Fixes for my Surface Pro 4 bugs: power, fan, heat, display driver, sound, on screen keyboard?

GSOgymrat

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I just started using the same model as the OP today and I so far I am experiencing the color shift when using Edge, screen flickers and popping sounds on some videos and webpages. The display driver crashes and restarts repeatedly, particularly on webpages with a lot of photos. I have not had it long enough to comment on battery life. This is really a problem.
 
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ttsoldier

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Same specs... exact same problems as OP; additionally enjoyed blue screen of death.. Bought thru MS online store and they are sending out a replacement ASAP. Great service but I fear that the replacement may have same issues.

What do you mean sending a replacement? don't you have to ship back first?
 

tennisfan#AC

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I was having the same battery drain issues and the color shifts and flickering with the Edge browser. So I switched to Internet Explorer as my default browser and today I still have a 35% battery level after right at 7.5 hours of moderate to heavy use. What a difference a day makes!!! I am still experiencing the issues with the touch keyboard just disappearing in the middle of using it. I hope they get this addressed sooner than later because I use the pen for note taking and replying to emails and texts all the time.
 

splendids

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Yep, if I don't open Edge, and use other browsers instead, the heat/power issues are kept at bay. There is still some popping in Firefox. But I've had it on intermittently and mostly sleeping for the last 7 hours and only lost 10% of my power.
 

bradleyj

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I got my i5, 256 Gb, Surface Pro 4 on October 26. I've had the following problems:
When sleeping or plugged in, surface gets hot and fan turns on.
Power drains even when asleep.
Display driver (Windows 8) crashes frequently.
Tint of display changes (variously yellow, green or blue) and/or flickers in Microsoft Edge.
Speakers pop on various websites. Also sometimes when using onscreen keyboard (possibly conflated with website).
Edge constantly chews up CPU and Memory for each tab that is open (like 350 Mb and 2-10% of the CPU per tab of, e.g., facebook or windows central).
On screen keyboard often minimizes for no reason after I've typed in just a couple of letters.

I also have a 256GB i5 SP4, bought from MS store on October 26 and i have the SAME problems (except I haven't noticed the audio issues but i haven't really used audio either). I am about to return this device.
 

bradleyj

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Also, after reading another forum post i discovered my rear camera doesn't work either. This is the most problematic device I have ever bought (and the most expensive).
 

ncxcstud

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I am thinking to buy one of these. Can someone write here whether the issues with battery drain and camera have been fixed?

I think - for me - the battery drain has been greatly improved. Without doing any tests, the 'time remaining' (which I know really doesn't mean anything) would only go up to 7ish hours before the firmware updates that arrived yesterday. Since then, I've seen that number as high as 14 hours.

Again - I know those numbers really don't mean anything, but that is significantly different than what I was seeing last week.

I'm guessing the jury is still out though...
 

James Kirk2

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I have a i5 with 128GB. I got it Oct 26th. I had some of the issues reported in this thread but all issues have been resolved. On day 1 or 2 I did install Google Chrome and made it the default internet browser. I had not noticed until I read this thread that the Edge browser caused the fan to come on and eats the battery, I have experienced this but now just do not use Edge and no problems. The battery remaining est. is not accurate but I would say it will give you at least 6 to 8+ hours of use depending on the screen brightness settings and if you are running games like Star Wars, etc...So far happy , no screen flickering, no fan running in sleep mode. I know it has only been a week since I got it so more use will tell us the battery life story and If I cared that they fix Edge. This seems like the most accurate of the Surface 4 threads.
 

ttsoldier

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I got my sp4 today. I have not done ANY updates from windows update.

I experience none of the problems mentioned. I'm actually scared TO update. lol
 

onysi

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I got my sp4 today. I have not done ANY updates from windows update.

I experience none of the problems mentioned. I'm actually scared TO update. lol

let us know if u get the issue. visit youtube websites, and other flash based websites and ad sites that uses flash. u have to expose these bugs before its too late for u.
 

sflxn

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Battery life is around 1-5 hrs. It's not consistent. Sometime I do nothing, and the battery drains in an hour by itself. Sometime, I do light browsing and get 2 hrs. More often, I get ~5hrs, maybe a little less. I don't trust the battery life indicator one bit. It's so unreliable. I clock the battery life myself. It's a shame that a company that makes the OS can't get power management right. They should just license the technology from Apple or Lenovo. Back in the Windows XP, during the dark days of battery life, Microsoft was actually ahead of Apple but behind Lenovo. Now, they seem like years away from both.

Battery life, heat, fan, and crashing video drivers are the only remaining problems I have with the device, but these are huge problems. The camera not working, video flicker, and audio popping have all been fixed since the latest firmware. I have a feeling battery life can be stabilized in time. The standby time of 24hrs will never be as good as a Mac where it is 30 days. I worry the heat and fan is an artifact of the battery chemistry. Batteries heat up during charging. Maybe the fan powers on to cool it down. The likely fix might be to slow down the charging rate.

Don't bother bringing these to the Microsoft store. Unbelievable denials - "huh, I haven't heard this yet, maybe it's your device. Maybe we should trade it out." or "Maybe you should do a full restore". How about maybe I don't waste more time trying to pseudo fix the problems with your company's crappy software?
 

ttsoldier

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let us know if u get the issue. visit youtube websites, and other flash based websites and ad sites that uses flash. u have to expose these bugs before its too late for u.

I updated... Will visit youtube and some porn site and report back.... Also, My ads are blocked on edge soo... ya.
 

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