Microsoft Surface Laptops and Tablets Not Recommended by Consumer Reports

teasatotalling on 11/08/2017 - 09:25

Consumer Reports is removing its “recommended” designation from four Microsoft laptops and cannot recommend any other Microsoft laptops or tablets because of poor predicted reliability in comparison with most other brands.

To judge reliability, Consumer Reports surveys its subscribers about the products they own and use. New studies conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center estimate that 25 percent of Microsoft laptops and tablets will present their owners with problems by the end of the second year of ownership.

The decision by Consumer Reports applies to Microsoft devices with detachable keyboards, such as the new Surface Pro released in June and the Surface Book, as well as the company’s Surface Laptops with conventional clamshell designs…..

https://www.consumerreports.org/laptop-computers/microsoft-s…

Computing

Comments

  • MynyMouqe on 11/08/2017 - 09:43

    "Predicted reliability"? Load of junk. They're fantastic products, and there are definitely not 25% that have issues (I interact with a very large number of the devices).

    • Diji1 on 11/08/2017 - 10:35
      +4

      Yeah, I'm not going to believe someone who already believes they're "fantastic products" and then confirms this by remembering all the trouble free occasions they had with the product.

      Not when I have results from a respected organisation whose mission is assessing consumer products using methodology rather than confirmation bias..

    • matt1234 on 11/08/2017 - 12:11
      +7

      I don't know about that - our company ordered 40 surface books and docking stations just recently.

      Of those 40 we had to return 3 of the surface books as soon as we got them due to manufacturing faults (one had a large yellow line down the screen, one had the silver powder coat sticking out all over the side of device like it had been applied wrong, and one refused to boot at all.

      A number of the surface books screens also semi detach (the screen turns off and back on again) when adjusting the screen angle even slightly. We also had one the the keyboard internal battery's start to leak.

      And the docking stations are an absolute nightmare - the usb ports tend to randomly stop working or the monitors attached will drop off or forget their resolutions.

      Don't get me wrong when they work they are awesome devices, but i certainly wouldn't call them reliable.

    • jnewau on 11/08/2017 - 12:32
      +4

      Surface Commercial reseller here . While the failure rate is not 25% across the thousands we have sold, the failure rate is FAR higher than the HP Elitebooks and Lenovo Enterprise notebooks we also deal with.

      As much as MS want to push them as Enterprise devices, they are lacking in some areas. Particularly around fixing of faulty units

    • teasatotalling on 11/08/2017 - 15:15

      Good 'ol anecdata!
      Gawd……

    • RockyRaccoon on 11/08/2017 - 19:30

      All depends on how long Mynymouse has had the units he has interacted with.

      …. with problems by the End of the Second year of ownership.

      Also some may have 40% others 10%

  • pennypincher98 on 11/08/2017 - 09:56
    -1

    This is of course all relative. Surface products are known for being the mother of the 2-in-1 so as a result are the most popular.

    I don't have one personally, although I have used one for a bit and I can vouch for their capability. However, one can argue the price isn't really that justified. Take an iPhone for example. Although I've never had one because I can't justify their price in comparison to androids but there is a lot of happy customers out there who will pay a premium for the product. No different with surface.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is while they may not represent the greatest value out of all the laptops/tablets they are still a quality product from a quality brand that performs well. Definitely not 1 in 4 have problems.

  • geech on 11/08/2017 - 10:27

    Damn. I got mine in December 2015 so I better start shopping around for something to replace it with. Hopefully it lasts long enough for me to finish typing this post

    • ravonda on 11/08/2017 - 10:53
      +4

      Oh no! I hope mine will last just as long and maybe ev

  • ThithLord on 11/08/2017 - 10:47
    +1

    I've dealt with maybe 10+ of the devices and they were absolutely woeful. Issues with all, bar one.

  • Topdog on 11/08/2017 - 10:56

    Only problem I have with the surface is the amount of time they take to turn on! not quick, other than that, I believe them to be an awesome little machine.

  • Rumbaar on 11/08/2017 - 11:19
    +1

    I've had my Surface 2 Pro for at least 4 years and it's still going strong, quite a useful tablet PC.

    Only problem with Windows devices these days is Windows 10 and their uncontrollable (easy) download and update schedules.

  • Lando on 11/08/2017 - 11:25
    +1

    Buy a business laptop if you want reliability.

    Dell Latitude/Precision, HP Elitebook/Probook/Zbook, Lenovo thinkpad are what businesses use.

  • lupiter on 11/08/2017 - 11:35
    +2

    I love that threads on this news are half people saying "all mine are fine" and half people saying "all mine are junk". Obviously there are some issues with QC!

  • thatonethere on 11/08/2017 - 12:24
    +1

    Surface Pro 4 was terrible - heaps of power saving issues ("Black Screen of Death"), Microsoft released Intel firmware updates every month trying to fix one bug or another for over a year. Only just now getting good (source: at work we have about 200 SP4s).

  • Agret on 11/08/2017 - 13:56
    +1

    I agree that I wouldn't recommend them. They are great machines to work on but if something goes wrong with it then it's very hard to open them up to work on and impossible to actually source parts to perform repairs. All repair work has to go through Microsoft which can be a pain in the ass. Not to mention due to the very slim profile there is a lot of thermal thorttling on the CPU.

    • skillet on 12/08/2017 - 20:43
      +1

      repair? More like replace. The Surfaces in my company go and come back New.

  • nomunny on 11/08/2017 - 14:25

    My surface pro 4 had an issue after warranty, got a replacement of a higher spec model due to none in stock. No complaining on my end.

  • teasatotalling on 11/08/2017 - 15:17

    Demonstrates you get what you pay for with Apple Macs & why they have the highest resale value on the market (& hence cheaper in the long run)

    • RockyRaccoon on 11/08/2017 - 19:34
      +4

      Lets not start the idiots game of Mac vs PC, it goes nowhere fast.

  • StuffnStuff on 12/08/2017 - 08:19
    -2

    Probably a report that was funded by the i-Crap manufacturer.

  • [Deactivated] on 12/08/2017 - 11:09

    At least when it breaks MS will replace it

  • iforgotmysocks on 12/08/2017 - 11:30

    Will they be giving a recommendation to the iPad pro now?

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join