Finally got mine today - glitchy start

[kodos78]

UPDATE: It had to be returned. The unit keeps freezing randomly. Even with all of the available updates. I think I have a lemon. There was another unit available that they swapped me for. I will let you all know if it also is messed up . This is an i7/8GB/256GB unit.

Got mine this morning. Long story, but I pre-ordered, but then was called out of town and wouldn't be able to get it on the 26th. I called my Microsoft store, and they said they'd keep it until the 30th (today!). Very nice service, I even was given the mobile number of the Assistant Store Manager, whom I texted when I was out of town to verify they'd keep the machine. Thankfully, they kept it. I got a 10% educational discount (getting a Master's degree), and so was very happy. Had to run to work though, so didn't get a chance to open it up at the store.

Brought it to work - and not a happy camper. The OS was in a lock screen(?) even though I had never set it up. The video drivers were in some odd state because it clearly wasn't HW accelerated (choppy everything). Couldn't see my Wifi, and had no accounts on the machine. It looked totally hosed. I couldn't tilt the screen back either, it was locked at an almost upright stage.

I powered down the machine (long press till power is totally gone), and then I rebooted. Voila! It went into the setup screen. Phew! Made sure that the first thing I did was to run Windows update after it restored my settings from my Microsoft Account.

Now, installing all of my software on the machine, sync'ing OneDrive, etc. If I were a more panicky end-user I think this machine would have had to go back to the store due to the odd initial state of the machine. I am not sure why it was in that state, but it is very concerning that this is the experience some new users are going to be greeted with.

So far the machine is running like a champ ... installing oodles of software . Hopefully it continues to run well. I have a Thinkpad W541 mobile workstation (Quadro Graphics, true Quad Core i7). I don't need the power of that machine 90% of the time, and it is heavy and has terrible battery life (coaxing 6 hours out of it is barely possible). I upgraded to that machine when my Surface Pro 3 was no longer able to do some of the development I was working on. But I missed my Surface. So when the SurfaceBook was announced, I had to give this thing a shot. So far I am liking the keyboard (but will miss the numpad on the Thinkpad, and the Trackpoint stick).

Will have more impressions as I break this thing in.

 

[ladyruri]

Hahaha OMG exactly the same experience when I turned it on

 

[Stocklone]

After I quit using Edge and got over the initial syncing of everything, this thing has been pretty rock solid. Latest glitch was my pen stopped responding completely while I was using it with GIMP. But a quick reset fixed it.

 

[erzhik]

Yes, same thing happened to me on first start up. Log in screen asking for password, even though I never set it. On top of that, my battery was completely dead when I got it, had to leave it on a charger. First time getting anything electronic related that had a dead battery on the go. Restarted, and everything went fine. Really, really weird.

 

[kodos78]

I've heard from other forums that this state of the machine is because the machine didn't shut down correctly after the initial install of Windows at the factory. Have no idea if that is true or not, but it makes sense. Sad that Microsoft QA didn't catch this. This product is absolutely vital to the rehabilitation of their image - this is a halo product much like a Corvette is for Chevrolet. While they will never sell as many of these as Apple sells iPhones, this product establishes Surface as a high end computing brand. Tarnish the Surface reputation with Surface Book, and the entire line suffers. Produce an immaculate product, and the rest of the lineup shines.

It is quite unfortunate that Microsoft let these things happen. I still love my (second) Surface Book - but man, it would be nice if it "just worked" out of the box.

I felt the same way with the Surface Pro 3 that I bought at launch. The sleep issues, and Wifi issues were aggravating. Loved the machine, nothing else was like it - so it was even worse, seeing its potential marred. Especially (channeling Vader), knowing that others "are not as forgiving as I am" when it comes to their computers. This is where Apple still holds a significant lead - for the most part their stuff "just works" out of the box. I'd never worry about my mom having these issues with her Macbook Air. Sadly, I will still have to recommend that my mom get a Mac ... for now. Microsoft is making many great strides, but not quite there for the "average Joe".

On the other hand, I won't go back to a Mac anytime soon - touch / pen / tablet / PC convergence is where it is at for my use cases. And the Surface Book is a tantalizing preview of that future, and Apple is nowhere near Microsoft in this space. Microsoft just needs to double down on quality and they will be a force to be reckoned with.