Microsoft Surface Pro 4 announced: "better in nearly every way" (The Verge)
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Got the Shakes
Member
Hmm. I'm so torn. Performance impressions seem quite good everywhere I've read. The battery impressions are what is scaring me right now. I was planning to pick one of these up today at my local MS Store with my .edu discount and now I don't know what I should do. They do have a 30 return policy, so I guess I could buy it and try it myself. Just not sure if I want to deal with that hassle.
I have a pro 3 and do not have these problems. I've avoided windows 10 like the plague though. Everybody bitchin about windows 8.1 but this shit is solid on a surface with none of these issues
On windows 8, with default settings, the tablet sleeps and then hibernates after a few hours. I can leave it for A couple of days or so without recharging with light use. The shitty thing about windows though is it has got to do a lot of shit initially and it lasts for days. It's best to plug it in and leave it on for a full day or so, so it can finish all its shit it may be doing in the background killing battery life
You will never get iPad like battery life though. That thing lasts forever and benefits from being a true mobile OS for sure. There are a bunch of settings you can change to maximize battery, but none of them are checked by default. Things like
- no wifi when asleep
- no app background processes
- hibernate faster (since boot time is like 5 seconds, hibernation is pretty good)
And more I've forgotten. Microsoft advertises this like a tablet but really it's a computer with a form factor of a tablet. The plain surface is the tablet. 9 hours battery life is overestimated for sure assuming you run this thing normally.
darkinstinct
...lacks reading comprehension.
Do you have Cortana disabled? That and the active mic array when she is enabled cost a lot of energy. I disabled her and got about two hours more out of a Pro 3 running Windows 10.
But yeah, what the person above says is true, Windows 10 is killing the battery on my Pro 3 much faster than Windows 8.1 ever did. Used to be 8 hours easily, now I barely get 6.
maximum360
Member
The SP3 had a few random issues in the beginning [such as wifi inconsistency] but the majority got ironed out within a couple months. It's be a rock solid performed since then. It will likely be the same here.
brotkasten
Member
While that might be true, it's sad that this has to happen the fourth time in a row. You'd think they'd get their shit together.
a secret-boss
Banned
I won't buy it until they fix the sleep function
brotkasten
Member
It would be great to know if that issue is fixed in Threshold 2. I still can't believe it was let through and still not fixed.
I'll echo the battery issues. Mine is pretty shitty as others are saying. It's pretty stupid that we need to hold our breath and set Win10 to do nothing more than be an etch-a-sketch device in order to get more than a few hours of battery life. I'm honestly probably getting 4 or something now at best.
I'm coming from an OSX environment an picked up a SP4 to replace a 3 year old Macbook Air. I'm a bit hesitant because I have to replace some software, but I like the form factor for my work / on-call usage. I will end up lugging this thing everywhere. That being said, I'm not impressed so far. I would think MS would make sure these things were addressed so first impressions were't so poor.
I'm coming from an OSX environment an picked up a SP4 to replace a 3 year old Macbook Air. I'm a bit hesitant because I have to replace some software, but I like the form factor for my work / on-call usage. I will end up lugging this thing everywhere. That being said, I'm not impressed so far. I would think MS would make sure these things were addressed so first impressions were't so poor.
Vault Dweller 111
Member
i unplugged it over two hours ago. Just started using for the first time, still at 100%.
to whoever asked, turn off background apps in the privacy settings.
to whoever asked, turn off background apps in the privacy settings.
What are you talking about? You know what gets iPad like battery life? A MacBook - the OTHER device MS compared this to. So its battery is not nearly as good as an iPad or a MacBook. Why do people constantly make excuses for this shit??!? It says 9 hours video playback RIGHT ON THEIR SITE. I can't even get 9 hours of sleep.
I have the new MBPr 13 from this year (3/15) and I don't get anywhere near 9 hours on it. The iPad Air 2 on the other hand does get amazing battery life. (I own the 128GB from last year)
At least if you close the lid on your MacBook and open it like 7 hours later it may have dropped like 5% battery at most.
My SP4 has been sitting in my bag nearly all day... about 30 minutes of screen on time and it's at 30% battery right now. Pretty bad.
Elitist1945
Member
Mine came in today. Using it for the first time and the fans are pretty loud. Is that bad?
How did none of the reviews catch this sleep battery drain issue? Completely useless.
Nah, it's probably installing updates. Mine kicks in when watching videos for too long as well. Didn't hear reviewers mention fan noise either..
I don't doubt the issues. Just trying to clear up any misconceptions. I have never trusted the sleep/hibernate on anything except Macs. I still have the MBPr 15 w/ 650M (work) and the sleep is still phenomenal.
I'm hoping the W10 update that's coming on Nov 2 resolves this.
Elitist1945
Member
Task manager says Chrome is using 50% of my CPU. I take it that would be a contributing factor lol.
I had a MacBook as well, the 9 hour estimate from Apple's page was very accurate for me. I get maybe 10-11 on an iPad, but very close to a MacBook. And notice it's not half of what's being advertised (like the Surface). MacBook Air gets even more. The MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro all run a full OS which according to you shouldn't be able to achieve the battery life of a iPad. Why can the MacBook and MacBook Air do that, and the MacBook Pro comes within an hour or two. But the SP4 due to its full OS can only get 5 hours max. I'm just trying to follow your logic.
Got the Shakes
Member
Caved and bought one today. Haven't set it up yet, will today or tomorrow. Bought from a MS Store and I have 30 days to return no questions asked so if I am seeing terrible battery life (especially after the Threshold 2 update) I will be returning it. Figured no harm in trying one out for a few weeks to see if it works for my use cases since there is no penalty for returning it.
That seems odd - You'd think just playing video wouldn't get any fans going as it'd be deciding in hardware usi barely any power
Yup, should have mentioned that's been off since the first day. Battery still sucks. Estimated at 12 min remaining with 13% battery right now. I have Chrome open with 7 tabs.
MS quotes 9 hour of video playback. I'm just pissed because even if they do fix the battery mine already has way too many full cycles. The maximum capacity is gonna be shot.
I plugged it in after that post. Just unplugged for a screen grab. A little better. 26 mins at 13%. Notice that's with battery saver on.
And if you're talking about maximum capacity being shot think of this. I had a MacBook Air for 13 months. When I sold it this week, the battery life was still great but noticeably worse than when I purchased it (new). If it got 9-11 hours new, I'd say it got between 8-9.5 hours more recently. A battery's maximum charge is slightly reduced with each power cycle. I rarely used a full cycle on that MacBook Air in one day. For arguments sake, let's say every 5 out of 7 days of the week... I think that's still high, but w/e. My Surface is needing between 2-4 charges per day. Let's use 3. That means if it took my MacBook Air 13 months to degrade the way I described above, it'll only take this thing 3-4 months to have a similar drop in maximum capacity. It's the same reason I can't use my PowerBook from 2004 unless it's plugged it. It's the same reason my MacBook from 2009 gets like an hour or two of battery life. My hardware is being ruined by Microsoft's shitty software. That's why I get mad when people say just wait it out. I'm gonna wait it out then have a fried battery.
http://imgur.com/4ca0M1I
Only Microsoft.
so I disabled every possible thing I could find. Turned off all app background processes, disabled Cortana, location services, no wifi during sleep, etc.
Took it off the charger at 100% at 7:30 AM and only used it for about 30 minutes on lunch and it's at 12% battery now.
Maybe I need a full reboot and recharge before I see any improvement?
Took it off the charger at 100% at 7:30 AM and only used it for about 30 minutes on lunch and it's at 12% battery now.
Maybe I need a full reboot and recharge before I see any improvement?
Got the Shakes
Member
Anandtech got 9.5 of 720p video playback and almost 8 of wifi browsing. They're usually pretty solid with their battery tests with phones, tablets, and laptops. So it seems it possible, I don't know how, but there is at least one person who can document it.
Steelyuhas
Member
Not sure what you'll be able to do right now. Seems pretty clear that there needs to be a driver update to fix abnormal battery drain that's happening right now.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
I'll need to recheck mine when I get home, but the one day I took my SP4 to work I didn't see as severe a battery drop as yours. I wasn't paying close attention though, so I'll check it properly.
EatinOlives
Member
Sad to hear the problems on launch SP4s.
Microsoft really needs to stop its nasty habit of dropping products before they're ready. They did it with Windows 10 (it fucked with everyone's battery life and Surface Pen drivers and just very recently did they finally fix it), Edge, and now the SP4.
Microsoft really needs to stop its nasty habit of dropping products before they're ready. They did it with Windows 10 (it fucked with everyone's battery life and Surface Pen drivers and just very recently did they finally fix it), Edge, and now the SP4.
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
Tested got 8 hours of video streaming.
how much sleep time?
storafötter
Member
I got to try Surface Pro 4 at pitchfork music festival of all places. Must say it was disappointing to see an i7 version strugglying to open that note app while in photoshop. I also got pretty disappointed with the delay with input when using a pen. I thought it would be almost as good as wacom by now.
What sleep battery drain issue?
I still have one of the Surface Book review units and the Surface Pro 4 review unit, and both use approximately zero battery life when left sleeping overnight. How do I repro?
On both machines I have Microsoft's apps (Skype, Mail, Calendar) set up, Cortana enabled, Microsoft Account logins, "express" setup, Wi-Fi connections (5GHz, ac), with everything that's on by default left enabled (so I think it keeps Wi-Fi up when sleeping, etc).
No significant battery usage in 8 hours sleep. And about 500 minutes in our (slightly light) Web browsing battery benchmark (200 nit, cycling every 15 seconds between replicas of Ars, Anandtech, Dinosaur comics, and reddit), 200 minutes in our WebGL test (one continuously animated 3D scene with physics).
We don't do a video test, but I don't doubt Microsoft's claims (or Anandtech's).
Steelyuhas
Member
Seems like pretty much everyone in this thread that has one is having battery issues...
Can't say I'm seeing a drain issue in sleep myself, but I'm getting 4ish hours with it just sitting next to me on the couch while I'm playing Xbox at night periodically checking slack, running a couple browser tabs, and the Twitter app. Nothing that should be a big time drain.
Maybe it was the firmware/driver updates that hit the day before release (after reviews were out) that messed things up for people, which is why no one seemed to have the issue for reviews?
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Where the hell is the setting to turn off WiFi while sleeping?
I can't find it anywhere. Even googling.
I can't find it anywhere. Even googling.
Vault Dweller 111
Member
settings-->system---->Power and Sleep
Just as a different perspective. I bought this as a laptop replacement and I'm having nothing but a great experience.
The battery life is excellent in my opinion. I had it unplugged for around 6 hours yesterday when I was working from home which is far better than I'm used to.
The form factor and ability to switch from a traditional laptop when I'm typing, to a tablet when I'm making notes and then to a portable device to have a Skype call with works really well.
I've had zero crashes, no blue screens and no obvious software faults.
I think this comes from having some specific expectations and I'm sorry some of you are not having a good time but I'm feeling very satisfied with this purchase.
The battery life is excellent in my opinion. I had it unplugged for around 6 hours yesterday when I was working from home which is far better than I'm used to.
The form factor and ability to switch from a traditional laptop when I'm typing, to a tablet when I'm making notes and then to a portable device to have a Skype call with works really well.
I've had zero crashes, no blue screens and no obvious software faults.
I think this comes from having some specific expectations and I'm sorry some of you are not having a good time but I'm feeling very satisfied with this purchase.
soul creator
Member
don't have my surface with me, but it was on the main power setting page I think. Just had to scroll down to it.
TheLaughingStock
Member
It's probably something you cannot or should not disable that's a 1st party process. Maybe an app or program you can disable/uninstall, but that's going to take a lot of time/trial and error looking at logs. Just return it or send it in for service.
Yes, maybe. I started using Chrome because Edge causes my typecover to momentarily not register keystrokes randomly and changes the tint of the screen from orange to blue periodically.
I'm getting that also - but it's only happening on sites like GAF with ad's that are loading in flash or whatever at the top of the screen. Doesn't seem to ever happen when I'm in salesforce, gmail, etc.
Vault Dweller 111
Member
I love mine i'm a college student and I pretty much use it for everything. It's been exactly what I needed.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Not present on my SP2. I mean there are menus with those names but no option to do anything wifi related. Just asks about when to turn the screen off, and when to shut down.
Don't see anything in advanced options either.
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