Microsoft Surface Devices No Longer Recommended By Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports is a credible, reliable, and independent entity that provides would-be customers with balanced and unbiased reviews of today’s hottest new products, allowing those who may be ‘on the fence’ about plunking down big bucks on the gadget of their fascination to receive an assessment from those who’ve actually spent time with it first. The firm’s insight can understandably weigh heavy on a consumer’s decision to buy a product; and unfortunately for Microsoft, whose latest round of Surface devices were once granted the firm’s coveted “recommendation” designation, due to “predicted reliability [of the Microsoft machines] compared to most other brands,” Consumer Reports has officially rescinded its approval of several Surface machines, according to a USA Today report.

According to the newspaper, Consumer Reports noted specifically that the reliability of four Microsoft machines — the new Surface Laptop in 128GB and 256GB variants, and the Surface Book in 128GB and 512GB configurations — compared so badly with other offerings on the market, the results were actually “worse, by statistically significant margins.”

The firm added that its decision to withdraw its previous recommendation was “based off the results of an annual subscriber survey about the products such people own and use.”

USA Today noted that the results of Consumer Reports’ survey concluded that “Microsoft’s laptops and tablets will experience breakage rates of 25% within two years of ownership” — which the survey defined as being the result of “any issue that comes up that prevents the computer from working as the owner expects.”

As a result of their findings, Consumer Reports has blasted out a memo indicating that it could no longer recommend “any of Microsoft’s Surface tablets or laptops” — including those with detachable keyboard covers, as well as those embodying more traditional, clamshell form-factors like the higher-end Surface Book. Likewise, Consumer Reports’ inability to recommend Microsoft devices applies to the all-new Surface Pro which launched earlier this summer.

Interestingly, this morning an internal memo surfaced from Microsoft’s corporate Vice President, Panos Panay, which appears to reconcile the PC-maker’s knowledge of issues with its latest Surface devices, while providing further insight into what it plans to do in the future: “It’s important for us to always learn more from our customers and how they view their ownership journey with our products. Feedback like this [from Consumer Reports] stings, but pushes us to obsess more about our customers,” the memo reads, a copy of which was obtained by Thurrott.

While the news certainly isn’t going to bode well with those in the market for a new PC at this time of year, such as college students and faculty, it’s nevertheless interesting to note that while Microsoft may have offered aesthetically pleasing products in its Surface line, Apple’s line of MacBook and MacBook Pro offerings will continue to be the most popular machines among customers. Though they may be a bit more expensive off-the-bat, Apple’s laptop computers are well worth the investment, boasting premium hardware, quality construction, a sleek design, and macOS — the most fluid, advanced, and all-around feature-rich operating system around.

Want a FREE iPhone 7? Click here to enter our monthly contest for a chance!
Follow us on Apple News by pressing the (+) button at the top of our channel

from iDrop News http://ift.tt/2wJY5Fu
via IFTTT