Consumers Reports pulls Microsoft laptop recommendation

Consumer Reports is pulling its recommendation of four Microsoft laptops after one of its surveys found that users were complaining about problems with the devices.

The consumer advocacy group said Thursday that it can no longer recommend Microsoft laptops or tablets because of poor reliability compared to other brands. Microsoft said the findings don’t accurately reflect Surface owners’ “true experiences.”

The consumer group said Microsoft machines have performed well in laboratory testing. But a subscriber survey found start-up and freezing problems. The devices losing their “recommended” status are the Surface Laptop (128GB and 256GB versions) and Surface Book (128GB and 512GB versions).

Consumer Reports last pulled laptop recommendations in 2015, when ratings were removed for two Hewlett-Packard laptops and one made by Lenovo.