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Afy

Member
I have had the screen go black, particularly if the machine is on, and left to idle for about ten minutes while on battery. I have found that either pressing the power button, or plugging it in overcomes that.
It isn't enough of an issue for me to send it back over this. And yes it is irritating as hell. I am quite sure it is a SW or driver issue and will get fixed soon.
 

leeshor

Well-Known Member
With SP4 I'd say majority of their buyers :( Their luck there is nothing simmilar on market, once there is people will quickly give up due to massive problems.
I personally support 5 SP4s and none are having any problems that the users are reporting to me, and I keep asking. One is mine and I configured the other 4 myself. Every now and then a video driver crash. Honestly when it happens on mine I mostly can only tell because the reliability logs tell me. I also know a software company here that now has several and the IT director claims they all work fine. (I did make some suggestions to him on optimal configurations).

I am strongly recommending the SP4 to many of my customers.
 
I've seen both SP4's I'm testing *at times* not recover from connected standby. It seems to be video driver related so I'm holding out for that. It seems to happen once every 3rd or 4th time like the OP was saying. Just a hard shutdown recovers it, but less tech savvy users would quickly get frustrated with the black screen.
 

dstrauss

Active Member
I've had my first, and only glitch so far, today when my 10 day old SP4 refused recognize the monitors connected to my dock - took about six restarts and fiddling with trying to first mirror then extend displays before it was back up and running full steam. Had this happen with my SP3 before this on a fairly regular basis so I hope this is not the start of problems...
 
I've seen both SP4's I'm testing *at times* not recover from connected standby. It seems to be video driver related so I'm holding out for that. It seems to happen once every 3rd or 4th time like the OP was saying. Just a hard shutdown recovers it, but less tech savvy users would quickly get frustrated with the black screen.

Happens to me maybe one time in ten on battery. I've learned to 1) hold down the power key for 10 seconds, 2) leave it alone for two minutes, 3) briefly press the power button to power back on and leave alone for thirty seconds 'til I see the Surface logo and let it spin back up.
 

kermezz

New Member
I personally support 5 SP4s and none are having any problems that the users are reporting to me, and I keep asking. One is mine and I configured the other 4 myself. Every now and then a video driver crash. Honestly when it happens on mine I mostly can only tell because the reliability logs tell me. I also know a software company here that now has several and the IT director claims they all work fine. (I did make some suggestions to him on optimal configurations).

I am strongly recommending the SP4 to many of my customers.
I can not recommend it as I personaly have a lot of issues, most notecable notorious display turn on issue and network dropdowns. I have echanged both surface 3( which is much more reliable but I had HW issue) and SP4 (due to faulty battery but SW issues remain)

Btw regarding network issues, I hope MS will do something with their drivers after huge marketing hit:

"Tablets on New England Patriots' sideline suffer a brief but very public lapse in connecting with the network, an awkward moment in which coaches and players can't use the devices to review plays."
Microsoft's Surface takes a hit during NFL playoff game

This was published in Europe as well as I just read it this morning on a half page news in local daily newspaper (20 minutes if that matters to anyone).




Happens to me maybe one time in ten on battery. I've learned to 1) hold down the power key for 10 seconds, 2) leave it alone for two minutes, 3) briefly press the power button to power back on and leave alone for thirty seconds 'til I see the Surface logo and let it spin back up.

I do exactly the same and it is horrible and frustrating when I need to take a quick look at my notes at a beggining of a meeting and can't turn it on for a couple of minutes :(


As I said before, I like surface as an idea but it is not reliable. It is clear not only from these topics but from number of returned devices, there are a lot of issues with SP4 and I expext a device of 1000+ usd to be reliable.
 
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Zkyevolved

Active Member
I have been having this happen to me as of lately on my latest SP4. It's going back this week and getting a new one. I connected it to a projector or a monitor and the screen goes black, doesn't respond and I have to force restart it with the power button and volume button. It's frustrating... I use it for work... My SP2 is more reliable sadly. So this one is going back, and I'm getting a new one. Another reason why this one is going back is because the fan "vibrates" which wasn't present on ANY other SP4 I had. It sounds bad.

There is an issue. Does it exist on EVERY Sp4? No, I see many people VERY happy with their new devices (not withstanding the sleep bug and graphics driver bug). But I also see an abnormal amount of SP4s being returned because of hardware issues (dead pixels, a lot of light bleed, not responding well, etc). These are issues that abnormally higher in such an expensive device compared to other devices in similar or even inferior price ranges.
 
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