Consumer Reports won't recommend the Surface Book 2

That makes no sense.  It can raise red flags as for things to watch out for on subsequent iterations. But blanket rejection before a unit has been physically reviewed makes no sense at all and does a disservice.  By that logic, every car review I've read would have stopped at "do not recommend" because many products at some point will have had something they didn't recommend.  Imagine Hyundai and Kia?  What about VW and their diesel performance cheats?  What about Honda and their airbags?  Toyotas and their brakes?  Back to tech, what about Samsung's exploding S7? Or the you're holding it wrong  iPhone? (insert anything similar here, my memory is a bit fuzzy on the various recent issues we've seen).  If anything, a new generation/iteration of a product should warrant further and more intense scrutiny because it is the company's best interest to improve over time - particularly if they performed poorly in prior reviews. 

Certainly happens with cars too. They aren't going to recommend a car, no matter how good it might be, if the the overall reliability of previous models is bad. Some issues here or there are not indicative of overall reliability until those issues become big enough to move the numbers. The Note 7, not S7, did have battery issues. I bet them being pulled from the market kept them from tainting customer reviews and long term reliability. I am not sure if CR recommends the Note line though. They certainly recommned the S7 though, they even say it is a better value than the iPhone 8!  

You and bleached both make good points. I'd like to add to this conversation and actually go with bleached on this. As much as I love the surface stuff, if there's a history of reliability issues (according to CR) that has earned a "not recommended" from CR, then when a new product in that line comes out, the default verdict should be to not recommend it. It's very black or white with CR and there's only two to choose from: "recommended" or "not recommended". It would be absurd to give a "recommend" status to a product that a) hasn't been reviewed yet, and b) has a product line history of poor reliability (again, according to CR).    I do hope that the new surface products can be reviewed promptly and change their minds though.     

No credibility in reviewing an unreleased product.......personally...have never had problems with my surface products. I never trusted consumer reports......theyve been wrong 79% of the time. Expand your review consumption and from people who have hands on experience. Microsoft has an incredible record of making thin right. Wake up tch people!

It is the same thing they do for every product they review. If there are previous models, they will look at them for guidance on long-term reliability. In this case, the previous models have a massive failure rate. It would be irresponsible for CR to recommend these products to it's readers. If Microsoft doesn't like it, they can increase their quality. The issues with previous Surface models are well known and have severely impacted their failure rates. That is no one's problem but Microsoft's.

The surface pro 4 was the first model that I had issues with and they were significant. I would hesitate to buy anything from Microsoft right now other than an Xbox. $1800 is a high price to pay to be a guinea pig In hopes this one is better. Im eying the HP zbook x2.

Those people that have those hands on experience generally review units sent to them, write the review and then publish it. Few go back to the review to update it after the fact to reflect long term real world experience because they no longer have the review unit any more. Microsoft’s reputation proceeds them on hardware, it is hit and miss. Yes, they might have repaired/replaced my Xbox 360 with the RROD and replaced my surface pro 3 twice, but I’d prefer I’d not had to run into those problems at all due to engineering or build quality problems on their part, especially given that the devices sell at an Apple-esque premium. 

Sadly, that isn't what happened. Consumer Reports decision not to recommend Surface products was not based on their testing but on their bogus reader survey. This is a totally non-scientific survey which is sent to all CR subscribers once a year. Responses are self-selected, meaning only those choosing to respond do so which eliminates any control for randomness or bias. CR subscribers are demographically not similar to American consumers overall. That isn't a problem in and of itself, but CR readers don't necessarily reflect the overall shopping habits or tastes of US.consumers. The flaws in their survey are inexcuseable for an organization that so vigorously claims objectivity. In addition to the manifest problems with a self-selected response, which might be OK if they would just acknowledge that when reporting their results, the survey does not check if consumers own or have even ever used the products they are asked to evaluate. CR also misuses its surveys, often presenting the results in the magazine as a ranking similar to the rankings they give for products they actually test. Only in the fine print near the listing does it indicate that the list is a ranking based on their reader survey. I could live with all of the many flaws in their methodology and with their presentation of the survey results as though they were testing results if they would ever just come clean about this. Yet whenever they are challenged, they reference their non-commercial nature and expect that makes it OK for them to present shoddily run surveys as equivalent of their product testing, which remains top notch.  

It is the same reader survey that Apple, HP, Dell and the other manufacturers are subjected to. It might not be scientific, but it is consistent.

Consistently wrong. I wouldn't use CR as a reference for purchasing anything, even dog food.

Consistently wrong? You have your head in the sand. You cannot argue that the SP4 and Surfacebook didn't have some big issues. Even Microsoft confirmed they had a 17% return rate on these products. Consumer Reports findings are totally justified. https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/14/16142490/microsoft-surface-consumer-r... https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/microsoft-surface/64095/welcome-to-surfa...

True enough, but CR reports does not disclose the circumstances of the survey when they make their press announcements like withdrawing recommendations from all Surface products. That is a problem because the have some credibility with the press based on their product testing yet their surveys are nothing like their product testing. Microsoft touts the JD Power survey of initial impressions in their Surface ads. JD Power discloses their survey methodology and verifies that those who rate products actually own them. 

Initial quality is a poor metric. It doesn't tell you how the product is going to be in a year or two. CR's data shows it might not be good, which is understandable given all the issues the SP4 and Surfacebook had. See my links above.

You're missing the point. Initial quality survey is legit and methods are disclosed. CR's data is not good and methods are not disclosed. It doesn't matter whether SP4 had initial issues that Microsoft itself reported, CR's data isn't reliable. It is opinions of self-selected respondants of a not-representative group. 

Maybe the data isn't reliable, but surveys are widely used to judge product. In this case, CR's seemed to match Microsoft's findings.

I think it goes like this.
No more Samsung no! Cause of the explosion. No more Nintendo, cause Switch has no cloud-sync (saves will be lost ones machine is broken), has small storage, cannot charge while using the back-stand or while resting your arm on the desk, joy-con-band might stuck if you pop in the wrong direction.

If those issues are widespread enough to effect CR's surveys, then yes, that is how it will go.

"You do it like this: "we don't have an opinion on the matter yet, as we don't have a unit of the new device to review." With all due respect, you misunderstood the mission of CR. When you go and need to buy a product you won't go to CR and see what product they say you could have bought 2 years ago. You go there now, you want to see what is available now, you want to see what they are recommending now. If they withheld their opinions, there would be no CR in existence, the world would have moved on. Yes, there are delays (as with every data collection platform) when it comes to long term reliability tracking, but the sheer amount of aggregate data CR collects and compiles is what drives all of this. Because CR collects huge amounts of data from consumers, I would consider it no less credible than the manufacturer, who is the defendant in this case, and obviously their findings are at odds. That makes me wonder, if MSFT is monitoring the right data points, whether they have the right leading and trailing key risk indicators set up to track customer feedback. My hunch is that some of this could be attributed to customers who no longer have warranty on their Surfaces and instead of bothering with MSFT, they resort to online forums or report to CR. Who knows.

But they do have data. Microsoft has been releasing Surface devices including a very similar Surface Book that have had reliability issues. You reap what you sow.

Consumer Reports survey data comes from its subscribers. Period. That is not a representative sample of US consumers and certainly not a sample of world consumers. CR subscribers are whiter and wealthier than the US adult population as whole. That is a valid subset of the US population, but not representative. And the survey responsdents are self selected. All of this would be fine if CR was just honest enough to disclose it when they release the results or make blanket product endorsement announcements. They don't do that. CR's good rep is based on its quality product testing, yet their surveys are really no better than those posted on Facebook. 

That's basically what CR is saying. They're not going to suddenly recommend you buy a Surface just because Microsoft releases a "new and improved" model. Especially when the previous Surface equiptment proved to be plagued with problems. They are saying don't buy one, and that is still their stance.

it's a new product?! as you have said, "the criteria is the same for everyone". why not review and evaluate? they have an ongoing blockade of microsoft as a whole for sure. if they base all reviews on just the products alone, i can't see no reason why they have to block/withheld review for everything. but thank you anyway as there are better alternatives than a magazine showing bias to their reviews.

I don't think they have any personal bias against MS's products. It's merely a default recommendation based on the only criteria they have at this time: past reliabilty of the surface line. One would hope that when they actually get to review the new surface stuff that that changes the recommendation .

I think it will take more than just the review to change their recommendation. The issue isn't with the product, but reliability. Until the long term reliability ratings get better, they won't be able to recommend it.

@bleached As usual, can't resist trolling everything that suits your agenda. Well, let's just say if that were true, Apple wouldn't exist anymore. There are such things as free passes if you know how to make people kiss your beehind.

When did CR give Apple a pass? They showed the data. Surface devices had a 25% issue rate vs Macs 10%.

Careful, he'll be after you on a more personal level than you want. Better ignore him. Especially this time of the month.

A lot of that determination comes from reports of stability problems with Windows and drive problems that plague the Surface line which all share similar components. It not improbable to think the Surface Book 2 would have the same issues using the same drivers.

Consumer Reports can read the Demographics of it's paying audience. They push Apple products almost exclusively, along with Japanese Minivans (or Volvo sedans) and European Luxury Cars. When they gave Tesla a high rating they got nothing but flak from the BMW\Volvo\Porsche owners and backed off their recommendation this year. I lost all respect for CR years ago due to this kind of pandering to their paying audience's biases (which, after all, pays the bills there.)

It's pretty sad now, rather than look to CR to give objective reviews of products their customers just want a the magazine to pander to their confirmation bias so they don't feel bad about spending $80k on their midlife crisis car.

They're just anti-MS

Paid for by Apple..... Guaranteed the most pathetic hater here will disagree.

I mean, they did recommend the S7 over the iPhone 8 because it was heavier than the 7... I think they've gone insane tbh

Hardly... If you can substantiate your statement with factual arguments.

Of course there's no evidence. It's just a joke... Don't take this stuff so seriously.

So, had they decided to review and given a bad review again would anyone here be ok with that?  I think not.  If they gave the Surface a great review would people here be upset?  I think not.  It is what it is.  As much as we like our products that doesn't mean they are all great.  My first Surface Pro 3 was returned for a bad screen.  My second Surface Pro 3 has held up nicely.  My first BAND lasted 3 months.  My second BAND lasted three months.  The battery issue with both of them.  My original XBox had the blue circle of death!  My Second Xbox was good to go.  My Xbox One's have been great!  My initial Kinect had to be returned for repair.  My other two Kinects work fine.  I say all this because I'm a Microsoft fan.  I can give them a second and third and fourth chance.  Other's aren't so patient.  One strike and you're out!  Sometimes products die.  Especially in the first generation and people never go back.  CR is only reporting what initial owners have faced. 

So they won't recommend it because they are still pissed of that Microsoft didn't agree with them. Well their credibiity just went down the drain!

Been down the drain IMO for a long time.  They have never been impartial.

I know I will get flamed out for this but I agree with them! I have owned a Surface RT(honestly the most reliable of the bunch), Surface Pro(Serious issues with connectivity with surface keyboard and heat), Surface Pro 3(all sorts of nagging battery, connectivity and driver issues) and a Surface Pro 4(was a complete disaster at release, and now only marginally stable). Each device has had serious issues with either software or hardware. I really like for form factor, but they can't seem to get driver issues solved. Problems with battery reporting, suspend/resume to work correct, always on issues. The sad part is they are a freaking software company and they can't get that right!

I'm not sure why you think you'll get flamed for something that you've actually experienced.  The issue is people making claims about products they don't even own. Litterally 3 weeks ago I started having issues with my Surface Pro 4 with the lower part of the screen flickering.  This is after a year and a half of flawless operation.  Although I do not trust or use Consumer Reports, they're not completely wrong in some of their findings.

Really, Microsoft is always doing something forward thinking with their Surfaces yet Intel's drivers can't keep the pace. Really, Intel is at fault for every Surface fault because Intel can't keep up with what Microsoft is trying to do.

@Cryio - While the issues may result from Intel's hardware.  This is a Microsoft device and all updates should have been thoroughly tested by them before relelasing out to the public.

Don't be stupid. Surface is Microsoft's product. The onus is on Microsoft to ensure their products are stable.

All of mine are stable

This is why Apple's computers are so god damn boring, they use old tried-and-true components that are bulletproof. MS' surface team is pushing boundaries and need the latest and greatest to accomplish their vision, this results in their users suffering from early adopter teething pains resulting from Intel's drivers.

Surface products are generally beautful and feature rich and people love them dispite their flaws.  At work we tested out the SP4 and were getting ready to start approving them for CYOD but then Dell released the 5285 this device just WOW'ed us.  Just the auto pop out kick stand alone was a winner but it also allows HD and mem servicing for our techs. 

I have an SP 4 PRO  It fell from about 2 meters cracked the screen and is still working like a champ

My Surface Pro 4 was crap...many issues.  Now have HP which is MUCH better, almost prefect.  I agree with Consumer Reports completely.  Microsoft hardware and firmware SUCKS.

My experience with 3RTs, S3, P4, Lumia950, 950xl says exactly the opposite.

This was premature of CR simply put. Review it first. I have had zero issues with the new Surface Pro and minimal issues with the Pro 3 and Surface book before that. I tried to give my friend the pro 3 and he couldn't handle it. Too different and not a MAC. But that was his issue and not the device.

Sounds like this has devolved into a ******* contest

Ummmm... Who reads consumer reports? Probably, a bunch of denture wearing farts.

Doesn't matter. This will be picked up by every news service, and will show up virtually everywhere.

Hey...where is my denture paste ?

Well well well,  I guess apple tossed them A serious shitload of money....they gave the macbook pro a scathing review,  then a few weeks later turned around and said NO we were wrong....now they cannot give the book to a recommendation because of the LAST ONE?  that is a crock of ****!

They had a very specific issue with the MacBook that Apple fixed before they were widely experienced. The Surface issues weren't that simple. The issues with the Surface were numerous and well known. It shouldn't be a surprise that they affected customer reviews.

I've had a surface book for over a year, and, aside from needing more power to run the programs I use at times and to have mmultiple programs and web pages open simultaeneously, i've never really experienced any "serious issues" with my machine. I love it. I wish the new surface book 2 would've come in multiple colors like the surface laptop, but I am definitely going to get one. It was between the cintiq companion 2 and the surface book when I chose this and now the surface book 2 blows away that and the mobile stupdio pro, (with the exception of the 8, 192 pevels of pressure sensitivity vs 4096 in the SB2; and of course the superior and more ergonamic wacom pen.) Basically if you aren't running Maya, Z-brush , photoshop, Toon boom, pro-tools, or equivalent, sometimes simultaeneously, I cvan't really imagine what problems you are having with your device. Right now I'm typing this and watching a movie on my SB! Works fine.

@bleached...bullshit.  They never even tested this...and they gave the POS apple computer a recommendation even after problems.

What problems? You think they made up their failure rates?

battery life problems.  oh...right...they "fixed" that.   except they never...because a couple of my friends macbook pros are still like it.  

You're ridiculous.

Although I agree that you shouldn't judge a product before testing, Consumer Reports is correct.

How?

Shouldn't they say "we have not tested this product, therefore we have no opinion yet on this product.""❓
......
Yes. Yes, that's what they should say.

ooooooo.  One of the few times I agree with you 100%.  

That's your fault. You better fix that.

They don't do that with any other product. How can they recommend a product when it's predecessors have a huge failure rate?

Nobody gives a rats nut sack what you're talking about, and nobody is going to read your BS ....
Your mind wipes clean from the day before ?

You get so triggered when you realize you are wrong and have no argument.

Still after my underwear today? Is that what you want?

"Huge failure rate"??

He's a special one. Ignore him.
.....
Trust me, he will flirt with you every chance he gets....

https://www.consumerreports.org/laptop-computers/microsoft-surface-lapto... There is CRs findings and here is Microsoft's internal memo on the issues. These are huge failure rates. 25% in the first two years is really bad. https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/microsoft-surface/132832/heres-microsoft...

Don't reply, man. Lol!!!! Don't entertain him! His mom pissed him off this morning.. Made him take out the trash.. It was cold, he slipped, and skinned his knee... This is not the day to mess with him.

@rodneyej
You can only lose credibility with that attitude, not gain it. You just downgraded to a 3 year old with those words in my mind.

I have to agree with them to a point. My surface pro 3 worked great for about a year. After that, it developed a yellow line down the left side. I googled and it appears that this was a common issue with this model. Seems to be heat-related. I contacted Microsoft, and they wanted to charge me more than the damn thing was worth (Re-sale value) to repair. I will not be buying anymore surface hardware because of this. I still use it, as it doesn't affect the functinality, but the yellow line in very unsightly and it makes re-sale almost impossible.

Heat related? I don't know how it could have been heat related since the left side always stays cool as all the hot components are on the right side. That said, my SP3 also has a (faint) yellow line down the edge of the screen, but I'm pretty sure I'm the culprit for that, as I tend to press on that side unknowingly as if I were fidgeting. I'm not bothered by it, though. I've also caused yellow marks on phones also fitted with LCD screens in the past. PS. There's another SP3 in our house and that one has no yellow line.

an evaluation company that cannot evaluate a product until they get it...is kinda non-news...

I disagree with the CR report. I've had a good time with the Surface family, beginning with the RT of which we had three in our family, and then the SP3 that we have two of. Mine has worked like a champ since I got it at release, and handles everything I throw at it except Steam games. The other one we have has fallen twice on concrete, is cracked, but still works just fine. Of course there will always be some problems with every product, particularly in new formfactors or categories. I discinctly remember the days when Macbooks were quite young and not as iteratively improved as they are today. They used to overheat left and right, have HDD and fan failures, chassis and quality problems, screen and pixel-related problems, and more. And let's not forget all the "-gate" problems of iPhone throughout more than half of its life. That hasn't stopped anybody from recommending them.

Dashing the veil of Apple perfection.

******* Intel. They released Skylake with a broken low power- always connected state and Microsoft, besides being the first OEM on the market with Skylake, was also the only OEM that shipped products with this buggy state enabled (because it was forward looking and Intel said everything was fine). It took them months to debug and fix Intel's crap. Intel generally fixed this only with Kaby Lake. And most OEMs, if not all, *still* didn't enable this power state. Yet Microsoft was the the only one to take full blame.

Keep in mind that CR also doesn't recommend the Surface Pro or Surface Laptop - even though though those models weren't even yet shipping when CR was surveying their readers. This is seriously 'effed up.

I have owned the Surface Pro 4 for nearly 2 years. It is not perfect, but I have had zero problems with keyboard nor screen. The problems I have encountered are:
* Some problems with earphones from Sony (no problem with AKG N60 NC),
* Battery performance -- 2-5 hours, depending on use and Windows/driver updates -- much less than expected,
* Very variable internet connection, e.g., some 15+ kbit/s in a rented apartment abroad and essentially not working while the Lumia 950 had some 2+ Mbit/s from the same router.
The SP4 is *fast*, however, much faster than the 6 months older Dell XPS13. Of course, a discussion forum such as this isn't representative for possible problems -- those with negative experience tend to be more vocal. In any way, it seems a little strange to doom new models based on problems mainly some 2-5 years ago. I guess we can assume that Samsung phones are on the list of "not recommended" due to the Note 7 problem??

Again and again Microsoft is down, they are digging there own grave, more and more terrible situation. They need to open there eyes, it's the wrong people they employ, why, extremely bad management. we change slowly everything to the Samsung side, but very sorry about the past two year - waiting for stable situation and devices from Microsoft. And million of customers will do the same.

How many million copies of Windows 10 are in use?

Does anyone younger than a Boomer actually pay attention to Consumer Reports?

You beat me to it.

You can guarantee that a certain Rene at IMORE will be ALL OVER THIS very soon.   

I'm a boomer and I've never paid attention to CR. It's been biased from the beginning because of the cllientele that subscribe. There's nothing scintific about it whatsoever.

Does anybody under the age of 73 even read CR anymore?  Not exactly Microsoft's target audience.

Yup, and im 45 

My dad sat on the john and read readers digest. My things sure have changed.

That's one reason to trust Consumer Report!

None should be trusted implicitly.

I canceled my Consumer Reports subscription because of their decision.

So you were the one keeping them in business...

For a good year or more of my Surface Pro 3 owning I had major WiFi issues (like everyone else) but they've since been sorted and the tablet hasn't missed a beat as a result. From what I have read from people the SP4 and SB had their own share of issues, but I don't have either to comment.

I don't know. I've had no issues with my Surface 3 and Pro 4. Use them both every day.

Maybe I'm just being cynical, maybe there is another angle at play here... or maybe it's that pesky Marvel WiFi chipset they insist on using... I have not heard any decent thing about Marvel's WiFi chipset.

CR = Apple Ass Lickers

My surface 3 was constantly freezing up after about 3 months, used it about 2 years before it finally died from an unrelated problem. Thats why im not considering replacing it with a surface. Didnt read Consumer Reports review, but doesnt surprise me. 

My Surface 3 works great. Why didn't you replace it when it was under warranty? MS is very good about replacements.

Look, I'm freaking disgusted with MS right now but Consumer Reports hasn't been relevant or atleast trustworthy in years. The highest bidder wins with them. In fact, when this Surface issue came up a couple months ago, it was the 1st time anyone talked about consumer reports in 5 years. Just a publicity stunt funded by competitors. If it had anything to do with problems people had in the 2nd year of ownership, they would never recommend an Android phone because of slowdown and lack of updates and they could never recommend an iPhone because 50% of their owners have broken screens by the 2nd year. But good for them, they got themselves in the news for a little while.

This is just another effect of what happens when a company has shat all over consumers. These "reviewers" will always be biased towards/against companies, brands, and products based on their individual experience and peer pressure. Satay just doesn't understand that all relevant consumers have jobs, and in their professional capacity they will make decisions based on what they have experienced as consumers. Congratulations, Nutella. Pat yourself on the back once again.

I wouldn't recommend it either...they are getting out of hardware. Better choices out there. I myself will be getting an MSI gaming laptop.

Don't judge a Surfacebook by it's cover.

I can't say I agree with their assessment. However, if their findings are factually accurate for their methods, then I can't say I blame them here. Until the successor product proves that the failures of its predecessor (long-term reliability) are remedied, it seems rather foolish to recommend the product. If they do, and the long-term quality is similarly flawed, then they look bad for not learning from the past issues. My complaint would be if the SB2's longevity proves to be improved over the previous devices, but the site doesn't go back and give it a retroactive recommendation, just as they took it away from the other Surface devices after the fact.

:))) this is what happens when you keep delivering mediocre quality for expensive products!

Hey, mine are great!!

They’re completely correct in everything they said. I’m one of the 25%. All of a sudden my surface didn’t recognize keyboards anymore. Even after I bought a new and very expensive replacement. While trying to figure out what’s wrong I did a complete restore, which actually made things worse somehow. Now it takes a very long time to start up. The pen never works for more than a couple weeks then needs. New battery, which are very hard to find. Customer service was a joke, they admitted that it needed to be replaced but I was totally on my own. That left a very bad taste in my mouth. Consumer reports is right. I’ll never ever buy another tablet or laptop from them. 

Beware of confirmation bias.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. My experience over several Surface devices (Pro4, 3, also 950xl) has been NOTHING like your experience in all your events. I am pleased with mine.
All pens use that battery size. I find mine at any one of my big box stores. Can also order via Amazon.
Every Customer Support experience has been adequate to outstanding, better than any of my other product CS experiences.

Here's the problem with the CR ratings--their data is seriously flawed. It may or may not be a correct assessment, but there's no way to tell based on their sampling and statistical analysis. They solicit input from the public about reliability, but DO NOT verify ownership or even use-case. That's like asking about the reliability of a Chevy, but allowing Ford owners to respond, assigning equal weight to every comment. Plus, there is the issue of self-selected samples. Everyone knows that people with complaints respond at a much higher rate than people with no issues. It's just human nature, and a bias CR has NOT addressed in their analysis. What they should be including is actual return and repair rates for each product. They do not, and so their whole analysis is, by definition, invalid.

Over the years, I have noticed CR hanging on to certain brands of various products to pick on. It seems there is nothing these brands can do to reverse the CR opinion. I'm wondering if Microsoft is another one of CR's "favorites".

Exactly, if they gather their data from online sources rather than directly from the company and users, their results are already flawed, because of all the bogus reviews and comments online paid for by competitors.

@mmgn ... If you hate it that much, I'll give you $100 for it!

Well that's regodamndiculous. Why make this self-important statement now? It suggests that CR is more interested in grandstanding than even its own credibility.

Basing the recommendation on different hardware is absurd. They should refrain from posting their conclusion until they've evaluated the reliability of N-number of units.

Surface Phone. Where is it?

I don't rely on Consumer Reports for recommendations anyway. I rely on my own research and tech sites like Windows Central for information that eventually leads to a purchase or a pass. I have had several Surface devices since they were first released. Some I've had to return due to issues and some have performed perfectly fine. The devices that had to be returned were repaired or replaced hassle-free. Kudos to Microsoft for making that happen. I will be buying the Surface Book 2 and if there are any issues with it, I have zero doubt Microsoft will make it right in a timely manner.

CR should reveal its funding sources and affiliations.   Although I think except from media making a huge negativity buzz, nobody else cares. Had media not replicated this story, few would really care about what CR says.  

It never occurred to me to refer to CU for computer buying advice.  The Surface Book is absolutely the best laptop or tablet I have ever owned.  I have heard of problems with the power connector, but I have not experienced any.

I have lost convidence in CR anyway.  Several recommended products I purchased in the past couple years have turned out less then great.  Going back and reading reviews on these items on CR's sight and  find most of them are not getting steller customer reviews.

Omg such idiots....

I understand. f you had a phone, there would not be problems. Get rid off the IT guy, Satya.

The Consumer report statement is more like a political statment then a professional one with enegeneering aproach. Shame on them. And if something stink politics, you know that something dirty is under the carpet...

They were most probably paid to say this by Apple. The surface tablets are great machines but have been let down by windows 10 & its drivers

I knew Consumer Reports was full of **** when they said Android phones had a better camera than the Lumia 1020. After I read that review I cancelled my subscription.

We have hundreds of Surface devices (mainly Surface Pro 3/4 tablets) in an enterprise environment and we have definitely found significant issues with these devices compared to all other tablets, laptops and desktops.  If anything, the people experiencing problems would represent much higher than 25%.  The biggest issue...can't wake it up from sleep mode! Their docking stations require manual firmware updates, stability is dependent upon the version of Windows 10 you run, drivers/firmware relies on Windows 10 builds.  Not a good approach to manufacturing!