I now need a second replacement..

[adam1942]

Hi all I'm wondering if you can give me some advice..

My girlfriends first SP3 had to be returned after opening as there was 2 1" sections of the screen that didn't work.

A few nights ago SP3 #2 started randomly clicking at the top of the screen. I worked with Microsoft and they suggested using the USB boot image to re-image the SP3.

We did this and its been working fine however the same issue that #1 has started to happen again (see video here for better explanation:

)

The screen works fine with the pen. The SP3 is kept in a thick felt case when not in use, has never been dropped (the case does not even have any scratches or any other marks on it).

Please has anyone any ideas as I got this for my girlfriend for Christmas and to spend £1000 on a present that's been broke twice in as many months is a little bit annoying for both her and me!

Just a quick edit to say we have rebooted, tried to recalibrate the screen, updated fully, tried disabling wifi and bluetooth at different times etc with no joy.

 

[kundas1]

I hate to tell ya bud, but it looks like it is a hardware issue and needs to be replaced... go back to an MS store and do an exchange or send it in...

 

[adam1942]

Cheers. I live in Northern Ireland and we have no Microsoft stores... Mail order it is! Thanks for the confirmation!

 

[kundas1]

just a quick question though, did U back up your first SP3 and then restored your second SP3 from the back up of the first one? or did you set it up as a new device?

 

[adam1942]

Set it up as a new device - didn't want anything else being pulled down that could have caused corruption/interference!

 

[GreyFox7]

Just curious was the screen anomaly in the same or different location on the first unit?

 

[kundas1]

Set it up as a new device - didn't want anything else being pulled down that could have caused corruption/interference!

that was my exact thought...

 

[Liam2349]

Talking about screen calibration, you shouldn't calibrate it.

If you have issues, then reset the calibration, but I would advise against calibrating it yourself.

 

[Nob]

Hi Adam,

I had similar issue. Bought Pro 3 last week, and changed it twice.
First time because the housing screnn was carved, secondly because of problems with touch screen.
Recalibration, reset to factory eg. with no sucsess... Looks like and hardware issue...
I'm afraid i think you have to send it back......

 

[Gilman]

I suspect that the inventory of replacements are made up of units that were returned because they had issues and that MSFT process for "fixing" those issues is really lacking. I'd bet money they reset the software and do some cursory checks but intermittent issues or those that require other equipment like docks or peripherals to appear don't get checked or fixed.

I say this because I had to replace my new from the store, completely functional unit with a warranty replacement after I dropped the first unit. The replacement unit had a hardware issue with the ethernet connection dropping off the dock and the touch controller firmware wouldn't load. After many hours with MSFT support they sent a second replacement unit... that had the exact same problems. At this point I thinking it's the dock so I run down to the store and swap it out to discover that nope the dock was not the problem. MSFT had sent me two replacement units both broken in the exact same way.

At this point I have no interest in participating in the replacement unit crapshoot because this is my primary work computer and I do not want to be on the road with a computer I don't trust. I talked to MSFT support online and was told I could go down to the store and pull a replacement from new retail inventory. To make a long story short the call center guy lied to me and when I got to the store it turns out they told him they couldn't so that but he told me they would anyway. The manager made it right and I ended up with a new unit.

So the moral of the story is be really careful if you get a replacement and make sure that it actually works before committing the time to set everything up. I ended up setting up three different surfaces multiple times before everything was sorted. AND take care of the one you have if it works fine now.