Chances of getting a defective cover

[lemongalaxy]

Hi everybody!

Long story short for lazy readers: plan to order a Type Cover from abroad on eBay. This means that in case I receive a defective one, returning it is going to be problematic. Would you do that? How many defective covers have been reported so far?

Ok, long version. Before I get to the question, some background. I have been looking for a new laptop for more than one year now. I wanted to get a convertible, but I wasn't happy with any of the (few) models on the market. I have been really close to buying a Dell XPS 12, but I did not because of the image retention problems of its display.

I am Italian and currently live in Switzerland. However, I have always used the US international layout on all of the computers I had, and I believe it's much better than the Italian layout, not to mention the horrible Swiss one. Now, I can always set a different keyboard layout and type blindly, without looking at the keyboard, and I can do it, but it's annoying to have to resort to that after spending €€€ for a new computer, isn't it? However, it's very difficult to buy a laptop with US layout here, the only possibility is buying it directly from a manufacturer that will assemble it for you, but this is only possible with some professional models (e.g. ThinkPad Yoga). Ordering from the US is not an option, as it is then a pain in that place to get warranty service.

I had almost given up, and even when I recently set my eyes on the SP3, it took me several weeks to actually realize that it would also solve the keyboard problem for me! I can buy it here and only order the Type Cover from abroad.

So right now I am in this situation:

• Some Swiss online shops have the US layout Type Cover in their listing, however none of them has it in stock yet.
• One of them says that the cyan model will be in stock at the end of September.
• I need to get one no later than September 20. After that date I am going to Italy for one month, and I want to get it before that date.
• Shipping from the US is slow, so If I take that route I have to order it now.

The problem with ordering from the US on eBay (or from any online shop, for that matter), is that it is very difficult to return it in case it is defective. So, would you recommend to do that? How high do you believe the risk of getting a defective cover to be? How many defective Type Covers have been reported so far?

Thank you for your thoughts!

Why don't you consider a British keyboard? Not many differences to the US layout - the @ key, and $ key are in different places. They are quite similar otherwise.

 

[Antitoon]

Thank you for the tip.

Actually the following symbols are in a different place as well: ~ " # \ |

It's closer than other layouts, but some of these symbols, especially double quotes and the backslash, are too important. I would end up selecting the US layout and typing blindly anyway, and if I do this, then I had better take the Swiss layout directly.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Thank you for the early reply!

Anybody else? Also, thoughts about how awesome it is to just being able to order a different layout for the Type Cover?

Can't you order from Amazon and pay for international shipping?

 

[Antitoon]

Thank you, that's also a very good question! I would love to! Unfortunately Amazon.com does not ship electronic goods abroad. Probably because the want to sell them at European prices.

But you raise a very good point... Are there any other large U. S. stores shipping it abroad?

Hmm... Oh, well, I forgot about one thing that makes it even more difficult. I would really like to get the blue one, which AFAIK is only sold by Best Buy. I guess eBay is the only route then...

 

[Antitoon]

Uhm... something is moving. The Swiss electronics store updated the availability status for all four colors to "approx. end of September". If it only were a bit earlier... 23rd or 24th would still be fine.

 

[hh83917]

I got my preordered typecover for SP3 from BestBuy (the blue BB limited one). And when my surface arrived in Aug. I put on the typecover and it does not recognize it as the type cover even after firmware upgrade.

Took it to Microsoft store and they tried one of the stores' cover on my SP3 and it was recognized by the driver immediately. So my brand new type cover is defective. They have me call MS support because the MS store doesn't carry that navy color and MS support replaced it for me.

So anything can happen, type cover can come broken too...

 

[malberttoo]

I got my preordered typecover for SP3 from BestBuy (the blue BB limited one). And when my surface arrived in Aug. I put on the typecover and it does not recognize it as the type cover even after firmware upgrade.

Took it to Microsoft store and they tried one of the stores' cover on my SP3 and it was recognized by the driver immediately. So my brand new type cover is defective. They have me call MS support because the MS store doesn't carry that navy color and MS support replaced it for me.

So anything can happen, type cover can come broken too...

Bummer that it happened to you, but glad you were able to get it taken care of.

And you are correct.... anything can come broken, I have seen so many things come out of the box not working.

 

[Antitoon]

Many thanks to everybody for sharing your thoughts and experiences!

I eventually decided not to order it, particularly because it *seems* that it might be available here on the 21st already. I hope it really does, otherwise I will surivive without it for a while.

Thank you all again!

 

[mikejg]

The blue type cover is very nice. I was looking forward to getting something in the Microsoft/Nokia cyan colour for a long time but when I saw the blue I immediately changed my mind.

I don't think blue is a U.S. Best Buy exclusive anymore. MS shows it on their U.S. website. I don't know for sure because I'm in Canada and blue was never exclusive here.

I completely understand your frustration with not being able to find a device you like with the right keyboard. In Canada almost every Windows notebook stocked by stores has a bilingual (French/English) keyboard with an awkward layout. The surface keyboard is an exception. And the Microsoft store is an exception because it sells US models.

 

[Antitoon]

Thank you for sharing my pain.

Yes, it's really annoying, because it's an artificial problem. For other languages it might be different, but Italian, German and French need no symbol that cannot be easily typed with the US layout (which probably is not superior to others, but came first). à, é, ß, ç, ü, ñ, all of these are easily typed with the US international keyboard, they require an extra keystroke, but in return they do not waste a lot of space which is used for symbols instead.

Also, the Swiss (and German) lazout have the `y' and `z' swapped, and I really don't understand whz. Both y and z are not super-common letters in German, so whz not leaving them where thez are? What zou are reading is what happens to me everz time I sit for tzping at a kezboard which is not mine.

The only upside is laughing when your colleagues at work try to type on your keyboard (Swiss) and start panicking as soon as they realize that what appears on the screen is not what they are expecting.
"Oh yes, I am using the US layout even though it doesn't match the keyboard."
"Oh... and... is it intentional?"
"YES!"

Oh, also thank you for your comments on the blue cover, it's nice to hear this. I also think it looks nice in the pictures, but I haven't (yet) had the possibility of seeing it for real.

 

[yarnspinner]

Mine has a little problem: first 1cm of spacebar (from the right side) doesn't work.

And I can't exchange it, because microsoft isn't available in my country.

I have the identical problem. I guess I'll try the return-it option mentioned below because I am insulted that I have had to learn to type in the middle of the space bar on a brand new machine.

 

[mmo]

I haven't seen any defective keyboards, you will probably be fine.

Mine worked fine for almost 2 years under VERY heavy use, before the first few keys ( i, o, b and backspace) started to occasionally go on strike (pun intended). It's getting a bit difficult and annoying to type on my SP3 lately. So, since weeks I am desperately seeking a shop that sells type covers with US layout here in Switzerland but that seems to turn into a real problem... :-(