Surface Pro 4. I would't buy again for business

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nathan

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#1570928 13-Jun-2016 11:54

freitasm:

nathan:

dafman:

When I compare the SP4 to the machine it replaced, a Toshiba Portege, there is light and day with hardware reliability. The Toshiba never missed a beat, ever, whereas it's pars for the course for the SP4 to expect three or four hard resets each week.

Does the Toshiba Portege have a Skylake CPU?

How does it help having a Skylake CPU if for this user it needs a hard reset every few days? Having a modern CPU that requires resets or an old one that's solid...

its a genuine question. I'm curious to know what CPU is in the Toshiba.

FWIW I use both Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 every day as "daily drivers" and don't get 3-4 hard resets a week, or even in a month. This is both on v1511 of Windows 10 and v1607

Lets find out what is different in your setup. The obvious differences could be Windows 10 or Skylake CPU.

freitasm

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#1570939 13-Jun-2016 12:07

Ok, sorry. I read it as a rhetorical question.

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qwertee

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#1570979 13-Jun-2016 12:55

JayADee:

Credit where due for my Sp4:

Two things; one, a bluetooth update a couple weeks back must have improved my mouse connection, it connects immediately now while the Surface is still booting. Two, I'm programming again and as a laptop it works really, really well. (I do have it set to hibernate not sleep though). It's so handy to be typing away on the kitchen table, fold it up and put it to one side by your elbow to play a game of cards with the spouse then pick up right where you left off. Such a great design for portability.

Also that usb plug in the charger is terrific. I charge my iPad off it and my iPad is to my left open to reference material while I type on the SP4 running them both off the charger...

I bought the M3. Very disappointed that the charger has NO USB port for charging my other stuff. I must have over looked this.

But apart from that I am enjoying my Surface Pro4. I bought the keyboard with the Alcantara finish.

I was finding my ASUS T100TA a little cramped, hence the upgrade.

JayADee

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#1571070 13-Jun-2016 15:06

qwertee:

JayADee:

Credit where due for my Sp4:

Two things; one, a bluetooth update a couple weeks back must have improved my mouse connection, it connects immediately now while the Surface is still booting. Two, I'm programming again and as a laptop it works really, really well. (I do have it set to hibernate not sleep though). It's so handy to be typing away on the kitchen table, fold it up and put it to one side by your elbow to play a game of cards with the spouse then pick up right where you left off. Such a great design for portability.

Also that usb plug in the charger is terrific. I charge my iPad off it and my iPad is to my left open to reference material while I type on the SP4 running them both off the charger...

I bought the M3. Very disappointed that the charger has NO USB port for charging my other stuff. I must have over looked this.

But apart from that I am enjoying my Surface Pro4. I bought the keyboard with the Alcantara finish.

I was finding my ASUS T100TA a little cramped, hence the upgrade.

That would be inconvenient to say the least.

Might be worth buying one with and selling yours to recoup?

I use it constantly. I don't even unplug my lightening cable except when I take my Pro somewhere I am not taking my iPad. At home, the lightening cable stays plugged in for the phone or the tablet.

nathan

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#1571082 13-Jun-2016 15:18

you can just buy a Surface Pro 3/4 charger with the USB charging port. Core M doesn't have one as it is low power

JayADee

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#1571376 14-Jun-2016 05:46

nathan:
you can just buy a Surface Pro 3/4 charger with the USB charging port. Core M doesn't have one as it is low power

Ahh, that makes sense.

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dafman

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#1571379 14-Jun-2016 06:21

nathan:
freitasm:

nathan:

dafman:

When I compare the SP4 to the machine it replaced, a Toshiba Portege, there is light and day with hardware reliability. The Toshiba never missed a beat, ever, whereas it's pars for the course for the SP4 to expect three or four hard resets each week.

Does the Toshiba Portege have a Skylake CPU?

How does it help having a Skylake CPU if for this user it needs a hard reset every few days? Having a modern CPU that requires resets or an old one that's solid...

its a genuine question. I'm curious to know what CPU is in the Toshiba.

FWIW I use both Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 every day as "daily drivers" and don't get 3-4 hard resets a week, or even in a month. This is both on v1511 of Windows 10 and v1607

Lets find out what is different in your setup. The obvious differences could be Windows 10 or Skylake CPU.

I'm not sure I understand - the Toshiba was an older windows 7 machine, but bulletproof. The SP4 is a new Skylake windows 10 machine that constantly requires hard resets. I'm travelling at present for next few weeks without SP4, so won't be able to comment for a bit. However, it seems to be worse when docked, but problems aren't restricted to dock.

At this stage, next machines I purchase won't be SPs based on our experience with the SP4. I will probably purchase a similar surface-style machine from another manufacturer. What's frustrating is that the older SP4 are much more flakey than the older SP3s we have.

nathan

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#1571381 14-Jun-2016 06:49

based on your description is sounds like your issues are more with Skylake or Windows 10 that a particular brand of hardware.

Firstly please make sure you have the latest firmware updates installed from Windows Update

dafman

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#1571400 14-Jun-2016 07:49

nathan:
based on your description is sounds like your issues are more with Skylake or Windows 10 that a particular brand of hardware.

Firstly please make sure you have the latest firmware updates installed from Windows Update

Possible. I'm away from my SP4 for a few weeks, so will touch base again in a few weeks.

paulkristensen

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#1572227 15-Jun-2016 11:06

Hi all,

For the Surface products, ensure that the latest drivers and updates are applied using Windows update and alternatively manually download and update the firmware and drivers.

Following site have links to the latest drivers: https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/install-update-activate/download-drivers-and-firmware-for-surface?os=windows-10

best regards,

Paul

qwertee

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#1572249 15-Jun-2016 11:33

paulkristensen:

Hi all,

For the Surface products, ensure that the latest drivers and updates are applied using Windows update and alternatively manually download and update the firmware and drivers.

Following site have links to the latest drivers: https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/install-update-activate/download-drivers-and-firmware-for-surface?os=windows-10

best regards,

Paul

Thanks Paul.

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qwertee

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#1572256 15-Jun-2016 11:38

nathan:

you can just buy a Surface Pro 3/4 charger with the USB charging port. Core M doesn't have one as it is low power

Maybe later. Do you sell a charger that can be plugged into the car cigarette lighter socket?

I have seen ones on TradeMe but want to see if there are any branded OEM products that do this.

nathan

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#1572286 15-Jun-2016 12:11

qwertee:

nathan:

you can just buy a Surface Pro 3/4 charger with the USB charging port. Core M doesn't have one as it is low power

Maybe later. Do you sell a charger that can be plugged into the car cigarette lighter socket?

I have seen ones on TradeMe but want to see if there are any branded OEM products that do this.

we don't sell these. and don't recommend the 3rd party ones.

Your best bet is to use a DC inverter in the car.

The 3rd party ones look good, but we definitely see reports of them blowing up devices.

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