Fulcrum Hinge and keyboard base noise

[Jeffrey Y]

Hi guys, Just got my Surface Book i7 16Gb with 512GB SSD.

I noticed 2 things that slightly bothering me:

1. When you press the middle of the keyboard base from the top or bottom, you can clearly hear some sort of adhesive tape sticking and unsticking... like removing tape from a plastic bag.

2. When I open and close the Surface book, the hinge makes a small sound like a small plastic candy wrapper being opened. I was expecting totally silet when opening and closing the Surface book hinge.

I know these are not functional issues but really annoyed and disappointed that a premium device would have build issues like these...

Please give me some feedback on your own units on these 2 matters?

 

[sharpuser]

Hi @Jeffrey Y

I have the same model as yours, but with none of these issues. The device is fitted and formed without gaps or creaks or warps. No hinge noise whatsoever.

 

[Jeffrey Y]

Hmm ok heading back to the Microsoft store tomorrow... I would like to keep the Surface Book but if the other units perform the same way, I'll probably wait for the Surface Pro 4 i7 instead... what about the rest of you guys? Am I being nit picky ??

 

[rockstarbill]

Hi guys, Just got my Surface Book i7 16Gb with 512GB SSD.

I noticed 2 things that slightly bothering me:

1. When you press the middle of the keyboard base from the top or bottom, you can clearly hear some sort of adhesive tape sticking and unsticking... like removing tape from a plastic bag.

2. When I open and close the Surface book, the hinge makes a small sound like a small plastic candy wrapper being opened. I was expecting totally silet when opening and closing the Surface book hinge.

I know these are not functional issues but really annoyed and disappointed that a premium device would have build issues like these...

Please give me some feedback on your own units on these 2 matters?

1 - Yes, this happens on all of the dGPU models I have tried it on, and folks on Reddit have reported it as well. Most people would not even think to test that. It is hard to repro from the top of the keyboard base, and has never happened when I have been typing on it. It is very easy to repro from the bottom of the keyboard base. Just press on the bottom side of the base with your finger, above "Microsoft" and eventually you will find the spot that does it. I figure it is something that will go away on its own in time as the adhesive on the inside fully sets. If not, its an easy reason to return the device under factory warranty and I have MS Complete as well, so I am not concerned about it.

2 - The hinge makes that noise on every single Surface Book I have played with. I think it is just the way the hinge works, and frankly it does not bother me either. If I find out that it is some sort of factory fault, I will just return it for a new one later if it gets to me.

 

[Jeffrey Y]

Thanks for the reply. I will check out the units in the microsoft store tomorrow too. Kinda feel bad shelling out big bucks and build quality feels lacking...

 

[rockstarbill]

I don't know if I would say it is build quality lacking. That hinge is pretty unique in terms of how it works and is not like anything else on any laptop that I have ever seen. If it helps at all, the sound it makes when it opens is very intermittent, at this point, for me. Sometimes I hear it, sometimes I don't, so it might eventually just go away. About the adhesive noise, I just think they rushed the shipments to get the devices in people's hands, and once the adhesive has time to set and dry up completely, you will not be able to reproduce that issue. As it stands now, it requires the user to do something they should not be doing, which is depressing the back of the base with force enough to cause that noise.

 

[Jeffrey Y]

I understand what you say. I suppose i was not expecting things like these at $3,500.00. I went to the store and there were no stock for replacement. Then I noticed the demo unit missing from the floor. Apparently it is under repair related to the hinge. The reps would not disclose more info so i dont know anymore beyond that but enough to scare me away and refund the unit and wait for the sp4 i7. Aside from that, i began noticing the weight of the sb while walking from the skytrain to the shop mall... Have not given up on surface! Waiting for sp4.

 

[Astonish]

Hello!

I know it is an old thread but I wanted to say that I am hearing the hinge voice as well when I am opening and closing the lid. In the beginning I thought that it was a big issue, but now that I read on internet that others have it, I think that it is normal. Anyways the voice is very very little and only happens when I open or close the lid, and not even always. I feel like I treat my SB much more carefuly than my Macbook Pro, even tho it is solid it still seems pretty fragile to me because of the hinge. I use the clipboard attached to the base a lot for drawing (mostly what I use my SB for) and each time I detach and attach the SB I'm so scared to drop the clipboard. LOL pretty scary, sometimes I wish that I had a SP4 just to avoid this fear.

Cheers,

 

[Jeffrey Y]

Well, i did return the Surface Book afterwards and got the Surface Pro 4 i7 512gb. I do miss the solid feel of the SB and the thought of a DGPU. But whenever I pass by a Microsoft store and check out the SB demo, I do not miss the heftyness and the thought of needing MS dgpu drivers (not from nvidia) and iris 540 on the sp4 works well enough for me. Not to mention some extra cash left over ... I will wait for gen 2 which i am sure will be much better.

 

[Astonish]

I am sometimes in the same dilemma, asking myself if I prefer the SP4, I always come to this conclusion:

- IF I get the SP4, I will miss the screen size of the SB, and also the battery life.
- IF I keep the SB, I will miss the portability lightness and the kickstand of the SP4.

So, it will be an eternal dilemma for me. I will be equally happy and ''dissappointed'' with both

Cheers,

 

[elee532]

My very similar dilemma, having owned SP3

- IF I get the SP4, I will miss the screen size of the SB, and also the keyboard.
- IF I keep the SB, I will miss the portability, lightness, kickstand, and battery life (in clipboard mode) of the SP4.