Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Bugs + Defects

[TheCudder]

Normal IE also has same issues and firefox

I had no issues with Firefox on the SP4.

 

[Iain_S]

for the graphics driver issues I have manually updated to the latest intel reference drivers to see if that fixes the crashing issue with edge, will report back after some testing.

 

[Iain_S]

ok on initial testing it seems to resolve the driver crashing in edge, the pinkish colours and the changing colours while scrolling.

 

[ryankelsey7]

I'm having identical issues. Also I've noticed that the screen appears to be too soft. When I write with the pen or touch the screen it kinda distorts like touching a TV flat panel LED screen. Not as severe as that but noticeable when writing. Neither my SP1, S1 or S2 have this problem. My internet connection is so intermittent despite fast connection. And my SP4 always shows that I'm connected in the taskbar. Ive only had it one day and I'm trying to wait for a fix, but it sucks that I basically have an expensive beautiful paper weight.

 

[todkapuz]

popping started after the friday update.... was fine after the initial update...

 

[todkapuz]

While normal pressure I don't notice the softness... but when I was calibrating my pen pressure for use in my drawing application, it is clear that the front glass gives enough to distort the screen behind it.... .I guess that is the trade off.... stiffer glass may be thicker, heavier, and cause more visual parallax..

also noticed that the pen marker is attracted to place taht is not the end of the nub, but a bit back from it... I've not experienced this with wacom products... ..

 

[Kleich]

I also have no sound and occasional screen tint. Any solutions?

 

[FXi2]

A power cover version of the type cover would be great though I fear it wouldn't be economical for them to make. Dream would be one with a fingerprint reader which I currently have and love to pieces.

 

[jamessmooth]

Hi all, glad to find this info. I'm having similar experiences.
1) touchscreen stops working. I quit using Edge and opted for Chrome and it's happened LESS, but it still happens. Have to hard reboot, which takes about 5 mins. As someone else said, spending upwards of 1k for this thing, this should never happen (mine was 1.5k)

2) using Edge makes some sort of driver fail.. Takes about 30 seconds to recover touchscreen functionality. Different issue from above. Again, using Chrome fixes this.

3) battery life is atrocious. I haven't done anything taxing on the system to warrant poor battery life, it just is what it is.

Other than that, the thing is gorgeous. I just can't recommend this to anyone right now, but as someone said Microsoft has been issuing updates daily, so hopefull this will get ironed out. Hell, the wait list for most of these things is a month, so if you order now it should be figured out by then!

 

[Jinhui Liang]

Got my surface pro 4 on Oct 26, went dead after 4 days. Dead means one minute I am watching netflix the next minute it blacked out and won't turn on. Went to the store and exchanged for one on Friday, a bit of trouble since I thought the receipt is from morning Taco bell and threw it out.... A weird coincidence is one of my good friend is using surface pro 3 and the second one (the first one exchanged due to heating) died on the same day..15 days before warranty.

 

[zulu208]

might cancel my order of sp4 .... and go get a discounted sp3. costco won't ship any of the i7 until nov 30th, so hopefully some of this stuff gets fix. I am a bit concern about the light bleed, especially on a $2k device!

 

[Ian Drake]

also noticed that the pen marker is attracted to place taht is not the end of the nub, but a bit back from it... I've not experienced this with wacom products... ..

Use the calibration tool to get the marker right where you expect it. Worked awesome for me!

 

[rgc6789]

I've twice gotten a BSOD with the graphics driver - latest this morning - the other was Friday.

 

[rocketboy]

I went to the local MS Store today really wanting to do the trade-in for a new SP4. I've been reading these forums the last 3 days and wondered about these reported faults. In about an hour of testing at the store, (I needed to really put the pen through its paces in several programs) I noticed:

- The pink screen discoloration after the graphics driver failed mid-session (Win10 was nice enough to alert the driver failure so I'm sure of this).
- Eraser button didn't seem to start OneNote or Cortana (although I'm not sure if that's just configuration).
- Boot times seem to be fast with and with out keyboard.
- Cool to the touch (i5 version)
- Battery readout of time remaining was very short (~4 hours), but with some power tweaks I got it to say 6+
- The pen is completely bonkers in Corel Painter 2016. I know how to use and tweak this program. There's aggressive skipping and it seems as if palm rejection isn't always in play. Fresh paint and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro (tablet) didn't show this behavior so I'm assuming it's software specific.

I really wanted to get this. The device is beautiful and the keyboard is amazing. But ultimately, I didn't want to trade a perfectly functioning SP2 for something more expensive and about 80% there. Gonna look at this again in a few months. Methinks a week 1 purchase is too aggressive for me.

 

[elindalyne]

They literally just shipped a bunch of updates that include a new graphics driver.

Also the buttons probably didn't work because they didn't actually pair the pens to the devices. The digitizer will still work allowing you to draw and whatnot, but none of the buttons will work and palm rejection doesn't really work without pairing...

 

[Steven0706]

I went to the local MS Store today really wanting to do the trade-in for a new SP4. I've been reading these forums the last 3 days and wondered about these reported faults. In about an hour of testing at the store, (I needed to really put the pen through its paces in several programs) I noticed:

- The pink screen discoloration after the graphics driver failed mid-session (Win10 was nice enough to alert the driver failure so I'm sure of this).
- Eraser button didn't seem to start OneNote or Cortana (although I'm not sure if that's just configuration).
- Boot times seem to be fast with and with out keyboard.
- Cool to the touch (i5 version)
- Battery readout of time remaining was very short (~4 hours), but with some power tweaks I got it to say 6+
- The pen is completely bonkers in Corel Painter 2016. I know how to use and tweak this program. There's aggressive skipping and it seems as if palm rejection isn't always in play. Fresh paint and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro (tablet) didn't show this behavior so I'm assuming it's software specific.

I really wanted to get this. The device is beautiful and the keyboard is amazing. But ultimately, I didn't want to trade a perfectly functioning SP2 for something more expensive and about 80% there. Gonna look at this again in a few months. Methinks a week 1 purchase is too aggressive for me.

Did you ren the 'Surface' app to initialize the pen?

 

[rocketboy]

Negative. I tried to find a way to calibrate the pen, but didn't find anything in the settings. Is that a separate app? Still reading mixed reviews about the new firmware from yesterday.

Interesting bit about pairing the pen. I noticed that Bluetooth was on and picked up the pen, but I just assumed you had to have Bluetooth on to use the pen (which seems like another battery suck channel). At this point, I'll sit this out for a while since the Surface is a secondary computer for me anyway.

 

[Steven0706]

Negative. I tried to find a way to calibrate the pen, but didn't find anything in the settings. Is that a separate app? Still reading mixed reviews about the new firmware from yesterday.

Interesting bit about pairing the pen. I noticed that Bluetooth was on and picked up the pen, but I just assumed you had to have Bluetooth on to use the pen (which seems like another battery suck channel). At this point, I'll sit this out for a while since the Surface is a secondary computer for me anyway.

The 'Surface' app is kind of calibration process. I fixed mine after open it. It is preinstalled and it should be very big in your start menu.

 

[GSOgymrat]

Since the last update I have not had the screen color change problem, the back camera works and multiple touches to start an app has improved but I am still having problems with the display driver stopping and recovering and with new windows occasionally crashing. I went the Microsoft store merely to inquire whether the display driver issue was just a bug that would be resolved with an update and the salesperson insisted I make an appointment, which was scheduled yesterday. The technician saw how the display driver was restarting repeatedly, particularly with Edge but also with IE. He noticed some websites work fine and other websites repeatedly restart the driver every time the page is refreshed. He reinstalled the graphics driver and came the conclusion that the problem is related to Windows 10 and the Surface Pro 4 graphics processing particular websites. He said that Microsoft was still fixing bugs and that eventually it should be resolved. He said there was nothing wrong with the hardware, which I also assumed wasn't the problem. In the meantime I am still using Surface Pro 3 with the new Type Cover.

 

[Ian Drake]

Use the "Surface" app to calibrate pressure sensitive. For pointer accuracy type: WINDOWS KEY -> Calibrate. In the list you should see the calibration app. Basically it marks targets on the corners of the screen that you tap on. My pen initially drew about 3 pixels below where I thought it should, but after calibration is was perfect.