Does The Surface 2 Still Have Major Issues? Considering Buying One.

[rj135]

I am considering buying a Surface 2. The only thing holding me back are the threads I've read around the web regarding people having major issues (battery drain, dodgy sleep etc). Have these been mostly sorted out now by updates or are people still experiencing them?

 

[WanderingTraveler]

By this point in time, the firmware updates should have sorted out these issues, so it should be fine.

 

[exkerZ]

They still happen. But it isn't as bad as before. The updates have done a lot in fixing the issues.

Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android

 

[xandros9]

I am considering buying a Surface 2. The only thing holding me back are the threads I've read around the web regarding people having major issues (battery drain, dodgy sleep etc). Have these been mostly sorted out now by updates or are people still experiencing them?

Remember, those who have problems are much more vocal than those without.
The Surface 2 hasn't seen massive problems/attention like say, the iPhone 4 antennae snafu.

It won't mean you cant get a defective device, its not likely to happen. (if you do, get it serviced under warranty, return it, etc)

 

[Ed Boland]

I've had my Surface 2 for almost a year now.. Never had any major issues at all.. with the updates along the way, things have improved, but never really saw any "major issues" to begin with. Battery life has always been great..

I love my Surface 2!

 

[rj135]

Thanks for the reassurance guys! I understand the wording of the title is dreadful (sorry).

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Remember, those who have problems are much more vocal than those without.
The Surface 2 hasn't seen massive problems/attention like say, the iPhone 4 antennae snafu.

It won't mean you cant get a defective device, its not likely to happen. (if you do, get it serviced under warranty, return it, etc)

While those who have problems are much more vocal than those without, I suspect that many of those who voiced their problems here over the past many months, no longer own a Surface 2 or have set it aside. It's been pretty hit and miss... those who experienced problems REALLY experienced them, while those who didn't had flawless experiences.

 

[rj135]

I'm going for it! Picking it up tomorrow Is there anything I could do to minimise my risk of it messing up? Perhaps do start up in a particular way/order, or any tips for long term health. After going through hell with an Asus Transformer Book T100, I really want my Surface 2 to work well.

 

[exkerZ]

I'm going for it! Picking it up tomorrow Is there anything I could do to minimise my risk of it messing up? Perhaps do start up in a particular way/order, or any tips for long term health. After going through hell with an Asus Transformer Book T100, I really want my Surface 2 to work well.

Just love it.

Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android

 

[msirapian]

Got my Surface 2 in July, absolutelty love it. I use it daily, both for work (office 2013 included!) and gaming/internet. No drain, the only problem I got is sometimes a glitch regarding headset: when you remove the earplugs, the sounds won't return to the speakers. But you can fix it in the settings or by a restart, and it doesn't happen everytime.

Anyway, go for it ^_^

 

[Tom87]

I'd recommend charging it fully. Then connecting up to WiFi and search for updates. After they have installed and you've restarted, search again for updates and you'll see the firmware update (changing Skydrive to OneDrive etc) Install this and restart and off you go!

I'm not saying that's the "correct" way to get set up, but that's how I did it and my Surface 2 has been flawless.

 

[onlyconnect]

I think it is a great device and a bargain at the current price.

Tim

 

[rj135]

Well, my Surface 2 is ****ed up. After leaving it on charge and set up, it says "No battery detected" and immediately shuts down after I remove the charger. Seems like a hardware issue to me. Looks like I'm returning it, just like my T100 Transformer. Is it too much to ask for something to work right out the box?

Update: So after doing some research I discovered that restarting into the BIOS menu (by holding the power and volume up buttons) and then exiting could solve the problem. It seems to have worked, the battery icon now says 0% plugged in and charging. Even if no more errors occur, do you guys think I should return/exchange it anyway? Could this represent a long term issue with the battery?

 

[Tom87]

Sorry to hear you're having issues with your S2. Quite a peculiar issue too. When I switched mine on for the first time the battery was extremely low on power, so much so that Windows Update advised I charged the device fully before I install updates! I switched the device off and charged it for 3 hours, then rebooted and the battery was full, all was fine after that. I'd give that a go, and failing that, I'd definitely return it for a new one. Keep us updated and all the best.

 

[rj135]

Looks like I'm going to have to exchange it for a new one. After I turned it back on, it said "No battery is detected" again. Starting up in the BIOS menu changes this to "0% Plugged in but not charging". Damn it, I really wanted this to work! I'm giving Microsoft one more try, if my new unit is ****ed up I'm moving onto something else.

 

[xandros9]

Looks like I'm going to have to exchange it for a new one. After I turned it back on, it said "No battery is detected" again. Starting up in the BIOS menu changes this to "0% Plugged in but not charging". Damn it, I really wanted this to work! I'm giving Microsoft one more try, if my new unit is ****ed up I'm moving onto something else.

Sorry to hear that.
Sometimes I wonder how it happens, I've seen stories of people burning through a dozen Palm Pre's, several Lumia 928's, etc.
Maybe you should have them power it up right in the store.

 

[rj135]

MY SURFACE ******* WORKS!!! I am so happy right now :grin: I was so ready to pack it up and return it, but I thought I'd give it one last try to fix it. The only thing I hadn't done was update it. I tried but every time I clicked "Check Now" for updates, it said error. I tried SO MANY TIMES. I restarted it a bunch of times and it had this error each time.

Well yesterday I heard that the store I bought it from (and also work at) was visited by a Microsoft technician a couple of weeks ago and he said that the staff should tell people that this exact issue (No battery detected) might happen and that they need to fully update it to fix it. Kinda annoyed nobody told me that when I was there. So anyway, I tried to download updates again but it kept getting the same error. Finally, somehow, it worked and spent ages looking for updates. I spent a few hours fully updating the Surface only to find that it did not get rid of the no battery detected error. I was so pissed. I shut it down and left it charging overnight, mostly because I was too angry to deal with packing it up.

This morning I got the box out and started packing it up. I unplugged the charging cable and wrapped it up, then I picked up my Surface. I stared at it, utterly disappointed that it didn't work. I thought I'd try turning it on one last time; it only ever worked when plugged in and charging. IT WAS CHARGED 100%. I'm ecstatic right now. I will keep wary of my 2 week return policy, but all seems good for now. I hope this is just the funny "how'd you meet" story on my Surface and I's long journey together.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR COMMENTS

 

[exkerZ]

MY SURFACE ******* WORKS!!! I am so happy right now :grin: I was so ready to pack it up and return it, but I thought I'd give it one last try to fix it. The only thing I hadn't done was update it. I tried but every time I clicked "Check Now" for updates, it said error. I tried SO MANY TIMES. I restarted it a bunch of times and it had this error each time.

Well yesterday I heard that the store I bought it from (and also work at) was visited by a Microsoft technician a couple of weeks ago and he said that the staff should tell people that this exact issue (No battery detected) might happen and that they need to fully update it to fix it. Kinda annoyed nobody told me that when I was there. So anyway, I tried to download updates again but it kept getting the same error. Finally, somehow, it worked and spent ages looking for updates. I spent a few hours fully updating the Surface only to find that it did not get rid of the no battery detected error. I was so pissed. I shut it down and left it charging overnight, mostly because I was too angry to deal with packing it up.

This morning I got the box out and started packing it up. I unplugged the charging cable and wrapped it up, then I picked up my Surface. I stared at it, utterly disappointed that it didn't work. I thought I'd try turning it on one last time; it only ever worked when plugged in and charging. IT WAS CHARGED 100%. I'm ecstatic right now. I will keep wary of my 2 week return policy, but all seems good for now. I hope this is just the funny "how'd you meet" story on my Surface and I's long journey together.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR COMMENTS

Interesting adventure story. Just one very late question, did you ever try a system refresh?

 

[Bobvfr]

Got my wife a Surface 2 after she said "Where is my tablet" after I bought a Surface Pro, they are very different machines, but my wife is very pleased with her 2 and to be honest I wouldn't have been disappointed if I had bought one for myself instead of the Pro (Although I did get the pro at a very good price for a high spec machine).

We did have one problem of the 2 not booting but MS replaced it with no quibble in very quick time.

I do have one thing I would think about when owning any tablet and that is heat, I am guessing my wife's 2 died because of a over heated chip, she didn't do anything specific that I was aware of to kill her's it just died, but just be aware of a lot of chips in a small device with not much way of dissipating the heat compared to a laptop or desktop and if you have that in mind it wouldn't be a bad thing. I don't think I would want to have it standing on a window sill with the sun coming in on it whilst watching an HD movie etc.


Bob

 

[broughshane]

Had my surface 2 since it went on sale and the last bug problem I had with it was around the start of the new year ! since then battery drain been sorted even in sleep with the monthly updates. I can get 8 hrs use mainly the net. Games will shorten this greatly now. Still get the odd rare screen freeze, but closing the touch cover and opening it again clears it up with no real problems. Personally I still enjoy using my surface, more than the IPad I had. Would I swap or get rid of it ! no way. Hope this helps any.