We’ve now been ripped off by the Microsoft conglomerate.
My wife decided a Surface Book Pro would be her laptop of choice. It has a snazzy touch screen and a fancy 256-level pen. The screen even unclips so it can be used in full tablet mode. Neat.
HOWEVER! What they don’t tell you is that the battery can’t be replaced by a service technician or by Microsoft themselves. And when the battery goes, the laptop can’t be run on just the power cord. No battery, no computer. You better make sure all of your documents live on the cloud. There’s no recovering anything without disassembling the computer on your own.
They will be happy to “service” the system by taking $600 from your bank account and swapping your defunct system for a refurbished one. That doesn’t include transferring any of your files. It saves a couple hundred over buying a refurb outright, but without you’re essentially paying $600 for the privilege of owning another computer exactly like the one that just quit but without any of your files.
The only saving grace is the extended warranty. For two years, if you break the computer by dropping it or spilling your coffee into it, they’ll give you a refurbished one for a $50 deductible. We, unfortunately, didn’t buy that warranty. But now that my daughter asked for one for graduation, you can bet that hers has the extended warranty.
In short, the Surface line of computers is basically a subscription service that costs $600 to $1,000 per year, depending on the model and how long the battery survives.