Consumer Reports pulls support for Surface laptops

Apparently, a 25% failure rate in the first two years is the principal reason.

https://www.usatoday.c​om …urface-laptops/554302001/

Ouch!

Plus they're weird machines that don't work very well, at least for me. You have to reboot every time you dock and undock because of screen resolution issues. Screen resolution and aspect ratio changes without any apparent reason. They're a below average laptop and a rubbish tablet. Surface Pro 4.

Interesting, is this due to the GPU in the keyboard?

I haven't had any issues with my Surface Pro 4 yet, only had it for a few weeks though. So far I'm loving it though.

The article does say Microsoft laptops and books (Surface tablets aren't listed)

I have a Surface 3 tablet. Ok for daily quick browse, but can be very tempermental. Have to uninstall/reinstall the video drives, sometimes more than twice a day. They dropped it from their product line last year. Have been thinking about getting a Surface laptop, but am now thinking not.

Have a pro 4 surface a year now no issues at all. Trouble is it is a throw away as it cannot be taken apart. When hardware fails toss it. Good way to scam a second purchase. When mine dies back to something that can be repaired.

filmuser wrote in post #18430751
Have a pro 4 surface a year now no issues at all. Trouble is it is a throw away as it cannot be taken apart. When hardware fails toss it. Good way to scam a second purchase. When mine dies back to something that can be repaired.

That's the price you pay for any small and efficient device. I don't know of any tablet computers that can really be taken apart (or are supposed to be).

Had a Samsung tablet. Broke the screen.Used a heat gun which released screen from body. Replaced screen. Not doable with surface.

filmuser wrote in post #18430984
Had a Samsung tablet. Broke the screen.Used a heat gun which released screen from body. Replaced screen. Not doable with surface.

https://www.ifixit.com …Display+Replace​ment/60348

You need to read this...

http://www.pcworld.com …&utm_term=pcw_b​estof_html

EverydayGetaway wrote in post #18430828
That's the price you pay for any small and efficient device. I don't know of any tablet computers that can really be taken apart (or are supposed to be).

How many Ultrabook laptops have batteries that the user can easily update with a new battery, after the factory one eventually fails (3-5 year life on Lithium ion from date of manufacture)?!

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #18434879
You need to read this...

http://www.pcworld.com …&utm_term=pcw_b​estof_html

It's funny, I read the article and walked away with the opposite take from what PC World did.

ie: That the bad rating applies to all surface products due to a long history of problems vs. being limited to a few.

I also disagree with the "malibu vs. silverado" comparison. I do not think this is analogous. The Xbox is the Silverado. Surfaces are all Malibus with differing packages, 4 door, two door, hatchback, convertible, wagon etc..

It is true that an individual car will get it's own rating when reviewed. CS will also be very clear about what they do and don;t know about a specific year models reliability rating,. BUT at the same time, they are also very clear about a car manufacturers track record.

When Fiat releases a new car it is reviewed on it's own merits vs. the pack, and if it's a brand new model CR will have no data on this specific cars reliability. They do however have the Fiat track record and report. It will be a few years before the new data is in for the 2017 models reliability, so it may very well be 2020 before they pan that model, and in turn have the info to pan Fiat (again)

Wilt wrote in post #18434899
How many Ultrabook laptops have batteries that the user can easily update with a new battery, after the factory one eventually fails (3-5 year life on Lithium ion from date of manufacture)?!

In what way is an ultrabook laptop a tablet? Did you even read what I wrote, or just jump on the attack?

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18434942
It's funny, I read the article and walked away with the opposite take from what PC World did.

ie: That the bad rating applies to all surface products due to a long history of problems vs. being limited to a few.

I also disagree with the "malibu vs. silverado" comparison. I do not think this is analogous. The Xbox is the Silverado. Surfaces are all Malibus with differing packages, 4 door, two door, hatchback, convertible, wagon etc..

It is true that an individual car will get it's own rating when reviewed. CS will also be very clear about what they do and don;t know about a specific year models reliability rating,. BUT at the same time, they are also very clear about a car manufacturers track record.

When Fiat releases a new car it is reviewed on it's own merits vs. the pack, and if it's a brand new model CR will have no data on this specific cars reliability. They do however have the Fiat track record and report. It will be a few years before the new data is in for the 2017 models reliability, so it may very well be 2020 before they pan that model, and in turn have the info to pan Fiat (again)

I don't know about that, all the surface products (Pro 3-current, Book, Laptop, studio) are greatly different, they really share very few components between them, to lump them all into saying they're the same thing with variations (like your Malibu analogy would suggest) isn't really true at all.

The point of the article was that latest iterations of surface products (from surface Pro 4 onward) have been pretty free of any major defects (which my own research prior to purchase found as well, I don't buy anything without researching every aspect of it first). The only current Surface products that I've found consistent concerns with are the Surface Books, usually problems form from the GPU in the keyboard from what I've read, though I'll admit that's the Surface product I probably know the least about because it interested me the least.

The biggest issues I found with the Surface Pro 4 were the screen flickering issues (which the article mentioned) and the fact that it can overheat a bit during intense tasks (a problem that's now been resolved with the current Surface Pro).

Well, this may be a problem with applying how Consumer Reports works to some of the more fast paced products we use today. Most hard core (or even modestly firm core) PC enthusiasts would never give CR's recommendations to buy a Dell or Mac a 2nd thought.


You mention Surface Pro 4 being reliable.

That model was only really made available December 2015, early 2016.

As mentioned with the car analogy, CS won't have data for the reliability 2017 model for severl years. If the CS survey only begins Mid 2016, they won't have data for the 4 for a few more years from now.

I can draw two conclusions from that.

1- It is normal for CR to be releasing reliability data based on older models now. The only data that they could possible have over long term is a model older than the Pro 4.

2- Claims that the newer models are more reliable, though this may prove to be true in the long wrong, right now no one has the kind of data that CR would normally base it's kind of reporting on, as the new products have not been around long enough to bear out any assumption that they are in fact more reliable. Give it two years.

Like I say, maybe this kind of longevity reporting is not pertinent to some of today's "replace every year or so products." Maybe most buyers of this kind of tech aren't going to be interested in what this kind of testing reveals. But I suspect most CR subscribers are.

P.S. I have all kinds of problems with CR myself, so don't think I am a blind follower.

They regularly review my pick up truck as being middle of the pack at best. High scores for reliability, low scores for all sorts of stuff a pick up owner cares less about. Those low scores vastly outweigh the high. Trouble is they grade it based on a comparison with comfy sedans etc. Further, almost everything they take points off for my Tacoma, (none plush interior, no power door locks, the fact that it will really survive off road ie: not as comfy a ride, etc. was a plus for me, and more reason to buy it.

Same problem with Jeeps. It gets terrible low scores due it's rough ride, noisy interior, and lack of creature comforts. If you compare a jeep to a Corolla on a course that a corolla can handle under conditions a corolla is designed for, well the corolla gets a 92, and the Jeep gets a 54. CR is never going to put the Corolla, or even a Jeep where a jeep belongs, so it's rating for the Jeep is only useful to a Corolla driver. Not remotely interesting to someone that wants to drive a Jeep where a Jeep belongs.