Posted on 08/12/2017 5:01:32 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Following the subscriber survey of over 90,000 readers, Consumer Reports estimated that 25 percent of devices would have issues by the second year of ownership. The issues included freezing, unexpected shut downs and unresponsive touch screens, but the non-profit didn't list how many of each complaint it got.
Microsoft disputes the survey. “While we respect Consumer Reports, we disagree with their findings. Microsoft’s real-world return and support rates and customer satisfaction data show we are on par if not better than other devices in the category," a Microsoft spokesperson told Laptop Mag. "We stand firmly behind the quality and reliability of the Surface family of devices and continue to make quality our primary focus.”
Some of Microsoft's Surface devices have earned Laptop Mag's Editors' Choice award, including the Surface Pro and Surface Book. We still recommend them.
Consumer Reports last made a stir in the laptop world in December when it didn't recommend Apple's MacBook Pros after spotty battery life testing. The magazine reversed course in January after Apple issued a patch.
Photo: Sam Rutherford / Laptop Mag
Over the last year...one hundred and eight
A mix of things....led screen pooping out, battery life going to zero and over heating, broken hinge contact, keyboard not working
Wow! You must have an extremely demanding clientele. I’ve had my SP3 for over two years with no complaints. !00% returns, damn.
Nah it’s more like folks who are easily confused. To me the lid screens seemed to be biggest flaw....but that’s generally true. When they work they work really well for long time periods. When they have issues it is always early
That number was around ten which is a bit high but could just be a bad run. All of the other stuff was mostly operator error .
Wifey had had her Surface for about two years, great machine. I bought a Yoga with 128gb SSD and it too, is a great machine. Very heavy and twice as thick as the Surface.
Microsoft says only 24% instead of 25% would have issues by the second year of ownership.
I would be mighty ticked off having these problems at the high price these tablets cost.
Thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!!
In this case they're using a "survey of over 90,000 readers". Did they correct for the fact that more negative responses would naturally come back from disgruntled users, than positive responses come back from happy users?
People who a unhappy are more likely to register a complaint, than people who are happy are to register a glowing report. Human nature.
I haven't heard Surface-related complaints from the many folks I know who have Surfaces. Complaints about Windows 10, yes. But about the hardware? Nope. In fact they LOVE the hardware.
Blaming Windows 10 issues on Surface is not fair. Never mind PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair) issues...
I work in it in an Enterprise environment
rolled out about 80 so far rmaed 2.
I bought my son an sp3 just before sp4 was coming out and he has had no problems
IPads on the other hand dying with alarming regularity
Thread is about hardware- which the surface will run UEFI linux just fine.
The hardware is great, it’s mostly driver and UEFI firmware quirks causing the issues.
Can’t think of a hardware platform MS designed that wasn’t junk. They should stick to Operating Systems and software.
ROFL!!!
Consumer Distorts hates it? I think I’ll go buy one right now!
Lower end Lenovo Yoga 710 with 128g SSD hard drive has works fine for me after over two years. Battery isn’t lasting as long as it should now.
I don’t play games or crunch lots of data and it is great for what I need. Paid $450 when they first came out and it is down to under $400 now.
I’m most familiar with Consumer Reports car reviews and ratings.
If their computer ratings are anything like their car ratings (good or bad), I wouldn’t put any faith in them at all.
One infamous 2013 review rated the overall reliability of the Subaru BRZ as “much worse than average”, when the only problem areas they found were the audio system and squeaks and rattles (body integrity). All other areas were above or much above average. Agreed, a wonky audio system and rattles are annoying, but they won’t ever leave your car dead beside the road.
http://blog.bluespringsfordparts.com/233/consumer-reports-rating-methodology-flawed/
As can be seen at the linked site, the CR readership is heavily weighted to older, better educated, and wealthier people. That sort of demographic bias is a red flag to any competent statistician.
Yes, but "Welded-shut, throwaway, non-serviceable laptops" is a pretty narrow category.
I have had 30 or 40 different laptops in my life, for work AND home use.
I would ONLY buy a Dell again, with HP a distant second.
Mostly they make the chargers and power port so crappy it break. I have at least 6 laptops at home that would have been perfectly fine if the power supply input had not broken.
Except for Dell’s. I have never had a Dell break.
And I work on computers for a living.
We’re an HP shop at work. I bring Dell in for a look whenever we re-evaluate model refreshes. I view it has Ford vs Chevy. I have good luck with HP, and our rep with them has been very good so no reason to switch.
Leaked Microsoft memo reveals high Surface Book return rates FR thread.
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