Blog Archives

• Why I won’t buy a new Surface Pro: Battery problems and support

  Posted on August 29th, 2019 at 06:50 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  With new Surface Pro(s) and Surface Laptop(s) likely coming soon, a friend has asked me if she should plan on buying a new one.

  My answer? A resounding no.

  Yes, I know that thousands (millions?) of people are very happy with their Surfaces. But many are not. The biggest complaints I hear are about the batteries and TypeCovers.

  According to Barb Bowman, Surface Pro 5 and 6 and Surface Laptop 2 batteries are going down the tubes. If you’re using Win10, open the Feedback Hub and type “battery drain.” You’ll see what she means:

  .@NorthFaceHiker further to our conversation yesterday (and not even triaged into a collection). pic.twitter.com/n9ga3uHk2H

  — Barb Bowman 🌷 (@barbbowman) August 29, 2019

  It isn’t just the bad batteries or dead Type Covers. The over-arching problem: The way Microsoft is handling the problem.

  In short, they aren’t.

  Complaints on the Microsoft Answers Forum go unanswered. Complaints on the Feedback Hub go unanswered. Complaints from key players – MVP Barb included – go unanswered.

  Every hardware manufacturer has battery problems. Keyboard problems, too. Most of them at least take a swing at customer support. From Microsoft these days, it’s just crickets.

  That’s no way to run a support organization. And that, more than anything else, is the reason I won’t buy — and won’t recommend — a Surface Pro or Surface Laptop, of any version.

  Buying New Hardware, Microsoft News Surface Book, Surface Pro

• Surface Pro, Surface Book firmware updates

  Posted on February 15th, 2018 at 07:15 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  I flagged these two KB articles on the KBNew list:

  KB 4037238 Surface Pro update history (which also lists the new firmware patches for Surface Pro with LTE)

  KB 4023488 Surface Book update history

  I don’t see any mention of Meltdown/Spectre-related changes, but if you have a Surface Pro or Surface Book, you might want to think about delaying your Windows Update run until we get more reports — good or bad — about the stability of the patches.

  Thx Günter Born, Rich Woods at Neowin.

  Windows Patches/Security firmware, Surface Book, Surface Pro

• Long-standing Surface problems get promises of a few fixes

  Posted on November 13th, 2017 at 13:46 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Microsoft’s customer support continues to plumb new depths, but there are a few hopeful signs. Keep your fingers crossed, or try to haggle with your local Microsoft Store.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  UPDATE: Once again, Jasmine Car says Microsoft’s working on a fix for the screen shaking problem:

  Our engineers are looking into this and working hard to get this resolved as soon as possible.

  Microsoft News flickering, Surface, Surface Pen, Surface Pro, Type Cover

• Surface Pro Type Cover suddenly stops working

  Posted on August 10th, 2017 at 06:34 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  I’m seeing more and more reports of borked SP3 and SP4 Type Cover keyboards, likely linked to last month’s firmware/driver updates

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  UPDATE: According to Reuters, Consumer Reports has just removed the “recommended” designation for all Surface products.

  The non-profit publication surveyed 90,000 tablet and laptop owners and found that an estimated 25 percent of those with Microsoft Surface devices would be presented with “problems by the end of the second year of ownership,” according to a study published on Thursday.

  Why does that not surprise me?

  Microsoft News Surface Pro, Type Cover

• The last day of Microsoft Store sales

  Posted on December 16th, 2016 at 07:39 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  The 12-day Microsoft Store sale series started out pretty strong, but rapidly descended into Xbox- and Groove-land, places I intentionally never venture.

  Today’s the last of the 12 days and as Paul Thurrott notes, you can get up to $360 off a Surface Pro 4. Assuming you want a Surface Pro 4 with an NFL Special Edition Type Cover. Be still my beating heart.

  Now that Microsoft’s finally fixed the Surface Pro 4 (took ’em more than a year to get the main bugs out), it ain’t a bad machine. Just, well, you know, it was released on October 26. Of last year.

  I don’t like the Surface Pro type covers. When you type, they wiggle like Jello on a timpani. The screens were good for the day, but you can do better.

  Anyway, if you want one, now’s the time to get one.

  Until Microsoft announces the new ones anyway. I expect we’ll see a formal announcement of the Surface Pro 5 in February.

  Other Surface Pro

• Undocumented firmware updates for Surface 3, Pro 3, Pro 4, and Surface Book

  Posted on January 22nd, 2016 at 13:19 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Did Microsoft put a dent in Surfacegate? Still too early to tell.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security firmware, Surface Book, Surface Pro

• Surface Pro reviews are in…

  Posted on February 6th, 2013 at 22:34 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  … and the results may surprise you.

  Or maybe not.

  InfoWorld Tech Watch. [Link fixed. Thanks, everybody, for pointing it out! BTW, you can follow me on Twitter – @woodyleonhard – where the links are (almost) always correct.]

  Windows News Surface Pro

• Surface with Windows 8 Pro

  Posted on November 30th, 2012 at 22:22 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  DOA, as far as I’m concerned.

  Who would spend $1,300 on the smallest Surface Pro, when they could get an alternative from Apple – or two very thin Windows laptops, with money left over for an iPad 4 or iPhone 5 (or a Nexus or – the phone I just bought – a Note II)?

  InfoWorld Tech Watch. 

   

  Microsoft News Surface Pro