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My Thoughts On the Surface Pro 2

TheMexicanCowboy

New Member
From personal experience I think the Americans are sometimes over patriotic and frequently forget that they're not the only country in the world, but I don't think it's the American way to give up on a product as quickly as the OP has.

It truly is not the American way. Especially since he didn't really give the product a chance. His complains are with the Microsoft store which I agree gave him bad service, but still he had a great product in his hands and not at one point in his post does he ever acknowledge that nor does he ever say if he had a problem with the surface not netting his needs.
 

godson594

Active Member
From personal experience I think the Americans are sometimes over patriotic and frequently forget that they're not the only country in the world, but I don't think it's the American way to give up on a product as quickly as the OP has.

I didn't even think he was American when reading his post actually...

As long as you guys don't give a crap about bad hardware and faulty software the longer it takes for the huge companies to make the product right. I find it insane that you guys are so forgiving on something that cost close to 1500.00 with tax. Over patriotic Americans don't exist when it comes to the world of electronics.. you know why? Nothing is made here in the USA really so it's damn near impossible to be "patriotic" - Sure Microsoft is an American company, but they also benefit from tax breaks and bla bla from outsourcing over-seas wooohooo
 
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godson594

Active Member
It truly is not the American way. Especially since he didn't really give the product a chance.

This was my BIGGEST mistake - I gave the product a chance and found work arounds for majority of software/driver problems but now I'm stuck with the damn thing. I'm beyond my return policy and have had 2 BAD hardware units. Soon as they release the 1k hold on my debit card I get to start ANOTHER support case and beg for a refund or a good unit. I want my money back to be honest.
 

macmee

Active Member
I didn't even think he was American when reading his post actually...

As long as you guys don't give a shit about bad hardware and faulty software the longer it takes for the huge companies to make the product right. I find it insane that you guys are so forgiving on something that cost close to 1500.00 with tax. Over patriotic Americans don't exist when it comes to the world of electronics.. you know why? Nothing is made here in the USA really so it's damn near impossible to be "patriotic" - Sure Microsoft is an American company, but they also benefit from tax breaks and bla bla from outsourcing over-seas wooohooo

The obsessive American patriotism doesn't really relate to consumer electronics, and the hardware in the Surface Pro 2 is quite good for its form factor. If I wanted a machine with an i7 and 32GB of RAM then I would have bought a desktop, thanks.

It truly is not the American way. Especially since he didn't really give the product a chance. His complains are with the Microsoft store which I agree gave him bad service, but still he had a great product in his hands and not at one point in his post does he ever acknowledge that nor does he ever say if he had a problem with the surface not netting his needs.

Agreed completely.
 

Buelligan

Member
This was my BIGGEST mistake - I gave the product a chance and found work arounds for majority of software/driver problems but now I'm stuck with the damn thing. I'm beyond my return policy and have had 2 BAD hardware units. Soon as they release the 1k hold on my debit card I get to start ANOTHER support case and beg for a refund or a good unit. I want my money back to be honest.

I've been following your posts for awhile now and just had to put in my 2 cents. First, I too am not discounting your experience so far, I am sure it is all true and VERY frustrating, sounds like it really has been very trying. I am sorry you have had such problems. I must say the backlash you have gotten from this community is that you are being so harsh on a new product that seems to work extremely well for the MAJORITY of users. Yes there are some cases of the issues you describe and maybe some others. But the fact is, many users are not experiencing these issue and are VERY MUCH pleased with the Surface experience as a WHOLE. So for you to "call out" Microsoft as a whole because of "your" bad experience, and that of a few others, is rubbing those of us who THOUROUGHLY enjoy our new Surfaces the wrong way. For you to call it "insane" for us to be forgiving of a product that "we" find to be everything we needed and more seems to again rub those of us who have not had these issues the wrong way.

I purchased the Surface Pro I 128 and have owned it for 9 months. I must say it is one of the highest quality products I have ever owned! Yes there have been a hiccup or two but all was easily fixed with some light reading and updates. The hardware itself is still like it was the day I opened it. I even knocked it off a table once and it was completely unaffected. Extremely tough piece of hardware. I have not one regret in my $999 purchase. This thing has taken EVERYTHING I throw at it without any problems so far.

SO, based on your flawed logic. I must say, based on "MY EXPERIENCE", the Surface product and the service I have received from Microsoft, that this is absolutely the GREATEST AND MOST INNOVATIVE piece of hardware on the market today!!!

See my point? You cannot come to an "fan" site and essentially call us "insane" for enjoying the product with very few issues in our particular experiences and not expect a degree of backlash. I agree some of it was a bit much, some may need to chill a little. Condemning a product and a company as a whole because you had a bad experience does not help the situation AT ALL. Myself and many others feel MS has made a commendable attempt to accelerate the mobile market with the new changes they are making. Have there been some road bumps, sure, but that happens. The more time the "naysayers" spend with this "new" system the more they realize the incredible potential before them. I for one look forward to and thoroughly enjoy the ride so far.

So I am truly sorry for the bad experience you and a "few" others have had but I and "many" others have not. I truly hope you find the "perfect" setup to fulfill your needs, but for me this Surface does JUST THAT. Good luck on your search and have a great day!!
 
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godson594

Active Member
I have no doubts in my mind there are people without issues. I'm not crazy enough to think every single Surface is broken. I don't call out happy users at all, I said it's insane for someone who has problems with their device to not be upset about it. It's people who have issues and don't complain or don't ask for refunds or expect anything better that are also part of the problem. How can Microsoft improve if people with problems don't speak up? It is a FAN site I understand - but if I missed a rule somewhere that says you can only post your good experience then I have made a mistake by being part of this community.

This community craps on those who are having bad issues, hell read how everyone bashed the OP's writing style. I got called a Microsoft Fanboy when I posted my first problem... Trust me at this point I don't expect much from anyone here, my only hopes are that people who are on the fence about buying may stumble upon my issues and research it more and possibly hold out until Microsoft has the Hardware/software kinks ironed out before choosing this as a work device.

I WANT to be a happy customer. Trust me I don't enjoy having to be so letdown by something I had been looking forward to since before the SP1...
 

TheMexicanCowboy

New Member
This was my BIGGEST mistake - I gave the product a chance and found work arounds for majority of software/driver problems but now I'm stuck with the damn thing. I'm beyond my return policy and have had 2 BAD hardware units. Soon as they release the 1k hold on my debit card I get to start ANOTHER support case and beg for a refund or a good unit. I want my money back to be honest.

As far as I could tell the OP never had problems with the hardware but with the accessories he bought for it. I dont say its ok to just try to work around faulty hardware or for a company as big as Microsoft to be releasing products when not all of them are ready for a large consumer base, but I do say that if your on a forum about the surface products then talk about the actually surface, there are places where to complain about the customer service but this is not it. Yes post your story about the problems you faced or about how you love the product so long as it stays about that, the product itself. If you suffered something faulty with the product post about it so that people know the risks about it or so that people can offer up solutions they have found for the faults. Yet not every product will always be 100% ready straight out of the box. Go onto any forum and I'm sure you'll find many people complain about some faults with their purchase, what matters is, is the company trying to make amends, is the company fixing the problems, and are these problems a comment trend. Which based on these forums most people seem to love their product and haven't found any right of the box problems. I'm sorry you have had bad luck with a product that many people here love but also try to recognize weather or not your the norm for this product
 

godson594

Active Member
I'm sorry you have had bad luck with a product that many people here love but also try to recognize weather or not your the norm for this product

Well - I have had (2) Brand new Surface Pro 2 units that have the creaky/squeaky/crunchy top left bezel. This is what pushed me over the edge. All the software&firmware bugs weren't the end of the world to me because I had high hopes for hot fixes & updates to cure those problems.

I'm giving them a THIRD chance - Some people may glance over this little fact but imagine this is your actual work device, everytime you need to replace it that means you have to format old one, "drive to fedex to send old one back",install all your programs & move all your files over once you actually get the new one. I have to have someone home to be able to sign for the new device while having a 1k hold on my debit card. Time is money, I wouldn't be so annoyed if this was just an RT device... So here I am two months into ownership and still don't have a device I can call "my own". It's cool - again I'm not asking for sympathy or understanding. I just hope nobody else goes thru this.
 

TheMexicanCowboy

New Member
I hope you don't suffer through anymore. I could understand one faulty surface but two in a row truly is bad. As far I can the tell the updates have fixed any problems with the software and firmware. I truly hope no one has to go through what you went, and honestly wish you hadn't. I hope that this third time is your last time and you can finally have a surface to truly call your own and see all that it has to offer. Obviously I love this products and think its the greatest and has so much potential. To me (a college student) it offers up everything that I could possibly want, and I preach this product so much to my friends that I even convinced two to get surfaces, one of them even chose it over a Macbook, and they both love their surface product.
 

Buelligan

Member
I have no doubts in my mind there are people without issues. I'm not crazy enough to think every single Surface is broken. I don't call out happy users at all, I said it's insane for someone who has problems with their device to not be upset about it. It's people who have issues and don't complain or don't ask for refunds or expect anything better that are also part of the problem. How can Microsoft improve if people with problems don't speak up? It is a FAN site I understand - but if I missed a rule somewhere that says you can only post your good experience then I have made a mistake by being part of this community.

This community craps on those who are having bad issues, hell read how everyone bashed the OP's writing style. I got called a Microsoft Fanboy when I posted my first problem... Trust me at this point I don't expect much from anyone here, my only hopes are that people who are on the fence about buying may stumble upon my issues and research it more and possibly hold out until Microsoft has the Hardware/software kinks ironed out before choosing this as a work device.

I WANT to be a happy customer. Trust me I don't enjoy having to be so letdown by something I had been looking forward to since before the SP1...

I didn't mean any ill will towards you at all and welcome your experience as sad as it makes me to hear about it. You are 100% correct that these issues need to be heard. I agree that those with problems need to speak up as well. "They" (MS) should hear about it, just not sure this forum was the place" vent" your frustrations. No there is no rule, I'm sure all experiences are welcome good and bad. From my perspective I felt as if I was somehow a loser or something because we weren't Marching on the grounds of Microsoft with pitchforks and torches because they are evil monsters selling garbage to gullible minions. A bit over stated for humorous effect :) but it was a bit harsh. I wasn't sure you intended it that way but can see how it read that way. But others did reply with respect to defend what a lot of us deem a great product, albeit with a few issues, with some great potential.

This has actually been a great site and excellent resource to compliment my Surface. So if your 3rd unit manages to be acceptable, fingers crossed, I would recommend you give this community another shot as well. That "backlash" you got, was true "passion" for this product and a lot of this community can be very helpful when an issue arises. Very knowledgeable group.

I agree with being an informed buyer. Sharing the bad experiences help me and anyone looking make an educated decision. On the other side of the coin, suggesting not buying it at all because it is essentially useless won't help. Give your specific issues so those with identical needs can decide if that may effect their choice. But there are obviously some scenarios in which it works very well. For me the idea is to collect specific use scenarios so educated decisions can be made based on need. Just as people who don't speak up is not helpful so is not selling units. They need to sell units if they are going to put more effort into improvements. Don't sell Pro 2, guess what, no Pro 3 maybe?

As far as hardware, the loose screens are very worrisome. Mine has turned on in the bag and has gotten very HOT. I have checked the glass very closely since seeing how much that is happening. Nothing wrong with mine, just as tight as day one. So they definitely need to pay attention to where that issue developed because they had it right somewhere.

Well good luck with the 3rd, hope it is solid enough hardware, that you can maybe get the software running smooth with some help from this community.
Have a great night!
 
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demandarin

Active Member
My surface pro 1, 128gb version still working like brand new. Haven't had any issues really. Loved it so much I got rid of all my various android tablets since all they did was collect dust since my surface arrived.

I agree, the op, should've tried exchanging the dock through best buy first, before letting MS store bad experience get to him.
 
Requisite technology background disclaimer: I've been in the technology field for 20 years, much of which I've been hardware agnostic. I, like most of you here I'm guessing, don't mind paying a premium for new and innovative products that fits your needs. The Surface Pro 2 (in theory) embodies this. Many of us were ready to take the plunge with SP1 until we read about poor battery life and other issues and knew that more had to be done to please our practical side and silence our inner geek. Fast forward to SP2, after taking that plunge many are faced with problems that one could've expected to be ironed out by now. (i.e.: supply shortage, firmware debacle, shoddy support, etc...) This IS a fan site and those of us that have written our rants here ARE fans. Our particular scenarios have gone against our instincts and caused us to hate what we want so badly to love.

There is no value in saying "stop complaining, the majority of Surface owners are happy" just as there is no value in saying "Microsoft and/or Surface as a whole is a failure" Its true, the happy don't post; however, the best testament of a company that understands their customer and exhibits the true spirit of innovation is one that silences the unhappy. Just read the threads, many of us have long drawn-out ongoing issues. We are not/would not complain if at any point we felt we received the product/service we paid for.

I for one still have not received (or can even request) a replacement SP2 after the Dec Firmware almost fried my screen off 2 weeks ago. Having spent more than 17 hours (not exaggerating) on the phone with them so far to resolve my issues I can tell you 1st hand, any support rep you speak to or chat with is only as helpful as the computer screen in front of them. When it comes to thinking outside the handbook to satisfy those of us experiencing atypical problems they are next to useless.
 
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