2 maybe 3 years time

[Tony F]

What do we do with our tablets when the battery starts to die. It appears that the Surface Pro needs to be demolished to get at the battery and that goes for most tablets. Maybe the next generation will have a case that can be dismantled for maintenance.
In the meantime I am happy with my Surface Pro.
Tony

 

[Deleted member 10837]

Sell it.

 

[Tony F]

Sell it.

Useful response!

 

[jnjroach]

I think the point of most tablets and even Ultrabooks are they have a built in Shelf-life, and I don't see that changing as people want thinner and lighter devices. Maintainable and Removable equate to thicker and heavier or small capacity of the battery to maintain an acceptable form factor.

 

[Wayne Orwig]

The entire world is headed this way.
Years back, people would change their own oil in their cars. They would change a tire if they had a flat. Now everyone goes to a quick lube place, or calls a tow truck.
Designers know that most people could care less about changing their own battery, so they save a little space and money and don't bother with the battery covers and latches.

You can be sure that Microsoft has a fixture that can heat the glue and suck off the LCD to get to the inside without damage. So a battery replacement means getting a refurbished unit.

Add to it the fact that when the battery starts to fade badly, there will be new tech that everyone wants anyway.

Me, I do ALL of my own repair on everything. I would prefer a repair friendly unit. But there aren't many choices.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Me, I do ALL of my own repair on everything. I would prefer a repair friendly unit. But there aren't many choices.

Dell XPS 10 got the highest score for tablets regarding repairability on iFixit

http://www.ifixit.com/Misc/dell_xps_10_repairability.pdf

 

[GypsyMoth]

What do we do with our tablets when the battery starts to die. It appears that the Surface Pro needs to be demolished to get at the battery and that goes for most tablets. Maybe the next generation will have a case that can be dismantled for maintenance.
In the meantime I am happy with my Surface Pro.
Tony

This is the primary reason I purchased the total care (or what ever the 2 year warranty is called). My SP will 'break' just prior to the two year end date...

 

[drolem]

The entire world is headed this way.
Years back, people would change their own oil in their cars. They would change a tire if they had a flat.

You mean replacing the flat tire with the spare tire, or replacing the tire on the wheel? The former is easy to do, the latter is a little (?!) difficult.

You can be sure that Microsoft has a fixture that can heat the glue and suck off the LCD to get to the inside without damage.

I wouldn't be so sure about that....

Me, I do ALL of my own repair on everything. I would prefer a repair friendly unit.

"everything" is a bit hard to believe.

Personally, I prefer units that need no repair at all.

 

[CrippsCorner]

You can get the Surface screen off easily*!

*by easily I mean scarily, and with bravery and the right tools!

 

[Wayne Orwig]

You mean replacing the flat tire with the spare tire, or replacing the tire on the wheel? The former is easy to do, the latter is a little (?!) difficult.

I mean putting on the spare. Few people in my area have this skill.
As for me, I actually have a tire changer mounted to my garage floor.

I wouldn't be so sure about that....

I worked in manufacturing long enough to know how these things are. I'm 100% sure that they have a fixture to disassemble the units. That doesn't mean that it does the job without some damage, but I'm sure they have something to help.

"everything" is a bit hard to believe.

Believe it. I don't do my own surgery , and I can't buy home air conditioner freon any longer due to licensing requirements, but other than that type of thing, I do everything myself.
Two weeks ago I repaired a TV. Last week I changed a rear drive ratio and reshimmed it. Today I am building a 13 VDC, 4 amp power supply.

 

[drolem]

The Surfaces are not meant to be disassembeled, or repaired by taking them apart and replacing faulty parts. Of course MS should have a way to take them apart, but I have a feeling that their method is very similar to what was posted on ifixit. The glue they use is a real bitch to get off, BTW, so even if they have a unit disassembled without damage, it would probably still be a very time consuming task to put it together and make it look like new, or at least a quality refurb. Another issue with disassembly is if they had a bit too much glue around the bottom, that can stick to the display cables and rip them off.