Updating the original Post:
Hi guys! Just recently got a Surface Pro 3 from eBay (Mint condition). It arrived me yesterday and I got super duper excited with it. Been wanting a Surface Pro device for the past 4 years, and saw this opportunity and couldn't let it go by. It is a Surface Pro 3 256GB i7 8GB RAM for ($700). It doesn't have more than 24 hours with me. Today I decided to test it for real.
To my surprise, it's been only an hour and a half and the Surface has already dropped to 36%. I opened Task Manager to see if someone was hungry for power, found nothing. Looked over Resource Monitor and couldn't find anything interesting.
I decided to run a powercfg analysis and I found something interesting. First of all this device has 370 Power Cycles used. I kind of freaked out because I know Lithium-ion batteries start to fade away at 500. I looked over the Internet to see how much is the power cycle of a Surface Pro 3, and found out it is incredible high.
What is the typical battery life (cycles) for a Surface Pro 3? - Windows Central blogThere shouldn't be a problem with the number of cycles. In fact, if we do the math:“The batteries on our Surface products are designed with some of the highest charge cycles for consumer electronic devices. This means that the battery can get charged daily (5 days a week) for over 4.5 years and still maintain 80% capacity.” So you should be good to go for a very long time.
(261 days per year @ 5 days per week) * 4.5 = 1,174.5 cycles for 80%.
Below are all the snips I've taken from the different places to see if there could be a battery drain, but I've found none.
Could it be a failing battery? Hope it's not.... It would cost me an extra $200 to change it
If it has only been used for 24hrs why does it have 370 cycles for the battery?
I bought it used in eBay. It only has 24 hours with me.If it has only been used for 24hrs why does it have 370 cycles for the battery?
I've just updated the original post.
Let me update the original post with more information.
Ok, so you have no real knowledge of its previous history. A couple of things to try:
1. After one or two full discharge and recharge cycles you may see some improvement.
2. Check that there are no processes running in task manager that are consuming 100% CPU for long periods.
As you do not know the history there could be times when the tablet has been subjected to very high temperatures (such as being left in a car or in the sun) - this can adversely affect the battery life. If the tablet has been incorrectly charged for 370 cycles this will not have helped, for example it may have been charged with a cheap non-branded power supply that had no current control or regulator that reduces the charging when the battery nears full charge. There are just too many unknowns with that type of purchase.
Hmmm interesting. I'll try that! I think we could add that the device could have also been charged multiple times without it being fully discharged.Ok, so you have no real knowledge of its previous history. A couple of things to try:
1. After one or two full discharge and recharge cycles you may see some improvement.
2. Check that there are no processes running in task manager that are consuming 100% CPU for long periods.
As you do not know the history there could be times when the tablet has been subjected to very high temperatures (such as being left in a car or in the sun) - this can adversely affect the battery life. If the tablet has been incorrectly charged for 370 cycles this will not have helped, for example it may have been charged with a cheap non-branded power supply that had no current control or regulator that reduces the charging when the battery nears full charge. There are just too many unknowns with that type of purchase.
I went ahead and reinstalled the drivers. Will wait for 4 hours to see if there's been any change.
Bang! Problem solved! I also posted this in Neowin: Do I have a failing battery? Or is a program draining the heck out of it? - Surface Pro 3 - Hardware Hangout - Neowin blog
I was suggested to reinstall the drivers. Device Manager didn't expressed any anomalies, but reinstalling the drivers yielded outstanding results. The device now lasted 4 hours and 23 minutes. The last hour and 23 minute was with the device playing music in Media Player Classic with the display always-on at 100% brightness and the volume 80%.
Thanks for everything
