Surface Book 3 issues

I would like to add to this issue as well. I bought the 13" Book 3 when it came out and I've had issues from day 1. Constant freezing, overheating, random slowdowns, I've seen almost all kinds of issues. They did send over a new one which worked well (not issue free though) until a few months ago. After upgrading to Windows 11, I performed a normal update back in April and all of a sudden the Surface Dock 2 started disconnecting my network cable and reconnecting every few minutes until it stopped recognizing the cable all together. I changed the Cat 6 cable I had for a Cat 5e and while it recognized the cable, it still wouldn't hold the connection. They did swap the Dock 2 for a new one, but that didn't help. I proceeded to connect the Dock 2 to my Surface Pro (2017) running Windows 10 and it worked perfectly, no issues whatsoever.

After spending days with support I restored the original Windows 10 image and used it for a day with no issues, so I upgraded to Windows 11 again and the issues restarted. I called support yet again and explained the situation, and they cited hardware issues and the laptop needed to be replaced at a cost of $600 because it was out of warranty.

I honestly do not think it is a hardware issue, but a driver/software issue related to Windows 11. I have since removed Windows 11 from the Surface Book and it is working so far with no issues.

For the amount of money I paid for this device, I would have expected it to work with little to no issues which makes me reconsider buying anything from them anymore.

Sorry for the late update. So after repeated consultations, things didn't improve. I asked for a different surface line that is non-detachable with similar specs and graphics (I think the fancy detachable tech is screwing things up? i may be wrong but worth a shot). And i kept getting a reply that nope it was not possible. The best i was provided was a surface laptop 4 where the graphics is much weaker compared to the book 3. Anyway, after repeated requests, the only reasonable offer i had was a like for like replacement. Now that i have the new device (over a month now) it also has issues. It's quite slow for no reason after waking up from sleep mode (tried almost all different fixes, no use), the fan is on for no reason after start-up, you get glitches in the screen for no reason, the desktop background is black at times after starting up for no reason and i have to reconfigure where it's sourcing the desktop backgrounds from (should not be this hard to customise my wallpaper). It's also slow at times even from a fresh reboot so yeah. I have given up on trying to resolve the issue as like the past 3-4 times I will likely waste 3-4 whole days with customer support re-trying the fixes i already have recently and the past 4 times, re-installing windows and eventually ending up with a like for like replacement with similar or worse issues which means another 1-2 weeks with no device and the headache of restoring my new device with data and software. I also asked for a refund if they can't provide a non-detachable device with decent graphics and they said no to that as well. Surely there's a law where you can't keep giving people faulty devices/services in exchange for faulty devices/services. They keep replacing one faulty device/service with another. I don't really care if the bug is in the device or the software side, they should've been able to address it by now given that we're up to book 3 now.

Also about their customer support; The first time i opened a ticket, I asked them to communicate via email as i was having trouble communicating via phone (network issues on their end i think because i could hear everyone else fine, but patchy calls from Microsoft). They said ok and i didn't hear back for like 2 weeks. Upon enquiry i was told my case was closed because they couldn't reach me via phone. What? I specifically informed them that i couldn't hear clearly and even sent an email asking to communicate via email until that was resolved...so...What happened? So had to re-open the case and go through things again...What a pain...

I will deal with this device for as long as i can, smash the device to pieces (the time will come...it's really testing my patience) and buy a mac. This has turned me off Microsoft for good. They own the hardware and the software and still can't solve the issue. Their customer support offers no real solution and i won't waste much of my time anymore. Saving up for a premium mac device and will purchase one ASAP. I'll then probs salvage the book 3 for parts and sell it, because frankly that's all it's worth.

Will be staying away from Microsoft in the future if i can help it, but knowing that most employers use are based on Microsoft and their services....we'll see.

I am big fan of the Surface line-up. Right from the first Surface Pro to Pro3 to Pro6 and Surface Book1 and Book3, but I am very disappointed in the Book 3 and the lack of recognition of issues with this laptop. Paying upwards of $4K for a laptop, this should come with no issues fully tested machine (MS it is your OS and your hardware). I am reluctant to buy any Surface products anymore.

Hi

Was able to get a hold of microsoft somehow. Spent approx 2 hours on the phone troubleshooting (some that i had already done, but still had to repeat for some reason). They've escalated the case to the repair team as it does appear to be a hardware issue. They checked stability logs and a bunch of things like windows hello and the webcam failed to load.

I think i'll leave it with them for now. I am swamped in work and do not have time to do a complete re-image at the moment. The data transfers alone will take several hours with softwares and other stuff taking up longer. Might give it a go after a few days if i don't get anywhere with microsoft though.

Also i'm in Australia. I've had approx 5+ replacements and the same issues persist. As of right now my guess is that the bug is native to the surface book lineup due to their detachment function?

I've been reporting issues with support for a while. I'd like to add your experience to the pile. Can you tell me where you are located?

You are having a LOT of issues. I think the only way to rule out hardware problems is to do a wipe and reimage from the downloadable recovery image (a pain, I know).

Go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surfacerecoveryimage  

(with a different Windows computer if yours is not working properly) 

and download a recovery image for your Surface. You will need a 16GB or 32GB USB stick (also called a flash drive) formatted FAT32 (use a Windows computer).  You can't use an actual external USB hard drive for this and don't use anything larger than a 32 GB USB stick. Best to purchase and use a new, previously unused USB stick for this. Use FULL format and not quick format and give the volume a name like surfboot. Unzip/extract the recovery zip to the root of the formatted USB stick.

There are full instructions and a video at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023512/surface-creating-and-using-a-usb-recovery-drive#download

 I'm an unpaid volunteer and do not work for Microsoft. If you want background on what a Microsoft MVP is, see https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/Overview and for Volunteer Moderators see https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/page/faq#faqWhosWho1

Tried to call/chat but apparently those functions are only available from 8pm - 8am in my timezone which is a complete load of ****.