Convince me to buy the SP4 despite so many issues

[jtcb]

I am on the fence on getting the SP4 because of all the issues I have been reading on this forum. I like the idea of running a full windows tablet that let me install whatever I want without limit on what is available on the app store. I think I will use it more for media consumption than productivity. Will SP4 provide a good media experience? Should I go for other tablet that is made for media consumption? I have been eyeing for the Sony Xperia Z4 tablet. It is around $800.

What I like:

large screen, front-facing speakers, keyboard attachment, pen, runs windows, i5 (powerful enough for me)

What I dislike:

all the issues I have been reading on the forum.

First of all let me outline what I'll use the SP4 for.

Occasional work on Word and Excel
Browse the internet
Watch video, lots of it (youtube, Netflix, other online steaming content)
Light games (pacman, tetris, etc.)

 

[GreyFox7]

Being an early adopter isn't for everyone and if you're not comfortable with suffering through the early issues you should wait until they are resolved.

 

[leeshor]

Some of what you see must be taken with a grain of salt. Most of the people who join and post here do so because they are having a problem. You don't hear from the people who don't have a problem and there are lots of those. I have 2 SP4s in my office and have configured 2 others for customers. Though they were not purchased until mid October or later not a one has had any problems.

 

[Seneleron]

I can give you information, but I cannot, nor will I ATTEMPT to, "convince" you. You know what you want or what you don't, and I'm not taking the responsibility if you regret whatever decision you make later. In my role as grass roots IT, I get yelled @ enough already ; )

That said, "so many issues" pretty much revolve around the pen/touch issues, and there was an update yesterday that appears centered around resolving those issues. I can't comment on the battery issues as I don't experience them.

As a MEDIA CONSUMPTION DEVICE. *IF* I were to complain, my only complaint would be with connected standby and listening to audio/music. I can't stream spotify or listen to Apple Music [don't judge, I have my reasons] without music stopping everytime the screen sleeps. Connected standby only works with windows APPS, and unfortunately the only MUSIC app I would use [TuneIn Radio] is so horribly broken that none of my preferred stations play. (they work on my non-Windows phone, I don't know if it's the app or if the manufacturer is carpet banning IPs)

Please try to keep in mind, forums are places for people to go when they want to complain (As a general rule, y'all know what I mean, and I'll be the first to admit there are some really good people on this forum: but I digress) and the user base here is an extremely small % of a % of Surface users. The odds of you being one of the % of a % are X. If you wanna solve for X be my guest, but I'm too old and lazy to even try to structure it into an equation.

 

[bamaster]

I've had my SP4 i5/8GB for about a week now. The only problem I've had was one display driver error. One. It never came back. Works great!

My only gripe is that the fans kick in while watching YouTube. Not sure why, my SP3 doesn't do that.

 

[mmoran27]

It has issues

Display driver crashes constantly.
Won't wake from sleep requiring a hard reset.
Battery life sucks

 

[leeshor]

It really amazes me how I can personally configure 4 SP4s and don't have those problems with any of them. (never have). Battery average is >8 hours on all 4. But in the high range I can get 11.

 

[mmoran27]

Whatever.
I reset mine yesterday loaded all updates and still have these issues. Nothing installed but OS.

Driver crashed this morning
Had to hard reset because black screen. Windows hello light on keyboard lights up. No display.

 

[leeshor]

Whatever.
I reset mine yesterday loaded all updates and still have these issues. Nothing installed but OS.

Driver crashed this morning
Had to hard reset because black screen. Windows hello light on keyboard lights up. No display.

Do you have the 11/18 firmware installed? Do you have a microSD card installed? There is always the possibility you have a faulty SP4.

In the past I have stayed away as much as possible from using Edge as that seemed to be a big issue. I'm still trying to figure out how to get Cortana to default to something else otherwise it would never open on any of my Surface devices.

My only crashes on all these have bern on the first day of use.

 

[jbowden]

There are issues, some have been addressed, others not yet. It is a risk you will have to take. Keep in mind there is a 30d return policy from Microsoft Store. I had my first unit replaced. The second one had more issues than the first so I returned it as well. I am considering a third, but have not pulled the trigger yet. Issues I had were:
Display Driver Crash (Firefox and Edge)
Popping Audio
Battery Life subpar (maybe 4.5 hrs)
Black Screen (wake from sleep)
Keyboard and Screen not functional on wake up. Restart fixes until next time.

 

[Foreverseeking]

I have the surface pro, and some of the issues that have been mentioned here, but none of them stop it from being a great and highly productive device. To be honest, everything about the surface pro 4 line is a marvel of technology. The new keyboard is a whole new class of ultra mobile keyboard. If you can't handle a few glitches and bugs *which are no more than an annoyance, nothing critical, then you should know by now to wait at least 6 months before buying any new product. If you can handle the aches that come with new tech, buy it, it's a great device.

 

[Foreverseeking]

The second one had more issues than the first so I returned it as well. I am considering a third, but have not pulled the trigger yet.

Dude seriously, I'm surprised they would allow a third replacement for those reasons. They are all software related, and you can replace your device a million times, it will not fix it.

The only reason worth swapping your device for is if you have a crappy ssd, and it bothers you (my write is very slow for s solid state, but I guess I'll live with it). The read speed though is 1500MB/s, so I guess that's ok at least ;-)