Surface Pro 2 1.9 CPU Lot Numbers

[Philtastic]

It seems that not all lot 1350s are made equally. One person had lot 1350 and still had the old processor. See the 2nd post of the following link. If you want to play it safe, you need lot 1351 or higher.

Surface Pro 2.5 i5 4300U 1.9 Ghz 2.5 Ghz - Microsoft Community

 

[MickeyLittle]

It seems that not all lot 1350s are made equally. One person had lot 1350 and still had the old processor. See the 2nd post of the following link. If you want to play it safe, you need lot 1351 or higher.

Surface Pro 2.5 i5 4300U 1.9 Ghz 2.5 Ghz - Microsoft Community

I sure figured Microsoft wouldn't mix/match Lot 1350 with both processors since there are no other defining features on the outside of the box that I can tell of anyhow!

But from this post it does appear that Lot 1350 is going to now be a mixed Lot so buyer beware! As apparently Microsoft made the processor change at some point during that week whenever the 4200u supply ran out.

Thanks for the find philtastic.

 

[benjitek]

SP2 - 512GB Model

The 512GB model is a bit trickier. No one stocks it, it's only available from the online Microsoft Store and is currently the only model they have in stock there. Unfortunately, the lot number isn't in their ordering system -- I called and checked. I also asked if they knew whether the 512GB models had the newer processor chip and was told a change like that wasn't something they'd be made aware of -- and on the 2 calls I made, the phone representative wasn't even aware of the bump in processor. I'm thinking as due to price, the 512GB wasn't a big seller, so they have a bunch of 'older' ones to unload -- so maybe wait until they run out and get them in again, and then order.

A bit off topic, but one point of concern was the support line. One of the sales reps suggested I contact Surface tech-support to see if they knew and gave me the number. I called 3 times (Eastern Time). Once around 11am, again at 1pm and one more attempt around 10pm. All 3 times I went into a wait-for-an-agent music-on-hold queue and just put the phone on speaker while I did other things. 40 minutes, 35 minutes, and 45 minutes for the calls before I gave up and disconnected. Can't say that I'd be someone who needed tech support if I were to purchase, I'm good at figuring stuff out -- but if I genuinely needed support, I'd be frustrated with those wait times. :shocked:

 

[mountainrivera]

I ordered mine from Frys and it is due to arrive tomorrow. The info that they did have is that their current inventory was received on December 27th. As an AD I am thinking they would be getting these directly from microsoft and hopefully I will get the upgraded processor. Thanks to this forum I now know the lot number so will not even open it if it is not 1351. The real issue here is that the newer processor will enhance the resale value when the time to sell and upgrade comes around. I'll report back tomorrow.

 

[benjitek]

IMHO, the slight processor update isn't going to impact resale value of the SP2. I can't imagine the SP3 not having a LTE data connectivity option, and if it does, the SP1 & SP2 would both more or less be considered 1st-gen. Anyone purchasing a used SP without LTE isn't likely to know or care that there was a processor bump. There will be a few who seek out the ones with the newest processor, but by that time there will be other changes under the hood on future versions of the SP2 that those same buyers will be seeking out as well.

 

[mountainrivera]

IMHO, the slight processor update isn't going to impact resale value of the SP2. I can't imagine the SP3 not having a LTE data connectivity option, and if it does, the SP1 & SP2 would both more or less be considered 1st-gen. Anyone purchasing a used SP without LTE isn't likely to know or care that there was a processor bump. There will be a few who seek out the ones with the newest processor, but by that time there will be other changes under the hood on future versions of the SP2 that those same buyers will be seeking out as well.

Respectfully disagree on both points. Anyone looking to buy used would choose the faster processor over the old. The IPad offers both wifi only and LTE and there is still plenty of demand for wifi only devices. Not everyone requires LTE or they may not have the appetitie for another monthly wreless bill. I actually would not pay extra for built in LTE using Freedom Pop when I have no wifi access. With Freedom Pop I'm not limited to wireless with just one device. I am not a Freedom Pop troll just to get that out there

 

[be77solo]

Was curious so I just checked a coworker's SP2 he got last week. It's a Lot# 1350 and is a 4200u cpu. Definitely a mixed lot.

 

[eelpout]

Lot #1351 with a 4300u in exchange for a #1341 from Best Buy. Had to get rid of the one with the low-rez video issue.

I want to commend the service supervisor at the local BB. Not only was he aware of the speed bumped CPU, he actually went through two stock rooms to find a 1351 because at first all he found was 1349's.

One thing freaked me out though. Before doing any update, OS or firmware, I put the SP2 into "Power Saver" mode. The device instantly started balking; you could hardly do anything on it. I finally realized that the drive was going 100% active and hits to it were being slowed down to a crawl. The event log was filled with drive errors of the device being unresponsive. Putting it back into "Balanced," which wasn't easy to do as the UI was affected, would fix it.

After some Internet searching and finding devices similarly infirmed (not SP's necessarily), it was tied to Link State Power Management. Power Saver mode places it at Maximum (under "PCI Express" in advanced options) and there was obviously something screwy with it on this SP2. The upshot is the firmware update (from October) fixed it and Power Saver mode, with Maximum LSPM, works fine now.

I didn't have this issue with the first SP2 (4200u), could be something unique to the 4300u. Just a heads up.

 

[DevShellz]

For what its worth... I just received my Surface Pro 2 256gb 8ram today and was ordered on 12/30. It has a lot number 1350 and is the new 4300U 1.9 processor!! Ordered directly from Microsoft's website.

 

[benjitek]

Respectfully disagree on both points. Anyone looking to buy used would choose the faster processor over the old. The IPad offers both wifi only and LTE and there is still plenty of demand for wifi only devices. Not everyone requires LTE or they may not have the appetitie for another monthly wreless bill. I actually would not pay extra for built in LTE using Freedom Pop when I have no wifi access. With Freedom Pop I'm not limited to wireless with just one device. I am not a Freedom Pop troll just to get that out there

Personally, I wouldn't think to compare a SP2 with an iPad -- maybe to the RT version of it, but not the Pro. You're of course entitled to your own opinion though, thanks for stopping by to share it ;-)

 

[mountainrivera]

Personally, I wouldn't think to compare a SP2 with an iPad -- maybe to the RT version of it, but not the Pro. You're of course entitled to your own opinion though, thanks for stopping by to share it ;-)

I agree the ipad is not even close to the sp2.

 

[benjitek]

I agree the ipad is not even close to the sp2.

Look at you, admitting your mistake ;-) Not always easy to do, nice to see someone can with so little effort...