Surface Pro 4 - Screen won't wake from sleep

My one-star was just posted and i submitted it 6-days ago, it says "Surface Pro 4 is unreliable

I own a Surface Pro 4, i7, 16GB 256SSD. I would not recommend the product because it is unreliable. The SP4 does not wake from sleep reliably and I have lost countless hours of work many times by simply leaving the computer and letting it go to sleep, coming back, seeing the computer is on as indicated by the backlight keyboard but only to find a black screen. The only way out of this is to do a hard reboot. Even with all firmware updates to 2/17/2016 this issue is still not resolved 6 months after release. Microsoft clearly does not care about its power users and has failed to respond to this major issue of usability of what would otherwise be a 5-start product."

Generally, if you mention any other product other than the one advertised, here the SP4 then moderators can reject it if there is too much 'other' things mentioned, e.g, eBay, Sp3, Sp3.  Also, remove the all caps as they can find it offensive even if warranted. If you remove those references and stick to the product only then there is a better chance I think.

For those of us still watching this thread, this is going take a while (1079 words to be exact) so grab a cold or hot beverage at your discretion and get comfortable... as I write this from my Surface which hopefully will not go to sleep.

This thread is one my guilty pleasures.  At first I just read and posted my problem, and I began to get tired of the “someone has commented on a post you are following…” emails, but now they are a fresh (and frequent) break from my day.  In my opinion, there are four main types of posters to this thread:  (1) the newbies who add they too are having sleep problems, (2) the haters who – with some justification – say to just buy an iPad, (3) the dreamers who think they have found the Ctrl-Alt-(something) solution that none of us knew about, and (4) the faithful who believe that Microsoft is out there listening to our pleas for help.  I guess I am in the last category.

Let me say that I love my Surface Pro4, and I have no intention of returning it.  It is a great device in almost every aspect save some critical flaws.  Next, to the few unbelievers still out there in the community, there is definitely a systemic problem with the Surface Pro, and it is not limited to a few people who just do not know what they are doing as some people seem to suggest.  I think I am like many people in this thread in that I am competent PC user and wanted a powerful, and admittedly cool, tool that would help me be more productive.  If I wanted a simple device to surf the net, watch videos, and read email, I would have purchased one of the many cheaper alternatives. 

Like I said, I have no intention of returning my Surface Pro.  Part of that is because I did not pay a dime for it.  I purchased mine and literally every accessory Microsoft makes including two docking stations with government funds.  I was not issued it, rather I specifically sought it out and had to specifically request and justify it.  As a scientist the Surface Pro is extremely useful.  It is powerful while being extremely portable and runs everything and anything I would want.  I love my iPad as well and I know there are scientists out there who swear by their Macs, but the overwhelming majority of software I use would never function on a Mac.  So I have my Surface Pro and it does 94% of what I want.

So what is the problem?  Well, that 6% (and admittedly a gross underestimate) is very important and even more importantly Microsoft seems content to do nothing about it.  I will not jump on the bash Microsoft bandwagon, but when the only offered vendor provided solution is to perform a reboot, that is really not acceptable.  This would be equivalent to me telling my students “well, just fail the first test and then take the makeup to try and get some credit back”.  (To be honest, I do not let my student take makeups to make up for poor performance, but you get the idea).

So what do we do now?  I am not looking for a refund, rebate, replacement, or a re-anything.  I really only want two things:  (1) Microsoft to acknowledge that there is a real problem that at least some users are having and (2) to hopefully get my Surface Pro functioning the way it should.  It seems less and less likely that either of these are ever going to happen.  At the risk of great hyperbole and criticism by 12th grade English teachers everywhere when I do not attempt to cite this correctly, I would recommend the following quote “Evil prevails when good men fail to act.”  Bottom line, if Microsoft chooses to do nothing, we must do something.

Twenty minutes in and now with an empty glass, I get a little weary and offer the following “out of the box” courses of action or ideas:

•  What does the NFL think about this?  Every football game I watch I see QBs everywhere looking at their Surface Pros as if they were watching their fantasy stats stream live.  I wonder if Drew Brees is going to be happy when he comes back to the bench and has to “hard reboot” his surface to see the replay of that interception (sorry Drew, I know that is a cheap shot).  I wonder if Microsoft would respond to the juggernaut that is Goodell?
•  What does Apple think about this?  Remember the good old Apple vs. PC commercials with Justin Long?  Imagine recreating those commercials where Justin opens up his brand new brilliant iPad Pro and that geeky PC guy, who nobody knows, has to reboot his Surface Pro after he opens it up.  Even a knockoff youtube video of this is likely to go viral (sorry I am really too old to use the word viral in that context).
•  Litigation.  “Oh great, he is one of those guys…”  No, I am not even though I do love a good Law and Order episode.  It has been mentioned before, and although this is way out of my lane, this does seem to be exactly what class action is meant for.
•  Break the internet with our reviews!  Maybe we can get Kim (you know which one I mean) to do another photo where she is holding a Surface Pro in a convenient place, and place that photo somewhere in this thread.  Ok, maybe that is a little too much but maybe at least tons of appropriately critical reviews placed all over Amazon and wherever other people go to read reviews would be of value.

Now that I got that off my chest and refreshed my beverage, I am more than willing to spend some personal energy and time to get resolution to this issue.  Nobody likes to post their names or emails in threads like this anymore, but if anyone has a real way for us to coordinate and try to really do something about this, I am in.  Like I said, I do not want money, a refund, or a replacement.  For now I will settle for post from a user with Microsoft (or even better, Gates) in their title.  Do not worry, I am not holding my breath – but I am watching…

R/Brad

BUUUMMMP

Still no resolve......

And here we go with my denial-of-review:


Now it's quite clear why - I got quite sassy.

So anyway.