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Consumer Reports Pulls Microsoft Laptop Recommendation (go.com)

Posted by msmash on from the not-good-enough dept.

The breakage rate for Microsoft's Surface devices is significantly worse than for other manufacturers' laptops and tablets, Consumer Reports said, adding that it was removing its "recommended" designation for Surface products. From a report: The consumer advocacy group said Thursday that it can no longer recommend Microsoft laptops or tablets because of poor reliability compared to other brands. Microsoft said the findings don't accurately reflect Surface owners' "true experiences." The consumer group says Microsoft machines have performed well in laboratory testing. But a subscriber survey found start-up and freezing problems. The devices losing their "recommended" status are the Surface Laptop (128GB and 256GB versions) and Surface Book (128GB and 512GB versions).

20 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by Noishkel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the first reports I remember reading about the Surface was just how much the NFL hates them. There is many videos of team members loosing their cool and hurling the things across the field.

    But hey, let's all be honest. Microsoft's hardware has NEVER been good. Be it laptops, tablets, or media players. This is just one more example of this trend.

    1. Re:Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by ohnocitizen · · Score: 5, Informative

      Their ergonomic keyboard was amazing, back when they still made it.

    2. Re:Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Well... no. MS actually made pretty good mice. For a while the joke was even that MS must've bought their hardware division because it worked way too well to be an internal product.

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    3. Re:Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by Noishkel · · Score: 2

      Well fair enough. I never hard one of those, although I did have a Microsoft Sidewinder once, and it did work well for a while before finally dying.

      But even then, it says a lot that only their most basic hardware seems to work instead of their flagship products.

    4. Re:Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Their mice are okay as well. And the newer keyboards are fine... A bit over-priced for what they are, but decent.

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    5. Re:Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by NoZart · · Score: 2

      This might be different today. Logitech has now for a few years built their mice with the shoddiest switches possible. I had 3 different logitech mice starting to act up on left click after 3 months and be broken after 6 (and no, i don't play diablo or starcraft)

    6. Re:Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by Luthair · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've seen a number of MS fanboys/reports claim Skylake had issues, and yet no other OEM seems to have problems.

    7. Re:Well if the NFL can't stand them why should we? by MightyYar · · Score: 2

      A lot has changed since you went to prison.

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      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  2. I agree by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    It does not adequately reflect owners' experience and is by no means what the owners of the devices would say. But CR refused to include expletives and obscenities in its report.

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:I agree by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2

      Is a Consumer Reports subscription worth it for $35/year? Without expletives and the kind of hard-hitting commentary great minds like those at the The Rolling Stone are willing to lay down, I'm on the fence.

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    2. Re:I agree by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

      To be fair to Microsoft, some of the complaints of the NFL was not that the tablets broke down but that they lost network connectivity at crucial points. Now that might be more of a problem with networking and not setting up a robust wireless network with tens of thousands of fan phones creating interference. And yes some teams did say the tablets also broke down too.

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    3. Re:I agree by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

      If you are buying a lot of high priced things in the next year: appliances, electronics, etc. Like if you are about to furnish/buy a home.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  3. Re:Gosh... by freeze128 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Windows 2000

  4. Re:Gosh... by arth1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Windows 2000

    I couldn't get my copy of Microsoft Bob to run on Windows 2000. Has that been fixed now?

  5. Cannot be repaired so I will never own one. by dizzy8578 · · Score: 5, Informative

    https://www.theverge.com/2017/...

    --
    *"Cogito Ergo Liberalis"*
    1. Re:Cannot be repaired so I will never own one. by Khashishi · · Score: 4, Informative

      And that's a big problem. Repairability and recycleability are related. If you can't take it apart, you can't recycle it. Sure, for now, we can always just throw it in a landfill and mine more minerals for new ones, but how long is that going to last?

  6. They should include the Surface Pro 3 by garryknight · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They have been ignoring Surface Owners' "true experiences" for something like two years now. The Surface Pro 3 came with two different battery types. After a firmware update in September 2015 (I think it was) one type of battery simply stopped working for a large number of owners. Many posts were made on the Microsoft forums about it and some of the MSVPs tried in vain to help. Then posts started being deleted from the forum. The only thing I remember a MS spokesman saying was that it wasn't due to the firmware update. Just a coincidence, apparently. A 'fix' was issued at some point but most of those people affected said it didn't work for them.

    Last year sometime my typecover (the soft keyboard) simply stopped working for no reason. I turned the machine on with the typecover attached and it would no longer respond to anything I did with the keyboard. It wouldn't even light up. I posted about it on the MS forum and was advised to try several 'fixes' that I'd already tried and which hadn't worked. Then others started posting about non-working typecovers, too, and I discovered some that failed before mine did. My typecover is now the most expensive screen protector I've ever owned. And I now have to lug around a mini Bluetooth keyboard as well.

    I still think the tablet part is one of the best 'laptops' around (but only with the BT keyboard) but I wouldn't ever buy another Surface Pro.

    --
    Garry Knight
  7. Surface 4 is a POS by cpotoso · · Score: 3, Informative

    Really. It is. New machine, battery lasts barely 3-4 hours doing SIMPLE stuff (windows has the worst power management possible). Even in SLEEP MODE it manages to deplete a battery from 100% to 40% overnight (did I mention that windows has the worst power management possible?). Touch interface and pen randomly stop working (requiring a reboot). To top it off, machine fell from 20 cm to a wooden floor and the screen shattered, costing hundreds of $ to repair. MS had always complained that windows was unreliable because they worked with so many brands and models, but they can't even get their own sh*t to work.

  8. Surface 4 pro great for reading comics but ... by mikeabbott420 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But that's all I use it for because the battery life is terrible, especially if any networking is turned on. I use an ancient 'New iPad' for trivial browsing and watching video in bed. That thing can make a charge last.

    When I bought the surface I had visions of using it for note taking in meetings and a variety of other things but the battery issue makes it more trouble than it's worth.

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  9. Well, duh by JohnFen · · Score: 2

    The Surface is clearly not a good purchase. It has Windows 10 on it.