Surface Book Owners Thread

Day two with the Surface Book and the battery life continues to disappoint. I forced the integrated graphics option in the Nvidia control panel but I see no improvement in battery life. I've been using the SB since 6am. It's now 10:48am and the battery is under 20%. Not sure whats cause the rapid battery drain.

a bit late to the party but apparently windows hello can cause significant battery drain. do you have it enabled?
 
I have windows hello on and left my PC in sleep for 6 hours and only 4% battery drain. I am running an app that tracks battery drain. Its free on the microsoft store.
 
And after the update while sitting there not touching the book just looking at a PDF in Drawboard got a BSOD for memory management... neat.
 
Got mine today. I'm really impressed with the build quality, keyboard is the best I've used on any laptop and the trackpad feels on par with MBP.

Having said that, the scrolling doesn't feel quite as smooth in Chrome or Firefox -- in FF it's better but Edge is on another level of smoothness.

It isn't much of an issue for me, though, I'll just have to get used to using Edge. I'm sure the issues with other programs will eventually be worked out anyway.

Used it for about 4 hours so far, no BSODs or issues with the screen detaching but I did install the latest updates right away.

EDIT: Hmm, I take that back regarding Chrome, the new update made scrolling very close to Edge.
 
Last edited:
Done a bit of testing. So far it looks like almost all of the issues I've seen were fixed. Hyper V with Edge still had some problems with video playback. The screen would go completely black when playing YouTube videos with Hyper V on. Didn't happen with IE 11 though. Did about 20 conversion tests, no issues and no blue screens with detaching the device when off. Did a quick battery drain test with Windows Hello back on and it looks like that's been resolved. The unit stayed cool and no charge was lost in 30 minutes while in sleep.

Watching football game on tonight using the WatchESPN and get a idea of battery life. So far so good. Looks like at target of 7.5 hours while watching the game and web browsing.
 
And now bsod kernel security check failure which could also be memory related... wonder if last updatw changed something in ram to cause mine to flake out
 
All of the blue screens I've had were GPU related. Watched the whole football game tonight on the Book on battery u sis the Watch ESPN app while converting it a dozen times. One GPU not responding but nothing else. Battery drain seems contained as well with Windows Hello on but I need to test it further. Only problem left so far is the GPU flakiness in Edge with Hyper V on.

Threshold 2 is rumored to be coming next Patch Tuesday the 10th so hopefully that will smooth things out further. For only a week into it feels pretty solid now. Hopefully Threshold 2 doesn't introduce new problems.
 
Ouch...

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Book+Teardown/51972

iFixit Microsoft Surface Book Teardown said:
The Microsoft Surface Book (as a whole) earns a reparability score of 1 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

Damn, I hope Microsoft has a shitload of these laying around someplace to ship out as replacements 'cause it looks like they just wouldn't invest that kind of time into repairing them for whatever reason(s).
 
You have to figure that Microsoft would have far better tools and knowhow to refurb the thing. Nothing surprising, Surface devices have never been particularly user upgradable or repairable.
 
Ouch...

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Book+Teardown/51972



Damn, I hope Microsoft has a shitload of these laying around someplace to ship out as replacements 'cause it looks like they just wouldn't invest that kind of time into repairing them for whatever reason(s).

Macbook Pro also has a 1 out of 10 for repairability. It is nothing new in this market segment. Really the outlier has always been Dell. They have a 7 out of 10 for the XPS 13 (losing points mostly for soldered RAM). Ultimately it probably comes down to the fact that it is cheaper and faster to assemble something that is large smushed together with copious amounts of glue that is designed to never be taken apart than it is to build something with screws that is designed to be serviceable.
 
Ultimately it probably comes down to the fact that it is cheaper and faster to assemble something that is large smushed together with copious amounts of glue that is designed to never be taken apart than it is to build something with screws that is designed to be serviceable.

There's also size, weight and aesthetic requirements. No visible screws, minimal seams, As we good forward however I would like serviceability to become a much bigger consideration but that's unlikely anytime soon.
 
There's also size, weight and aesthetic requirements. No visible screws, minimal seams, As we good forward however I would like serviceability to become a much bigger consideration but that's unlikely anytime soon.

Ehhh not buying those arguments. The XPS line fits the size, weight, and aesthetic requirements quite nicely while maintaining superior reliability and maintainability. It really all comes down to manufacturing difficulty and cost. It is simply cheaper and faster to press on some glued down components than it is to screw in a bunch of tiny screws.

For example, the bottom of the surface book could have easily been screwed together with the screws hidden underneath the rubber feet strips. They chose not to go that route though.
 
Ehhh not buying those arguments. The XPS line fits the size, weight, and aesthetic requirements quite nicely while maintaining superior reliability and maintainability. It really all comes down to manufacturing difficulty and cost. It is simply cheaper and faster to press on some glued down components than it is to screw in a bunch of tiny screws.

For example, the bottom of the surface book could have easily been screwed together with the screws hidden underneath the rubber feet strips. They chose not to go that route though.

I don't doubt what you're saying is part of it. But the Surface Book in its true form is a tablet, all of re compute components except the external GPU are in the screen like all tablets.

I'd have to look at the XPS more closely than pictures allow particularly the bottom. The bottom of the Surface Book is just solid magnesium that is been glued in. No vents, screws, humps, nothing but the seam around the metal and two very thin rubber feet that could be better. This thing tends to slide on a number of surfaces (no pun intended) too easily. Perhaps screws could have gone there as you say.
 
Ok I updated to the latest firmware released on 11/2 today. Put my book to sleep at 98% battery and 4 hours later im at 80% battery on the clipboard battery. It was also warm to touch. I have disabled wifi both plugged in and on battery while asleep. So what the hell is going on Microsoft.

Before this firmware I did not have this problem at all. Now wtf? Anyone know what is going on? Could it be windows Hello causing this?
 
XPS line is still a lot more difficult to service than the Precision or Latitude series. Those are like building a normal pc. I wanted to check how my XPS 15 looked inside and realised I didn't even have the right screwdrivers...
 
Got my first BSOD today. I think the GPU was in use at the time as I had Photoshop open.

Hopefully the update coming on the 10th fixes this.
 
Ok I updated to the latest firmware released on 11/2 today. Put my book to sleep at 98% battery and 4 hours later im at 80% battery on the clipboard battery. It was also warm to touch. I have disabled wifi both plugged in and on battery while asleep. So what the hell is going on Microsoft.

Before this firmware I did not have this problem at all. Now wtf? Anyone know what is going on? Could it be windows Hello causing this?

I'm pretty sure that it's Windows Hello. And it looks like this firmware update didn't address this issue as I was initially thinking. I've since again disabled Windows Hello and it looks like the drain is much better. Definitely something they need to fix ASAP as Hello is like totally awesome. I'm betting there's another firmware update pretty soon with Threshold 2.

Also still having the blue screen issue when it's off and I detach. Not a show stopper as it seems if you give it a second it doesn't happen. But the flicker and color shifting in Edge is still gone though Edge still is wonky with Hyper V on. But I've read that Microsoft has another update planed for that particular issue. Haven't heard about Hello but that seems to be a confirmed issue now so that's probably in the works as well.

Overall still though I love this thing and it's easy enough to avoid the problems for me. Just get the GPU drivers and Hello straight and I'm good.
 
Hopefully the update coming on the 10th fixes this.

Yeah, I'm wondering what Threshold 2 will bring to the table. I'm tempted to install and insider build this week if it's confirmed to be the Threshold 2 gold version. But I probably won't because I'm guessing there'll be firmware and drivers to go along as well.

It may have been switching. It seems like the nVidia GPU is much more solid. Games have never blues screen on me thus far (knock on wood), just the simple stuff like detaching while off which is the Intel GPU conking out.
 
Which Nvidia GPU does the Surface book have? It seems to be only generically referenced everywhere with no model number.
 
Which Nvidia GPU does the Surface book have? It seems to be only generically referenced everywhere with no model number.

It appears to be a modified 940m with 1 GB GDDR5 VRAM. Done some gaming on it and while it's not at all a gaming laptop it can do some decent gaming for an ultraportable class machine.
 
I wanted to get one. The best buy by me had a $1900 version in stock when i called on my way to work but they sold it buy the time i got off :(

I ended up with a $1299 surface pro 4 with a price match to the MS education discount and a $130 trade in using an old galaxy tab pro 8.4 so i got the SP4 and typecover for 1230 including tax...cheaper than the original sticker price of the SP4 alone much less the SP4 and type cover.
 
I gave the Surface Book a shot. It really is a beautiful laptop. Right up there with the best Apple has to offer but it simply has a lot of bugs. I know some of you guys are having a good experience with your SBs but I was frustrated with it. To anyone looking to buy one now I say hold off. While the hardware itself is solid the drivers are basically beta. I'm the type of person that wants to use a laptop I just spent $2000 plus dollars on not wrestle with it for months until Microsoft gets their act together.... Just my 2 cents
 
I definitely hear you. It would seem that most people I've seen reports on of the Surface Book have reported bugs. The big ones seem almost all related to the GPU drivers. The issues I see with conversion seem pretty much tied to that. The only time though where it seems to be a problem for me is when the machine is in sleep and I tried to convert. And the power drain of the Windows Hello camera. The update from Monday did seem to fix the issue with the GPU not responding and color shifting on some sites in Edge. But the other issues do remain.

I agree with you and would probably wait a bit before picking up the Surface Book. Even with the issues there are in pretty high demand it seems so it's probably good to let they die down a bit anyway in case you might need to do a return and there not be any readily available replacement.

But overall this is an amazing piece of technology. This is the best Tablet PC I've ever had and it gets the idea of convertible laptop very right. But the complexity of the design adds some issues particularly around the conversion. When the conversion process works it's great. When it doesn't not so much.
 
I have no problems with conversion on mine even while in sleep.

I swear I have gotten a Golden Machine.
 
I have no problems with conversion on mine even while in sleep.

I swear I have gotten a Golden Machine.

You're having better luck than me. Maybe it's a hardware issue for me but I feel it's driver related. In any case if it doesn't clear up I'll swap it out after Threshold 2 and another driver updated.
 
You're having better luck than me. Maybe it's a hardware issue for me but I feel it's driver related. In any case if it doesn't clear up I'll swap it out after Threshold 2 and another driver updated.

Well I don't want to lie I will admit that Windows hello seems to be burning my battery very fast while in sleep. If I turn it off it seems ok.
 
Second time since I got it that the touch screen has just randomly stopped responding to touch and pen, there's a MS store in the area I'd just really rather not go there -_-
 
Second time since I got it that the touch screen has just randomly stopped responding to touch and pen, there's a MS store in the area I'd just really rather not go there -_-

Is battery saving mode on and do you have an external inputdevice attached?
 
Is battery saving mode on and do you have an external inputdevice attached?

There is a touchpad and pen delay when you are typing it will delay inputs form those devices for (n) amount of seconds.

You have to either disable it or know what settings you have on.

I am betting that is what it is. Took me a min to figure that out but I did.
 
I generally use mine in tent mode with the screen on backwards and power attached so the keyboard and touch pad are disabled and no savings modes.
 
I went to the new flag ship Microsoft Store here in New York to return my Surface Book and the guy at the first area I went to acted shocked that I wanted to return the laptop. He started praising it like it was the second coming of Jesus. I was then sent upstairs to meet with a Microsoft hardware technical manager. Nice guy in his 30s. He started processing the return and asking me questions about the problems I was having. I starting telling him about the video driver issues, the problems detaching the screen, the bluescreen crashes and the popping/static sounds from the speakers and headphone jack. He immediately agreed with me that in its current state the Surface Book should not have been released to the public and apologized for all the problems I experienced. He did go into the whole “early adopter pain and suffering” speech and threw shots at Apple for good measure but he was pretty honest. Most employees would defend a product they sell to the bitter end. So at the end I returned the Surface Book but I’ll keep an eye out here and on the Surface Book support forums to see if the problems I was having get resolved. Once they do I might go out and buy another one. For now I’ll just keep using my Surface Pro 3. The new Surface Pro Type cover looks good so I’ll pick one of those up next week.
 
I went to the new flag ship Microsoft Store here in New York to return my Surface Book and the guy at the first area I went to acted shocked that I wanted to return the laptop. He started praising it like it was the second coming of Jesus. I was then sent upstairs to meet with a Microsoft hardware technical manager. Nice guy in his 30s. He started processing the return and asking me questions about the problems I was having. I starting telling him about the video driver issues, the problems detaching the screen, the bluescreen crashes and the popping/static sounds from the speakers and headphone jack. He immediately agreed with me that in its current state the Surface Book should not have been released to the public and apologized for all the problems I experienced. He did go into the whole “early adopter pain and suffering” speech and threw shots at Apple for good measure but he was pretty honest. Most employees would defend a product they sell to the bitter end. So at the end I returned the Surface Book but I’ll keep an eye out here and on the Surface Book support forums to see if the problems I was having get resolved. Once they do I might go out and buy another one. For now I’ll just keep using my Surface Pro 3. The new Surface Pro Type cover looks good so I’ll pick one of those up next week.


Wow you just simply had a bad machine. I am not having these problems at all. My system is working great. I think you should have swapped it for another first and then seen how the new one works out for you. You literally might have had one with a defect chipset or something in there wasn't right. But they were probably surprised because literally no one is taking these back amidst all the minor issues they are having. You of course are justified to whatever you feel is best. I just really think from reading your past posts that you just had a lemon machine.
 
Wow you just simply had a bad machine. I am not having these problems at all. My system is working great. I think you should have swapped it for another first and then seen how the new one works out for you. You literally might have had one with a defect chipset or something in there wasn't right. But they were probably surprised because literally no one is taking these back amidst all the minor issues they are having. You of course are justified to whatever you feel is best. I just really think from reading your past posts that you just had a lemon machine.

There's always defective devices, however except the sound issue I've seen all of these problems, but that happen in very specific situations, like blue screening when detaching the device while it's off and I also noticed, not logged in. And the Windows Hello battery drain.

But the machine is perfectly usable, been using it a lot and it's really a great hybrid laptop. I don't think there's anything inherently flawed with the machine, it all looks to be firmware/software/drivers related. Thinking about installing the latest insider build that came out yesterday. The build water mark is gone from this release which is a pretty good indication that this will be the build that goes out as Threshold 2 RTM. But there will no doubt be zero day patches and probably another round of drivers and firmware.
 
After a few initial firmware updates/updates after launch.
The surfacebook is pretty smooth now and I am pretty confident in switching it as my main work machine. :)
 
Wow you just simply had a bad machine. I am not having these problems at all. My system is working great. I think you should have swapped it for another first and then seen how the new one works out for you. You literally might have had one with a defect chipset or something in there wasn't right. But they were probably surprised because literally no one is taking these back amidst all the minor issues they are having. You of course are justified to whatever you feel is best. I just really think from reading your past posts that you just had a lemon machine.

I was going to try a new one but they didn't have my exact model in stock (just lower end) so I simply returned it. Like I said I think the Surface Book is a beautiful product but I just don't want to deal with all the firmware and driver issues a lot of people are reporting. Just go to the Surface Book support forums. The problems are real and wide spread. I'll probably pick up another Surface Book after the holidays. Most of the problems should be completely ironed out by then.
 
I was going to try a new one but they didn't have my exact model in stock (just lower end) so I simply returned it. Like I said I think the Surface Book is a beautiful product but I just don't want to deal with all the firmware and driver issues a lot of people are reporting. Just go to the Surface Book support forums. The problems are real and wide spread. I'll probably pick up another Surface Book after the holidays. Most of the problems should be completely ironed out by then.

I don't think anyone is doubting you about the issues, I've seen most that you have mentioned. In my case they happen in very specific circumstances which leads me to believe they driver related. The firmware update Monday did seem to address the frequently occurring GPU driver not responding issue and most of the flashing issues while in Hyper V but not all. Certainly though if someone want something perfect the issues are plain.
 
Back
Top