Why do expert reviewers never have any issues with new gadgets that regular users do?

[saintforlife]

The Surface Pro 4 has received overwhelming positive reviews from most sites including Anandtech, The Verge, MobileTechReview, BoredAtWork, WindowsCentral etc. But I don't think even one reviewer brought up any issues with excessive heat, battery drain or loud fan noise. But if you read these forums, you see that a lot of people are facing these problems.

Is it because the reviewers just didn't use the machine long enough in their quest to get out a review quickly? Did these reviewers get a different SP4 from the rest of us? How come none of them reported any issues with the SP4 that seem to be bothering a lot of users here?

 

[WildKarrde]

Re: Why do expert reviewers never seem to have any issues with new gadgets that regular users do?

Probably because they are experts, and know how to tweak settings to make things work the way they want them to.

I almost never have the major problems some people do with new electronics or games. That's not to say everything is always perfect out of the box, but I've come to expect the necessity of tweaking new machines, and putting a little effort into making things work the way I want them to. I've had tons of little annoying issues with my SP2, but I know how to fix all of them, and they are negligible when compared to the amount of usefulness I have gotten out of it, so anyone who asks me how I like my SP2 will almost always only hear glowing praise.

I'm probably going to buy an SP4 at Best Buy in a couple hours if they have the i5 256GB version though, (and they have a good return policy) so I'll let you know if the SP4 kicks my ***.

 

[boltman2013]

Re: Why do expert reviewers never seem to have any issues with new gadgets that regular users do?

It IS user error usually the ID10T one

 

[GSOgymrat]

I was pleased that Lisa Gade with MobileTechReview pointed out there were bugs with Surface Pro 4 at launch.

 

[John M Beauchemin]

It's been my observation that the majority of people, no matter what the product is, do not post threads on forums telling everyone that their device is working just fine and that they are happy with it. People only post threads when something is wrong and they are frustrated or searching for help. So just because most threads are about problems, don't take that to mean that it is a representative cross-section of ALL Surface owners experiences.

 

[sanshiro]

Stern from the WSJ got a faulty Surface Book and didn't wait to fix it or get a working unit - she just plastered her non-recommendation in her review.

 

[taymur]

The Surface Pro 4 has received overwhelming positive reviews from most sites including Anandtech, The Verge, MobileTechReview, BoredAtWork, WindowsCentral etc. But I don't think even one reviewer brought up any issues with excessive heat, battery drain or loud fan noise. But if you read these forums, you see that a lot of people are facing these problems.

Is it because the reviewers just didn't use the machine long enough in their quest to get out a review quickly? Did these reviewers get a different SP4 from the rest of us? How come none of them reported any issues with the SP4 that seem to be bothering a lot of users here?

Because people are whinny, and can measure the sound of the fan with an accuracy of 0.1 db using only there ears.

And the refresh rate of their eyes are higher than 60fps so they notice screen flickering.

No seriously, all laptops do weird things. Nothing in life is perfect.

Try to enjoy something called content. And I think a good way to start meditation. Just try to thank the god you worship that you are in one piece. Breathing.

 

[ryankelsey7]

I've never had the battery drain issue with my SP4 i5 128, or the screen flicker. But I have had the speaker popping and display driver crashing, slow internet and general unreliable performance. That was the first couple of days. Lately it has been better but still lacking. Right now my SP1 and S2 is out performing my SP4. But I've only had it a few days. I barely use it because the performance is not consistent. I'll give it two weeks before I really start to think about returning it or exchanging it.

 

[bugelrex]

The SP4 reviewers were given 'hand picked' pre-production models directly from Microsoft.

 

[RichBrown68]

Keep in mind that there are MILLIONS of these things being sold.... and maybe a couple dozen reviewers. The only way I'd expect to see these bugs mentioned in reviews is if they were so prevalent that nearly every single unit had the bug. The fact that they don't mention these bugs means that they rarely pop up enough for them to be seen by the reviewers.

 

[ioaniro]

Also windows hello was disabled for the reviewers. Maybe some other small things were disabled too and were activated/messed up in the first day patch?

 

[badMojo69]

Stern from the WSJ got a faulty Surface Book and didn't wait to fix it or get a working unit - she just plastered her non-recommendation in her review.

Its a gen 1 Microsoft product I recommend skipping it too.

 

[Daniel Rubino]

So a bit of a heads up on this: our review units (and this was for everyone) had pre-release software/firmware. As such, there were bugs and even I reported them to Microsoft e.g. the screen tint issue, I had a PIN delay, etc. all of which they said they knew about and it would be fixed for release day. Sure enough, on the night before release a firmware patch came out enabling Windows Hello, etc.

Microsoft did reviewers a favor by getting us hardware this early (2 weeks out from release) but there was the big caveat that this was unfinished SW. They could have said "we'll hold until it's ready" but then reviewers would have gotten hardware that night before sales to the public. Reviewers/sites hate getting HW when the public can just buy and review it themselves.

In other words, it is a challenge to review a unit with pre-release software so everyone does the best they can. This leads to reviewers focusing on the hardware and any major issues while acknowledging that there may be software bugs that will be patched in the first few weeks.

Having said that, it is true that we all did not experience all the issues people are having. So some of it is hit and miss. In fact, I'd say the Surface Book due to its nature has way more issues than the SP4, which is still running well for me save the occasional standby bug which is likely Windows Hello/driver related.

 

[sflxn]

Yeah, these same apologists were saying the same thing around the same time as SP3. No throttling or heat issues, must be your device. A year later, SP3 is known for extreme throttling and heat/battery problems. They actually don't contribute anything to helping solve this situation. Microsoft is a big, rich corporation. They don't need yes men to defend them.

The battery drain and heat/fan issues are real. I think the heat/fan is all due to the battery and not electronic components. It would explain why so many people experience it when they plug in to charge. The batteries are chemical reactions. It's hard to control which why it goes. A little imperfection in the chemistry (remember the Sony lawsuits?) can cause them to go bad. I suspect the fan comes on to cool the battery during charging to prevent damage to the electronics.

 

[WildKarrde]

Its a gen 1 Microsoft product I recommend skipping it too.

It's a 4th gen Microsoft product.

 

[badMojo69]

It's a 4th gen Microsoft product.

What?
Microsoft's first laptop ever: meet the Surface Book - TechSpot

 

[onysi]

Stern from the WSJ got a faulty Surface Book and didn't wait to fix it or get a working unit - she just plastered her non-recommendation in her review.

I actually wanna see her review. She's a tough lady. She's a former verge so she picked up some nasty habits of verge troll reviews.

 

[taymur]

Don't you think its a bit concerning that the software was not ready even 2 weeks before launch?

did they do testing? where was the quality checks?

:S

 

[m4600]

This is a brand new chip-set from Intel and Microsoft wanted to release it as soon it became available: to be the first one out of the gate and to beat Apple to the punch. They gambled on Intel's ability to fix the drivers in-time. That didn't pay off.

 

[Ten Four]

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" --Upton Sinclair
There is a lot of pressure to write positive reviews of products that are supplied for free by potential or existing advertisers. When you have a website focusing on Microsoft products you can't afford to drive away Microsoft fans and customers by being too objective. This isn't done intentionally in most cases, and reviewers believe they are being objective but you can't be when your paycheck depends on writing positive reviews. Note that Consumer Reports purchases cars and other products on the open market and will not test items given to them by the manufacturer. You can bet that any product handed to a reviewer by the company that makes it has been carefully massaged to make it as good as possible.