I have a SP4 thinking of a Surface Book need thoughts!

[inthesahel]

I am new around here and would appreciate any thoughts

I bought a surface pro 3 back in November. In January it failed with smart cover not being recognized, the black screens, not waking up from sleep and a whole host of other issues. My local Microsoft store replaced it and 4 days later the new Surface pro 3 failed with the same issues.

I took it in to my local store and after much talking and a bit of money from me they upgraded me to a surface pro 4. After a month, and the updates on 2-17 addressing the “sleeping bug”my Surface Pro 4 is having power button failure and issues affecting the camera not working. Yesterday I tried to turn it on for over an hour, it wouldn't turn on(not from sleep)

I spoke to a buddy of mine and he said, he had loads of problems with his Surface Pro, but his surface book was great and that I should upgrade to a Surface book- what are peoples thoughts?

Is the book much better than the surface Pro?

 

[GreyFox7]

It seems either can be problematic and bad luck runs in streaks, don't go to Vegas.

 

[Kevin Cossaboon]

I am new around here and would appreciate any thoughts

I spoke to a buddy of mine and he said, he had loads of problems with his Surface Pro, but his surface book was great and that I should upgrade to a Surface book- what are peoples thoughts?

Is the book much better than the surface Pro?

I had the reverse experience. I had a SB during the bad old days (mid Nov - Jan) and GAVE UP, waited and followed the forms, and bought a SP4 and it is working 90%. Not having the issues you are, mine are around video failures and DOCK issues.

In My Humble Opinion, the SB will always be more troublesome than the SP. You can RIP the GPU and a bunch of other stuff off of the main computer at a click of a button. Though this is cool but, that has to stress parts of the OS that most computers do not, thus smaller user group to find issues with the code.

I wish the SB worked for me, I would still have it, but now back on a SP, I do not think I would go to a SB until there was a few ports on the main screen so when I undocked it from the keyboard I could go to a conference room and still present with it.

Please note in Nov-Jan time frame BOTH platforms had issues, and since then BOTH platforms have gotten much better.

 

[be77solo]

I agree with the above, it's hit or miss it seems with either (and honestly has been since the SP1 first came out). I had great luck with my SP3, minimal issues since launch and has been rock solid the past year, but many others had problems.

I bought a SB a couple weeks ago to replace my SP3, and can also report minimal issues or problems, and overall a very smooth and reliable experience. My only active issue is with the "Windows Hello" camera driver bug, so until they update that I just use a PIN to log in.

There's not really any scary magic going on with the SB and the detachable base. GPU is simply using Optimus to interact with Windows, same as my other laptop I've had for years, works well. Ports and battery are similar to a dock or even the battery type cover I had for my SP2.

I did get (and would recommend) MS Complete Care to give you 2 years of peace of mind, but then I buy that for all my Surface devices. Walking into a MS store and simply getting a new machine if it's not an easy to fix problem is a pleasure for a gadget guy like me.

If you need or want the better battery life of the SB, as well as the extra GPU power, the SB is a great option. If you lean more towards pure tablet mode for more than a few hours at a time, you'll be disappointed and will miss the SP4.

On a different note, I've never been stuck not getting a device to restart... hold the power and volume key down for ~15 seconds or so has always rebooted the device when randomly needed. This applies to my SP1, SP2, SP3, and I assume by SB but haven't had to yet, but I'm sure I will ha

 

[Kevin Cossaboon]

I did get (and would recommend) MS Complete Care to give you 2 years of peace of mind, but then I buy that for all my Surface devices. Walking into a MS store and simply getting a new machine if it's not an easy to fix problem is a pleasure for a gadget guy like me.

I Second that.

SP1, SP3 and SP4 I bought it and it is worth the extra. I do not usually buy extended warranties, but not only is it rock solid from Microsoft (not a third party) my SP3 sold quick on eBay because it is transferable.

 

[inthesahel]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts-

be77solo- I thought it was strange not coming back, I did the same thing that you mentioned with the power and volume and it didn't work. The only thing that worked was holding the power button for 30 seconds.

Just wondering how your thoughts would change if I added this piece of the puzzle. I work for a non profit in Africa, I always choose my computers that I take based on this. My main concern has been that the SP4 won't hold up or that it would die and I would be stuck with a big paperweight. This is the main reason that I am thinking of upgrading.

The in store manager has agreed to upgrade me to something that he sells or the Microsoft store sells. It wouldn't have to be a SB, he offered me a Dell XPS 13 but really like size weight and tablet with pen of the SP4. That is why I was thinking the SB4.

How does that change peoples thoughts?

Many thanks