Microsoft Surface Pro 8

FWIW: I used it on a 50 minute Teams call today with WiFi at about 40% brightness.

100% battery ran down to 62%.

EDIT: CORRECTION - Brightness was at 80%

1 Like

So this got me more curious and we still had s sample of the drive and now I have possibly, a new theory. It is still heat related (sort of). TLDR it appears that as @Hifihedgehog also seems to see, in extended operation the drive as it gets warm can exceed the specified power draw of the drive interface the Pro 8 uses.

This might explain why it works in desktops and external enclosures. Testing it just now with our tools, after about 20 minutes of pounding it with one of our apps it exceeds the max specced power draw by almost 35% !

So in a desktop or an external drive housing that likely wouldn’t be an issue as both have plenty of “spare” power.

What I don’t have , or haven’t thought of way to test for yet is is the Pro 8 is limiting the maximum power delivery (likely it is as most portables do it). That might explain the unstable operation we have observed as (in this operational case) an underpowered drive absolutely will exhibit unstable behavior

And yes, it’s normal for an SSD to consume more power in heavier use, but 99% of the time it’s still within bounds of the spec.

If we find a way to test/verify the Pro 8 is limiting power delivery on the interface, I’ll post back here.

2 Likes

For what it’s worth, Microsoft Teams is a pretty poorly optimized app regardless of the hardware or OS. They must be doing archaic software decoding or actively monitoring user activity by the gigabyte. It is also pretty bad on my iPhone as well like this user describes.

Microsoft Teams drains the battery very f… - Apple Community

1 Like

I haven’t run a thorough battery test to compare the two, but compared to using Windows 11, I am immediately getting a whole hour or more of battery life on my Surface Pro 8 after switching to Windows 10. Both were installed clean from a barebones OS image and had the Surface drivers added on top to reduce the debris of apps and services I might not need. With Windows 11, I was hovering around 5 hours of battery life (this is active screen time only, mind you). With Windows 10, I am clocking in at around 6 hours of battery life (this is also just active screen time).

That for me is a bit of a pity too since I often can run my device on AC all-day which does make Windows 11 desirable in only one case, that being its smart charging feature. Other than that, I have plenty of complaints against Windows 11 and I can now add increased battery drain to my long list of them. I really want to like Windows 11 but it was really chewing away at my battery to the point that I had to turn down the screen brightness and I felt like I had to constantly police my open apps just in case it might help improve things. Honestly, I am not going back anytime soon until Android app support is finalized, bare minimum.

So much for a replaceable SSD trap door - pretty, and panders to the “I have a right to repair my own device” crowd, but not a reality at the moment. BTW - what gives with dropping the mSDXC slot - that couldn’t possibly have taken so much room?

2 Likes

I assumed with the re-arranging the internal components that they ran out of space, but could they have offered an SD card slot on the non-LTE models? (They could have used the space where the SIM would have been for a card slot. ) However, they probably tried to keep everything simple & standardized throughout the SP8 line.

1 Like

Just because @JoeS and others regularly check my signature (betting purposes) - I am now in the Surface Pro 8 camp. Still haven’t decided whether to keep the x360-14 as backup insurance (smarter idea) or give Swappa a try - NO FLEABAY!

2 Likes

Glad I bet the “under” on that Mac Book :sunglasses:

4 Likes

This was a lot tougher than it seems. The MBP14 is gorgeous and a powerful beast, but in the end on productivity apps there’s really no performance delta; it was a 4.5lb +/- combination in the bag with the iPP11; and I saved $2200 thanks to a great tip and my business account status to snag a SP8 commercial evaluation demo (check out the Will he go all in on Apple? thread for gruesome details).

3 Likes

Well, this 2TB 2230 M.2 SSD from Micron will eventually be an option. I am hearing Q3 2022 in the grapevine, but with even Intel saying that chip shortages will extend through 2023, that’s very much up in the air:

HP Spectre x360-14 Question: I was already asked what my backup plan is for when I return the SP8 - GEEZ folks! Anyway, Windows Central just name it the Best Choice Overall for a Windows 11 laptop:

Sooooo…if I fail (is there already a pool for that too?) I will just go back to the x360-14, which for now is mothballed as insurance against a SP8 real failure (mechanical or software) since I’ve sold the GB12’s…

2 Likes

My GB12 is insurance in case the SLS gets sick. It’s such an underrated tablet.

2 Likes

Well, the 1TB SSD (Samsung PM981) arrived and successfully installed. No BSD on boot!! All seems good and stable.

3 Likes

Good to see all the old friends again. :slight_smile:

I used one of the SN530 SSDs in my SP8 for a week but swapped back to the OEM drive after numerous BSOD problems. I put the SN530 in my Dell Precision 7760 laptop and downloaded the Western Digital SSD Dashboard application and noticed there was a firmware update available for the SN530 to version 08.04.00. I updated the firmware, but I’m skeptical if this update will make a difference in the BSOD problems. Has anyone else tried a SN530 with this firmware version in the SP8? If others have already tried the updated firmware and are still experiencing problems, I’m not going to waste my time swapping it back into the SP8.

2 Likes

I was able to finally track down a glass matte screen protector for the Surface Pro 8. I have one on order now so I will let you all know how it works out once I get it in about a month from now, seeing that it is made in and shipped from Germany:

1 Like

Do you use the haptic feedback on your Pro 8? Is it an improvement or just more nonsense.

I think it is more of a gimmick right now (remember, I’m still having some hand control issues) and it is NOT available in OneNote - only M$ would screw up like that. I’ve used it in Word and Journal and it “ok” I guess. Anything above 50% literally shakes your fingers a bit, under 50% barely noticeable. Still, I really like the native pen tip in OneNote (has some grip on screen) and being able to turn it over and erase is a winner. I also think the carpenter pencil design is actually BETTER than a standard pen/stylus.

Still have random OneNote problems (kept fading to “OneNote not responding” and would return with handwriting scrambled - geez!

Hang in there on the control. Strange. I’ve been feeling the haptics in OneNote. Do you have all experimental features switched on?

I am getting haptics as well and I don’t remember turning on the experimental features. Hmmm…

1 Like

I’ll check tonight

1 Like