Screen flicker and ghosting

Anonymous
2017-06-21T11:24:18+00:00

My surface pro 4 developed a horizontal line across the top of the screen, and then ghsot windows appeared of closed boxes during use, to the extent where the screen became unreadable and a restart was needed.

My device warranty expired in April, and i understand that MS doesn't do anything except replace the device if there's an issue, so my question is, without a warranty, what is there to do?  I can't believe that after a year, a device that costs as much as a top-end laptop, brakes and has to be thrown away.

Anyone had any similar issues and found solutions?

HELP!!

Thanks

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-09-06T16:23:44+00:00

    I can't seem to connect to the chat from Nairobi? Can you confirm that it should work here?

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-08-08T21:52:26+00:00

    Riiight!

    This is Nuts! I want to join that upgrade program and upgrade to a surface book, and want to sell my surface pro 4, but I can sell it with good conscience knowing that the screen will start to flicker.

    It sucks because they replaced my initially defective unit with an even more defective unit.

    That's not fair. It's like they know that they are giving you a shoddy product that will last as long as the warranty period.   WTF!

    Does anyone here have connections to Pocketnow, Engadget, Tom's Hardware or some other popular tech blog? Maybe we can shame them into treating fair.

    Do you think this is something we can take up with the FCC?

    Or organize a class action?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-08-08T19:12:24+00:00

    Seems to me that, much like the 'red ring of death' issue with the original Xbox 360, Microsoft should make an exception for people with faulty SP4, whether within warranty or not. 6 months warranty is horribly stingy for a product that can retail for almost £2000. 

    It's clear that they have absolutely no idea what causes this problem. Once I can actually get in contact with Global Support, I'm pushing for a replacement, despite me now being out of warranty, because the issue started within the warranty period.

    Steve

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-08T16:42:52+00:00

    Its like $400 for a replacement unit out of Warranty, for which you may still get a unit that has the defect as you have experienced.  Microsoft really doesn't seem keen on addressing the issue or making SP4 users who are out of warranty whole, even though this is an obvious Hardware defect.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-08-08T16:32:30+00:00

    I went into the Microsoft Store, and they told me that they have no idea what causes the ghosting issue, and from what he has seen , it never gets better. This unit is a replacement unit I got because the previous Surface Pro 4 screen was malfunctioning. The warranty ended in Feb. and this just started 3 weeks ago. So I believe I'm screwed. 

    Please say there is a way to fix this besides the steps listed in this tread. I tried all of them to no avail. 

    Please help.

    Everything I read and saw over and over is that it is a hardware issue with the touch screen display.  There are no software tools, or repair tools that we can install to fix the issue.  I tried resetting the devices to factory and it ghosted and flickerd during the entire reset process and continued after the reset.  This wasn't a heavy software usage issue as I would turn on the device and couldn't even log in because the screen was going nuts.

    The devices just have to be replaced at a Microsoft Store or authorized replacement dealer.  There aren't any other solutions to this problem.  I had to get both of my SP4's replaced and both of the new ones are working fine so far, but we shall see how long that lasts.

    Thank you for your input. I got this unit in Feb, and my warranty expired later that month. The unit I exchanged had some with the screen registering touch inputs here and there. All I had to do was turn off touch controls. I'd much rather deal with that issue than this screen flickering issue. 

    Since I'm out of my warranty period, they won't swap out my unit. Had I known I was going to get a unit with this hardware issue I wouldn't have traded in my other other unit. 

    Do you think there is anyway to get some kind of trade in. This isn't fair at all.

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