Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Surface Touch Cover 'Splits Within Days'
An anonymous reader points out a report at the Guardian of a potential problem for early adopters of the Microsoft Surface tablet. The Touch Cover is one of the available protective covers for the device; it acts as a keyboard, and has both a gyroscope and an accelerometer on board. Unfortunately, some users have found that the edges of the Touch Cover have split open after only a few days of use. "The defect is identical in each case: the cover ... begins to split at its seam where the device attaches magnetically to the main computer. [One developer] was told to return his Touch Cover to Microsoft for a replacement, and Microsoft has been swapping faulty covers for users where it has retail stores. It's unclear whether the problems that people have encountered are due to a faulty batch or are a subtle problem that will become more apparent as more people use it for longer — but the fact that users in the US and the UK have reported the problem suggests that it is not isolated to a single manufacturing batch."
I would say that this story might be a bit over-sensationalist.
Well, now that Microsoft wants to compete with Apple, they'll have to deal with over-sensationalist news as well.
Let me be the first to suggest "Covergate". ;)
They're just holding it wrong!
I just glued the screen of my Nexus 7 so that it doesn't squeak, replaced the lens of my iPhone 5 to avoid the purple flare, I'll fix this too. Bring it on!
Correct, if it was Apple the user would be told that he is using the cover wrong, and a new and improved cover would be available for purchase for $399.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
They have been replacing RROD-ed Xbox360 left and right since releasing it to the market, and it took them 2 to 3 generation for them to solve overheating problem. So expect the cover problem to be resolved at least sometime next year
Of course they're defective.
Which part of "Microsoft Product" did you not understand?
Like a little slip of a cover is worth the bitching !! Deal with it !! Live with it !! Take it like a man !! Or are you a little girl crying because her doll's clothing has a wrinkle !!
Ballmer, is that you?
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
So, how does that work? You go in with your faulty cover, you leave with a new user? Do you get to choose your user?
You guys, stop Microsoft cover bashing (then at least it will hold together at the seams)
Well, now that Microsoft wants to compete with Apple, they'll have to deal with over-sensationalist news as well.
Though I suspect they may find themselves in a patent infringement lawsuit regarding this.
and microsoft telling them that they're using it in wrong position that causes wrong stress on the seam.
I call BS. Nowhere in the linked articles is Microsoft cited for any such claim. Citation needed, please.
Reading slashdot one-liner: (irm http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot).rdf.item | fl title,desc*
I agree. As a busy, young, professional, and I kept finding that my Android and Apple devices were holding back my potential to synergize my cloud potential at work, but it also got in the way of my X-treme lifestyle when I'm not. After a few days of using my new Microsoft® Surface, it magically unleashed my creativity and X-tremeness and earning potential with it's radical Microsoft® Windows® technology, and I was offered the job of CEO. The styling and unique VaporMg (patent pending) casing caught the eye of a few supermodels today, while I was doing some Xtreme mountainbike-hang-gliding-surfing-rock-climbing-base-jumping, which is a new sport made possible only by thoughtful design and precision craftsmanship that make Surface a joy to behold. They were aroused by the split touch cover, and told me they'd be my harem as long as I never to get it changed.
You have to say, good customer service. At least they didn't say the users were just doing it wrong.
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
This is Microsoft we're talking about. There is the obgligatory "...of death" which must be added to every Microsoft based failure.
One article claims 2 users have reported this. The linked thread mentions three. I'm sure that they're may be more, but three reports of problems doesn't seem like a reason to declare a universal flaw yet.
The position where the cover has been splitting in these instances does seem to be a position under great stress. It is not inconceivable that it is a widespread problem.
I have been using the Surface extensively with the cover folded back behind the unit (the position putting the most stress on that seam) and mine haven't split (yet). But examining the cover I can definitively see how it could happen, if the cover is not perfectly glued/molded. Not looking forward to confirming this problem :-)
That said, it is a wonderful device. The touch cover really *is* nice. Folded back it offers a good non-slipping grip on the device. Having an (almost) real keyboard just by dropping the cover on a table is so much more convenient than using the screen keyboard.
Reading slashdot one-liner: (irm http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot).rdf.item | fl title,desc*
it is bs, because the suggestion is made with the mouth of an user
Not with the mouth of a user. The suggestion was made by a user. Or are you suggesting that Microsoft imposes a user to make such a suggestion?
but it's apparently the reason for why it breaks
That a little premature conclusion, don't you think? I have been using the device extensively like that and my cover has not split (yet). Is it now a concern? Yes, definitively. I can even see how the wires in that place *does* put extra stress on the glued/welded surfaces. But to jump to " it's apparently the reason for why it breaks" is just not supported by any data at this point. Pure speculation.
so I'd wager that MS would tell you just to fuck off after you're back to have it changed the third time.
Yeah, you'd wager. Right. Certainly their actions so far indicate that the users affected by this problem have had no problem getting a replacement. So on what basis do you "wager" that?
Reading slashdot one-liner: (irm http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot).rdf.item | fl title,desc*
It just works, and you have Windows underneath.
If you have the RT version the only thing you have underneath is disappointment and tears.
This unbiased testimony to the awesomeness of Surface with Windows RT prompted me to buy one for every member of my family and a homeless guy. The new EZ-tear away cover technology saves me time and those precious moments can mean the difference between life and death. If you care about your family, Surface is the tablet for you.
Every manufacturer does silent replacements for broken products. You a can only reasonably say that Microsoft has "good customer service" over this if they issue a total product recall before this becomes a major media issue.
(as a side note; it's pretty obvious the shills mod each other up within seconds at the start of an article being posted - doesn't this seem like pretty clear moderator abuse which Slashdot should stamp on)
=~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
Have gnu, will travel.
Which is percisely why I am sticking with Windows 7 and Office 2010. MS is still used to being a monopoly where they do not have to worry about their image shattered with a bad product release. Just make it better next time and eventually it will take over.
IE, Windows, NT, and even Office, were not overnight sellers and did suck. It seems MS is like the linux kernel with releases of hardware and software where new exciting but not fully baked ideas need to get rushed out. Sucks? Consumers tell us how and we fix it later etc.
Windows 8 Metro is not a bad concept. It just does not integrate well with the desktop and there is not taskbar or multitasking friendly tiles such as putting more than one tile on the screen outside of Metro etc. Windows 9 will fix this for sure .... hopefully??
Users these days will just buy an IPAD or a Droid after this. MS can't do what they did in the past and use file compatibility games to enforce Windows/Office. Netscape is not going out of business forcing us to use IE 6. We have 2 other browsers and if IE sucks we can switch etc.
The world is changing and MS should do more QA internally and worry about image more.
http://saveie6.com/
No, not every manufacturer. Not Apple, Microsoft's competition.
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/04/19/blogger-victorious-over-apple-in-small-claims-case-on-nvidia-gpu-failures/
It seems that the actual article is down at the moment, but apple actually sent two lawyers to court, and tried to file a counter suit against a man even though Nvidia would be paying the actual cost of the repair.
So no, not every manufacturer. Microsoft is actually pretty great at customer service in that sense.
It was the same thing with the xbox 360s, if you had an xbox 360 that was 3 years old or less and had the most common hardware failure, it got replaced. Microsoft caught a ton of flack though, because their agreement to replace all these xboxes actually brought more attention to the story.
I had three(yes, 3) original playstations that didn't last 3 years without a hardware failure. I also had a PS2 that failed in 3.5 years after receiving maybe 1/10th of the use my xbox 360 received. Original nintendos were notoriously unreliable at reading cartridges. Nobody talks about those screwups though, meanwhile here's Microsoft replacing xbox 360s left and right, replacing all these touch covers, and people treat it as a negative. At least they're showing good faith to make it right.