Help me understand Surface Pro swap out?

[Batty]

Hello.  I wasnt sure how to word the title, sorry.  I have an MS Surface Pro, brought it maybe 4 years ago and only used it for 6 months before dropping it and cracking the screen.  I also left the keyboard on an airplane so basicly what I have is a surface pro tablet without a keyboard that I cant use.  It powers up, but i cant use the touch screen.  Its just sat in a draw for over 3 years.

 

I was told to buy a second hand 'RT' for around $75 and have someone swap out the internals - but im not 100% sure what an RT even is?  I googled it of course and all i can see under 'RT' is what looks like an exact same surface pro?  I assumed when I was told this that RT would be a cheap generic copy of an MS Surface.  The idea being that you get the screen, keyboard, frame and battery of the RT but throw in the hard disk, ram etc from the Surface Pro.

 

Im confused, can anyone make sense of this advice?  My wife needs a new laptop the one she is using has seen better days.  If i could figure out a way to make use of this surface pro it would be ideal.  I paid 45,000 for it and didnt use it for very long, it would be a shame just to let it languish in a draw!

 

Many thanks

 

Batty

[shady86]

Surface Rt was the first gen of Surface Pro mini models running on Win RT and discontinued. It wont work with a swap. Surface Pros cant be repaired and you might risk breaking the display when disassembly.

[Batty]

1 minute ago, shady86 said:

Surface Rt was the first gen of Surface Pro mini models running on Win RT and discontinued. It wont work with a swap. Surface Pros cant be repaired and you might risk breaking the display when disassembly.

Thanks Shady.  So thats it then?  Its basicly just garbage?

[shady86]

Yes, surface pro and rt have totally different parts including display so its not worth the trouble. Surface devices are non user repairable, Microsoft only provide exchange with refurbished units for warranty claim.

[maccra]

I doubt that a Surface Pro internals will fit into a Surface RT frame. Ask for proof that someone has done it without problems.

 

A Surface Pro (3) can be repaired especially the screen. It would be expensive (maybe very expensive) and a question of who and where it can be done in Thailand (professionally). You said the screen is already broken (cracked). There are youtube videos on how to replace the screen and that sounds like all that you need to do. But you don't say which Surface Pro you have.

 

My biggest concern is that it has been in the draw for over 3 years or so, the battery may not be good anymore and started to corrode. Moisture may have got in somehow and started corroding the internals and may not last long. You would need to start it up and check it out that there is no other problems with the internals.

 

You should be able to buy a replacement keyboard to replace the missing one.

 

Like Shady86 said, Surfaces can be refurbished (which also could mean repaired), but by specialist service and not by a normal user.

 

It comes down to how much money and effort you want to put in to get everything checked out. If you don't want to do it yourself, then try to find a decent repair shop and ask for a quote (and then add some extra on top because there will probably be something else that needs to be replaced which they can not see from the outside).

 

The money risk is yours to decide.

[Batty]

7 hours ago, shady86 said:

Yes, surface pro and rt have totally different parts including display so its not worth the trouble. Surface devices are non user repairable, Microsoft only provide exchange with refurbished units for warranty claim.

Thanks Shady, looks like I was misinformed I guess.

[Batty]

7 hours ago, maccra said:

I doubt that a Surface Pro internals will fit into a Surface RT frame. Ask for proof that someone has done it without problems.

 

 

 

A Surface Pro (3) can be repaired especially the screen. It would be expensive (maybe very expensive) and a question of who and where it can be done in Thailand (professionally). You said the screen is already broken (cracked). There are youtube videos on how to replace the screen and that sounds like all that you need to do. But you don't say which Surface Pro you have.

 

 

 

My biggest concern is that it has been in the draw for over 3 years or so, the battery may not be good anymore and started to corrode. Moisture may have got in somehow and started corroding the internals and may not last long. You would need to start it up and check it out that there is no other problems with the internals.

 

 

 

You should be able to buy a replacement keyboard to replace the missing one.

 

 

 

Like Shady86 said, Surfaces can be refurbished (which also could mean repaired), but by specialist service and not by a normal user.

 

 

 

It comes down to how much money and effort you want to put in to get everything checked out. If you don't want to do it yourself, then try to find a decent repair shop and ask for a quote (and then add some extra on top because there will probably be something else that needs to be replaced which they can not see from the outside).

 

 

 

The money risk is yours to decide.

 

 

 

Thanks Maccra.  Yah the battery isnt great - takes ages to fully charge and lasts just one hour.  I didnt understand why, but the storage thing makes sense now.

 

I think realy taking all of this into account, its just not worth the time and money.  It looks like a new screen is 10,000 upwards.  A new keyboard is 5,000.  Then there is the battery issue - must be around 3-5,000 to sort that.  Then finding someone to stitch it all together.  I could be looking at 25,000 THB here, to fix a tablet that is 4 years old (its the first edition MS Pro that I have).  

 

Just not worth it.  Time to throw it away I think.  Maybe I could try sticking it on ebay, could be worth a couple thousand to someone for the hard drive etc alone?  

 

Thanks for the advice anyway.  Cheers.

 

Thanks for your 

[shady86]

Here's a guide if you want to try it.

The storage ssd is worth 500B the most.

20,000B could get you a 4th or 5th gen Pro used. Not worth to fix at all.

I had the first one which died and got replacement from Microsoft.

[Batty]

11 hours ago, shady86 said:

Here's a guide if you want to try it.
 

 

The storage ssd is worth 500B the most.

20,000B could get you a 4th or 5th gen Pro used. Not worth to fix at all.

I had the first one which died and got replacement from Microsoft.

 

Thanks for that. I think I will just scrap it then lol. What a bloody shame - massive waste of money realy wasnt it. Ah well.  I brought a Yoda a few months back, probably the best laptop I ever owned.