What is the expected life time of a Surface Pro 4?

[tonygt92]

I am using a Lenovo Thinkpad X220 i5 with the chicklet style keyboard for a bit more than 5 years and the battery is now completely shot. I can change the battery and continue to use it for a few more years as I only use the laptop for mainly typing, surfing and light gaming (old nostalgia invoking games), but I am thinking of getting a surface to replace it.
Will the surface pro 4 offer similar lifetime (a minimum of 5 years) and reliability as the Thinkpad?

 

[xandros9]

Absolutely not.

Well, assuming nothing breaks, then it should be fine, but if anything goes wrong out-of-warranty whether its the battery wearing out ahead of schedule, the USB port dying or a button breaking, you're going to end up buying another device. You are the last kind of person I'd recommend a Surface Pro to in fact.

The Surfaces are close to opposites of ThinkPads. They are slim, nigh-impossible to repair, glamorous and lack the durability features (even if they are well-made). They're also not anything you can upgrade. I'm not sure you'd like the Type Cover keys, but it's possible it improved a lot since I last banged on a Type Cover 2.

I would either upgrade to a newer X-series or look to see what other business-class PC's are out there.

 

[tonygt92]

Thanks a lot for your input, you have helped me come closer to making a decision, I don't care much for looks and yearn for practicality and stablity, so something along the ThinkPad lines should suffice for me.

 

[camaroz1985]

Don't know of the true life, but my wife and I both have Surface Pro 3s, and they haven't missed a beat. I think we have 5 of them in my extended family, and no one has had any issues that I am aware of (and I would be the first to know since I persuaded them all to get them).

 

[meattray]

They're different experiences but I love my SP4. As stated they're a device that can't easily be fixed but performance is good and I can't complain for my daily usage.

I'd also say it really depends on if you're wanting the 2 in 1 experience or a more conventional laptop going forward as well. The type cover is alright but I don't enjoy it sitting on my lap. I will usually require it to be on a desk or table if I'm doing much typing. Otherwise I just use in tablet mode when I'm surfing on the couch.

 

[dov1978]

I wanted a SP4 but my SP2 with i5 and 8GB Ram is still so good and flawless it's impossible to justify getting rid just yet. It's showing a little wear and tear on the paint work but just shows no signs of giving up

 

[j m robin]

I find generally for the Surface tablet lineup you are looking at a decent lifespan (4 years with newer releases), but you will most definitely have to replace the keyboard as it ages quickly (at least from my experience). This is assuming you can carry a slab of metal and glass wherever you go without breaking it - if that's already a concern I'd just save the $$ and bypass it altogether. It's built to look good, but not to survive a fall.

 

[Keeptechcoolandsimple]

my surface pro 4 still works like new.

it's worth noting though that not just the surface line, but more and more of tech today in general, seem to be made with planned obsolescence.

 

[DJCBS]

I think it depends on how much you use it and the kind of care you give the battery on these devices.

I bought the Surface Pro 3 on launch. It was replaced under warranty already because the connecting port of the type cover died. But apart from that, it gave me no problems.

I recently bought an HP X360 to replace it but only because the fans on the SP3 were driving me nuts and turning on for the slightest of things. The device will turn 3 years old now. I didn't get the Pro 5 for 3 simple reasons:
- The price went up;
- The pen was removed;
- The X360 with the same 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD but a core i7 cost 300€ less than the Pro 5 with the same specs but a core i5. So...it kind of was a no-brainer.

So...I wouldn't count with a minimum of 5 years of life with the battery doing great. The device WILL last you 5 years or even more. But at a certain point you'll have to turn into a wall-lover.
Surface Pro devices don't have the greatest battery life to start with. And depending on the use you give them, that can degrade quicker.

I'd strongly suggest you to look at HP, Dell and Asus laptops instead.

 

[Rainar Angelo]

Well, it all comes down to what you add on to it and how you handle it. Any issue through no fault of your own would be fate. The service in my country (India) for Surface devices is horrible, so personally one would have to be extremely careful. Give it the baby treatment i.e.

 

[Rainar Angelo]

I think it depends on how much you use it and the kind of care you give the battery on these devices.

I bought the Surface Pro 3 on launch. It was replaced under warranty already because the connecting port of the type cover died. But apart from that, it gave me no problems.

I recently bought an HP X360 to replace it but only because the fans on the SP3 were driving me nuts and turning on for the slightest of things. The device will turn 3 years old now. I didn't get the Pro 5 for 3 simple reasons:
- The price went up;
- The pen was removed;
- The X360 with the same 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD but a core i7 cost 300€ less than the Pro 5 with the same specs but a core i5. So...it kind of was a no-brainer.

So...I wouldn't count with a minimum of 5 years of life with the battery doing great. The device WILL last you 5 years or even more. But at a certain point you'll have to turn into a wall-lover.
Surface Pro devices don't have the greatest battery life to start with. And depending on the use you give them, that can degrade quicker.

I'd strongly suggest you to look at HP, Dell and Asus laptops instead.

Dell XPS mate... Just beautiful

 

[sinime]

I think the Surface Pro 4 would have a decent life span.

I'm still using my Surface Pro 2 from December 2013. So I'm at the 3.5 year mark and it's still running well... And I use it for probably 6 hours a day (weekdays) and anywhere from 3-8 hours a day on the weekends.

I'm wanting to say I could run it for the 6 hours without charging in the beginning, and I'm down to having to plug it in after about 4 hours of use at present. It does get a lot of use.

 

[onlysublime]

Yeah, I still have my Surface Pro 2 (i5 with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB storage) and it works like a champ. I mainly use it now for movies and web browsing now because I have a Surface Pro 4 and the new Surface Pro. But works great. Battery life is still pretty close to original (which was always kind of average to begin with). I can't say the same for my Power Cover whose battery life has gotten progressively worse.

 

[tonygt92]

I am going to use it 50% on the desk and the rest as a tablet, and the pen looks appealing as well to doodle and take notes, don't know whether it will translate much to real world usage in my work scenarios but good to have that option nevertheless.
I am not clumsy or anything and will be handling the device with care especially a premium one like the Surface as the novelty factor won't wear off that soon, does all your surface pros still feel special, from using a traditional laptop?

 

[Keeptechcoolandsimple]

I am going to use it 50% on the desk and the rest as a tablet, and the pen looks appealing as well to doodle and take notes, don't know whether it will translate much to real world usage in my work scenarios but good to have that option nevertheless.
I am not clumsy or anything and will be handling the device with care especially a premium one like the Surface as the novelty factor won't wear off that soon, does all your surface pros still feel special, from using a traditional laptop?

yes, it still feels special.

 

[buzzard75]

I've only had my SP4 for about a year and a half now and can already tell the battery life is degrading. Functionally it still runs perfectly smooth. Battery life is really my only complaint. I feel like I only get about 5 hours of light use out of it before it's complaining about the battery being low. If I'm not mistaken, Microsoft quoted 9 hours of 1080p video playback and I'm certainly not getting that any more.

 

[X0LARIUM]

Am using it for more than a year. If you wish to really have a premium experience and value for money, I think a MacBook is better. Yes it doesn't have a touch screen, but the Surface Pro's touchscreen isn't that great either. Plus the software is super wonky. If you click power button once, you will have the retina check. But no guarantee if it will boot up next time too. Just my two cents.. Good luck.

 

[skstrials]

look into the latitude line of tablets from Dell. they are business grade tablets designed with repairability in mine with no glue. That's what I will be getting once my current Dell tablet dies.

Surface tablets would never last as long as a ThinkPad or a Latitude.

 

[miodrage]

The life time is till it dies, and then its dead.

 

[xandros9]

The life time is till it dies, and then its dead.