Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous

I've been using Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for a year, and shortly after the warranty expired I noticed my Surface Pro 3 can only last about 1-2 hours after a full charge. At first I thought this was a problem with background process draining the battery so I disabled everything running in the background. It didn't helped. Then I found out about the powercfg utility and run powercfg /batteryreport on it, and this was the result:

A full charge capacity has degraded by over 80% in just few weeks and continue degrading. I tried to "recalibrate" the battery by doing full charge then full drain multiple times, and it didn't helped. Talk with Microsoft via chat support and they insist this was a software problem and reinstalled the driver and asked me to wait few days to see if things improve. Not only it didn't improved, but now my Surface can only last 30 minutes.

Few days after chat (today), I called Microsoft support and they were being extremely unhelpful. Insist that this was a software problem (which the chat support person already did) and it's "perfectly normal" for battery capacity to degrade. I insist that I've already done the software "fixes" and it didn't work and tell them this is definitely hardware problem, but the person on the phone tell me there's nothing I could do except to order the out of warranty exchange (which cost about $560 in my local currency).

Is there anything else I should do? My country has no Microsoft Store which I could take the machine for them to take a look. Phone/online support were the only option, and none of them could understand the issue.

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Anonymous

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your continued patience here. We have now completed our testing of the update and it has passed our quality assurance process.

The update, “System Firmware Update - 8/29/2016”, is now available to install from Windows Update.

Before installing this update, ensure that your Surface Pro 3 is plugged directly in to AC power using the standard AC power adapter (do not use the Surface Docking Station), disconnect any USB devices or external monitors, and check that Windows shows a 40% charge or greater when you hover over the icon in the taskbar before you begin.

Once you install the update, please select Restart now (do not shutdown). After your Surface restarts, please manually restart it a second time to complete the process. For more information, please see our Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ article.

If you’re having trouble charging your Surface, you get a low-battery error, or your Surface turns off when you unplug it, the steps in our Surface battery won’t charge article can help you pinpoint the problem. Should you need any further assistance, please contact us.

Thanks again.

Greg

Updated 8/29/16.

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1,459 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-08-08T00:34:19+00:00

Make sure you all take a minute and go to the Microsoft store to post your review of the product and the support you've received so far on this issue.

https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en\_US/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300190600

I just did (8th August 2016).
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Anonymous

2016-08-08T00:31:51+00:00

Make sure you all take a minute and go to the Microsoft store to post your review of the product and the support you've received so far on this issue.

https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en\_US/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300190600

Done!
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Anonymous

2016-08-07T23:45:49+00:00

I live in France but I bought my SP3 in California 2 years ago. Last year, right before coming home to Cal for vacation, I started having screen problems, which seemed to be a known issue. I went back to the Windows store I bought it at, in Northern California, and they were clueless to the problem, accusing me of dropping it. I was like, "how can dropping it make these yellow and black lines on the edge?! If I had dropped it, don't you think you would see physically damage, like cracks?! Not these lines?!" I went to the San Francisco, and they knew of the problem, and promptly exchanged it, no questions asked. I probably spent a total of 5 minutes in the San Francisco Windows Store.

This happened weeks before the warranty expired, thank god.

A few weeks later decided on a whim to check my warranty online, and found they had extended it another year! I don't know if that was standard practice or a mistake, but I ain't complaining!

Lo and behold, right before coming back to California THIS summer for vacation, I started having this battery drain issue. I did the battery test and discovered, sure enough, I had the SIMPLO battery, and it was only holding 6,147 kWh capacity. Yesterday, with 3 weeks left on this famous new warranty, I went into another Windows Store, north of San Francisco, and told them about the battery drain issue. They plugged in some thumb drive thing, ran some tests, and said, "yep, it looks like your battery is defective, would you like to exchange your tablet?" "umm....**** yes!" lol.

So if you happen to be in California, I urge you to GO INTO A WINDOWS STORE. If you're still under warranty, you won't have a problem with exchanges.
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Anonymous

2016-08-07T23:12:56+00:00

I have downloaded all updates and STILL my Surface Pro 3 will NOT stay charged. WHEN is this issue going to become a real priority for Microsoft. I spent $1400 on this computer and I have used it 1 1/2 years...that not what I call reliable.... why would anyone want to invest in a Surface Pro 4.... I will make sure my friends and family understand the lack of service reliability of a Surface
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