Yep, I'd be willing to bet that every single 2017 Surface Pro in the retail channel right now has this problem. Come on Microsoft!!!
Surface Pro 2017 Backlight Bleed
Question: Why isn't Microsoft acknowledging the new Surface Pro 2017 display backlight bleed defect and ignoring its customers after the launch of the product? When will they solve the problem? Because all of the units have the defect and replacing it at the Microsoft store is not a viable solution at the moment.
My new Surface Pro 2017 core i7 8GB (lot 1722) has backlight bleed on the whole bottom edge and left side of the screen. You don't normally notice it in landscape mode because the black taskbar hides it, but if you read a white background fullscreen article in portrait mode it's pretty obvious with one side of the screen being brighter than the other side.This light bleed is most noticeable in the colours blue and white and harder to see in black colours (which are usually used in backlight bleed tests).
The quickest way to test and see if your screen has this problem is to press CTRL+ALT+DEL and bring up the blue screen. On the bottom of the blue screen you should see a bright blue/white bar compared to the rest of the screen which is the defective light bleed. All the showcase models in the Microsoft Store I looked at had this problem. I have yet to see a new Surface Pro without this defect. Can anyone post a picture of their CTRL+ALT+DEL screen without the light bleed?
I think people who claim not to have it aren't looking close enough to notice it. Is Microsoft going to acknowledge this display defect and are they working on fixing it in future batches?
Also, if I wait more than one month to exchange my Surface Pro would I get a refurbished model or a new one? If they are going to give me a refurbished model I might as well just return this defective device and get a full refund. When we pay premium prices we expect premium quality. This defect would have been acceptable on a cheap tablet, but not a Microsoft product. Please fix the issue as soon as possible!
Tip: If you want to test your screen on different colours go to http://www.deadpixelbuddy.com/ and choose a colour then switch to fullscreen (win key+shift+enter on Edge or F11 on Chrome) and view the fabulous results and take a picture and post it here so we can prove that it's a universal problem.
I AM NOT THE SOURCE OF THE PICTURES BELOW, THEY ARE FROM REPLIES TO THIS POST OR REDDIT LINKS GIVEN BELOW. THE FIRST PICTURE (WHICH HAS BEEN USED IN TECH NEWS WEBSITES) BELONGS TOWALMART MARKETING TEAMUSER ON REDDIT! I HAVE ONLY GATHERED THEM HERE.
Subreddits discussing this topic:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/search?q=backlight+bleed&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=month
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6iji8k/surface_pro_2017_backlight_bleeding_survey/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6k94qe/just_bought_my_new_surface_pro_2017_i_might_be/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6jggz5/is_this_light_bleed/?st=J4X9C9Y6&sh=319ae1cc
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6jigz0/whats_your_surface_pro_2017_lot_number_any_issues/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6kv9ky/light_bleed_on_surface_pro_2017/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6i8lcz/backlight_bleeding_surface_pro_2017_i5_8gb/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/6j8hau/picked_up_brand_new_surface_pro_i7_512gb16g_ram/
As you can see there are A LOT so do not deny the defect and claim it's a minor issue in a few models. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY MICROSOFT!
Edit: I just realized I posted the original issue as a discussion post and therefore it didn't have the requirement for it to be responded like a question, so I'm editing it so people can also click the "Me Too" button until we get an official/semi-official response from a Microsoft representative. I've also added more subreddits and pictures.
UPDATE (17/07/2017 11:25 AM GMT): The broken image links have been fixed.
**ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:**A lot of tech websites have reported the issue and especially used the first image in this post and attributed it to me. I must note that none of these images are mine and they all come from the reddit posts I linked below them. The specific top image is from the user WalmartMarketingTeam
Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
357 answers
Sort by: Most helpful
-
Anonymous
2017-07-25T23:31:23+00:00 -
Anonymous
2017-07-25T15:08:53+00:00 I will return it and I don't see the reason to try for another one. All three were pretty much identical. I have never in 20 years been so frustrated with a laptop purchase and never seen such dishonest practices. It's obvious that they knew about these issues and are moving defective stock. It would all be ok if there was a physical store here and I could see 2-3 machines in a matter of minutes, walk away and go spend my money elsewhere. But I lost almost a month between replacement requests and paypal ping pong.
Taking your customers for a ride is completely shameless. Any honest company would try to locate the defective batch and eliminate it from circulation as soon as these problems become evident. Which leads me to believe that there is no "batch". This is the product.
-
Anonymous
2017-07-25T14:49:44+00:00 Hideous. Are you returning it?
I've got a fifth one coming in via UPS today.
-
Anonymous
2017-07-25T14:46:46+00:00 This is my third replacement. Lot 1723
http://i.imgur.com/78YCa1r.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/jHfo1MY.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/brAmpZj.jpg?1
-
Anonymous
2017-07-23T05:16:42+00:00 Sadly, I was not optimistic and returned my first SP2017 within the 30 days. I ordered another and the bleed was far worse than the first one. I now wish I'd kept the first one.....
THIS is what keeps me from returning mine for now. It's there, but not that dramatic and I want to see how things progress over the next two weeks before I pull the trigger for the first time.