Consumers Reports pulls recommendation for Microsoft Surface Laptop, Surface Book

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Consumer Reports is pulling its recommendation of four Microsoft laptops after one of its surveys found that users were complaining about problems with the devices. The consumer advocacy group said Thursday that it can no longer recommend Microsoft laptops or tablets because of poor reliability compared to other brands. Microsoft said the findings don’t accurately reflect Surface owners’ “true experiences.”

The consumer group says Microsoft machines have performed well in laboratory testing. But a subscriber survey found start-up and freezing problems. The devices losing their “recommended” status are the Surface Laptop (128GB and 256GB versions) and Surface Book (128GB and 512GB versions). Consumer Reports last pulled laptop recommendations in 2015, when ratings were removed for two Hewlett-Packard laptops and one made by Lenovo.

The post by Consumer Reports says their decision applies to Microsoft devices with detachable keyboards like the new “Surface Pro released in June and the Surface Book.” The new Surface Laptop is also included in the list of devices with problems. It also adds that in Microsoft’s case the “estimated breakage rate for its laptops and tablets was higher” compared to other brands, and the “differences were statistically significant.”

According to Consumer Reports, nearly 25 per cent of Microsoft devices will pose a problem for their users in the second year. This is why Microsoft is getting bumped off the list of recommendations. However, Microsoft doesn’t agree with these findings, and in a separate blogpost Panos Panay who is Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Devices wrote that Consumer Reports’ survey was “disappointing.”

The post goes on to read, “While we respect Consumer Reports, we disagree with their findings.” The company claims the return rates for Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book “are significantly lower than 25%.”

It adds, “Additionally, we track other indicators of quality such as incidents per unit (IPU), which have improved from generation to generation and are now at record lows of well below 1%.” The company says Surface ranks high in customer satisfaction, with 98 per cent of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book users saying they were satisfied with the device. This survey was done by research company IPSOS and commissioned by Microsoft.