Kick Stand Wobble

[Wevenhuis]

Hi,

I took the plunge today and upgraded from my surface pro first gen to a surface pro 5th gen (2017).

When unpacking I immediately noticed a wobble of the kickstand at 0-20 degrees and 150-160 degrees. Anything in between and the wobble is far less. At 60 degrees the wobble is similar to my firstgen device, in other words sturdy enough. But the wobbel at the out edges of the turning radius is a concern to me, in regards of questioning if this is not a production error. I looked around on surfaceforums.net and other forums and found a mixed bag of experiences, but it isn't still clear is this is an issue or not. Compraed to how my surface pro first gen works, this wobble is noticeble with a wobbl movement of up to 5 mm's. On closer looks it looks like a bearing or spring is too loose, but it's difficult to see. I'm on the fence to send it back for a replacement or call this to micorosft as a relevant quality issue. It doens't look and feel right, especially for a device of this class, and also when comparing the new surface pro with the first gen device! The quality of the mechanics does not look right.
Anyone's else's thoughts on this?

 

[hughlle]

I have such wobble on my S3, SP3, and SP4. It makes zero difference to the ability for the kickstand to do what it is meant to do, and at no point has gotten worse on any device. Just ignore it

 

[theveterans]

I think the quality varies. Mine was the very first batches and it doesn't wobble nor have that loose feeling on extreme angles when it is on my lap. I would go to MS store and maybe they'll give you a replacement.

 

[Wevenhuis]

what is your batch number?

 

[Wevenhuis]

I went back to the retail store today where I bought the surface pro. The same salesman was there. He had a SP2017 too and his kickstand had the wobble too. We checked a demo unit that also had the wobble. So it seems a consistent thing at first glance. I took my SP1 along and showed the lesser wobble at 60 degrees on both devices. But the wobble is strikingly noticeably at 0-20 degrees and 150-160 degrees. With all the research, Panos's selling pitch of attention to detail and the fact the hinge has some German DNA, I am frankly a bit shocked. Other forum repsonses gives me a mixed bag of experiences, where a third has their device replaced and got a more sturdy hinge mechanics, a third that didn't see any difference after getting a replacement device and a third accepting the situation. I think a third is still kind of significant in my view. I think this is a quality issue, especially for a high end device like this. I have convinced myself today that the wobble is a production quality shortcoming. It will likely not affect day to day use, as I have frankly not noticed the slight wobble of my SP1 in the last 5 years. So I think I will accept my device. I'm not happy with the mechanical flaw. I expected a more sturdy kickstand functionaltiy in the complete radial arc. I think it is worth sending this feedback to microsoft and their QA. I'll let you know more when I know more.

 

[theveterans]

what is your batch number?

03567172053

 

[Wevenhuis]

Sent feedback. Advice was to send it in. Not going to do it at this time. In daily use, it hasn't been an issue to date. Just left with a bitter taste when it comes to expectations.