Surface Pro 3 LGC Battery Degradation

nothing new other than the trade press started writing articles about the LGC

issues yesterday....

The 3 Pro is a superseded device as far as MS is concerned. They don't care about it any more.

The only thing that will make them listen is if people stop buying new models. I believe it is our duty anyway to warn potential new purchasers that their investment will only last until just after the warranty runs out. When I think of all those poor people out there buying these things completely oblivious of their fate I feel like I need to do something about it.

So what can we do to raise the profile to people in the market for a top of the range ultraportable? I don't believe that most people who buy them really read industry magazines. We're talking businessmen/women, designers, schools etc. who might read a review or two online but probably decide based on trying it for themselves at a shop. So we've got to go wider - to the national news/media outlets or maybe a social media campaign #UselessSurface !?

I posted before, but i am also from canada.

nothing new other than the trade press started writing articles about the LGC

issues yesterday.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/surface-pro-3-battery-woes-continuing-this-time-for-lg-cells/

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3122389/laptop-computers/surface-pro-3-plagued-by-yet-another-battery-problem.html

http://www.neowin.net/news/surface-pro-3-owners-complain-of-new-battery-issues-preventing-use-unless-plugged-in

https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/80571/thurrott-daily-september-20

http://www.slashgear.com/surface-pro-3s-battery-woes-begin-anew-21456835/

there may be others...

Carl,

I think that you have the other battery issue where the expected life is not what is being reported.

It's just clear that Microsoft is faltering on the battery charging firmware, and I get that even the pro's make mistakes but not communicating about mistakes is a fatal flaw.  Even if they spin it to put themselves in the best possible light, I'll accept it.  I just want to know that a fix is coming and that there is some attention being paid.

Barb,

Has there been anything new?  This is really going on too long.  My 18-month old, $999, over $1100 with the replacement keyboard, Surface Pro 3 is sitting on a shelf collecting dust and reminding me on a daily basis of my poor decision making.  Now I use my wife's $279 Asus TF100 or my children's $89 refurbed Lenovo Tab 2 because my "premium" device, my tablet that can replace my laptop, my "I'm an IT professional that knows tech and recommends the Surface Pro", is completely immobilized by a software glitch.

Why can't they just give us a manual method to install the older firmware?  I'd take my the former crappy 45 minute battery life over the current, "uh-oh, it's raining, make sure you save everything because a dimming of the lights is going to shut me down, make sure I reseat the power cord at the magnetic connection before trying to boot because my SP regularly shutdown during the boot up process if I don't and then goes into 'repairing Windows', not every time mind you, more like 1 out of 3, sometimes before the POST screen finishes.

This really is the single worst computer buying experience of my life (this and the HP Elitepad), and I go back to learning line-number basic on the TRS-80 saving software to audio cassettes, swapping floppy disks in my Commodore 64, building my 486-DX2/66 with 8MB RAM.  I've just not in a long time seen something so costly die so quickly with no method of repair.

I'm curious if anyone else in Canada is having similar problems with their SP3? I am going to have to research Canadian laws about deceptive trade practices because i refuse to pay $450 USD to "fix" a hardware issue -/my issue is slightly different - the battery design maximum charge is showing less than my devices full charge; however, this battery (even though the device is a year and 4 months old and therefore out of warranty) has only been through 120 charge cycles - either the battery report is incorrect, or the battery itself is faulty.... The report shows that i should be getting over 5 hours on battery, yet within an hour and a half i have to plug the device in... Additionally, IF the battery report is correct that means that the device is consistently over charging an internal lithium ion battery, which can create a risk of overhearing, plating and eventually venting turning my tablet into a little bomb.... Nice.... I too read where MS said that it would charge $200 to replace faulty out of warranty batteries, but every time i call then I'm only given the option to pay $450 USD for a "similar" device. There is a company that makes a 5500 MAH battery specifically for the SP3, charges less than $200 for it, and includes detailed instructions on how to replace - I'm close to just going that route, but in case MS does cone around and decide to do something for us, I'm hesitant to open up the device, even though it's fairly simple and only involves removing about 16 screws.

Is it just me who thinks that it's utterly ridiculous for a company to sell faulty batteries knowingly, and then to refuse to fix the problem? In guessing that ppl with these problems must only make up a tiny % of MS customers, or else I'm sure an acceptable option would have been offered by now....

Very disappointed in a product that i love...