Problem: Surface pro only works plugged in!

[mandar]

Hi,

Here's my problem. I've had my surface pro for about 3 weeks and it worked fine. 2 days ago I went to use the pro and it wouldn't turn on. Obviously I plugged the charger in and started using it. It says the battery is at 84% Plugged in, charging, but the moment I pull the power cable out it powers off, like it has a flat battery.

Anyone else had this problem with their surface, or has this problem with a laptop before? Is there any solution other then sending it back for replacement, as that's my last option considering I ordered it from America to Australia, and the turn around time will take ages. I tried resetting to factory defaults, but that did nothing. I've also left the surface charging for a day while off, and a variety of different shutting down/start up procedures. I also spoke of MS tech support and they offered little help other then return it.

Thanks for reading fellow surface people.

 

[J515OP]

Try letting it run all the way down if it is more like in a standby mode than all the way off. It might take a day or two (much longer if it is actually all the way off). Then try fully charging it.

 

[machistmo]

What are your Power options for Battery?

Perhaps something was inadvertently set to something ridiculous?

 

[machistmo]

I agree with JP that a cell cycle wouldn't hurt, but that seems hard since you are getting a power off when you unplug it. Check your power settings and try changing the settings back to balanced and then select defaults. Have you done a full reset on the device yet? I do not have enough information to know if this appears to be a hardware issue for sure or if its the result of software acting wonky.

 

[mandar]

I have change the battery options a few different ways with no success. I have also reset the tablet to factory settings. The battery must just be dodgy. Gonna be a lot of effort sending it back, but we shall see how painless/ful this will be.

 

[mandar]

Update:

After following the tech support options from microsoft a couple of weeks ago (which didn't fix the problem) I contacted Microsoft Australia again. I asked them about a replacement, and there are two options. 1) Wait until it is released in Aus, contact tech support again the day of release, and get a replacement over here. 2) Send it to 'someone' in the US who can then send it to MS US, and repeat the cycle back to me. Look, I don't want to sound like I am complaining too much, because I understand I imported a product not supported in Aus and there are risks when you do that. I do feel like MS service could be better for such a large company.

I feel like the Aus tech support could have taken my surface pro on my behalf and got a replacement through the US. Yes I see that is not even remotely cost effective for MS due to the individual shipping cost, but it is a premium product that shouldn't suffer a major malfunction after 1 month of use.
The other thing I believe that MS aus could have done better; give a receipt/order number, take my email/phone number, and contact me the moment they have the ability to accept and replace my surface pro. This would save them, and myself from going through the process of contacting tech support again, ticking all the boxes again, and then sending my surface for replacement.

Not to be too negative in all of this though. The surface pro (for when I was using it) has been amazing for my job as a maths teacher. Onenote + stylus is almost priceless for creating a paperless environment, and my biggest frustration is the fact that I really want to be using it now. Also the tech support people I spoke to were polite, quick to respond, and seemed to know exactly what they could and could not do to help me.

 

[danzan]

You could buy a new one, transfer all your files, and return the old one for a refund.

If you buy the New one on your credit card, at the beginning of the billing cycle, you might receive the refund before the end of the billing cycle, and be out no cash.

That way, you have no down time, and no out of pocket cost.

This worked for me on some electronics I bought from china.

Of course get the MS customer service promise to give you the refund when they receive the old init

 

[mandar]

Problem with buying a new 1 (and even returning the old one to place of purchase) is the gst tax (for goods over $1000 in Aus) + shipping costs which won't be covered by the refund obviously. Also, the first surface pro I imported from the US took about 20 days, although that was probably because of the 'limited' stock when it was first released.

 

[tonyz3]

yikes you might want to just stick to boomerangs.:wink:

 

[mandar]

Update: The day the surface pro was released in Australia I rang tech support and see if they could replace my surface pro. They informed me that I was the first person to use the surface tech support and that they would replace it. It took 2 weeks to the day from sending my pro, to receiving a new one. Good to know things do work out in the long run.

 

[machistmo]

Excellent. Glad to hear they supported their product. I found this aspect of the product, returning it, to be the best.