Surface Pro 4, Surface Book specs, price and release date: Microsoft fixes screen issue with updates

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Nov 04, 2015 06:00 AM EST

The tech giant Microsoft Company has been trying to get ahead of the competition when it comes to hybrid tablets, which functions as a 2-in1 device for the user's laptop computer and/or tablet needs.

The two latest gadgets from their surface lineup are the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book devices, which both went on sale on Oct. 26. One of which, the Surface Book, was touted by Microsoft as the "The ultimate laptop." The company did not simply push aside the Surface Pro 4 which they dub as "The tablet that replaces your laptop." Let's try to take a closer look of the two devices and see if Microsoft's lavish extolments really do hold some water.

Price and Specs

The Surface Book comes in a bigger display than that of the Surface Pro 4 at 13.5 inches and 12.3 inches screen size, respectively. Both runs on a Windows 10 Pro operating system. The entry level Surface Pro 4 has Core M3 processor and 4 GB of Ram. The device is also offered with 8 GB of Ram, and Core i5 and i7 options. The storage can range from 128 GB, 256 GB, up to 512 GB, according to Microsoft.

Meanwhile, the entry-level Surface Book comes with core i5 and 8 GB of Ram, and can have the option of up to 16 GB of Ram, Core i7, and as much as 1 TB in storage. The price of the Surface Book starts at $1,499 and can go up as high as $3,199 for the premium model, while the Surface Pro 4 starts at $899 up to $1,799.

Update and Screen Fix

Since the release of the two Surface devices, there were owners who have had complaints on their devices because of display issues. Some of the Microsoft customers, even those who have already had Microsoft's October firmware update, reported their devices' screen because of flickering, CNET wrote.

The company have now released another update which was designed to address this problem on the display. The latest November 2015 update from Microsoft is called the System Firmware Update, which was released last Nov. 2, and was reflected in the device update history.

The description of the update says, "HD Graphics 520 driver update (v20.19.15.4308) addresses some display issues, including some scenarios that result in screen flickering," which is the same for both the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book.

These updates should be installed automatically on the device via Windows Update, but if your device have yet to do so, you can also install manually by going to "Settings," and clicking on "Update & Security" where you can find "Windows Update." Now, you can choose "Check for updates" and it will install automatically if the update is already available.

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