Returning SP3 for the 3rd time...

[spasell]

I have removed every single app that I had installed, all Office 365 Programs, did a complete refresh and wiped my machine clean, reinstalled Office 365 and NONE of the other programs that I actually need. I did this twice in the last week.

Last night, I arrived at hotel, booted up my SP3, it was at 92% (was at 99% when I left home 1.5 hours before that).

I opened up IE, scoured the internet for information on CES and other news of the day.

1 hour later, I was at 72%. Now, this has been going ever since the last firmware was put into place. Sorry, but I have done through everything I can think of and nothing has changed it. Funny thing is that it's not even running hot, fan isn't on, etc. I have the original first released version i5 256 model.

This is going to be the last time I do this. I had to return it 2 times before...once for yellow banding on the left side of the screen. 1 time as it was stuck in loop and would not get out despite tech's best efforts to help me.

Perhaps the 3rd time will work. But if not, I will seek my $$ back and return to the MacAir, which I loathe to do mainly because I had convinced the powers that be that the SP3 would be the perfect device for our field sales folks. After testing this for this long, I look like a complete fool. I'm just thankful that I didn't order 28 of these which was the original plan.

 

[Ltauhmise]

I honestly don't know why you are having so many issues with your SP3. I bought my second-hand off ebay, the i5 model, and it's been nothing but beautiful for me. Battery life is excellent and have never experienced any crashes.

My recommendation: Make sure you don't have auto brightness turned on for the screen. That will drain battery as it is constantly readjusting dimness. It may also help to let your battery completely drain and allow it to charge up again. Make sure you have the latest firmware installed by checking the pc settings tab. If all else fails, to a hard reset on your device. Not a soft reset and start with another clean slate.

It may also help to run a virus scan. There are plenty of dllhost.exe virus's out there which will infect a computer harddrive and run tasks in the background which eat up resources and put your SP3 under heavy load, thus draining more battery.

It's a shame you are even considering mac products. The SP3, and Microsoft, are THE hardware and software company for working business professionals. I'd never consider a mac product myself. Good luck with your troubleshooting.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Which browser are you using? From what I understand Chrome eats battery life up quite a bit. I have found the MUI version of IE to be the most efficient.

 

[CliveSinclair]

You mentioned 'field sales folk'. Am I right in thinking your colleagues also have SP3's? Do they have any similar problems?

My i7 256gb is nearly 6 weeks old and is all working fine so far. I agree with others - turn off auto brightness and Chrome browser is a real battery hog - look at the number of processes it uses (if you use it that is).

 

[spasell]

You mentioned 'field sales folk'. Am I right in thinking your colleagues also have SP3's? Do they have any similar problems?

My i7 256gb is nearly 6 weeks old and is all working fine so far. I agree with others - turn off auto brightness and Chrome browser is a real battery hog - look at the number of processes it uses (if you use it that is).

Trust me when I tell you I have done all of that and more, many times, to no avail.

The field sales people have not "yet" received this product as I am responsible for making that decision. As you can tell, I REALLY want to like the product and want to recommend it. With the pen features, how lightweight the device is, it's a perfect fit for what they would need it for. They all carry MacAir's but use their mobile phones for photo's in the field and documentation. They currently upload photos and drawings from phones onto servers and then mark up the photos. As you can imagine, the SP3 would eliminate that step completely and make life easier.

Until this is resolved, and this will be my last attempt, as much as I want to make it easier, I cannot give a PO for 28+ devices that cost $1300+ each given the issues that I have had thus far.

To their credit, the Microsoft employees have been excellent in helping to resolve this and made it painless from a service standpoint. At some point, however, this being the 3rd time, the law of averages says this time I should be good to go. If not, simply stated, I cannot recommend it nor use it myself going forward.

 

[spasell]

Wow. Count me as impressed. I just called Microsoft Tuesday evening and I walked in my house and there's my replacement SP3. They did tell me it's not a refurbished machine so I am hoping that is the case.

Hopefully this cures all the ills.