for an extended period? I need a new laptop and it was one of the ones I was contemplating (probably the base spec m3 version).

 

Girlfriend's dad has one the i7 Model. He has had to send it back 3 times for repair... Not too good imo.

Edited January 26, 2016 by abillybob

[Arthur]

Microsoft patches Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 sleep issue

 

When I reviewed the Surface Book, there were a lot of bugs with the software. Some of them have been pretty minor, and Microsoft has been updating the firmware and drivers on it since before it was launched. Most of the issues have been sorted out, but there was still one issue which seemed to be elusive to the teams at Intel and Microsoft. The Surface Book would not always sleep, or, I should say, when it went to sleep it would actually use much more energy than when it was being used. Often times I would close the lid on the Surface Book and after a minute or two I’d hear the fans kick in, and the device would get very hot to the touch. This was an even bigger issue if you closed it and put it in a bag, since the bag would just trap all that heat.

 

This bug was so severe that I could not recommend the Surface Book at the time of the review. Apparently this bug can also strike the Surface Pro 4, but the two review units that I had never suffered from the same sleep bug issue as the Surface Book.

 

Today there is good news, or at least the chance of good news. Microsoft has released a firmware update which directly tackles the sleep issue. Normally firmware updates get released with little fanfare, but head of Microsoft’s hardware division, Panos Panay, has written a blog post letting everyone know that there is a firmware update. It’s not too often that the head of a division steps up and writes release notes, so clearly he felt that this issue was a big enough one to make a statement, and to be clear it is that big of an issue.

 

Whether or not this fixes the issue will remain to be seen, but I’m updating the Surface Book at the moment and will report back in time, but hopefully this solves it. As I said in the review, the Surface Book is solid hardware that was let down by software, and assuming this update does fix the major issue with the latest Surface models, it will be much easier to recommend it to others.

[halbaradkenafin]

My boss will be happy about that, he's been having issues with the sleep function as it would seem to just randomly decide if it was sleeping or rebooting or shutting down completely. I believe he still wants to get rid of it due to the keyboard though (pgup/pgdn/home/end all on function keys he uses reasonably often).

[Dodgex1]

We've had a couple of SP4's in for a while. One of the worst pieces of 'flagship' kit I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with to be honest. Crashes/hangs/wont come out of sleep constantly. Docking causes it to hang, undocking drops the network connection, even if left on WiFi. Combined with Windows 10 and all the problems I've had with that it's really put me off.

 

Hopefully this latest update will sort the sleep issue but for a device that's cost well over a grand it's not good enough, our i7 model runs really really hot too. Ironically the i5 lower spec has had less issues over all.

[flyinghaggis]

I had a look at the Surface Pro but didn't really like the tablet-first nature of it as I couldn't see myself using it in anything other than 'laptop format' with the add-on keyboard. Because of that I was actually quite interested in seeing what the Surface book was like. However, there's so much negative feedback about both the Surface tablets and Book on-line that's it makes me reluctant to buy one.

 

Is there anyone on here with a Surface Book who's happy with the device and would recommend it?

[Arthur]

While the Surface issues aren't good, it seems that Intel should get some of the blame for the various problems.

 

New firmware finally fixes Surface Pro 4, Surface Book bugs, but Microsoft should do better « Ars Technica

 

Of course, while Microsoft has its name on the box and on the operating system, important parts of the systems are third party. Intel supplies the essential display driver and some power management components, and on some Surface Book units, Nvidia provides the display driver. These third party components have all had partial responsibility for the system problems, and this highlights one of the essential conundrums of the PC experience.

 

On the one hand, the PC platform is tremendously flexible, with a wide range of processors, GPUs, motherboards, and other peripherals. Microsoft simply cannot provide drivers for all of these things, however, as there are far too many of them. This means that PC manufacturers, including Microsoft, are utterly beholden to this diverse array of suppliers to get things right. Sometimes, that takes a bit of time. I've seen some amount of shakiness from both Intel and Nvidia drivers on other systems I've reviewed recently; this aspect of the PC platform is in no way specific to the Surface hardware. The hardware simply came to market before the software stack was completely ready.

 

^ This probably explains why Apple haven't released any Skylake-based MacBook Pros.

 

there's so much negative feedback about both the Surface tablets and Book online that's it makes me reluctant to buy one.

Maybe this will help?

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/41n4ic/bought_6_surface_books_a_few_issues_but_mostly/

[Arthur]

Only £134.99.

 

Crafted using two-tone gray mélange Alcantara fabric—a unique and innovative material used in high-end luxury products, sourced only from Italy.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IBLg4gCXiQ