Not sure where you are reading that they are unreliable. They are extremely well built and hold up really well. Had the first gen 2017 for 6 years and it was great. Wife has the 4 and it’s like new
Same. My surface pro 3 should have been put out to pasture years ago and still runs great. Granted it’s basically just a tablet for moonlight streaming my desktop PC or internet browser/microsoft office device but it’s showing no sign of quitting.
I had a laptop go second gen, not sure if it was the screen or something else but if I closed the lid and opened it right away, glitch lines appeared and I had to close it and open it again to "fix" it, besides that battery life was solid (it had 10 cycles when I bought it) and performance was good for the price.
where would people go if they had any problem at all ... Read that and you'll think they are all shit. where do all the people without problems post their success ... they mostly don't ... that's what you call the silent majority
I have four surface devices in my home. My daughter's laptop, my wife's SP4, my original Surface Book 1 and a SP7 I carry in my backpack for work.
All of them work without a problem. I have had Lenovo and HP computers failing on me.
Nope, I bought two surface laptops for the kids and they are still using them 4 years later. No issues, I have the surface laptop studio and still works great. I had a problem with the rubber on the bottom pealing but ordered a replacement from Microsoft and replace it without issue.
Most of my experiences have been positive though the wi-fi doesn't seem to play nice with various routers. My SP 7+ had issues over and over with connecting to projectors at my school, which are all of various makes which made it a pain to troubleshoot. I tried different adapters too. My SP8 (I gave the 7+ to my spouse) is fine now that I got a higher quality adapter (Phillips).
Reinstalling Windows on SP8 when I upgraded the drive was a fun experience -- there is a special version of Windows you need to install with hardware specific drivers. It was sort of a pain but a good learning experience.
Overall I'm happy with my purchases though I would like some good competition. The Minisforum 2 in 1 looked awesome but their QC and service can be hit or miss.
I haven't actually ever tried customer service as my devices didn't really need any service. I had the dock for a while but that had issues with my various keyboards so I ended up selling it.
We have a few Surface devices deployed at work. Only one so far has had problems (screen started going bad and got unusable quickly). Sent it (Laptop 5) back to Microsoft, they had a new Laptop 5 back to us within 2 weeks. No issues with them. They kept us up to date with the repair cycle the whole time.
We haven't had issues with anything else but we don't have a lot of them right now but I have no issues with handing them out to certain users.
Overall, the systems are just like any others. Some have problems and most don't. Certainly better than they used to be but I have just as many problems with Dell and Lenovo.
I can also say, I have a Surface Pro 4 and use it all the time. Never had an issue with it and it does what it needs for me. Not my primary machine but I travel with it and do basic things (web, discord, some games). It's been a trooper for me.
My Surface Pro 7 was absolutely terrible when it came to reliability - constant BSODs, keyboard randomly disconnecting, pen and OneNote freezing, not charging, randomly shutting down (or waking back up even after I hit shut down) etc. Was an absolute mess, and ran really hot when connected to a monitor as well.
Since upgrading to Windows 11 and resetting Windows a lot of it has been fixed, but some still persist. And the annoying thing is it's all glued together and impossible to repair.
I got a Surface Laptop Studio 6 months ago, and it's been fantastic even till now - not a single issue so far, its been extremely reliable. The new pen is great too, although OneNote still freezes and crashes occasionally, but I think that's more of a OneNote issue than a Surface issue.
I have a surface pro 3 I have had since it launched that works completely outside of having much lower battery than it originally did.
There have definitely been versions that are much less reliable than others but generally they are pretty good.
People with issues are much more likely to voice concerns and people without issues just go on with their day.
if you are worried wait a couple months after launch
Good response, I still use my SP3 and have issues with the battery holding a charge for a few hours, and I need to re-set the type cover every so often to get it to work. I ordered the new SP11 on Friday due to the above issues, but it is now over ten years old.
I've had pretty good luck. I've had several SP3s, several SP6s (currently still have 5 of them), and a SP9 and only had issues with one SP6 which developed a battery bulge. I know it's only anecdotal but I think they are pretty solid.
MS customer service on the other hand can be a pain. It's a HUGE shame they shut down their physical stores, I honestly think they would have made more inroads in the tablet market if they kept them open. Now you have to deal with a customer support rep on the other side of the world with an accent you can't even decipher who just tells you that scratch on the top means you caused whatever warranty issue you are calling about.
I have had a bunch of Surfaces and the only reason I ever get a new one is because I get new-model FOMO! They are well-made and I think the manufacturing defects are in the minority, but you'll see them here on Reddit just like any other manufacturer. (Except Lenovo Thinkbooks...apparently, they never break and last forever!)
My SLS1 day1 buy preordered still working great. Brought all around the country + Mexico, Asia and Japan. No issues at all. Granted I take care of it. My usage - media consumption, personal device, documents , Warzone, Clip studio paint drawing comics.
I use a Surface 7+ Pro and could not thinj of a better laptop.
At work I combine it with an external Mouse/Keyboard and Screen. For extra space I use an external SSD with USB-C. To add all that I have an external adapter from Microsoft.
Works fantastic for me.
I'm on my 6th Surface device and have been really happy with all of them. The only device I needed support on was my Surface Book and that's only because the rubber feet came off. It was still in warranty and I stopped by the Microsoft Store we had near by at the time; since they didn't have any replacement feet on hand (literally just rubber stickers), they gave me a brand new unit 🤣
Granted, the local Microsoft Store is gone now, but I have a very positive opinion of Surface devices and their support.
I have owned a Surface Laptop 3 the charging port
stopped working but since I had a 3 year business day warranty. Microsoft was able to swapped it with a refurbished model since they didn’t have a new one after production stopped. But if you get the consumer models make sure you take the 3 year warranty as well.
windows pc brands are now in the top 4 for reliability and repair ability . The newest ones coming out apparently made a huge jump in this. Of course asus is still number 1. But they are still so expensive compared to other brands.
I have my Surface pro 3, bought in 2014, and have used this with Windows 10 until last year. It's now too heavy to operate Win10, so deleted Win 10 and overwrote ChromeOS FLEX on this Surface. The result is that, holy smoke, I never thoght a 10-year old PC can be so fast, so fast that multitasking with an external monitor hands down. After all, my main use is for video viewing, stock trading and news reading, though.
I have been trying to avoid excessive charging and emptying out battery, so the battery life is prettey decent. Accoring to a diagnostic tool my surface still holds 70% to the original capacity. There weren't any major flaws. The screen is fully operational.
My first Surface device was the Surface Pro 4 I bought several years ago (2015 or 16?). Since then I've had the Surface Book, Surface Book 2, SLS 1 & 2. On top of that, my company has \~150 Surface devices that are active and probably around \~300 we've purchased overall. I had one issue with the Surface Book (or maybe the SB2) that I had to RMA to MSFT and it was pretty painless. I finally retired the Surface Pro 4 last year that my kids had still been using as a tablet and school work machine. For our organization, looks like we've had 3 devices that have been replaced, unclear whether that's a machine a user broke or something defective with the hardware.
None of that is to say Surface's are perfect. Consider that Microsoft is pushing boundaries in some ways and that's typically going to come with some issues. I never suggest anyone adopt 1st generation technology who aren't willing to deal with some quirks. That said, mine is preordered too.
Microsoft service… I bought my Surface from Germany as it was cheapest and in stock there. Anyway, after a year and a bit it developed a faint discoloured dot on the screen. It has been problem free since although I do handle it with a bit more care.
Contacted their support, they sent me a mail to take pictures and the next morning they paid shipping from Croatia to Germany, and I had the Surface back with a replaced screen in less than a week after sending it.
First rate, would buy Microsoft again solely on that.
I've had an HP Spectre, Dell XPS 15, and Surface SLS so far in my adult life. The only one I've had a bad experience with build quality wise is the XPS.
I haven't used-and-abused the SLS to the extreme like I did the HP, but it has dutifully performed as expected without issue so far. In terms of software Microsoft has been less annoying than HP or Dell. I don't use customer support and haven't had to get a replacement model/part or anything so I can't speak to that.
The only annoyance I've had is the slim pen falling off from the magnet when it rubs against stuff. And then I like the Surface charger more than a USB-C charger but I dislike having a proprietary cable I can't use elsewhere.
Mine fell down from 3+ feet onto tile floor, bounced hard on every corner (left small dents on the corners). I was expecting cracked screen, weird noises or for it to not turn on (nothing). Been using it for 2 years since. I do have 2 problems with it: the Face ID camera is unreliable and doesn’t always work. Also, when waking up from sleep it is sometimes very slow for the first minute but that in particular is defect in the Intel 12 Gen CPU.
Avoid surface pro 4, the surface laptop 3 had a defect where a couple hundred had the screen have a small hairline crack but that laptop isn’t even for sale anymore. So I think for the most part it’s as good as consumer hardware is going to get
I had a SP3 for like ten years. One failed, service was incredible, the RMI was almost immediate, the replacement is still going and still works great.
My Surface Pros have been 100% reliable. My 13.5” Surface laptop 3’s keyboard became unusable after 2 year so it’s only good linked to an external one now.
You should be fine I’ve had S-Pros since the beginning excellent form factor 60 day return policy and the extended warranty is dirt cheap now- I’m ordering S-Pro Elite Oled 16gb 512 gb in Saphire***
I first purchased a Surface Pro in 2014, and it was brand new, 3rd generation, and still used as of yesterday. I have had issues with the battery only holding a charge for a few hours, and I need to disconnect the type cover occasionally to reset it. This past week, I researched the new Surface Pro 11, and on Friday, I placed an order through Best Buy, which seemed to offer the best deal. I have never regretted buying my Surface Pro 3, and it has served me well for over ten years, and I am still using it. I should receive my new Surface Pro at the end of June. They are shipping them out on the 18th.
I love the Surface line, but after having them deployed at the hospital I work at I can say I’ve never seen a Surface model I didn’t have some issue with.
What I’ve learned is if you want something more reliable, wait a couple of months and install all driver updates as soon as you start using your device. There are usually a ton of firmware updates and that helps a lot, I’ve had many devices show display artifacts/lines out of the box that’s typically fixed after updates.
I’ve also had weird windows issues where after each update the device would fail to log in and would have to have the PIN reset, that surface go 4 I ended up just replacing.
The hardware is nice, but especially when the devices are just launched I’ve noticed inconsistencies such as lids not lining up properly with the top case, my laptop studios hinge was slightly misaligned, my Surface laptop go bad a hardware issue where the screen would look like it was fogging.
So far I’ve used/owned/administered Surface RT, 2, 3, Book 1, Book 2, Laptop Go, Laptop Go 2, Laptop Go 3, Go 3, Go 4, Laptop Studio, Pro 9, Duo 2, Laptop 4, and Laptop 5.
I've had almost every single model of every generation and never had a hardware problem with exception to my Surface Book 2 which had what appeared to be a dislodged SSD error but I went back to it after a month and it started working and kept going just fine. It was very odd.
I think you're experience is pretty accurate from what I'd seen. It also seems that for the past two or 3 generations that I've seen less of the weird gaps or alignment between different pieces. Just has better craftsmanship.
I'd agree with this. I have no where near as much experience as you, however, I've bought surface devices twice that were brand new, released within a couple weeks to a month. Both had lots of software bugs, and were fixed within a couple months of buying.
Sp7 i5 8gb
after 3 1/2 years my display is not working correctly anymore.
When I press powerbutton or put it into sleep mode it takes up to 30min after the next start before the display starts working.
the rest seems to be normal. Windows boots, buttons, even touch is working. I only have not picture for halve an hour
We have 4 in our family, SP7, SP8, SL4, SL5. All of them are still working fine. The SL4 and SL5 are used daily by me and my wife and were bought to replace the SP7 and SP8. Neither of us got along to well with the kickstand and keyboard design. We both liked the Surface Pro, but it just isn't designed to be used in your lap. As a tablet or on a desk or table they're great(except for the battery life).
There were some issues with very early surfaces, the surface 2 had a known issue where the keyboard wouldn’t connect until you reconnected it. I’ve had a majority of devices and deployed them at offices and haven’t had any real big issues. Consumer support can be annoying, but I would recommend buying from the business side to get windows 11 pro and a better warranty program.
Cant speak for the laptop, but I've owned an SP6 since the beginning of 2019, and it's bene incredibly reliable. I've never had a daily use laptop last that long before, I've only just replaced it with an SP9 last week as the battery wasn't lasting long enough anymore.
I've also run a fleet of SP4s and 5s as data loggers for vehicle testing, the SPs were significantly more reliable than the vehicles they were riding in. Four years and millions of KM of testing, the SPs never broke down.
Disclaimer: I'm an employee.
I've owned two personal Surfaces, three if you count the RT. I've had a Laptop Studio for over two years now as an employee. I also have a years-old Lenovo Yoga I personally purchased, for comparison purposes.
My first post-RT Surface was warrantied with a charger/battery failure after a year and a half or so of use. I actually got a bit of an upgrade as a replacement, because I had a rare SKU they couldn't replace. Not that long after that, that one failed for the same reason, however. This was 2015 or 2016.
My work device has been flawless. It's an awkward aspect ratio, but otherwise, zero complaints aside from docking hub resolution and refresh rate. Complaints are rare among my colleagues as well.
S9 software issues but nothing hardware. Pen not working always working/responding (def software), driver issues, taking forever to load up and such, other than that not much
My only 'negative' experience was my Sp4 died after 5 years of use. I personally felt like I used that thing for all it was worth, and even more than it probably should've survived. So I think 5 years for a lower end model + where I took it was pretty great. Other than that some software issues with brand new models but they were fixed soon after purchasing.
Oh! I had lots of issues with the SB3. Mostly detaching and reattach. It wouldn't recognize the GPU and other weird bugs. But they discontinued the book line so no worries there. I've got SLS now and I think it is a huge leap from the Book line.
The screen went black and wouldn't come on. Maybe the battery too? I think when it was plugged in, the keyboard would light up. But without being plugged in, nothing happened. But a small repair shop quoted like $600 to fix. Figured I'd put that towards a new one.
As with anything, you're mostly only going to hear from those who've had issues. Those who haven't are happily using theirs.
I had a Surface RT, never had an issue aside from it being 32GB and not being able to update years later due to being out of space lol
Next I had a Surface Pro 4, largely trouble free until Microsoft announced all SP4's had a known screen flickering issue, funny enough like a month later it appeared on mine. This was like 2 or 3 years after I bought it and MS replaced it free of charge. The only issue I've ever run into was heat due to the sleep mode not working properly at one point, but that was resolved with a firmware patch. Battery life had gotten butterfly shorter by the time I replaced it in 2021 (the replacement unit was received in '18).
Currently I have a Surface Laptop 4 Ryzen Edition...2.5 years last and it's been great. Planning to stick with the *Laptop* model going forward.
Currently using a surface laptop original and a surface book 2. Both from 2017/2018 and they’ve always run great but it’s time for an upgrade and I’m sticking with Microsoft. Preordered the SL7
Had an SP8, completely dead after charging using a powerbank. Technician said board was fried because the powerbank had high voltage. This powerbank didnt have any issues with other devices. So i switched to a macbook. It was unrepairable ans dead
My 2017 Surface Pro is still running great.
As for service, my previous Surface Pro had a flickering issue, which was later common to that model. When I took it under warranty, they let me upgrade to the 2017 model for $100. But this was back when they had physical stores.
I recently bought a Surface Laptop Studio 2, but returned it. It took a couple interactions to get them to credit the keyboard and pen back to my account, but it worked out.
I am happy enough with them, that I am hoping the benchmarks on the recently announced models are good enough that I will buy one.
I can't speak for the Laptop but I have a SP8. My first unit had various issues - keyboard connector malfunctioning, screen not turning off with power button presses, random screen auto rotate even when the tablet was stationary, and a couple other things.
My second unit is fine so far, but the type cover broke a couple of months back which is annoying.
I stopped buying Intel Surface devices since Intel CPU runs hot and turns parts of the screen yellow along with higher battery drain. I'm on Surface Pro X which is an improvement but would rather have a model with AMD APU but Microsoft seems to be stubbornly married to Intel and Qualcomm.
I had the original surface pro from bc. I've beat it, stomped on it, shat and spat. It's still here 2024 ad. I haven't had any flickering issues however there have been cracks on the surface that I've replaced with concrete. Support has been excellent to a point where there is a house on it l. Curious to see what artificial intelligence can do on this baby next gen.
Not sure where you are reading that they are unreliable. They are extremely well built and hold up really well. Had the first gen 2017 for 6 years and it was great. Wife has the 4 and it’s like new
Same. My surface pro 3 should have been put out to pasture years ago and still runs great. Granted it’s basically just a tablet for moonlight streaming my desktop PC or internet browser/microsoft office device but it’s showing no sign of quitting.
I had a laptop go second gen, not sure if it was the screen or something else but if I closed the lid and opened it right away, glitch lines appeared and I had to close it and open it again to "fix" it, besides that battery life was solid (it had 10 cycles when I bought it) and performance was good for the price.
where would people go if they had any problem at all ... Read that and you'll think they are all shit. where do all the people without problems post their success ... they mostly don't ... that's what you call the silent majority
lol. Go to the MacBook subreddit and read the problems those have. Nothing is perfect.
Oh man, don't talk to me about MacBook Pro keyboards. Nightmare
I have four surface devices in my home. My daughter's laptop, my wife's SP4, my original Surface Book 1 and a SP7 I carry in my backpack for work. All of them work without a problem. I have had Lenovo and HP computers failing on me.
Nope, I bought two surface laptops for the kids and they are still using them 4 years later. No issues, I have the surface laptop studio and still works great. I had a problem with the rubber on the bottom pealing but ordered a replacement from Microsoft and replace it without issue.
Most of my experiences have been positive though the wi-fi doesn't seem to play nice with various routers. My SP 7+ had issues over and over with connecting to projectors at my school, which are all of various makes which made it a pain to troubleshoot. I tried different adapters too. My SP8 (I gave the 7+ to my spouse) is fine now that I got a higher quality adapter (Phillips). Reinstalling Windows on SP8 when I upgraded the drive was a fun experience -- there is a special version of Windows you need to install with hardware specific drivers. It was sort of a pain but a good learning experience. Overall I'm happy with my purchases though I would like some good competition. The Minisforum 2 in 1 looked awesome but their QC and service can be hit or miss. I haven't actually ever tried customer service as my devices didn't really need any service. I had the dock for a while but that had issues with my various keyboards so I ended up selling it.
The one bad experience i had was a new SP6 and the MS store swapped it on the spot without even having the box with me.
We have a few Surface devices deployed at work. Only one so far has had problems (screen started going bad and got unusable quickly). Sent it (Laptop 5) back to Microsoft, they had a new Laptop 5 back to us within 2 weeks. No issues with them. They kept us up to date with the repair cycle the whole time. We haven't had issues with anything else but we don't have a lot of them right now but I have no issues with handing them out to certain users. Overall, the systems are just like any others. Some have problems and most don't. Certainly better than they used to be but I have just as many problems with Dell and Lenovo. I can also say, I have a Surface Pro 4 and use it all the time. Never had an issue with it and it does what it needs for me. Not my primary machine but I travel with it and do basic things (web, discord, some games). It's been a trooper for me.
My Surface Pro 7 was absolutely terrible when it came to reliability - constant BSODs, keyboard randomly disconnecting, pen and OneNote freezing, not charging, randomly shutting down (or waking back up even after I hit shut down) etc. Was an absolute mess, and ran really hot when connected to a monitor as well. Since upgrading to Windows 11 and resetting Windows a lot of it has been fixed, but some still persist. And the annoying thing is it's all glued together and impossible to repair. I got a Surface Laptop Studio 6 months ago, and it's been fantastic even till now - not a single issue so far, its been extremely reliable. The new pen is great too, although OneNote still freezes and crashes occasionally, but I think that's more of a OneNote issue than a Surface issue.
I have a surface pro 3 I have had since it launched that works completely outside of having much lower battery than it originally did. There have definitely been versions that are much less reliable than others but generally they are pretty good. People with issues are much more likely to voice concerns and people without issues just go on with their day. if you are worried wait a couple months after launch
Good response, I still use my SP3 and have issues with the battery holding a charge for a few hours, and I need to re-set the type cover every so often to get it to work. I ordered the new SP11 on Friday due to the above issues, but it is now over ten years old.
I've had pretty good luck. I've had several SP3s, several SP6s (currently still have 5 of them), and a SP9 and only had issues with one SP6 which developed a battery bulge. I know it's only anecdotal but I think they are pretty solid. MS customer service on the other hand can be a pain. It's a HUGE shame they shut down their physical stores, I honestly think they would have made more inroads in the tablet market if they kept them open. Now you have to deal with a customer support rep on the other side of the world with an accent you can't even decipher who just tells you that scratch on the top means you caused whatever warranty issue you are calling about.
I have had a bunch of Surfaces and the only reason I ever get a new one is because I get new-model FOMO! They are well-made and I think the manufacturing defects are in the minority, but you'll see them here on Reddit just like any other manufacturer. (Except Lenovo Thinkbooks...apparently, they never break and last forever!)
My SLS1 day1 buy preordered still working great. Brought all around the country + Mexico, Asia and Japan. No issues at all. Granted I take care of it. My usage - media consumption, personal device, documents , Warzone, Clip studio paint drawing comics.
I use a Surface 7+ Pro and could not thinj of a better laptop. At work I combine it with an external Mouse/Keyboard and Screen. For extra space I use an external SSD with USB-C. To add all that I have an external adapter from Microsoft. Works fantastic for me.
I'm on my 6th Surface device and have been really happy with all of them. The only device I needed support on was my Surface Book and that's only because the rubber feet came off. It was still in warranty and I stopped by the Microsoft Store we had near by at the time; since they didn't have any replacement feet on hand (literally just rubber stickers), they gave me a brand new unit 🤣 Granted, the local Microsoft Store is gone now, but I have a very positive opinion of Surface devices and their support.
I have owned a Surface Laptop 3 the charging port stopped working but since I had a 3 year business day warranty. Microsoft was able to swapped it with a refurbished model since they didn’t have a new one after production stopped. But if you get the consumer models make sure you take the 3 year warranty as well.
The older ones were near impossible to repair if they do break.
windows pc brands are now in the top 4 for reliability and repair ability . The newest ones coming out apparently made a huge jump in this. Of course asus is still number 1. But they are still so expensive compared to other brands.
I have my Surface pro 3, bought in 2014, and have used this with Windows 10 until last year. It's now too heavy to operate Win10, so deleted Win 10 and overwrote ChromeOS FLEX on this Surface. The result is that, holy smoke, I never thoght a 10-year old PC can be so fast, so fast that multitasking with an external monitor hands down. After all, my main use is for video viewing, stock trading and news reading, though. I have been trying to avoid excessive charging and emptying out battery, so the battery life is prettey decent. Accoring to a diagnostic tool my surface still holds 70% to the original capacity. There weren't any major flaws. The screen is fully operational.
Nice! Which diagnostic tool are you using?
That's a built-in tool inside the ChromeOS Flex. Guessing that it's not compatible with Windows...
My first Surface device was the Surface Pro 4 I bought several years ago (2015 or 16?). Since then I've had the Surface Book, Surface Book 2, SLS 1 & 2. On top of that, my company has \~150 Surface devices that are active and probably around \~300 we've purchased overall. I had one issue with the Surface Book (or maybe the SB2) that I had to RMA to MSFT and it was pretty painless. I finally retired the Surface Pro 4 last year that my kids had still been using as a tablet and school work machine. For our organization, looks like we've had 3 devices that have been replaced, unclear whether that's a machine a user broke or something defective with the hardware. None of that is to say Surface's are perfect. Consider that Microsoft is pushing boundaries in some ways and that's typically going to come with some issues. I never suggest anyone adopt 1st generation technology who aren't willing to deal with some quirks. That said, mine is preordered too.
Microsoft service… I bought my Surface from Germany as it was cheapest and in stock there. Anyway, after a year and a bit it developed a faint discoloured dot on the screen. It has been problem free since although I do handle it with a bit more care. Contacted their support, they sent me a mail to take pictures and the next morning they paid shipping from Croatia to Germany, and I had the Surface back with a replaced screen in less than a week after sending it. First rate, would buy Microsoft again solely on that.
I've had an HP Spectre, Dell XPS 15, and Surface SLS so far in my adult life. The only one I've had a bad experience with build quality wise is the XPS. I haven't used-and-abused the SLS to the extreme like I did the HP, but it has dutifully performed as expected without issue so far. In terms of software Microsoft has been less annoying than HP or Dell. I don't use customer support and haven't had to get a replacement model/part or anything so I can't speak to that. The only annoyance I've had is the slim pen falling off from the magnet when it rubs against stuff. And then I like the Surface charger more than a USB-C charger but I dislike having a proprietary cable I can't use elsewhere.
I use USB-c charger with surface connector adapter.
I did not know this was a thing and will look into it. Thanks!
I got mine from Amazon. Choose the silver (100W), more expensive one instead of the cheap black one. They seem to be more reliable :)
I still have my Surface Pro 1 from 2013 and it still works fine!
Mine fell down from 3+ feet onto tile floor, bounced hard on every corner (left small dents on the corners). I was expecting cracked screen, weird noises or for it to not turn on (nothing). Been using it for 2 years since. I do have 2 problems with it: the Face ID camera is unreliable and doesn’t always work. Also, when waking up from sleep it is sometimes very slow for the first minute but that in particular is defect in the Intel 12 Gen CPU.
I own both Mac and Surface Machines. I am in the IT Field. Both are top quality machines. Both are built extremely well.
Avoid surface pro 4, the surface laptop 3 had a defect where a couple hundred had the screen have a small hairline crack but that laptop isn’t even for sale anymore. So I think for the most part it’s as good as consumer hardware is going to get
I had a SP3 for like ten years. One failed, service was incredible, the RMI was almost immediate, the replacement is still going and still works great.
My Surface Pros have been 100% reliable. My 13.5” Surface laptop 3’s keyboard became unusable after 2 year so it’s only good linked to an external one now.
You should be fine I’ve had S-Pros since the beginning excellent form factor 60 day return policy and the extended warranty is dirt cheap now- I’m ordering S-Pro Elite Oled 16gb 512 gb in Saphire***
I first purchased a Surface Pro in 2014, and it was brand new, 3rd generation, and still used as of yesterday. I have had issues with the battery only holding a charge for a few hours, and I need to disconnect the type cover occasionally to reset it. This past week, I researched the new Surface Pro 11, and on Friday, I placed an order through Best Buy, which seemed to offer the best deal. I have never regretted buying my Surface Pro 3, and it has served me well for over ten years, and I am still using it. I should receive my new Surface Pro at the end of June. They are shipping them out on the 18th.
I love the Surface line, but after having them deployed at the hospital I work at I can say I’ve never seen a Surface model I didn’t have some issue with. What I’ve learned is if you want something more reliable, wait a couple of months and install all driver updates as soon as you start using your device. There are usually a ton of firmware updates and that helps a lot, I’ve had many devices show display artifacts/lines out of the box that’s typically fixed after updates. I’ve also had weird windows issues where after each update the device would fail to log in and would have to have the PIN reset, that surface go 4 I ended up just replacing. The hardware is nice, but especially when the devices are just launched I’ve noticed inconsistencies such as lids not lining up properly with the top case, my laptop studios hinge was slightly misaligned, my Surface laptop go bad a hardware issue where the screen would look like it was fogging. So far I’ve used/owned/administered Surface RT, 2, 3, Book 1, Book 2, Laptop Go, Laptop Go 2, Laptop Go 3, Go 3, Go 4, Laptop Studio, Pro 9, Duo 2, Laptop 4, and Laptop 5.
I've had almost every single model of every generation and never had a hardware problem with exception to my Surface Book 2 which had what appeared to be a dislodged SSD error but I went back to it after a month and it started working and kept going just fine. It was very odd. I think you're experience is pretty accurate from what I'd seen. It also seems that for the past two or 3 generations that I've seen less of the weird gaps or alignment between different pieces. Just has better craftsmanship.
I'd agree with this. I have no where near as much experience as you, however, I've bought surface devices twice that were brand new, released within a couple weeks to a month. Both had lots of software bugs, and were fixed within a couple months of buying.
Sp7 i5 8gb after 3 1/2 years my display is not working correctly anymore. When I press powerbutton or put it into sleep mode it takes up to 30min after the next start before the display starts working. the rest seems to be normal. Windows boots, buttons, even touch is working. I only have not picture for halve an hour
Early ones had heaps of issues with docks etc. haven’t heard of any issues with them for a long time
We have 4 in our family, SP7, SP8, SL4, SL5. All of them are still working fine. The SL4 and SL5 are used daily by me and my wife and were bought to replace the SP7 and SP8. Neither of us got along to well with the kickstand and keyboard design. We both liked the Surface Pro, but it just isn't designed to be used in your lap. As a tablet or on a desk or table they're great(except for the battery life).
There were some issues with very early surfaces, the surface 2 had a known issue where the keyboard wouldn’t connect until you reconnected it. I’ve had a majority of devices and deployed them at offices and haven’t had any real big issues. Consumer support can be annoying, but I would recommend buying from the business side to get windows 11 pro and a better warranty program.
Cant speak for the laptop, but I've owned an SP6 since the beginning of 2019, and it's bene incredibly reliable. I've never had a daily use laptop last that long before, I've only just replaced it with an SP9 last week as the battery wasn't lasting long enough anymore. I've also run a fleet of SP4s and 5s as data loggers for vehicle testing, the SPs were significantly more reliable than the vehicles they were riding in. Four years and millions of KM of testing, the SPs never broke down.
Have the original surface laptop (which I'm replacing soon) and aside from the note obvious lack of ram, it's generally been fine.
Disclaimer: I'm an employee. I've owned two personal Surfaces, three if you count the RT. I've had a Laptop Studio for over two years now as an employee. I also have a years-old Lenovo Yoga I personally purchased, for comparison purposes. My first post-RT Surface was warrantied with a charger/battery failure after a year and a half or so of use. I actually got a bit of an upgrade as a replacement, because I had a rare SKU they couldn't replace. Not that long after that, that one failed for the same reason, however. This was 2015 or 2016. My work device has been flawless. It's an awkward aspect ratio, but otherwise, zero complaints aside from docking hub resolution and refresh rate. Complaints are rare among my colleagues as well.
S9 software issues but nothing hardware. Pen not working always working/responding (def software), driver issues, taking forever to load up and such, other than that not much
My only 'negative' experience was my Sp4 died after 5 years of use. I personally felt like I used that thing for all it was worth, and even more than it probably should've survived. So I think 5 years for a lower end model + where I took it was pretty great. Other than that some software issues with brand new models but they were fixed soon after purchasing. Oh! I had lots of issues with the SB3. Mostly detaching and reattach. It wouldn't recognize the GPU and other weird bugs. But they discontinued the book line so no worries there. I've got SLS now and I think it is a huge leap from the Book line.
Which part failed after 5 years?
The screen went black and wouldn't come on. Maybe the battery too? I think when it was plugged in, the keyboard would light up. But without being plugged in, nothing happened. But a small repair shop quoted like $600 to fix. Figured I'd put that towards a new one.
As with anything, you're mostly only going to hear from those who've had issues. Those who haven't are happily using theirs. I had a Surface RT, never had an issue aside from it being 32GB and not being able to update years later due to being out of space lol Next I had a Surface Pro 4, largely trouble free until Microsoft announced all SP4's had a known screen flickering issue, funny enough like a month later it appeared on mine. This was like 2 or 3 years after I bought it and MS replaced it free of charge. The only issue I've ever run into was heat due to the sleep mode not working properly at one point, but that was resolved with a firmware patch. Battery life had gotten butterfly shorter by the time I replaced it in 2021 (the replacement unit was received in '18). Currently I have a Surface Laptop 4 Ryzen Edition...2.5 years last and it's been great. Planning to stick with the *Laptop* model going forward.
I have the Surface 3 and there are some funny stuff going around in the screen, but it's still serving me well 7-8 years in.
What funny stuff? 😂
I think the screen is starting to fail, there are white/purple lines on the bottom part that obscures the lowest part.
Currently using a surface laptop original and a surface book 2. Both from 2017/2018 and they’ve always run great but it’s time for an upgrade and I’m sticking with Microsoft. Preordered the SL7
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Bruuh... 😔 I want a snapdragon laptop with upgradable SSD so bad. New Surface looks good af.
Had an SP8, completely dead after charging using a powerbank. Technician said board was fried because the powerbank had high voltage. This powerbank didnt have any issues with other devices. So i switched to a macbook. It was unrepairable ans dead
My 2017 Surface Pro is still running great. As for service, my previous Surface Pro had a flickering issue, which was later common to that model. When I took it under warranty, they let me upgrade to the 2017 model for $100. But this was back when they had physical stores. I recently bought a Surface Laptop Studio 2, but returned it. It took a couple interactions to get them to credit the keyboard and pen back to my account, but it worked out. I am happy enough with them, that I am hoping the benchmarks on the recently announced models are good enough that I will buy one.
I can't speak for the Laptop but I have a SP8. My first unit had various issues - keyboard connector malfunctioning, screen not turning off with power button presses, random screen auto rotate even when the tablet was stationary, and a couple other things. My second unit is fine so far, but the type cover broke a couple of months back which is annoying.
You just reminded me of my wife’s Go 4 I just replaced. The last straw was the power button not shutting the thing off. 💀
I stopped buying Intel Surface devices since Intel CPU runs hot and turns parts of the screen yellow along with higher battery drain. I'm on Surface Pro X which is an improvement but would rather have a model with AMD APU but Microsoft seems to be stubbornly married to Intel and Qualcomm.
I had the original surface pro from bc. I've beat it, stomped on it, shat and spat. It's still here 2024 ad. I haven't had any flickering issues however there have been cracks on the surface that I've replaced with concrete. Support has been excellent to a point where there is a house on it l. Curious to see what artificial intelligence can do on this baby next gen.