Microsoft Surface Users Complain About Faulty Touch Covers

Early buyers of the new Microsoft Surface tablet are complaining about some hardware problems with the device. Many say the Touch Cover for the device, which includes a keyboard, is splitting, and others report audio problems.

According to The Guardian's Charles Arthur, "Some early users of the Touch Cover of Microsoft's Surface tablet say one of the edges splits to expose a wire just days after they starting using it.... The defect is identical in each case: the cover, which has an integral keyboard, begins to split at its seam where the device attaches magnetically to the main computer."

CNET's Don Reisinger reported, "Microsoft appears to be willing to address the problem. People in the Surface forums have said that they have contacted Microsoft about the issue and are being given a replacement cover. Whether those new covers will suffer the same fate, however, remains to be seen."

Jamie Condliffe from Gizmodo commented, "Given where the fault occurs—on the side of the keyboard which attaches to the tablet—it seems likely that the problem could be a result of mechanical stress. If that's the case, the cover isn't doing too good a job of being a cover."

The Verge's Tom Warren observed that the cover issue isn't the only problem with the tablet: "We noted in our original Surface review that performance was a little hit or miss, but there now appear to be widespread reports related to audio problems. Several threads on Microsoft's support forums detail issues relating to random muting and audio stuttering while the Surface is in use or on standby."