Surface- The issues

[adesonic]

I'm on the fence about getting this tablet. I am using windows 8 on my desktop and I love it. I am sure the apps will come with time. Seeing all of your gripes has me a bit wary of getting one though. Here are a few questions from me

1. Is IE 10 a full IE 10? Meaning, how limited will I be as far as what sites i can go to and will they show up as mobile versions or full versions?

2. Is Wifi really that bad? because for an item that doesn't have the data radio on it, that's a bit suckish

3. How limited is the Microsoft office suite compared to what you would use on a desktop?

4. Would you rather use your keyboard to type or the screen being that there are issues with it.

5. Has MSFT posted anything talking about updates to the device? I'm on the side of faith saying MSFT will make the proper updates to fix all of these issues rather swiftly.

Also, 10 best useful apps? GO!!!

IE10 always returns desktop web pages for me and it is quick!

WIFI for me is bloody awesome, way, way better than my nexus 7

Office does what I need - my needs are basic though - letters, and a few spreadsheets

I got both the type and touch covers, type keyboard is amazing, touch keyboard is good, on screen is on a par with the Ipad IMHO

I already downloaded and installed several MS updates, I have no lag or stutter issues with my surface

 

[inteller]

Music app is a hot mess. Pictures and Videos too.

Everything else is fine.

When a decent media player app hits Windows Store, like XBMC or Plex, I'll be ok.

 

[Sonic77]

Does this image look like a smooth gradient or does it show banding on your Surface RT?

 

[Wyn6]

The image looks pretty smooth on my Surface. If I blow it up I can see a little banding then, of course. Outside of that it looks fine? Are you getting banding on your device?

 

[Nataku4ca]

Has anyone seen a setting to enable a low battery warning? I was in the middle of an email earlier and the unit just shut down due to low battery with no warning.

you will need to go to power options, select power saving (iirc) then goto advanced settings, there is a whole whack you can set, from how much is low, notify or not, to the action to do when the battery hit that level

 

[DougB541#CB]

Music app is a hot mess. Pictures and Videos too.

Everything else is fine.

When a decent media player app hits Windows Store, like XBMC or Plex, I'll be ok.

The issue with Xbox Music is it clearly is best at just streaming music/playlist. it seems more Spotify ish than music curating like Zune was.

For my use it'll work fine as I have created playlist on my desktop so its all synced up in that regard...but a true Zune desktop replacement this is not.

 

[Sonic77]

The image looks pretty smooth on my Surface. If I blow it up I can see a little banding then, of course. Outside of that it looks fine? Are you getting banding on your device?

Extremely bad banding on a Asus Vivo RT.

I thought it may be a Win RT issue but looks like it's just the Asus model,
I tried 2 others as well at the store all the same.

Here's a quick photo of what I see on the Asus Vivo RT:

 

[Sonic77]

Any one try using HDMI out to a 1080P TV ?

My Vivo RT is a mess their as well, its clearly not using full color , videos look like 8 bit !

 

[DougB541#CB]

yikes...Surface comes out fine...plug can be a bit wonky since its at an angle though.

 

[jhoff80]

Any one try using HDMI out to a 1080P TV ?

I have, and it works great.

 

[Sonic77]

I have, and it works great.

Thanks , looks like the 1080P video in the Vivo RT needs a driver update.

 

[xirsteon]

So I read this forum on Saturday or Sunday and I didn't have any major issues until today when I started experiencing the music stutter issue. It only happens during a track or at the beginning of a new track when the screen is off.

When I'm streaming via iHeart or TuneIn Radio, no issues. I really hope they fix this soon because it's maddening. Yes it's a small issue but maddening at the minimum. I'll also check the track tags as that might be a reason for the stuttering.

Also, I experienced the Music app forcibly serving me ads several times when I tried to play my own music. This is unacceptable. I can understand if I was streaming from the xbox music I wasn't.

Contemplating on calling to complain as I use my tablet alot for music.

The first time I tried XB smartglass, during the test the whole screen went fuzzy and it looks like the one u see when the gpu is overheating. I quickly shutdown the tablet and rebooted. Tried it and it was fine after that.

So far, I've found a way around the flash crap, the removable music library issue as posted on several blogs. I sure hope they are reading these blogs and hopefully release a bug fix soon.

 

[EDDS]

i have, and it works great.

+1

 

[Wyn6]

Extremely bad banding on a Asus Vivo RT.

I thought it may be a Win RT issue but looks like it's just the Asus model,
I tried 2 others as well at the store all the same.

Here's a quick photo of what I see on the Asus Vivo RT:
Click to view quoted image

Yeesh. That's heinous.

 

[onysi]

I have some networking problem right now. my surface disconnects when it goes on idle or sleep, and when I turn it back on, it doesn't auto connect to the internet. I have to manually 'disconnect' and 'connect' it again from the list. its not a big deal but its a hassle when I need to browse right away for something.

 

[Nataku4ca]

I have some networking problem right now. my surface disconnects when it goes on idle or sleep, and when I turn it back on, it doesn't auto connect to the internet. I have to manually 'disconnect' and 'connect' it again from the list. its not a big deal but its a hassle when I need to browse right away for something.

have you tried removing that wireless network's profile then re-adding it?

 

[Darren Lay]

The paint on the back of my Surface has started to peel off. It's ironic because I was reading the Q&A between the Surface 2 developers and Reddit, and someone asked about a trade-in program for current RT owners who want to upgrade. I thought about the idea and that I would get good trade-in value because my Surface is almost mint aside from minor scruff marks along the right corner edge. So, today I was using my Surface when I felt something on the back that felt like a piece of paper was stuck. Without thinking, I peeled it off and saw it was black. I looked at the back of my Surface, and to my horror, the paint had peeled off and the metal silver color was showing.

Is this common to have the paid peel off?

 

[Jeffrey Fox]

Phantom button presses, that's an issue I've been experiencing for a while now. Occasionally after using the tablet for a few minutes I'll see the screen registering frequent and rapid button presses. It's the very top right & left corners and it stops after I push the power button to put it to sleep. It's hit or miss how often it happens or when it happens. It's done it while I play games, while I'm using Office on the desktop, however I don't think it's ever done it while I've been using Internet Explorer. Very curious.

 

[Narr]

I have electricity flowing through the back of my device when charging, not enough to shock but it's too uncomfortable to hold whilst I'm charging the device.