MS Surface pro 4: Terrible Build quality

[MikemanSP4]

from redit/surface

There is a large thread about it somewhere how someone had one on order and his order got canceled due to a quiet recall on the i7 models only.

Also had a word with MS as well through customer service and said they are fixing some bugs/issues on the i7 models before they ship them again.

That is why its pretty much not in stock anymore

Ok - kewl.... So there is no recall....Thanks. Like I said - I have had little to no issues with my i7. I have built massive gaming rigs, and servers etc. Not tooting my own horn, but I know what fast is when it comes to computers, and I know how to tweak, water-cool, aircondition, overclock all onboard processors - (RAM, Video, CPU) - I have to say, for a tablet, I mean a stinking little tablet - the SP4 is FAST - and it doesn't "peter - out" when the CPU is taxed. For something I can hold in my hands while I drop the Browns off at the superbowl - I am fascinated. The SP4 is truly a mastery of engineering. I mean come on, a handheld i7 with a 4k Screen and an OS that allows you to install anything- unlike Apple, which requires "jailbreaking" in order to use aftermarket apps / software. OK - dead horse.

Take Care and God Bless (or whoever)

Mike

 

[MikemanSP4]

Someone here went through 3 replacements here diddnt they?

If they did go through 3 replacements, I wouldn't recommend a casino or playing the lottery for them.

 

[MikemanSP4]

I got my SP4, i7, 256, 16GB in December. Since then, due to tweaking and messing around in the root directory and being a general "PC Geek" I have reloaded Windows 10 4 times. Had I not messed around with tweaking and enjoying my "Geek / Nerd" side, I would have encountered Zero Reload, with the exception of the initial reload I do out of box. I look at PC's like buying a pair of jeans. Once I get the jeans home, they get thrown into the washing machine as who knows who tried them on etc....Same thing with a PC as far as I am concerned. Of course unless I accept a huge discount and buy the demo model, no one should have messed with my brand new PC....but........Years of experience have taught me that sure, once unboxed, go ahead and enjoy my device for a few days, but I won't have that brand new car feel until I get my favorite copy of my favorite operating system onto my new machine. So - unboxed the SP4 ran superbly. The issues that were encountered by all, (pen, typecover, etc.) - well I had those too, but the reload and update took all those away completely, and I haven't had a single issue since.

The overall feel, look, and performance of the $2000.00+ SP4, in my ever so humble opinion is worthy of a 9 / 10 rating. I think that having four to six MicroSD slots would have been phenomenal, and perhaps 2-3 USB 3.0 slots would have topped the SP4 with a cherry. I dropped the coin on a 200 GB Micro SD card, and I install any games and large software to the MicroSD drive and keep my SSD clean as possible. For a little refreshment and relaxation, I hit up a Starbucks and break out my SP4 and read the news or surf YouTube, but its nice to know that unless there is another SP3/4 in the room, chances are I have the fastest tablet around. I often take notice of folks with a cumbersome laptop and I am glad those days are behind me. For those of you having issues, feel free to contact me via personal message and I would be more than happy to tell you how to reload your machine, and also pass along some software recommendations that will keep your SP4 running like a champ - for all the haters out there.....What are you doing on this forum? Just Sayin...

 

[coolowl]

Reading the comments on this forum and in Amazon's makes me leery of buying a Surface Pro 4. Does everyone really have all these problems? Rarely do I read a comment from someone whose SP4 works correctly. I suppose its usually the people with problems that take the time to write on these forums, but I'd sure like to know if there are users out there having no issues. Otherwise, it sounds like purchasing one of these is a very risky proposition.

 

[leeshor]

Here's one. I own a SP4 and now support 5 others, (soon to be 6), and an associate is now supporting 6 as the IT manager of a software company. None of these SP4s has had any problems other than a few video driver crashes and those are not limited to the Surface devices. That's a dozen various models of SP4 with no problems.

One customer had a boot loop issue that resolved itself. Other than that all are operating as they should.

 

[MikemanSP4]

Reading the comments on this forum and in Amazon's makes me leery of buying a Surface Pro 4. Does everyone really have all these problems? Rarely do I read a comment from someone whose SP4 works correctly. I suppose its usually the people with problems that take the time to write on these forums, but I'd sure like to know if there are users out there having no issues. Otherwise, it sounds like purchasing one of these is a very risky proposition.

I have a SP4 and it runs great. Other than a few hiccups across the board upon first release, which have been hammered out, it runs beautifully. I'm not trying to cast a wide net here, but some of the issues I have read here, and on other forums might not be chalked up to Microsoft & Crew. I have a great ASUS laptop, otca-core, 16GB, SSD and it's a real "go-getter" - and specification wise will put the SP4 i7 in the dirt, but then I have to consider the bulk, weight and giant mess associated with a laptop. I never thought I'd say this, and yes I am new to the Surface arena, but my laptop is too big! Now if I want to go max out the graphics in Crysis and game - well its ASUS time, but for all other things PC related - its time to scratch the Surface....Crickets..... To recap - My Surface Pro 4 runs flawlessly.

 

[Philtastic]

Reading the comments on this forum and in Amazon's makes me leery of buying a Surface Pro 4. Does everyone really have all these problems? Rarely do I read a comment from someone whose SP4 works correctly. I suppose its usually the people with problems that take the time to write on these forums, but I'd sure like to know if there are users out there having no issues. Otherwise, it sounds like purchasing one of these is a very risky proposition.

I had a hardware issue where the keyboard port died within a week so I got an exchange at a Microsoft Store. In the first 2 months of launch, I had some issues where the device would automatically wake from sleep, not go to sleep, burn a ton of battery during sleep, and the display driver would crash a lot but, since mid-December, I'd say that most problems have been fixed. A lot of the people posting here probably have hardware issues and should exchange their units: it's hard to say, however, if the SP4 has a higher incidence of faulty units compared to other similar products given the bias that forums have for negative experiences. The other confounding factor is that things like battery life and crashing will also depend on what people have installed and run on their systems or what tweaks they have done. Personally, I haven't done any special tweaks and my SP4 works pretty much perfectly now.

 

[dstrauss]

I'll beat the dead horse - now that I have given up on the Surface Book, the Surface Pro 4 (Lot 1552), has been great. Yes, it still needs to be put into hibernation, or battery will suck dry in sleep. and I occasionally get that display driver was lost and recovered error (which I also have seen on the Dell XPS 15 Infinity and HP Spectre), but it is quiet, fast, and works great with the dock (you can lose the dock, however, if you have a video crash that doesn't recover without a reboot, and you'll have to set it up again).

But all said and done, it is the best computer I have owned, without a doubt. This little 2.3 pound marvel (with keyboard) gets me a full desktop experience, great (not perfect, but great) laptop experience, and a near iPad quality tablet experience. All I feel I give up is battery life (6-7 hours vs. 10 for a MacBook or iPad). How dare I say it is nearly as good as an iPad - because with the exception of custom games on the iPad, there is NOTHING I can't do in a browser on my SP4 that an iPad does with its custom "apps." Yes, the "app" experience is better on an iPad, BUT those are generally limited feature, highly focused, web applications.

And when I want to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook - I get the REAL DEAL. No matter how good Office is getting on iOS and Android, it is still a "mobile" version - and why should I "settle" for that.

Bottom line - it will continue to have teething pains for a while, but the Surface Pro 4 is not a "risky proposition" unlike its big brother, the Surface Book.

 

[coolowl]

I've not used this forum much so not sure if "thanking" is discouraged, but thanks to the four of you who responded to my inquiry. Your reports are encouraging and useful.

 

[leeshor]

I've not used this forum much so not sure if "thanking" is discouraged, but thanks to the four of you who responded to my inquiry. Your reports are encouraging and useful.

There is a "like" button that's more or less a thanks. Not discouraged here!

 

[GreyFox7]

from redit/surface

There is a large thread about it somewhere how someone had one on order and his order got canceled due to a quiet recall on the i7 models only.

Also had a word with MS as well through customer service and said they are fixing some bugs/issues on the i7 models before they ship them again.

That is why its pretty much not in stock anymore

I ReadIT that thread and it was pure speculation at best.

 

[coolowl]

Bought a SP4 today and love it. Got Office 2010 installed and even got Microsoft Money the Sunset Version installed and working. Earlier I had read that it wouldn't work in Windows 10. Well it does now. Perfectly.

I'm slowly learning my way around. I'm a bit of a "trial and error guy" but I have read some tips posted by Smokey here and another guy. Plan to read more of those. Good stuff. I'd have never stumbled across Fn + Left for Home (and + Right for End). Super helpful. Thanks again for the good honest words about how Surface is working now. It's a shame that reviews such as on Amazon include all the horrible reviews from when it first came out with the software and W10 issues. They need a "sort by date and recalculate averages" method for reviews. A lifetime total average of review ratings is fine for some products (like a movie that doesn't change), but for something that keeps getting updated a negative average rating scares people off.

I did have a "bug" occur, but it may have been me. At one point my screen stopped responding to touches. Fixed it by restarting, but don't know why that happened. I had changed a keyboard setting. I don't even remember what it was now. And after that no touch. I changed the setting back but still no touch. So, I just restarted and it worked again.