Microsoft today began shipping a fresh set of firmware updates to Surface Pro 3 owners, bringing improvements to system stability and security. Available for devices on the Windows 10 Creators Update (version 1703) and later, the updates also address an issue causing a Device Manager error state.

Here's a look at all of what's new (via Neowin):

• Surface Integration – System: 2.0.1630.0 improves system stability and resolve Device Manager error state.
• Marvell AVASTAR Bluetooth Radio Adapter – Bluetooth: 15.68.9125.57 improves system security.
• Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller – Network adapters: 15.68.9125.57 improves system security.

If you're still running a Surface Pro 3 as your main device, you should be able to snag these updates now via Windows Update.

Microsoft this week announced a new "Battery Limit" feature (via OnMSFT) for its Surface devices that is aimed at helping them maintain their ability to hold a charge after being connected to external power for long periods of time. Initially available for the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4, the feature will eventually roll out to further Surface devices in future firmware updates.

The main goal for this feature is to assist in maintaining battery reliability in settings where a Surface may be used in things like kiosks and consoles, where the Surface device is rarely removed from a power source. Microsoft explains:

Battery Limit Mode can be enabled via the Surface UEFI settings under the "Boot configuration" option.

Though they're getting a little long in the tooth, Microsoft is continuing to push new firmware updates to the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4. Today, the company released a fresh set of fixes for both devices, bringing improved battery stability to each while enhancing system security for the Surface Pro 4, specifically (via Neowin).

Here's a look at what's new:

Surface Pro 3

• Surface UEFI – Firmware: 3.11.2550.0 improves battery stability for devices not in use.
• Surface Embedded Controller Firmware – Firmware: 38.14.80.0 improves battery stability for devices not in use.
• Surface Integration – System devices: 2.0.1350.0 improves battery stability for devices not in use.

Surface Pro 4

• Marvell AVASTAR Bluetooth Radio Adapter – Bluetooth: 15.68.9125.57 improves system security.
• Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller – Network adapters: 15.68.9125.57 improves system security.
• Surface UEFI – Firmware: 108.2318.769.0 improves battery stability for devices not in use.
• Surface Embedded Controller Firmware – Firmware: 103.2241.256.0 improves battery stability for devices not in use.
• Surface Integration – System devices: 1.0.176.0 improves battery stability for devices not in use.

Today's firmware updates come alongside the release of September's "Patch Tuesday" updates for Windows 10, which bring their own set of security fixes for everyone.

If you're still using a Surface Pro 3 or Surface Pro 4, you should be able to snag these updates now via Windows Update.

Surface firmware updates typically solve issues, but the latest appears to be causing headaches for at least some Surface Pro 4 owners. In a lengthy thread on the Microsoft Answers community forums, Surface Pro 4 users began reporting a number of issues plaguing their machines following the release of the device's last set of firmware updates on July 26.

The number one reported problem is that the screen stops responding to touch and pen input. Additionally, excessively long restart times and a noticeable increase in fan usage seem to have been caused by the firmware updates. The user who started the Microsoft Answers thread, going by the name of ElixirHunter, summed up the issues:

• All of the keyboard/pad functions are working including zoom, scroll etc. but no screen-touch or pen response (pen button clicks still open pre-chosen programmes as they should) After being shut down will only start up with long hold on power switch.
• It now takes ages to restart (used to start in a few dreamy seconds). Begins with completely black screen for about 20 seconds and no visible signs of turning on (lights on Fn key for instance) then the SURFACE screen, then the ring and eventually lock screen.
• Seems to use the fan more often (it even continued after shut a few times).
• In device manager the Firmware has an exclamation mark on Surface ME saying: This device cannot start. (Code 10) - An attempt was made to change the attributes on memory that has not been committed.
• Trouble shooter detects this but can not solve it.
• The pen/ink section of the Surface App says: the Surface app needs an updated component from Windows Update in order to enable this feature

For its part, a Microsoft representative has responded to the thread, noting that the company is "actively investigating" the issue, but there's no solution for now.

Surface Pro 4 owners aren't alone: a years-old thread about unresponsive Type Covers on the Surface Pro 3 has seen an uptick in activity recently as well. It's unclear just how widespread the issues are, but they present serious problems for those who rely on their Surface Pro devices to get work done every day.

Thanks to Stu H. for the tip!

Surface Pro 3 isn't exactly the most active device when it comes to firmware updates nowadays, but Microsoft is shipping a fresh one out to the device this week. Specifically, this release is available for devices still running the Windows 10 Creators Update.

The last firmware update to roll out to Surface Pro 3 came in February as a patch for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities that made headlines early in the year. This latest fix also places a focus on security, but it's unclear exactly what issues it addresses.

From the release notes:

• Surface UEFI – Firmware: 3.11.2450.0 improves device security.

According to Microsoft, the update began rolling out on August 7, so your Surface Pro 3 may have downloaded it already. Otherwise, you should be able to grab this security update now via Windows Update if your Surface Pro 3 is still on the Creators Update.

Marketing is important to a product's positioning, what products it will compete against and how it's perceived independently and in relation to other products in a category.

Microsoft's Surface Pro was a unique device that was designed to showcase Windows 8, an OS meant to transition seamlessly between the touch-friendly mobility of tablets and the productivity context of laptops. Conceived during a time, per Surface creator Panos Panay when tablets were predicted to replace laptops, Surface was intentionally designed to meet that shift while retaining the productivity forte' of Windows on a laptop form factor.

Putting the full power the PC into a tablet form factor was, therefore, the springboard of the Surface journey.

Surface Pro

In 2012 former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introduced Surface Pro, the tablet that can replace your laptop (which came to market in early 2013). Ballmer's walking around stage with the keyboardless Surface (touch and type covers were introduced later in the presentation) was an interesting visual that hammered home the tablet positioning of this device.

The focus on leisure activities, Store apps and the kickstand which allowed comfortable media consumption were highlighted before the introduction of the keyboard which allowed the more familiar Windows productivity scenarios.

It's important to remember that in 2012 Windows tablets were woefully absent from a popular slate tablet space dominated by iPads and Android tablets. Microsoft's Surface and Continuum-enabled context-conforming Windows UI was Microsoft's way of bringing a Windows tablet category to market buttressed by the strength of its desktop legacy.

Surface Pro 2

Surface Pro 2 began an interesting trend in Surfaces evolution and the language used to define it. Though Panay presented the Pro 2 as the most powerful professional tablet, the context and the language he used to qualify these claims reveal how Microsoft was really positioning this tablet.

His reference (above video) to how this tablet was faster than 95 percent of the laptops in the market (at the time), and highlighting the revised kickstand for better lap use reveal the product category Microsoft was really targeting with Surface. He referred to the device as a full PC and referenced transforming that word (PC) and putting it into a tablet form factor.

This PC positioning was hammered home when Panay introduced the Surface Docking Station which allowed the Pro 2 to power up to two screens in a desktop scenario and handled raw image/video processing from one of the movie industries most advanced cameras.

Surface Pro 3

Though the first two Surface iterations lost Microsoft $1 billion the company plowed forward. CEO Satya Nadella shared that the company wanted to design a device that takes the best of a tablet and laptop and enables individuals to both consume and create in various scenarios from literature, art and even movies. He qualified the Surface Pro 3 as a major step toward that goal.

Panay expressed that the company was, at this time, at a crossroads because when consumers went to make a purchase, there was a conflict as to whether they should get a tablet or laptop. "What is it that you want to do?", the question sales clerks ask, Panay shared was the context for Microsoft's Surface strategy.

Ultimately people have both a tablet and laptop in their bags and phone in their pocket he acknowledged. He also highlighted that 96 percent of the journalists at the Surface Pro 3 event were using laptops, and not tablets, which were predicted years earlier as laptop replacements. It is upon this reality that the Surface marketing continued to evolve from a tablet to laptop positioning.

Panay stressed the early "click and do more" motto which differed from the primary consumption use of tablets. He also stressed how the 12-inch display of the Surface Pro 3 showed six percent more content than that 13-inch MacBook due to its 3:2 aspect ratio. He also bragged about the PC power in this thin tablet form factor. And to drive his point home, he put an iPad and MacBook on one side of a scale and the Surface Pro 3 on the other to demonstrate how it was lighter than the laptop and tablet it was positioned to replace. From Microsoft's perspective Surface Pro 3 was a turning point that began resolving the conflict PC and tablet consumers have.

How the Surface changed Microsoft forever

Surface Pro 4 and Surface Pro 2017

During the Surface Pro 4's introduction, Panay consistently compared it to a Macbook. In fact, he stated that he wouldn't compare it to any tablet because there was no tablet in its class. So though Microsoft still pushed the "the tablet that can replace your laptop" tagline with the Pro 4, it's clear the company had long been targeting, and was settling on, laptop users as the Surface's audience.

Part of this laptop positioning was doubtless a play to the company's strengths. Though Surface's tablet design is both efficient and premium, the software ecosystem for consumption activity on Windows falls short compared to iOS and Android. Second, over the years, the slate tablet form factor has dropped in popularity as the market favors 2-in-1s. Thus, by the fifth iteration of Surface Pro, the combination of the state of the tablet industry and Microsoft's own strengths positions the company to, without reservation, bring the Surface's laptop focus to the forefront.

Thus, Surface Pro 2017 with its 165-degree hinge and Surface Studio-inspired Studio mode, LTE for improved mobility, more advanced camera and microphones for Skype communication, detachable tablet mode and more, make this Surface, at least from Microsoft's perspective, the most versatile laptop.

See at Microsoft

Is it really laptop?

Our own Senior Editor Zac Bowden contends with this designation. Though I'm not completely sold on its accuracy, Microsoft has progressively positioned Surface Pro more as a laptop than tablet.

And though it is not a "laptop" in the traditional sense, particularly with the keyboard sold separately as Bowden points out, perhaps its category-defining nature and "most versatile" designation makes allowances for this "non-traditional" laptop packaging. Perhaps. What do you think?

Related reading

Surface Pro 2017 Review

Not long after the Meltdown and SPectre processor flaws were disclosed in January, Microsoft began rolling out firmware updates for several of its Surface devices to protect against them. Notably missing from the list of updated devices at the time was the Surface Pro 3, but Microsoft is now rectifying that with a new update.

The update contains a single change and, like the other updates, it resolves "potential security vulnerabilities" related to Meltdown and Spectre. Here's a look at the release notes, as detailed on Microsoft's Surface Update History page (via Thurrott):

• Surface – Firmware – 3.11.2250.0 - Surface UEFI – Firmware 3.11.2250.0: resolves potential security vulnerabilities, including Microsoft security advisory 180002.

According to Microsoft, the update began rolling out on February 20, so it's possible your machine has installed it already if you have automatic updates turned on. Otherwise, the security update should be available to pick up via Windows Update. Alternatively, you can grab the update and install it manually from Microsoft.

Microsoft has already issued an emergency update to Windows users in response to the Meltdown and Spectre exploits that were disclosed this week, but the company has now announced dedicated firmware updates for Surface devices as well.

The UEFI updates will be available for the following eight Surface models running the Windows 10 Creators Update or Fall Creators Update, according to Microsoft:

• Surface Pro 3
• Surface Pro 4
• Surface Book
• Surface Studio
• Surface Pro Model 1796
• Surface Laptop
• Surface Pro with LTE Advanced
• Surface Book 2

As for Surface Hub, Microsoft believes that the chances of these vulnerabilities working against it are "significantly reduced" because of its security features. The company says it will continue to monitor threats to Surface Hub and act accordingly, however.

As of this writing, it doesn't appear that the firmware updates are being distributed to everyone over Windows Update. We have, however, been able to secure what appears to be the update with a Surface Book 2 on the Release Preview Insider ring. Insiders in the Fast and Slow rings should be able to grab the update as well. Otherwise, we'd expect the updates to start rolling out for everyone in relatively short order.

For more on Meltdown and Spectre, check out our recent coverage of the disclosure, as well as the latest response from Intel.

The Surface Pro 3 appears to be having a tough time with the latest Windows Insider builds released to the fast ring. Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar has now confirmed that Microsoft is aware of the issue and is investigating, and we should know more about what is going on later today.

A number of users have now reported issues getting their systems to boot with Windows 10 Insider builds 16362 and 16288, both of which were released to Skip Ahead and Fast Ring users, respectively, last week. In separate threads on Reddit and the Microsoft Answers forum, Surface Pro 3 owners say that their devices won't move past the boot screen. The automatic repair tool also appears to get stuck, and resetting has no effect.

Unfortunately, if you're currently hitting a wall with your Surface Pro 3, the only option to return to working order appears to be reinstalling back to a production build using a USB recovery key. You can find the ISO files you'll need, as well as instructions on how to get started at Microsoft.

If you're still running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update on your Surface Pro 3, you've got some firmware updates waiting. Microsoft has now posted the notes for a batch of updates, dated August 16, that all relate to adding support for the latest Surface Pro Type Cover and Surface Pro Signature Type Covers.

Here's a look at the full release notes on the Surface Update History page:

• Surface – System – 3.0.0.0: Surface Smart Cover Backlight – System device - 3.0.0.0 Enables support for Surface Pro Type Cover and the Surface Pro Signature Type Covers.
• Surface – HID – 1.0.173.1: Surface PTP Filter - HID - 1.0.173.1 Enables support for Surface Pro Type Cover and the Surface Pro Signature Type Covers.
• Surface – Biometric – 2.2.11.0: Surface Fingerprint Sensor Driver – Biometric device - 2.2.11.0 Enables support for Surface Pro Type Cover and the Surface Pro Signature Type Covers.
• Surface – HID – 1.0.2.0: Surface Pro Type Cover Integration - HID - 1.0.2.0 Enables support for Surface Pro Type Cover and the Surface Pro Signature Type Covers.
• Surface - Keyboards – 1.1.504.0: Surface Type Cover Filter Device - Keyboards - 1.1.504.0 Enables support for Surface Pro Type Cover and the Surface Pro Signature Type Covers.

Given that the updates are dated August 16 (though the notes were only just posted), your machine may already have them installed. Otherwise, you should be able to grab them via Windows Update now. Keep in mind that these are only applicable to Surface Pro 3s still running Windows 10 version 1607, otherwise known as the Anniversary Update.

Microsoft's Surface product line has grown over the years to meet the various demands of consumers. For those who own a Surface Pro 3, Pro 4, or new Surface Pro however, you may be interested in innovative ways to expand its form factor. Or maybe you just really want a Surface Book, but can't afford it now.

The Brydge 12.3 Bluetooth keyboard is one possible solution that turns your Surface Pro into more or a laptop. I was skeptical of such a device, but after spending a few weeks with it, I'm (mostly) impressed. Here is what I like, and what I don't.

See at Amazon

How it works

The Brydge 12.3 is a standalone Bluetooth 4.0 keyboard that has its own battery and costs $150. Micro USB charges it, and it should last around three months on a single charge. Obviously, that can vary, but the Brydge 12.3 should last at the very least weeks even with extreme usage.

You just pair the Brydge 12.3 to the Surface Pro 3 or 4 using Windows 10 and the Bluetooth configuration.

Next, you slip the Surface Pro into the shims at the edge. They are quite firm, and it requires pressure to slide in the Surface Pro. The good news is that means the Surface Pro will not slip out. The unwelcome news is this is not something you want to have to do repeatedly, so the setup presumes you'll leave the Surface Pro in the Brydge for extended durations. If you must separate them, you just tug.

Once paired the Brydge 12.3 acts just as a keyboard, and it makes the Surface Pro feel like a laptop.

Brydge 12.3 features and quality

Made from an all-aluminum chassis, the build quality is excellent on the Brydge 12.3.

Out of the box, the Brydge 12.3 is configured for the Surface Pro 4/Surface Pro, but there are extra shims in the box that fit the Surface Pro 3.

The Brydge 12.3 works with the all-new Surface Pro (2017), as well.

Everyone I showed it too was impressed with how durable and stable it feels. Part of that is the weight, which is 1.4 pounds (652 grams). That means you are effectively doubling the weight of your Surface Pro.

The reason for the weight is just physics. To prop the 1.7lb Surface Pro up into a laptop mode without the kickstand, you need similar weight to offset it. The Brydge 12.3 opens to a maximum of 160 degrees much like a "real" laptop.

The Brydge 12.3 is also the same diameter as the Surface Pro. It feels like squishing two Surface Pros together.

To be fair, it all feels very dense, robust, and even rugged. But your light Surface Pro becomes a heavy laptop weighing 3.41 pounds (1.55 kg). That's a significant tradeoff.

The Brydge 12.3 keys are chicklet-style with plenty of travel. I enjoy the way they depress and feel. They also support three-stage backlighting, which is a very nice touch. Part of the extra weight of the Brydge 12.3 goes to an internal battery for the Bluetooth and to also power the backlighting.

The Brydge trackpad is smaller than that of the Surface Type Cover. It's glass and while not Precision (so it doesn't support all Windows 10 gestures) it is better than average.

However, when you close the Surface Pro on to the Brydge, you need to hit the power button the Surface Pro to turn it off. There is no way for the Brydge to know your Surface is off because unlike the Type Cover, it is not physically connected.

If you open the Surface Pro and hit the power button, the Brydge automatically pairs again. The process is fluid and fast requiring no wait times so you can dive into work.

Unfortunately, you cannot use the Brydge 12.3 to charge the Surface Pro as an extended battery.

Overall, I was way more impressed with the Brydge 12.3 than I was expecting to be. The build quality is fantastic, the Bluetooth worked, the keyboard feels right, the backlighting is great, and the trackpad is OK.

Some issues with typing

My biggest complaint with the Brydge 12.3 is with typing. While it felt great, I often missed keystrokes. That may be related to how fast I type – average around 60 words per minute – because typing more slowly seemed fine.

The issue is likely to do with the Bluetooth, and the keyboard may be bad at keystroke-timing crossover so that the key needs to fully "clear" the movement before it registers. On average, it happened about every ten or twenty words, which while not awful, was enough to make me frustrated on occasion.

Brydge 12.3 Pro 128 adds optional SSD to your Surface Pro

In another oversion - Brydge 12.3 Pro 128 – you can get 128GB high-speed (600mbps) SSD storage built into the keyboard. That option will double the cost of the Brydge 12.3 to $299.

It connects via the micro USB port to the Surface Pro's USB Type-A one through an included mini-cable. While perhaps a bit clumsy, I must admit the idea is intriguing.

Conclusion: Almost worth it

I expected to dislike the Brydge 12.3 for Surface Pro but came away awestruck. The overall quality is fantastic, and Brydge gets a lot right with the device.

The added weight and size is something to note, but it at least feels good to carry and use.

The typing experience is great even though I missed a keystroke on occasion, which is the real bummer here. I think slower typists will be OK, but those who type like pros will get frustrated quickly. I also don't love the smaller trackpad.

The $150 price is a bit high, too. Considering, however, that a new Surface Type Cover (non-Alcantara) costs $129, I think Brydge is in the ballpark. At the very least, the packaging and build quality all make it feel premium and worth the money. Nothing feels cheap about the Brydge 12.3.

Brydge 12.3 is worth checking out if you want this setup, but you may want to wait until the next version. With a few refinements, this could be a killer accessory.

See at Amazon

Pros:

• Excellent build quality and design.
• Really nice keyboard response and feel.
• Backlit keys look great.
• Makes the Surface Pro more laptop-like.

Cons:

• Doubles the weight and size of Surface Pro.
• Occasional missed keystrokes when typing fast.
• Trackpad is a bit too small.

Microsoft is now rolling out a small, but no less useful, firmware update for the Surface Pro 3. This update only contains two changes, but the most notable is a bump in battery life while the Surface Pro 3 is in sleep mode.

Here's a look at what's new in the latest firmware for the Surface Pro 3:

• Surface Pro Embedded Controller Firmware: 38.13.50.0 improves battery life during sleep.
• Surface Pro UEFI: 3.11.2150.0 improves PXE performance on IPv6.

There aren't any security-related updates involved here, but any boost to battery life is a good thing — particularly for a device that has had its share of battery woes. If you're using a Surface Pro 3, you should be able to grab these firmware updates now via Windows Update.

One of the side benefits of Microsoft's Surface Pro becoming a modern computing option for the masses is the abundance of accessories. Mozo has been around for a few years, getting its start with unique cases for the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL.

Besides its Surface Sneaker sleeve, the company has a new option in the brown or black Folio for your Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4. I've been sporting one of my Surface Pro 4 for a few weeks now. Here is what I think of the $54 (€49.90) add-on.

Materials and design

Approved through the "Designed for Surface" program, the Mozo Folio is a unique. The Mozo Folio is form fitted for the Surface Pro 3 and 4, and it reminds me of the Huawei MateBook's protective case, including its color and functionality.

Made from colored polyurethane leather, the Mozo Folio comes in brown or "black golf" colors. The base of the Folio is stiff but somewhat flexible. The reinforced bi-cast leather is what gives the Folio its protective abilities, as well as a base for the Surface to stand on during use.

The Folio oddly attaches to your Surface via some special adhesive on the upper back. In that sense, the Folio is something you put on and plan to leave on for the foreseeable future. The benefit of such a system is that the Folio feels more integral to the Surface and acts as an extension of the design rather than "just another case." No slipping, sliding or readjustments are ever needed.

A magnetic flap keeps the Folio latched closed, and it protects the rear camera during travel.

One of the satisfying benefits of the Mozo Folio is that it creates a solid base between the Surface and the kickstand, which is usually left as an open gap. Some people don't quite like the somewhat sharp Surface kickstand putting pressure on their legs when used in the lap, and this case fixes that.

Taking it for a flip

Using the Mozo Folio for the Surface is straightforward, but it requires some slight finesse. You just open the flap, push up the Surface and then extend the Surface kickstand. That last part requires the finesse, because the Folio somewhat obstructs the kickstand – not fully, just enough that you must reach in to open it.

Despite the back of the Folio covering the Surface kickstand, the Surface can still slide forward leaving it unhindered. That means you can lay the Surface down at any angle without encumbering the kickstand.

In day-to-day activities, the Surface Pro loses a bit of speed from going closed to open due to the Folio, but it's not a major drawback. And closing the Surface with the Folio is quite satisfying. My Surface Pro 4 now feels 100-percent protected and secure in the Folio.

Besides being able to just toss it into a backpack without worrying what is at the bottom, the Surface with Folio feels great in hand. The Surface keyboard no longer flops open on its own, and the system has more grip.

Finally, one of the biggest complaints about the Surface is that it's unclear what specifically you should do with the Pen during travel. The pen's magnets notoriously do not hold up when in a bag, making it something extra to concern yourself with (and later dig out). With the Surface Folio's magnetic flap, you can attach the Surface Pen to it and have it secured during transit. And it looks great.

Wrapping it up: Should you buy the Surface Folio?

I recall once putting my Surface Pro 3 in one of those airport bins to go through security. When it came out from the scanner, there were some minor scratches on the Surface, likely due to the rigid plastic of the bin and the Surface sliding around. I'd had the device for only a week. Situations like that one make the Folio an excellent choice. Obviously, had I had it in a Folio such an incident would not have happened.

I like the design and functionality of the Mozo Surface Folio. It's different than traditional sleeves or separate bags, both of which take up more room if you pack them. It's also one of the thinnest solutions to protect the Surface that I have come across. If you don't like bulk, this Folio is a solid choice.

I also like the way the whole thing looks when closed, including when the pen is locked down.

The two downsides I see are pricing — $54 is not cheap — and the permanent nature of the Folio, due to its adhesive. I'm not too concerned with removing it because the adhesive is modest and won't mar the Surface's chassis. But it does it mean that once you put the Folio on you will have to leave it there. I should also mention that the brown version is more susceptible to "leather wear," giving it a worn look with some "distressed" marking. Some like that look, others do not.

That permanence may be a good thing if you, like me, appreciate the classy look and functionality of the Mozo Folio. The Folio is the kind of case that feels like an extension of the device and not an external wrapper.

• See Brown Surface Folio at Mozo
• See Black Golf Surface Folio at Mozo

Pros:

• Neat and thin design.
• Looks professional.
• Locks down Pen during transit.
• Provides a larger, more comfortable base for Surface.

Cons:

• Not cheap.
• A little clumsy to open.
• Adhesive makes it a semi-permanent solution.

Microsoft will sell you a refurbished Surface Pro 3 or Surface Pro 4 in various configurations, and as you'd expect the starting prices are lower than if you went and bought a brand new one.

But refurbished isn't new, by definition. It's a used product made good again. So what do you actually get, and is it worth the investment?

The cost

Based on current Microsoft Store pricing, here's what you're looking at for a certified refurbished Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4

Surface Pro 3

Surface Pro 4

The Surface Pro 3 is a last-gen product so there's no current pricing to compare to, but $499 for the 128GB Core i5 model is the best value you can currently get.

The Surface Pro 4 has recently had some price cuts and starts right now at $699 for the 128GB Core m3 model, so refurbed versions offer less savings. You have to go up to the Core i7 256GB with 8GB of RAM to see a savings of $220, which might make a bit more sense. At the lower end, you save less than $100, and frankly, you'd be better off stumping for the brand new ones.

What does certified refurbished mean?

Each refurbished product is a pre-owned device that Microsoft puts through a rigorous course of love and care, with new parts and repairs when necessary.

As part of the refurb process, each Microsoft-Certified Refurbished Product:

• is screened and tested to be fully functional.
• is reloaded with the Windows OS and software updates.
• is put through a thorough cleaning process and cosmetic inspection.
• is repackaged with appropriate manuals, cables and power cord in a new box.

When you receive your product it should be indistinguishable from a brand new one. You also get a 12-month limited warranty from Microsoft with all refurbished products should anything go wrong.

Should you buy one?

There's no reason not to buy a refurbed device from Microsoft, because you're getting a professionally-refurbished Surface Pro at a discount price directly from the source. If you want an older, cheaper Surface Pro 3 this is probably a better idea than buying a used model from a third-party.

However, if you're looking at the Surface Pro 4 it only really makes sense at the higher-end, so you get substantial savings. Sure, savings are savings, but at the lower end you won't save enough with recent price drops to justify taking the plunge.

See at Microsoft

A new firmware update appears to be rolling out to the Surface Pro 3. As the first of 2017 for the Surface Pro 3, the update is dated January 30, but it's not entirely clear what's new.

Currently, there's no changelog listed on the Surface Pro 3 update tracker, but that's normal for these update rollouts. With recent Surface Pro 4 and Surface Studio updates, for example, it took more than 24 hours for changelogs to show up on their respective update pages. Still, we've received tips about an update rolling out and users on Reddit report the same.

When Microsoft releases a changelog, we'll update this post with details. In the meantime, let us know in the comments if you've snagged the latest firmware release from Windows Update.

Update: Microsoft has now posted a changelog detailing what's new in this update. Here's a look:

• Intel Corporation – Display – 20.19.15.4568
  • Intel(R) HD Graphics Family - 20.19.15.4568 improves Miracast and docked video performance.
  • Intel(R) Display Audio - 6.16.00.3197 improves Miracast and docked video performance.
• Microsoft - System Firmware update
  • Surface Pro UEFI - 3.11.2050.0 improves system performance for the latest Windows versions.

Thanks to Raed N. for the tip!

If you've been a Surface user for a few years now, you might have started with a Surface Pro 3 and upgraded to a Surface Pro 4. In this case, you might also have a Surface Pro 3 dock sitting around somewhere. Good news! You can use your old dock with your newer, thinner Surface Pro. Here's how to get the necessary adapter and how to put everything together.

• Get your dock adapter for free from Microsoft
• Print your own dock adapter
• How to use your Surface Pro 3 dock with a Surface Pro 4
• Where to get the Surface Pro 3 docking station

Get your dock adapter for free from Microsoft

To fit your Surface Pro 4 into the older dock, you'll need an adapter from Microsoft. The easiest way to get one is to visit Microsoft's device repair site.

1. Register your Surface Pro with Microsoft.
2. Click Replace an accessory.
3. Click Surface Pro 4 Adapter for Surface Pro 3 Docking Station.

You can also spend some time out of the house and head down to a local Microsoft store to pick up an adapter. Not sure if there's a physical Microsoft Store location near you? Check out this full list of Microsoft Stores.

Print your own dock adapter

If you're lucky enough to own or have access to a 3D printer, Microsoft has been kind enough to supply a template for the necessary adapter. This page contains all the instructions and files you need to print your own adapter.

How to use your Surface Pro 3 dock with a Surface Pro 4

The adapter for your Surface Pro 3 docking station simply slides in, allowing your Surface Pro 4 to sit atop it. Here's a step-by-step guide to ensure you get everything set up correctly.

1. Pull out both sides of your docking station.

2. Place the adapter against the docking station and slide it down.

3. Place your Surface Pro 4 against the dock and adapter and slide it down.
4. Push both sides of the dock in so that it attaches to your Surface Pro 4 (Surface Pro 3 is pictured below, but it's the same process for the Surface Pro 4).

That's it! Your Surface Pro 4 will fit securely in your docking station and you can enjoy all your peripheral devices.

Where to get the Surface Pro 3 docking station

If you like the look and function of the Surface Pro 3 docking station, you can still get it from the Microsoft Store for about $200.

See at Microsoft Store

If you'd rather have a dock that works with the Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book, the Microsoft Surface Dock is your best bet. It doesn't have the same stand-like design, but it works just as well to connect your peripherals. It is the same price as the Surface Pro dock — about $200.

See at Microsoft Store

Which dock do you use?

Do you have a Surface Pro 3 dock that you use with a Surface Pro 4, or did you go with the newer Surface Dock that is compatible with all Surface models? Let us know in the comments section!

Microsoft has rolled out an update to the Surface Pro 3, bringing along a fix for some battery capacity woes some owners were experiencing. That's according to the latest information available on the Surface Pro 3 update tracker (via Neowin), which says a firmware update began rolling out on November 7 with the fix.

From Microsoft:

On Microsoft's dedicated FAW page for the problem, it describes the cause as an error condition that causes a fully charged battery to be misreported to the operating system. "When this condition occurs, the system no longer charges the battery to its full actual capacity, and the Surface is unable to function on battery power," Microsoft says.

This is the second such battery draining issue that Microsoft has recently had to fix on the Surface Pro 3. Previously, a specific subset of users with batteries manufactured by Simplo were experiencing a similar problem, but Microsoft fixed that issue with an update in August. Following that fix, users who had Surface Pro 3s equipped with batteries from another manufacturer, LGC, starting reporting issues. Hopefully this new update does indeed fix the issue for those users.

Have you received this update on your Surface Pro 3 yet? Let us know if it has resolved your battery woes if you were previously affected.

Microsoft has issued a statement on reports that a new group of Surface Pro 3 owners are experiencing battery drain issues with the tablet, denying that the new problems were caused by a firmware update released on August 29.

People that own Surface Pro 3 units with batteries made by LGC have been reporting that they appear to be stuck at a specific power percentage and labeled as "Not Charging" when the tablet is plugged in. Some people believed the problems rose from the firmware update on August 29, which was ironically designed to fix battery draining problems with another set of Surface Pro 3 tablets.

However, according to what a Microsoft rep stated on the company's support forums today (via ZDNet) that is not the case:

We will, of course, keep you up to date on this latest Surface Pro 3 battery bug.

It looks like the Surface Pro 3's battery woes may not be over, as a number of users are reporting issues with fast battery drain following a recent update. In particular, while an update in late August addressed a specific battery drain problem in Surface Pro 3 units equipped with batteries manufactured by Simplo, the same update appears to have introduced a similar bug to units packed with batteries manufactured by another firm: LGC.

According to a long thread on the Microsoft Answers forum (via Infoworld), Surface Pro 3 units with batteries manufactured by LGC appear to be stuck at a specific percentage and labeled as "Not Charging," according to Windows, when plugged in. Once unplugged, some users are reporting that their Surface Pro 3s shut down within a matter of seconds or minutes.

For its part, it appears Microsoft is at least aware of the issue and is presumably working on a fix. In the aforementioned Microsoft Answers thread, community moderator and Microsoft MVP Barb Bowman posted the following reply from a Microsoft contact on the issue:

Other than that response, Microsoft has remained silent on the issue. However, we'll update if and when the company outlines any plans for a fix. In the meantime, have you experienced any further battery issues since the Surface Pro 3's late-August firmware update? Let us know in the comments!

Microsoft has issued yet another firmware update for its Surface Pro 3 tablet. This is the third such firmware release inside of two months for the nearly two year old tablet, and this one may finally fix a fast battery drain issue that has affected some users.

At the time of this post, there's no change log published for this latest Surface Pro 3 firmware roll out. Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that it was testing a software solution for the battery draining issues that some tablet owners have been reporting for the past few months. A quick look at Microsoft's support forum shows that people who have installed the firmware update are reporting better battery life on their Surface Pro 3. We will update this post when Microsoft publishes a change log.

Update: Microsoft is now confirming that today's firmware update addresses the battery issue.

You can find more info on their updated FAQ page

Thanks to Richard, and Stephen B., for the tipS!

Microsoft has released yet another firmware update for its Surface Pro 3 tablet. It's the second such update for the product in less than two weeks.

The last firmware update for the Surface Pro 3 was rolled out on July 22 to fix, among other things, a couple of minor battery issues. However, many owners of the tablet have been reporting for weeks that there is an excessive amount of battery drain from their Surface Pro 3 models. Microsoft later said it discovered the issue was indeed affecting a small number of customers and that it believed it was "something that can be addressed via software."

So far, there's no word on what's contained in this latest firmware release, but we will update this post when we learn more.

Update: Microsoft has now updated the Surface history page for the Surface Pro 3 with the change log to this week's new firmware update. Again, based on this information, this does not appear to fix the battery draining issues.

• Surface Pro UEFI - v3.11.1550.0 improves stability and performance when changing between power states.
• Surface Pen Settings - v12.0.303.1 improves system stability with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

Thanks to Michael Gillett for the tip!

A post from a Microsoft rep on the company's support forums says that reports about some Surface Pro 3 tablets experiencing issues with fast battery draining could be fixed with a software patch.

Earlier this month, many Surface Pro 3 owners began reporting online that their tablet's battery were experiencing a reduction in its charge. Microsoft support rep Greg posted a statement on the company's support forums that finally offers some hope this issue could be fixed without a hardware switch:

Microsoft did release some new firmware drivers for the Surface Pro 3 last week, but they addressed some other smaller issues with battery life and not the one that is currently being reported.

For fans of Mozo and who own a Surface, you will want to consider ordering up their new Sneaker Sleeves. Teased on Facebook recently the sleeves are now available to order with a 2 to 3-week turnaround on the order.

The sleeves will cost you €49.90 or about $55 USD plus shipping. From the item description:

Designed to bring together fashion and functionality. This exclusive pouch, inspired by street style, has a high-performance statement and up-to-date look. While designed specifically for the Surface products, it is also a great fit for many 2-in-1 tablets and laptops.

• Dimensions: 33.5 cm x 25.5 cm x 2.5 cm
• Material: PU & cotton canvas
• Lining: cotton canvas
• Outside zipper pocket and inner pocket

For color options, you get three choices including Red, Blue, or Black.

We went ahead and ordered up a Blue Sneaker Sleeve and will give you our thoughts once it arrives. Anyone else looking to grab one of these? Let us know in comments.

See at Mozo Accessories

Thanks, Michael W., for the tip!

Microsoft is rolling out new firmware updates for its Surface Pro 3 tablet. It the first such update for the device since April and its release may be designed to fix a battery drain issue that has been reported by some owners.

Earlier this week, Microsoft stated that it was "working quickly" to resolve reports that the battery was losing its charge too quickly on some Surface Pro 3 models. The firmware update began rolling out on Thursday night but, so far, there's no change log available to see what's included. Besides a general update, Surface Pro 3 owners will also be getting a Realtek audio driver upgrade. We will update this post when Microsoft releases concrete info on these downloads.

Thanks to Ryan, Josh and "WPit" for the tips!

Update: Microsoft has now posted the change log for the firmware updates on its Surface history page, and as it turns out a couple of them fix issues with battery life, although not perhaps the rapid draining problems that were recently reported:

• Surface Pro System Aggregator Firmware - v3.9.850.0 increases battery life during sleep mode and improves keyboard stability.
• Surface Pro UEFI - v3.11.1450.0 improves system sleep and hibernation behavior when battery level is low.
• Surface Fingerprint Sensor - v2.2.10.8 increases finger print touch stability coming out of sleep.
• Surface Pen Settings - v11.0.311.0 enhances pen setting driver stability.
• Realtek High Definition Audio - v6.0.1.7642 improves the audio quality for the JAWS screen reader.

Microsoft says the company is "working quickly" to find and fix a battery drain issue that is currently affecting many Surface Pro 3 tablets.

Many owners of the 18-month old tablet have been reporting on their battery drain problems on Microsoft's support forums (via WinSuperSite). The issues seem to center on the models that have the SIMPLO batteries installed.

MSPU got a statement from Microsoft on these problems:

Some people who have tried to get their batteries replaced have already been told by Microsoft that the price will be $450 outside of the warrenty period, even though Surface division leader Panos Panay mentioned in a two-year old Reddit AMA that price would be just $200.

If you want to get the best out of your Surface Pro then you really need to be using it with a keyboard. It's a great tablet, but you're underutilizing it if you just use it as you would any old tablet.

Microsoft has the Type Cover, an excellent add on that protects your screen, looks great and gives you a decent keyboard to type on. But it's quite expensive.

This alternative from Moko is quite similar to Microsoft's Type Cover, but at a much lower cost. If you're looking to save a few bucks, it's worth checking out.

One immediate difference is how the Moko cover connects to the Surface. It uses Bluetooth, which means it has an on-board battery, too. It should be good for 60 hours of continuous use, which isn't bad, and as it uses a standard microUSB cable to charge, you can actually just hook it up to the USB port on the Surface.

It connects to the tablet in the same way as the Microsoft cover. It's got the two little notches to attach into the corresponding holes on the Surface and magnets keep it firmly in place. The back of the cover is felt all over, which is soft and grippy for when you're carrying it around.

Because it's Bluetooth, though, you don't have to have the keyboard connected physically if you so wish. But if it is, you can prop it up at an angle, just as you can with the Microsoft option. This seems more comfortable to me.

The cover will also trigger the sleep mode when you close it over the display, so long as you've got that set up in Windows 10. The keyboard itself is a nice size, the keys seem a little smaller than on the Microsoft version, but they're well spaced out. It's mostly a wash over which is better to type on, but given the price of the Moko, it gets the nod here, I think.

The palm rest is soft-touch, so no greasy plastic to get all sweaty, and there's a good-sized if underwhelming trackpad. If you're going to use a mouse, which I'd always recommend anyway, it won't bother you. It does support gestures, but I've found it to be unresponsive at times and slow to react to them when it does anything.

Best bet is to use the money you save to buy something like the Arc Touch Mouse.

All told, though, this is a great accessory for your Surface Pro 3 or 4 at a great price. There's also a version with a backlit keyboard for not a lot extra, if that's preferable. No offence to Microsoft, but when you can get this at the price you can, I can't recommend going for the official cover over this.

Charging it and using Bluetooth instead of a physical connection is a mild annoyance compared to the cost savings involved. Especially when you get mostly the same experience.

See at Amazon

Microsoft's Windows 10 is installed on more than 300 million devices worldwide, and the majority of those are PCs, tablets, and two-in-ones. AdDuplex's stats for June took a hard look at what that market looks like by breaking it down by manufacturers.

HP rules the roost

HP appears to be doing very well with its broad portfolio of Windows 10 PCs and laptops. According to AdDuplex, they command 22.51 percent of all Windows 10 PCs. Dell, who is also considered one of the more successful PC manufacturers is further back at 12.42 percent. We do know that Dell has had great success with its XPS 13 and XPS 15 devices, but HP with its deep roots in enterprise likely has more devices to offer and customers to sell to right now.

One exciting prospect for HP is since they are doing so well with Windows 10 PCs their forthcoming HP Elite x3 enterprise superphone may be able to gain some traction. HP pushes a lot of numbers Fortune 500 companies and they have a chance to exploit that advantage by finally offering a compelling phone to their enterprise customers. In fact, this was HP's original motivation for the Elite x3 as their business partners buy PCs, laptops, two-in-ones, servers, and printers from them, but have to rely on BYOD for the phone piece of the puzzle. With the Elite x3 HP could leverage their strength to push that phone to various companies who need strong remote management, virtualized Win32 software, and a chance to reduce mobile IT costs.

Speaking of enterprise, Lenovo is close to Dell in the third spot with 11.05 percent of the entire Windows 10 share. Acer and Asus are in a dead heat with 10.26 and 10.66 percent, respectively. Toshiba comes in fifth with just 5.87 percent and Samsung, who only have a few PCs, is at 2.24 percent.

AdDuplex correctly points out that while Microsoft's Surface lineup gets a lot of attention it only makes up 3.03 percent of all Windows 10 devices. While to some that may seem bad, that is the desired effect. The Surface brand is not supposed to beat Microsoft's OEM partners, but rather serve as a premium aspirational device for consumers and companies. Indeed, the latest offerings from HP, Lenovo, Dell, and Samsung show that these firms can also produce highly desirable and well-made hardware instead of the cheap and uninspired designs of the past.

Looking at the AdDuplex graph and surely this is the kind of breakdown Microsoft would like to repeat for Windows 10 Mobile.

Surface Pro 3 is tops for Windows 10

Breaking the above three percent Microsoft number down further and AdDuplex showed that the Surface Pro 3 is the number one Surface running Windows 10. The older Surface Pro 3 commands 33.3 percent while its replacement – the Surface Pro 4 – is close behind at 30.9 percent.

We can likely infer that many owners of the Surface Pro 3 saw little incentive to replace their device with a Surface Pro 4 despite some well-received upgrades. Instead, Surface Pro 4 appears to be mostly new Surface customers, which is a good sign for Microsoft. Considering the price tag of the Surface Pro 4 and it is not surprising that people do not want to change out their hardware every year.

More interestingly the Surface Book only makes up 3.6 percent of all Surfaces running Windows 10. That number is less than the original Surface Pro (6.9%) and Surface 3 (21.5%). However, the Surface Book has a more limited global availability, and the price is substantially higher than a Surface Pro 4, which likely explains the difference. Considering the profit margins on Surface Book, however, and Microsoft is likely doing well regarding sales and recouping costs.

About AdDuplex

The numbers from AdDuplex are collected through their in-app advertising that is prevalent in over 5,000 apps in the Windows Store. That data serve as an important metric within the Windows Phone ecosystem. The full AdDuplex report for June will be posted on their blog at https://blog.adduplex.com/ on Friday (June 24).

Before I joined Windows Central, I worked as an I.T. coordinator for an umbrella organization, providing tech support and deployment to various types of businesses. I've been through a ton of computing hardware during my time there, on the budget side, to the mid-range, all the way up to high-end. I keep coming back to Surface.

The benefits of Surface, for me, extend beyond their versatility. Microsoft created Surface to give OEMs a bit of direction in an age where Apple laptops are considered the pinnacle of premium. It took a long time to get to this point, but in 2016, I think that Surface finally represents how the best Windows hardware experiences should feel.

Surface RT

The ill-fated Surface RT failed to light the world on fire, but in my book, it offered the promise of a future where Windows would be truly device agnostic. And now, it feels very much like we're nearly there.

The Surface RT ran an ARM-based version of Windows 8, making it virtually impossible to run traditional, Win32 .exe programs. My old gaming PC had died on me and at least in the interim, all I needed was a browser, some apps and perhaps word processing, having moved my gaming to Xbox.

Windows 8 was controversial for its touch-based leanings, but on a device like the Surface RT, it was damn near-perfect. Even Apple is attempting to emulate some of RT's most intuitive aspects in their suspiciously familiar iPad Pro.

The Surface RT was lightweight and had decent battery life, solid build quality, and incredible value. My company was purchasing them from Microsoft at £99 ($142) through an educational discount. They even included the intriguing, but cumbersome fabric-based touch cover – which lacked physical keys.

It's pretty standard now, but we ran one of the first schools in my town that were able to turn any classroom into a computer suite, utilizing a portable cabinet of Surface RTs. Ironically, that school now uses Chromebooks for the same purpose. Microsoft stopped offering the cheap first-generation Surface RT, and the RT-based Surface 2 was far more expensive than an equivalent Chromebooks. Still, students and faculty lamented the Windows RT, finding it to be more familiar – even in its unpopular Windows 8 incarnation.

The Surface RT struggled with its identity as an "iPad with a keyboard", lacking quality apps. Microsoft paid for it with a near billion-dollar write-down of unsold Surface RT inventory. Even though the Surface RT failed to ignite the brand, one of my previous company's subsidiary bosses still runs his entire business from one, using an external display and Office 365. It still works as new. Perhaps more companies would have picked up Surface RT were it not for some of its confusing and ill-advised marketing…

Windows on ARM processors lives on as Windows 10 Mobile, delivering unique experiences like Continuum on devices up to nine inches. Hardware like the upcoming HP Elite X3 phone, with its Continuum dock, would likely be an incredible Surface RT replacement for my former colleague. It remains to be seen whether businesses will be deterred by the price, however.

As much as I liked my RT, I had decided it was time to buy something to replace my desktop PC. Thankfully, Microsoft had just released the Surface Pro 2.

Surface Pro 2

All Surface Pro devices run the full version of Windows on Intel processors, which is a fact I still find myself explaining to people. I skipped the first Surface Pro, sticking it out with the Surface RT. When the Pro 2 was announced I found myself unable to resist as it improved heavily on the Pro 1's notoriously poor battery life.

The Surface Pro 2 was chunky, far more than the RT, and far more than you'd want from a tablet experience. Overall, the Pro 2 was still tidier than many laptops of similar specs. I rarely used the Pro 2 in tablet mode in a recreational setting, but found the form factor, coupled with the pen inputs and OneNote, really enhanced my workflow productivity. I was now able to follow teachers around one of the school's I provided support to, writing out their I.T. problems into OneNote while standing, rather than trying to remember every detail, every serial number, etcetera. Of course, it was entirely possible to do this with my Lumia 920 as well, but being able to take photographs of faulty hardware and annotate them felt a little more natural on the larger tablet screen. Windows Phone 8 didn't even have Word Flow swipe typing back then either.

It was around this time I began producing content as a blogger. Thanks to the Surface Pro 2 running full Windows, I was able to design and build a site using Adobe Suite, something that proved difficult on the Windows 8 Store-bound RT. The Pro 2 was even capable of running older games fairly competently, such as World of Warcraft and The Witcher 1, making it a decent gaming travel companion (or procrastination tool while at work, ahem).

As great as the Pro 2 was, it was still a little too clunky. The "tablet that can replace your laptop" tagline didn't hold up. Using the tablet on the sofa or in bed wasn't a particularly pleasant experience due to its weight, and the flat type cover and kickstand made it hard to use in your lap. These issues were compounded by the Windows 8.1 app store. At the time, Windows Phone had a much better app experience for leisurely computing.

Even if I was desk-bound, I found myself eagerly working around the Pro 2's problems, simply because its versatility and uniqueness was just so fun. It was an excellent device for productivity, albeit inelegant. It was fast, intuitive with touch, and I found myself using the pen inputs far more often than expected. I'm not much of an artist, but it inspired me to try and learn.

The Surface Pro line laid bare Microsoft's ambitions for an adaptable Windows, with apps capable of conforming to multiple types of displays simply by examining the screen dimensions and available input methods. I expected Windows 10 on a Surface Pro 3 to nail the proposition of power and mobility, but after a year of heavy use, I think it slightly missed the mark.

Surface Pro 3

I traded up my Pro 2 with an Intel Core i5 processor to a Surface Pro 3 packing a Core i7, and initially, I was thoroughly blown away.

The Surface Pro 3 tablet portion was thinner and lighter, making it far more usable away from the desk. The kickstand ditched the fixed positions of its predecessors and was now omni-positional — never faltering after a year of pretty serious abuse. My favorite addition was the new screen size. The Pro 2 featured a 10.6-inch display, which was not particularly comfortable on the eyes. The Pro 3 bumped it all the way up to 12.1 inches, with a higher resolution for good measure.

On the face of it, the Surface Pro 3 made a compelling argument for the 2-in-1, and saw the brand begin to hit some serious traction. More and more apps were utilizing some of Windows' and Windows Phone's unique features as well, such as cloud-based authentication and settings migration, making the ecosystem experience even better.

After the initial buzz had worn off, it became apparent that the Surface Pro 3 still wasn't capable of fully replacing a similarly-priced laptop for tasks that utilize the full capacity of its hardware. Many Surface Pro 3 owners are likely aware of the system's dreaded throttling, which sees the CPU pull back the speed to prevent overheating. Even basic tasks like browsing the web often induced processor throttling on my Pro 3. While the problem got better over time with updates, overheating seemed to be a physical consequence of squeezing so much powerful hardware into such a small device.

I tried to circumvent this issue by using an external fan; it helped to a degree, particularly when attempting to game or use Adobe Premier for video editing, but it was quite clear that I'd pushed the Pro 3 to its limits.

Still, I have to praise the Pro 3. I used it all day, every day, from the point of purchase until the day I got my Surface Book. It didn't crash on me once, never blue screened, and it survived some serious blows in the course of my worldly travels. If it weren't for the processor overheating issues, I'd probably still be using it today.

I had the choice of upgrading to a Surface Pro 4, with its superior cooling, or something even more powerful. As I was using my Surface Pro 3 more and more intensively, I eventually decided to upgrade to something with a dedicated GPU.

Surface Book

After reading about some of the troubles some reviewers had with the launch Surface Book, I was initially dissuaded. I had read horror stories about the Surface Book's unique mechanical locking mechanism for its detachable keyboard base getting stuck. I had seen accounts of numerous BSOD errors, issues with Microsoft's biometric authentication – Windows Hello – and various other problems. For a £2200 device, that seemed a little too much of a risk.

Initially, I purchased a Dell XPS 15, which is not only significantly cheaper but also packs more powerful internals. The Dell XPS 15 is an incredible machine, with its futuristically slim bezel, gorgeous 4K display, and pervasively impressive craftsmanship. As great as the XPS 15 was overall, I'd become accustomed to polished software. My unit suffered from a bunch of minor software and driver issues that I was unable to fix, despite spending days trawling forums, support pages and the Dell subreddit. While the bugs I had were by no means universal (as Windows Central XPS owners like Daniel Rubino, Richard Devine and Matt Brown will attest), it wasn't the software problems that highlighted what I missed about Surface.

I missed the physical versatility, I missed the polished experience, I missed the fun. In an age of PC market saturation, I just find the idea of a standard clamshell laptop to be a little dull.

My edition of XPS 15 had a touch screen – but why? You can't detach the screen, and it's far easier to defer to your trackpad rather than reach across the keyboard and get fingerprints all over that gorgeous display.

There's no bloatware or third-party solutions out of the box on Surface either. Just pure, uncontaminated Windows. Even if I didn't use tablet mode on a daily basis, it was something I sorely missed in the XPS 15. Even if I'd only used my Pro 3 Surface pen twice a week, it was an excellent, powerful and fun addition to the overall package, especially when coupled with drawing apps like Sketchable, and note taking apps like OneNote.

My Surface Book experience hasn't been without blips, and many of those early reviews for the Surface Book told a similar story. The first unit I purchased had a faulty battery and wouldn't charge. Thankfully, the Microsoft Store was swift in replacing it (thanks Ellen Z). The unit I'm using now is not only completely flawless, but after a couple of months of heavy use, I'm pretty convinced that the Surface Book is the best device I've ever owned.

With the pen magnetically attached to the Surface Book screen, I find myself reaching to use it far more often than I did previously. No longer do I have to keep track of the pen's whereabouts, or rely on flimsy adhesive pen loops. The tablet portion is incredibly light as well, despite its larger screen, aligning it closely with the way I used my undocked Pro 2 and 3 in a productivity context. I haven't had any issues detaching it from the base either, which you trigger by holding down a dedicated key, resulting in a reassuring click.

The Surface Book's design and build quality are on another level. The base is so thin that it almost fades into the desk. The display, while not as vivid as the XPS 15, doesn't seem to suffer as badly from ghosting (which, again, might've been the result of a faulty unit). The Surface Book's unique fulcrum hinge is surprisingly resistant and strangely satisfying as it curls. I would've liked to have seen the hinge be a little more generous with its available angles, but the current implementation hasn't caused me any major gripes.

Thanks to that hinge, you can detach the screen, flip it backwards, and reattach and close the whole unit, giving you a slightly angled drawing tablet or note taking station. The upcoming Windows Ink feature will enhance the Surface Book's digital inking even more.

Perhaps, most crucially for me, it doesn't overheat. Editing 4K video and even running optimized modern PC games (albeit on low-to-medium settings) is entirely viable on the Surface Book's modified 940M-range Nvidia GPU, and it doesn't get too noisy with the fans get going. Unlike my Pro 3, I couldn't extend the Surface Book's versatility to frying an egg.

For £2200, I would've liked to have seen a more powerful GPU perhaps at the very least, though. I also find myself missing the kickstand sometimes on the tablet portion. It's a pretty nifty feature if you just wanted to watch a movie while traveling or when cooking in the kitchen. Sometimes you just don't need the keyboard, but still need to prop up the screen.

I'm still getting to grips with the Surface Book's full capabilities, but at this point, Microsoft has pretty much proven Surface to be a leading computing solution. The Surface line has shifted existing paradigms, taking leadership from companies that have been doing PC and tablet hardware for decades. You have to wonder if the Surface team can extend that success to mobile.

Surface Phone

The Surface line has always been about challenging existing form factors. Rather than go head to head with the iPad, Microsoft asked the question "is this all that a tablet should be?"

Microsoft's Surface division is another billion-dollar business in the company's portfolio, and the team kick-started a wave of Windows hardware excitement. They did this by deconstructing what a PC should be, in addition to shining a spotlight on quality and detail. I find the biggest endorsement of Surface to be the iPad Pro, which does little to hide its inspirations.

It's all about personal preference, but I always found it humorous when I saw clients carrying tablets, laptops and phones around with them to business meetings. Microsoft will most likely try to further streamline those paradigm dilemmas with its Surface Phone, expected to land sometime next year. It's long been rumored, and it simply cannot be a standard rectangular phone with a touch screen.

Until then, what is it you lovely people would like to see in a Surface Phone? Are you a Surface user? Let us know in the comments or say hi to me on Twitter!

See at the Microsoft Store

Microsoft is now pushing a batch of firmware updates to the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and Surface Pro 3. The updates for the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book both contain a number of driver updates centered around the camera, including one directed at improving Windows Hello reliability. Also included are graphics driver updates and much more.

Here are the highlights of each update:

Surface Book April 19 Update

• Microsoft driver update for Surface System Aggregator Firmware
• Microsoft driver update for Surface UEFI
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
• Intel(R) Corporation driver update for Intel(R) Display Audio
• NVIDIA driver update for NVIDIA GeForce GPU
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) Control Logic
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) CSI2 Host Controller
• Intel driver update for Intel(R) Imaging Signal Processor 2500
• Intel Corporation driver update for Microsoft Camera Front
• Intel Corporation driver update for Microsoft Camera Rear
• Intel Corporation driver update for Microsoft IR Camera Front
• Microsoft driver update for Surface Camera Windows Hello
• Microsoft driver update for Surface Dock Integration
• Microsoft driver update for Surface Dock Firmware Update

Surface Pro 4 April 19 Update

• Microsoft driver update for Surface Embedded Controller Firmware
• Microsoft driver update for Surface System Aggregator Firmware
• Microsoft driver update for Surface UEFI
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
• Intel(R) Corporation driver update for Intel(R) Display Audio
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) Control Logic
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel(R) CSI2 Host Controller
• Intel driver update for Intel(R) Imaging Signal Processor 2500
• Intel Corporation driver update for Microsoft Camera Front
• Intel Corporation driver update for Microsoft Camera Rear
• Intel Corporation driver update for Microsoft IR Camera Front
• Microsoft driver update for Surface Camera Windows Hello
• Microsoft driver update for Surface CoSar
• Microsoft driver update for Surface Dock Integration
• Microsoft driver update for Surface Dock Firmware Update

Lastly, the firmware update rolling out to the Surface Pro 3 simply contains new drivers for the Surface Dock that improve the dock's reliability and stability when connected.

For the full, detailed list of changes, be sure to check out the Surface update history page for more.

Thanks for the tip, Harshad!

While Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 got rave reviews in India, the consumer response has been lukewarm owing to the high price of the devices. Microsoft launched the Surface lineup in India in January this year and brought few configurations of Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 to the market.

The Surface Pro 3 was launched at a price of ₹73,990 ($1,107) and is available exclusively on Amazon India. The Intel Core i3 variant packs in 128GB storage with 4GB RAM.

The price for Surface Pro 3 was dropped today, and you can pick one up for only ₹58,999. The significant discount randomly appeared as part of an Amazon promotion on Windows 2-in-1 devices, so I'm assuming it is for a limited period only. There is no discount on any variant of the Surface Pro 4 though.

If you've been looking to buy a Surface Pro 3, this is a good deal. Also, look around if you're looking for a Windows hybrid device since several other offers are available too, and maybe share what you dig in the comments below.

See at Amazon

In India, Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 are available exclusively on Amazon.in. As part of a latest promotion, if you purchase a Microsoft Surface device during the offer period using an EMI (easy monthly instalments) facility provided by any of the participating banks, you will also get an Amazon.in Gift Card.

The value of the gift card depends upon the number of months for which the EMI facility is availed. The gift card will be added to the Amazon.in account of eligible Participants on or before 31 days of order date provided the product has been delivered and not returned or scheduled for a return.

The participating banks include HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank India, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Citibank India, Axis Bank, and HSBC Bank. The offer is valid till March 10, 2016.

See at Amazon

Some of Microsoft's Surface devices now can be used by members of the U.S. military. The country's Department of Defense has certified the use of Microsoft's Surface 3, Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book devices. The announcements comes on the same day that Microsoft revealed the DoD will also upgrade 4 million of its PCs to Windows 10 within a year

Microsoft stated:

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 may be running low on inventory, but a Reddit user with the handle "Splice1138" has come up with a brilliant, but simple, hardware mod for the tablet. It involves placing a grey Lego faceplate on the back of the Surface Pro 3 so it can be used to attach accessories.

Splice1138 posted up a series of photos on Imgur showing how the Lego faceplate was cut and sanded down so that it could be taped to the Surface Pro 3's back. The edges had to be sanded down to allow the tablet's built-in kickstand to keep working, although it doesn't have as much range.

This allows for accessories like a USB hub, a power cord, a PC mouse and more to attach to the back of the Lego faceplate, and thus eliminate a lot of awkwardness in carrying extra items for the Surface Pro 3. He even put in his version of a Windows logo on the faceplate. He states:

Even though this modification was made for the Surface Pro 3, the same Lego faceplate could also be cut down and taped onto any Surface tablet model. What kinds of things would you attach to a "Lego-ized" Surface tablet? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Imgur

A temporary workaround may have been found for recent instability issues with the Surface Pro 3. Yesterday, when we reported the changelog for the new Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3 firmware we noted that some users were complaining of instability, BSODs and more.

Now, some digging by users experiencing the problem have found that rolling back the Surface Pen Settings driver from October 2015 to March 2015 fixes most of the recently experienced issues. Interestingly enough, that means something in this week's firmware triggered an incompatibility with the October-based Pen Settings.

A few users chimed in after rolling back the driver:

It should be mentioned that the problem and fix appear only to apply for the Surface Pro 3. It is not clear if the Surface 3 is also in the camp and there is no evidence that the Surface Pro 4 or Book suffer from this same issue either.

To roll back the driver

1. Right-click on the Start Menu
2. Choose Device Manager
3. Select Human Interface Devices
4. Scroll down and open Surface Pen Settings
5. Navigate to the Driver tab and select Rollback driver

Hopefully, Microsoft is reading the same forums and taking notes on a fix. It is not clear if there is any correlation between these new Surface Pro 3 problems and ones on the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book. We'll keep you posted if Microsoft releases any fixes.

Source: Microsoft Community; Thanks, Simon H. for the tip

Microsoft recently began pushing out firmware updates to both the Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3, but until now it was not clear what was addressed by this update. These updates appear to bring quite a number of changes along with them, but it doesn't appear as though the update is going off without a hitch. There are a number of users who have complained of the updates causing their machine to BSOD.

Some of the fixes included in the Surface 3 update are:

• Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.9037.59) improves access point compatibility and throughput on 5GHz.
• Surface Digitizer Integration driver update (v1.0.1.1) improves pen pairing feature with newest surface pen.
• Surface Pen Pairing driver update (v1.0.1.1) improves pen pairing feature with newest surface pen.
• Audio Device driver update (v604.10135.7777.2109) improves audio quality with some applications.
• I2S Audio Codec driver update (v6.2.9600.527) improves audio quality with some applications.

As for the Surface Pro 3, you'll notice:

• Surface Pro Embedded Controller Firmware update (v38.9.50.0) improves system start-up reliability.
• Surface Pro UEFI update (v3.11.1150.0) adds pen support in UEFI menus and improved support for 3rd party onscreen keyboards.
• Surface Fingerprint Sensor driver update (v2.2.10.6) improves accuracy.
• Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.9037.59) improves access point compatibility and throughput on 5GHz.
• HD Graphics Family driver update 4331 (v20.19.15.4331) improves color calibration and system stability.

Of course, these are just a few of the changes. If you own either of these tablets, you'll want to hit the links below to see everything that has been changed with the firmware update.

Source: Microsoft (Surface 3), (Surface Pro 3)

As previously announced, Microsoft has begun a voluntary recall of some of the power cords that were included with Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 3 tablets. The recall affects those tablet owners who bought them before March 15, 2015, in the U.S. and Canada and before July 15, 2015, in other markets.

Microsoft stated the reason for the recall:

Again, this recall does not affect owners of the non-Pro Surface tablets, nor the recently released Surface Pro 4. It also is just for the power cord, and not for the power supply brick.

Sign up for your free Surface Pro power cord replacement

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft is going to be issuing a voluntary recall later this week for some of the AC power chargers that were included in some Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 3 tablets. The recall is due to a possible fire hazard for those cords.

Channelnomics Europe reports that the recall will affect all Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 3 tablets in Europe sold before July 15, 2015. It says Microsoft will officially announce the recall plans on Friday, January 22:

ZDNet received a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson who said:

The spokesperson added the recall will be for those tablets that were sold in the US before March 2015. The recall will not affect owners of the non-Pro Surface tablets, nor the more recently-released Surface Pro 4 model.

Source: ZDNet, Channelnomics Europe

While the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 were launched in India today, not all the variants of the accessories will be available for customers in India.

Surface Pro 4 Type Cover

Apparently, Microsoft will sell the Surface Pro 4 Type Cover for Surface Pro 4 buyers, but those are the only Type Covers to go on sale. Even if you buy a Surface Pro 3, you'd need to buy the new Type Cover, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Type Cover is sold at a price of ₹12,490 ($187).

However, Microsoft would only sell these Type Covers in two colors – Blue and Black. The other colors – Bright Blue, Teal, and Red, won't be available. Also, the Surface Pro 4 Type Cover with a fingerprint reader will not be sold in India.

Surface Pen

While the Surface Pro 4 comes bundled with a Surface Pen, if you are buying a Surface Pro 3, you'd need to buy the Surface Pen separately. The new Surface Pen comes bundled with the Pen Tip Kit. While the new Surface Pen is available in three colors – Silver, Black, and Dark Blue – in the U.S., Indian customers will only be able to purchase the Silver color variant. The Surface Pen costs ₹5,990 ($89).

Surface Dock

Surface Dock instantly transforms the Surface Pro 4 into a desktop PC. All you need to do is to plug in the SurfaceConnect cable to charge your device and access external monitor, keyboard, mouse, and more. The Surface Dock will be aimed at enterprise users, and available for ₹20,990 ($314).

• Pre-order Surface Pro 4 Type Cover
• Pre-order Surface Pen

It's been a long wait, but finally, in a press event in New Delhi, Microsoft announced the launch of Surface devices - Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 - in India. While the two will be sold to consumers, only the Surface Pro 4 will be sold via enterprise channels.

Microsoft will showcase the devices at Microsoft Priority Stores in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore, and Mumbai for one to experience the products, however the devices will only be sold online, being exclusive to Amazon India for six months.

Surface Pro 4 Specifications

Surface Pro 4 prices in India

• Surface Pro 4: 128GB /Intel Core i5/4GB RAM: ₹89,990 ($1,346)
• Surface Pro 4: 256GB /Intel Core i5/8GB RAM: ₹120,990
• Surface Pro 4: 256GB /Intel Core i7/8GB RAM: ₹144,990
• Surface Pro 3: 128GB /Intel Core i3/4GB RAM: ₹73,990 ($1,107)

HCL is the Authorized Device Distributor in India while Orient Computers, Frontier, and Team will be Authorized Device Resellers for the Surface Pro series in India.

The Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 go on sale on January 14, although the pre-orders start today. All Surface orders include free premium delivery on Amazon that gets you the same-day or next day delivery based on the time of your order or city – a pretty neat incentive.

In India, the Surface devices come with one-year swap warranty that will be fulfilled by Microsoft Care centers (formerly, Nokia Care). Interestingly, Microsoft India would also acknowledge warranty on Surface devices brought abroad, although under local warranty policy.

What do you think of the pricing of the Surface lineup, and would you be looking to pick one up? Tell us in the comments.

• Pre-order Surface Pro 3
• Pre-order Surface Pro 4

There are many new owners of the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book these days who have lots of questions. Don't forget, there are some users jumping from the Apple world to Windows and with that there is lot to catch up on from the last two years.

One question we see a lot and one that will cause constant debate is whether or not you should install Windows Insider builds to either device (or any new PC for that matter).

Today, we're going to take a look at the pros and cons of becoming an insider with a new Surface.

On the face of it, many of you will rightly point out that for your main PC installing a beta version of the OS is never a good idea. This advice is something we stand behind and have been advocating even for Windows Phone users early on (the latest build, however, is borderline due to the increased stability).

Still, what about users who use the Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book often, but don't necessarily rely on it 24/7? Are there benefits in using the latest version of Windows 10 on such machines?

We have been using Windows 10 build 10576 on our Surface Pro 4 and Surface Pro 3 both with Core i5 processors. For the most part, we stand behind that build of Windows 10, but we should point out a few important things:

• Insider builds will rarely address problems caused by bad or non-optimized drivers and firmware
• While you can roll back to a stable build, it is not always a smooth and clean experience
• You may create new problems and confound (and compound) any bugs
• Results and experiences will vary on each PC
• Windows 10 Threshold 2 (aka Fall refresh) is expected for November 12

We've reached these conclusions from our experience, but also a cursory look at what people are saying in support forums, Reddit, and our Windows Central forums. Indeed, the best way to describe it is people's experiences with the latest Insider build is all over the place. Some users say it dramatically improves their Surface while others note no change or worse, increased instability with various BSODs and other driver failures.

A response to the above is quite the opposite:

Others also have mixed results even before the latest firmware:

Meanwhile, on Reddit a user is thrilled with the latest Insider release:

Other Redditors chime in:

In that same thread:

The bottom line

Even assuming your new Surface is a secondary or even tertiary device, installing an Insider build right now seems unnecessary.

1. Timing

The main reason would be that the 'big' Fall refresh update is due on November 12, according to our sources. And if not on that date, certainly very soon. All the Insider builds are leading up to that one making the official wait just over one week.

2. Inconsistent results

As you can see, your results will vary, and there is no concensus from users who did jump to Insider builds. If we could point to a dependable experience or say 'yes, this will be better' we would be less hesitant, but that is not the case.

3. OS does not fix drivers

Most of the issues and complaints about the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are driver and firmware related. No OS update will fix that on its own. If you are having constant display driver crashes, BSODs, issues with the Type Cover not being detected and trackpad woes there is no clear evidence that using an Insider build will make those go away.

Your best bet? Wait until Microsoft releases more official Surface and OS updates. At this time, there is no obvious benefit from using an Insider build on these new devices. Even if you are using these as secondary computers the effort in upgrading although minimal seems unworthy with Threshold 2 right around the corner.

So sit tight, folks and just wait until next week. If you want to take the risk, just read our guide on how to do a proper backup.

Anyone in our audience running an Insider build on a Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book? Let us know what you think in comments!

More resources

Not sold on either device yet? Check out our Surface Pro 4 review and our Surface Book impressions or jump into our forums.

• Microsoft Surface Tips and Tricks
• Windows Central Surface Book forums
• Windows Central Surface Pro 4 forums

We recently took a closer look at the new Fingerprint ID Type Cover for the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4. Along with fingerprint IDs, the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book both use an infrared scanner for facial recognition. All of these technologies (and iris scanning) fall under the biometric Windows Hello technology in Windows 10.

One question we have seen pop up is whether friends and family members can also use Windows Hello to log into your new Windows 10 machine?

The answer is absolutely, but only under their user accounts. This requirement is likely obvious, but for many people considering a new Surface or Surface Book knowing a definite answer is satisfying.

Check out our new video to see it all in action and a few usage scenarios as well.

Multiple accounts, yes, but shared accounts no

You cannot, however, have more than one person associated with Windows Hello on a single account, so there is no sharing. This rule means your child cannot log into your account using Windows Hello only theirs.

Simply put, there is no option to add another user's face or fingerprint to Windows Hello on a single account. That is just good security. However, it does mean you can not use Windows Hello for multiple people to sign into a single account. If you want to share an account, you need to share the password too.

Update: As noted in comments, you could have family members register different fingerprints under the same account. We have confirmed that this is doable.

Setting up multiple accounts

To add more users to any Windows PC just go into settings. They do not need a Microsoft Account either.

Before you begin, just make sure you are signed into the master account to add a new account to the PC profile.

1. All Settings
2. Accounts
3. Family & other users

Now add people using the Your family or Other users options. The only difference between the two is with 'family' you get access to child controls for monitoring and blocking content.

Once they are logged into their own accounts, they can now set up their own Windows Hello log in.

1. Open All Settings
2. Accounts
3. Sign-in options
4. Windows Hello > Facial recognition or Fingerprint > Set up

Remember: Windows Hello and Windows 10 does not record your fingerprint or facial image. Instead, the information is turned into a hash, is encrypted and only stored locally (it does not go to the cloud or OneDrive).

Various scenarios

Once you have two or more people with their own accounts on your PC and they have setup Windows Hello you can begin to use the service.

Here are a few things to note:

• Simply using [Win + L] lets you lock the PC and either person can log in; you do not need to switch the account and then use Windows Hello
• You can use both or either Fingerprint and Facial recognition e.g. if you remove the keyboard, facial recognition still works if enabled
• One person could just use fingerprint, another facial recognition or any combo
• If two people stand in front of the camera, it is whoever gets scanned first that logs in, but it will log in someone; the rule of thumb is whoever is closer wins!
• You can use the fingerprint reader when the Type Cover is folded back onto the Surface

As you can see, Windows Hello is a fairly robust system and is ideal for friends and family who share a PC with you. Users have multiple ways to take advantage of the technology, and it should make passwords a thing of the past.

Did we miss any odd usage cases for Windows Hello? Let us know and we'll see about following up with more answers to your questions.

• Order the Fingerprint ID Type Cover from Microsoft - $159 (US)
• Order the Fingerprint ID Type Cover from Best Buy - $159 (US)

Besides the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 Microsoft also announced a new Type Cover including one with a built-in fingerprint ID sensor. It is oddly only available in the U.S. at this time and retails for $159 – or $30 more than the standard Type Cover.

We have one in the office and are going to show you how to set it up and use it.

Who is it for?

Even though you can easily use the fingerprint ID on the new Surface Pro 4 this Type Cover is the perfect buy for current Surface Pro 3 owners. For one, the Surface Pro 4 already had facial recognition built in for Windows Hello making a fingerprint reader convenient but redundant (facial recognition also works without a keyboard attached making it more ideal in tablet mode).

Indeed, instead of forking out nearly a grand for a the lowest-priced Surface Pro 4 you could get the new typing experience, larger glass trackpad and fingerprint ID for just $159. That investment would make your Surface Pro 3 feel like a new device.

Where can you use it?

Besides the obvious login screen for Windows 10 you can use fingerprint ID in at least two other situations:

• Windows Store purchases for apps, games, movies and music
• LastPass for Windows desktop and browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, or Opera

You can read about how to setup LastPass and the fingerprint ID in our new how-to.

How to setup LastPass to work with the Surface Fingerprint ID Type Cover

Microsoft is also likely to utilize their new Windows Passport feature and Windows Hello in the future for websites and more, so this is just the beginning.

Setting it up

Before snapping in the new Type keyboard with fingerprint ID make sure you have all the updates on your Surface Pro 3 or Surface Pro 4. A firmware patch went out with the 10/23 hardware update that installs and enables the drivers for the fingerprint ID and Windows Hello in Windows 10.

Next, just go to settings to setup up Windows Hello:

1. Open All Settings
2. Accounts
3. Sign-in options
4. Windows Hello > Fingerprint > Set up

The setup just takes a few seconds as you repeatedly place your finger on the sensor. It can be a bit finicky at first, but it works. You can also set up multiple fingers in case you want more than just your primary index finger.

Remember: Windows Hello and Windows 10 does not record your fingerprint. Instead, the information is turned into a hash, is encrypted and only stored locally (it does not go to the cloud or OneDrive).

Once setup you can just test it by hitting [Win + L] to lock the computer. Just press on the fingerprint scanner and the computer should unlock. You do not need to swipe your finger, just press. You can also do this at the password prompt and do not need the fingerprint ID login method selected on the lock screen.

So how is it?

Overall, we had very little issue with the fingerprint reader. It works well, is super-fast and makes using Windows 10 much easier. Being able to use it with LastPass is also a bonus along with Store purchases.

If you are keeping your Surface Pro 3 this new Type Cover seems like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, Microsoft won't have more in stock for online orders until November 20. Your local Microsoft Store though may have them on the shelves. Also, sales are limited to the U.S. for now and you can only get it in black, which is shame for those who prefer the bright-blue color.

Are you planning on getting a fingerprint ID Type Cover? If you already have one how to you like it? Let us know in comments!

• Order the Fingerprint ID Type Cover from Microsoft - $159 (US)
• Order the Fingerprint ID Type Cover from Best Buy - $159 (US)

If you own a Surface Pro 3 or new [Surface Pro 4](/(/surface-pro-4) you may have your eye on the new $159 Fingerprint ID Type Cover from Microsoft. The cover not only brings the new keyboard design and larger glass trackpad but a nifty fingerprint ID module to unlock your device. Those with a Surface Pro 4 get facial recognition built in making this tablet a little redundant and of more value to those with a Surface Pro 3.

One neat trick we just learned about is that the fingerprint ID works with LastPass for Windows and your browser extensions for Chrome, Opera and Firefox. We first heard about it on Reddit, but it was not that obvious how to get it working. So here is how to set up LastPass to work with the fingerprint ID Type Cover.

Before you start make sure you check out our Fingerprint ID Type Cover hands-on and setup if you have never seen it in action:

How to setup and use the new Surface Fingerprint ID Type Cover

LastPass + Fingerprint ID Type Cover setup

Install LastPass for Windows

This step may seem obvious, but you do need the full LastPass app installed. This app is not the Windows Store version but rather a full desktop executable (you can find it here from LastPass.

The reason we point this out is you can use LastPass in Chrome or Firefox without this app installed. So like us, you may have never installed it. However, for fingerprint ID you do need it as it serves as the connector between your browser, the OS, and the drivers for the fingerprint scanner.

You may also need to give permission to link the browser extension to the native app, which you can see in the above image.

Once you have LastPass set up in Windows and your extensions installed, you need to turn on Multifactor authentication.

1. Open Settings

Under the browser extension open My LastPass Vault

2. Account

Next, head to Account Settings

3. Multifactor

Choose the second tab named Multifactor Options

4. Enable (or re-enable)

Choose Fingerprint / Smart Card from the options. Note: You need to be a Premium User (aka subscriber) to enable fingerprint ID. If you have setup fingerprint for LastPass, previously you will need to disable it and re-enable it to associate it with the new Windows framework. Once you enter in your master password, you will be asked to use the fingerprint scanner to set it up.

That's it!

Remember, none of the above works unless you have installed the full LastPass desktop app, so do that first.

Now, each time you need to log into LastPass – even in Chrome or Firefox – you will see the new login prompt to use the fingerprint ID. Overall, it works very well and is much faster than typing in your master password each time. You can also always turn it off too. Alternatively, you can hit Cancel at the prompt for your fingerprint at which point you can then enter the Master Password. In other words, the fingerprint ID is not the only way you can log into LastPass.

Finally, for now Windows Hello and facial recognition do not work with LastPass. We're hoping that Windows Passport and LastPass play together nicely when Microsoft's service begins to roll out in the future.

Also, for unknown reasons the Fingerprint ID Type Cover is only available in the U.S. for now and in only in black. It also won't be restocked until November 20 (your local Microsoft Store may have them in stock, however).

Order the Fingerprint ID Type Cover from Microsoft - $159 (US)

If you bought a Surface Pro 3, you might also have the optional Surface Pro 3 Docking Station, which helps users connect the tablet to more ports as well as a PC monitor. If you do have both, you might be wondering if you can use the newly released Surface Pro 4 on the Surface Pro 3 docking station. The short answer is, "Yes", but the long answer is a little more complicated.

Microsoft is offering Surface Pro 3 docking station owners access to a free spacer adapter that will allow it to work with the Surface Pro 4. The spacer is needed because the new tablet is a bit thinner than the Surface Pro 3. WinSuperSite reports that those owners can go to their local Microsoft Store retail location to pick up the docking station adapter, or they can go to the company's "Send my Surface in for service" website to order the free adapter and have it mailed.

Microsoft is also selling a new docking adapter that's been made for the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book for $199.99.

Order the new Surface Dock at Microsoft Store / $199.99

Source: Microsoft; Via: WinSuperSite

This week many new people are jumping on board with the Surface trend as Microsoft's new Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book hit the streets.

One common complaint, however, involves using the Google Chrome browser and janky scrolling. Lots of reviewers are quick to blame Microsoft and the trackpad and ignoring the fact that scrolling in the Edge browser is much better. The reason for the difference? Let's just say Google has a history of bad scrolling in Windows due to choices they made for mouse integration.

Luckily, there is a quick fix that you can enable to get it working better. The fix works by enabling an experimental feature in the browser, although it has been experimental for literally years now.

Enable smooth scrolling in Google Chrome

1. Flags

In the address bar copy and paste (or type) chrome://flags/ and hit Enter

2. Search

Use [Ctrl + F] and type in 'smooth' until you find Smooth Scrolling

3. Enable

Hit the Enable button under 'Enable the experimental smooth scrolling implementation.'

4. Re-launch

Simply relaunch the Google Chrome browser and scrolling will be much better.

If you want even more fine control over scrolling you can pick up the free Chrome extension called SmoothScroll here in the Store. Under the options for this extension you'll see many more choices including some presets like IE, iPhone, Opera or custom.

Finally, although you may say why not just use Edge instead, ironically there is an issue there. Right now, there is a driver bug for the Intel HD graphics processor that causes the driver to crash – and crash often. Although the driver reloads, it can be rather infuriating until Microsoft gets a new driver out.

More resources

Not sold on either device yet? Check out our Surface Pro 4 review and our Surface Book impressions or jump into our forums.

• Microsoft Surface Tips and Tricks
• Windows Central Surface Book forums
• Windows Central Surface Pro 4 forums

Just yesterday, we reported that there were some new firmware updates at the ready for the Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and the Surface Book, but there weren't any changelogs available. However, now Microsoft has gone ahead and published details on what each update brings. Here's the breakdown:

Surface Pro 3 w/ Windows 8.1

• Surface Pro System Aggregator Firmware update (v3.9.750.0) adds support for Microsoft Surface Dock on Surface Pro 3.

Surface Pro 3 w/ Windows 10

• Surface Pro System Aggregator Firmware update (v3.9.750.0) adds support for Microsoft Surface Dock on Surface Pro 3.
  • Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Type Cover drivers set update adds support for the Surface Pro 4 Type Cover on Surface Pro 3.
  • Surface Type Cover Filter Device driver (v.1.1.360.0)
  • Surface Fingerprint Sensor driver (v2.2.10.4)
  • Surface Type Cover Integration driver (v1.1.362.0)
  • Surface Pro 4 Type Cover Integration driver (v1.1.359.0)
  • Surface PTP Filter driver (v1.0.33.1)
  • Surface Accessory Firmware update driver (v1.1.382.0)
  • Surface Keyboard Backlight driver (1.1.365.0)

Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book

• Surface Camera drivers set (v30.10154.6640.152) enables the Windows Hello feature.
  • Control Logic driver (v30.10154.6640.152)
  • CSI2 Host Controller driver (v30.10154.6640.152)
  • Imaging Signal Processor 2500 driver (v30.10154.6640.152)
  • Microsoft Camera Front driver (v30.10154.6640.152)
  • Microsoft Camera Rear driver (v30.10154.6640.152)
  • Microsoft IR Camera Front driver (v30.10154.6640.152)
  • Surface Camera Windows Hello driver (v1.0.24.0)
  • AVStream Camera 2500 driver (v30.10154.6640.152)
• Surface Display Calibration driver (v1.1.371.0) improves the overall display stability.
• Surface Integration driver (v1.0.59.0) improves storage performance.
• Surface Storage Firmware Update driver (v1.447.0) improves storage performance.

Source: Microsoft

If you have pre-ordered the Surface Pro 4 tablet and/or the Surface Book notebooks, but want to add more ports, you might want to consider getting Microsoft's Surface Dock that's been made especially for those products. Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the Surface Dock for $184.80, a small decrease from its normal $199.99 price tag.

The Surface Dock, which can also work with the older Surface Pro 3 tablet, contains two Mini DisplayPorts ports, four USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port and an audio out port. It also includes a magnetic Surface Connect cable which, when attached to the Surface products it supports, allows for transfers of video, audio, and data files from devices that are connected to the Surface Port.

By the way, you can also pre-order the Surface Dock on Microsoft's Store site, but it has a full $199.99 price tag.

• Pre-order the Surface Dock at Amazon / $184.90
• Pre-order the Surface Dock at Microsoft Store / $199.99

During its Windows 10 Devices event in New York City last October 6th, Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 4, the next generation of the ultimate tablet that can replace your laptop. This is the latest version of the most popular device built by the software giant that brings many improvements over the Surface Pro 3, and even more over the Surface Pro 2. Are you thinking of updating your tablet to the much-improved Surface Pro 4?

Making a choice can be somewhat difficult when you have many different options and price points to choose from. Adding to the mix that you probably already own a Surface tablet, it can make the decision a little more complicated. As such, today, we are taking a closer look at the new improvements and benefits of the new Surface Pro 4 to try to figure out if it's worth the upgrade for Surface Pro 2 or Surface Pro 3 owners.

Surface Pro 4 is the result of three prior generations that helped shape the best Windows tablet you can get today. The fourth generation of the tablet is faster, lighter, and thinner than any of its predecessors. Statically, there have not been a lot of significant changes since Surface Pro 3, as both devices look very similar. They both come with a silver body, they both come with the same available ports, such as USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort, power connector, and the same microSD card reader to expand storage even further, and the same full friction hinge design for the kickstand.

Also, both devices have exactly the same dimensions (height and width), but Surface Pro 4 features a 12.3-inch PixelSense display with a resolution of 2736 x 1824 pixels (267 pixels per inch). This is 60 percent more pixels, and it translates into over 5 million pixels, which the company describes as one of the best display ever shipped on a Surface. Microsoft was able to accomplish this by reducing the bezel by 0.3-inch that allows to fit an even bigger screen in the same form factor, without compromising its original and elegant design.

The advantage of being the same size also helps with compatibility, as Surface Pro 3 customers can save some money by using the same Type Cover, dock station, and power port, which technically could make the upgrade a bit cheaper.

Besides the new display, the Surface Pro 4 comes with many improvements and refinements. The new tablet, features Intel's latest 6th generation processors, including the options of Core M3, Core i5, and Core i7 that offers boost on performance and battery life, helps to generate less heat, and offers large improvements on graphics.

Overall, Surface Pro 4 is 30 percent faster than Surface Pro 3.

The Surface Pro 4 running the new Intel Skylake Core i7 processor is the fastest and more productive tablet you can purchase. This model has a lot of power aimed for demanding professionals working with video editing, 3D modeling, and performance-intensive applications, including a great experience on PC gaming.

The Core i5 model is aimed for those people who need the productivity of a great laptop, they like to play PC games that wouldn't run optimally on the lower-end model, and they can't spend a lot of money.

There is even a Surface Pro 4 without fans that features Intel's Core m3 processor, which the company says that will run with the same performance as a laptop on the same category and with great battery life thanks to the low power processor. However, this is the model that replaces the previous Core i3 model, and it's aimed to be a consumption device, more than it's a productivity device.

Surface Pro 4 also doubles the RAM on its different configuration options of up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of internal storage, which were some of the most requested features by customers.

Should you upgrade your Surface Pro 3 to the new Surface Pro 4?

After looking at some of the improvements, the Surface Pro 4 is a great upgrade. Now, you are getting more powerful processors, more memory, more storage, larger and better screen on a package that is 8.4mm thick, down from the 9.1mm thick from the previous version.

However, Surface Pro 3 is still a great device. The hardware inside of this tablet continues to be very good, and battery life still in the same 9 hours range. In addition, the older generation of the tablet can also take some of the benefits available in the new tablet.

For example, Surface Pro 4 comes with the necessary hardware to enable Windows Hello, which is the new security feature in Windows 10 that allows users to sign into their accounts using only their face, ditching passwords once for all. Surface Pro 3 doesn't include this capability, but purchasing the new Type Cover with fingerprint reader (which by the way, it includes a 40 percent larger trackpad and resigned keyboard) that allows users to take advantage of Windows Hello as well.

If you like the new Microsoft Surface Dock, you can also get it for your Surface Pro 3, as both devices, including the Surface Book, support the new dock through the power connector. Though, pixel support output is greatly improved on the Surface Pro 4 and the Book.

The new improved Surface Pen is also compatible with Surface Pro 3. The Pen features interchangeable tips, tail eraser, and 1,024 points of pressure sensitivity instead of 256 on the previous model. However, only the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book support the increased points of sensitivity.

As you can see, Microsoft isn't forgetting Surface Pro 3 owners, and it seems we will continue to see the tablet for a while longer. Furthermore, the tablet runs Windows 10 perfectly, and the performance is still outstanding.

So, should you upgrade your Surface Pro 3 to Surface Pro 4? Well, the answer depends on many factors. If you're a Surface fan, and you can spend the money, the Surface Pro 4 is a great upgrade, and you'll even be able to use your same accessories, which can help you save some money.

If you're a professional with a lot of demand for performance, work with a large amount of data, and need to connect to more than one 4K monitor, you may be able to take advantage of the new configurations with more memory and storage that the Surface Pro 4 offers.

If you fall into the category of heavy users, heat might have been a problem with Surface Pro 3. The new models of the refreshed tablet running Intel's Core i5 and Core i7 really improve on the heat dissipation with a new "hybrid cooling" system. It uses liquid inside of the cooling pipes to dissipate heat more efficiently, making the device run cooler, quieter, perform better, and extends the lifespan of the components. As such, if you have been using a Surface and overheating was an issue for you, then the new upgrade might just be what you have been waiting for.

If you can get the work done with the current performance of the tablet, you will probably OK with what you have now. Though, you could upgrade to the new accessories, and in the future, if your tablet dies, you can purchase a Surface Pro 4 knowing that you can also use the same accessories.

Should you upgrade your Surface Pro 2 to the new Surface Pro 4?

The Surface Pro 2 is a different story. The second generation of the tablet is already a two-year-old device, which might not look like very old, but a lot of innovation has happened since the original launch back in October 2013.

Surface Pro 2 featured a 10.6-inch 1080p ClearType display, which is significantly smaller than its successors. However, despite the tablet being heavier, bulkier, and smaller, it packed great hardware as well. In fact, Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 3 feature the same fourth-generation Intel processors.

The biggest difference was that Surface Pro 2 only shipped with the Core i5-4200U, where Surface Pro 3 offers more choices, including Core i3-4020Y, i5-4300U, i7-4650U, which are the same generation processors, but more capable.

Note: In December 2013, Microsoft updated the processor on the Surface Pro 2 from the Core i5-4200U to Core i5-4300U.

Accessories are another problem. While Surface Pro 3 accessories are compatible with Surface Pro 4 and vice versa. Surface Pro 2 accessories aren't compatible with Surface Pro 4.

The second generation of the tablet offered a dual-position (22 and 55-degree angles) kickstand, which didn't deliver on "lapabilty" like its successors, which include the full friction hinge design that helps position the kickstand on many angles (up to 150 degrees).

Surface Pro 4 offers more capable hardware for today and future performance demands. While the new tablet won't replace your gaming PC or workstation, it has been greatly improved with the latest hardware that helps to run the tablet faster, quieter, and cooler. It also comes with an amazing 12.3-inch PixelSense display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, compared to the 10.6-inch 1920 x 1080 pixels display with a 16:9 aspect ratio included in the older version of the tablet.

So, should you upgrade your Surface Pro 2 to Surface Pro 4? The answer depends on various factors, but looking at the improvements on Surface Pro 4, the decision seems a little simpler.

When you compare the Surface Pro 2 against Surface Pro 4, the new tablet is far more capable, lighter, thinner, and larger. In addition, performance and battery life have been greatly improved.

If you need a more powerful device with an amazing screen, supports more pixels to external monitors, more storage, and can take full advantage of all the new features of Windows 10, then the Surface Pro 4 is a great upgrade from the Surface Pro 2.

Also, if you skipped getting a Surface Pro 3 last year, you probably won't go wrong upgrading to the new Surface Pro 4.

Wrapping things up

Surface Pro 4 is an amazing device that delivers on the promise of being a tablet that can truly replace your laptop. If you're a user caught in between of wanting a laptop and a tablet, the Surface Pro 4 is the perfect solution. If you are a Surface Pro 2 owner, the new tablet can dramatically increase your productivity with a larger canvas packed in a thinner and lighter package, and a much-improved kickstand.

However, if you already own a Surface Pro 3, then there will be a little more thinking you have to do, as the third generation of the tablet is still a great device.

If you're not completely convinced, one thing you could do is try to sell your Surface to help you get a brand new Surface Pro 4. Previously, I wrote a [guide to get safely rid of your tablet](http:// /how-sell-surface-pro-3-for-surface-pro-4), and while it focuses on selling your Surface Pro 3, the same concept will work if you're trying to sell your Surface Pro 2.

Surface Pro 4 will be available on October 26th in the United States, and in the UK on November 12th. The tablet starts at $899 in the US and £749.00 in the UK for the Core M3 model with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The Core i5 model starts at $999 in the US and £849.00 in the UK, and prices go all the way up to $2,699 for the Core i7 with Intel Iris graphics 540, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of Storage.

Are you planning to upgrade your tablet to the new Surface Pro 4? Let us know in the comments below.

Surface Pro 4 review

Pre-order the Surface Pro 4 at the Microsoft Store (US)

Microsoft are on fire in New York, announcing a whole raft of new products and features for Windows 10 devices. One such device is the new Surface Pro docking station, which compatible with the Surface Pro 3, Pro 4 and the new Surface Book.

The new docking station has a smaller footprint than the existing snap in docks, connecting instead with a cable.

Some of the features include:

• 4x USB 3.0 ports
• 2x Display Ports, supporting up to 4K resolution monitors
• Full Ethernet port

Full pricing and availability is unknown as of writing, so stay tuned for more information and some high res photographs.

For the rest of our NYC #Windows10Devices coverage head here:

• Lumia 950
• Lumia 950 XL
• Surface Pro 4
• Surface XL
• Microsoft Band 2

While we wait for Microsoft to (hopefully) announce the successor to the Surface Pro 3 next week, a Poland-based company called Kruger&Matz is selling its own Windows 10 tablet that looks almost exactly like a Surface product. It's called the EDGE 1161 and it's available for order now for the price of 1949 zł, or about $513.

As you can see from the images above, the EDGE 1161 could easily be mistaken for a Surface tablet; it even includes a similar built-in kickstand and an type cover. Inside the tablet with the 11.6-inch 1920x1080 screen there's an Intel Core M-5Y10c dual-core processor running at 800 MHz, along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.

What do you think of this Poland-based Surface clone? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks to Piotr for the tip!

Source: Kruger&Matz