I owned the previous Galaxy S 16GB but ended up returining it due to the pathetic GPS performance after getting tired of all the pseudo-fixes and rumours flying around. The nasty rfs filesystem lag also didn't help.
Somewhat lost confidence in normal reviews after that. Fortunately I was able to return the device after 1 month but am now curious about the SGS2.
Have anyone tested GPS results in a consistent, detailed way? (not just the usual comments bout fast fixes and how well it works with navigation apps that snap - more like detailed tracks).
Tried searching but to no good result.
Other than the GPS and Lag issues, I had no major complaints about the SGS1 (you can add the lack of flash led and notification light but those are somewhat solved in SGS2).
GPS issues on the SGS 2
The GPS in SGS2 is OK. However, it take 2 to 4 minutes to get satellite fixed from cold start and also often no signal in doors (eg, in your office or inside your house).
You can try to stick a piece of kitchen Aluminum Foils (about 6x9 cm) on the interior side of the battery cover, which may enhance the reception of the GPS in your SGS2. your can also try this in SGS1.
In comparison to Quarx Cyanogen Mod on the Moto Defy, the Galaxy S2´s GPS fix is slow and little unstable. Sometimes I´m about 50meters away from my real position on google maps.
I think it could and should be optimized.
netrider01 said:
In comparison to Quarx Cyanogen Mod on the Moto Defy, the Galaxy S2´s GPS fix is slow and little unstable. Sometimes I´m about 50meters away from my real position on google maps.
I think it could and should be optimized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try sticking a piece of kitchen Aluminum Foils (about 6x9 cm) on the interior side of the battery cover, which may enhance the reception of the GPS in your SGS2.
Tested hot and cold but for fix and works .
Tested general location works .
Tested My Tracks works .
A slightly better GPS than my SGS1 which worked .
Actual details feet inched sats and metres sorry dont get involved in that argument any more . As those with poor GPS just accuse you of lying if you have no problems .Plus who can keep track of the multiple posts saying exactly the same thing .Post tracks and someone will start yet another post next day .
Their are a couple of detailed tests around including on here .
Clove.co.uk Blog has a detailed test from a member .
jje
jje
If you want detailed tracks, then there are a couple on my post here, but that whole thread will be of interest - other people dump some tracks a few days after me. My traces compare a Desire and the SGS2 sittin side-by-side on the passenger seat of the car, and are equally good.
Overall I'm very pleased with the GPS, it's certainly perfectly good for real world navigation. If you need <5m accuracy for specialist tasks, you might have some problems, but that's not confirmed.
DJGibbon said:
If you want detailed tracks, then there are a couple on my post here, but that whole thread will be of interest - other people dump some tracks a few days after me. My traces compare a Desire and the SGS2 sittin side-by-side on the passenger seat of the car, and are equally good.
Overall I'm very pleased with the GPS, it's certainly perfectly good for real world navigation. If you need <5m accuracy for specialist tasks, you might have some problems, but that's not confirmed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seen them. By SGS 1 standards they look unbelievable, definitely good enough for my needs, which are basically normal car navigation (including in fairly complex urban areas at slow speeds) and some occasional walking navigation.
I also checked Clove's blog review and a couple more tracks and it got the impression that the SGS2 has a working GPS.
Got burnt really bad by the SGS1 and the way Samsung never got to fix it tho (or even somehow recall units) and I'm a bit sceptic about risking money again as I might not be able to return it this time.
Still, those tracks to look great... and it seems the lag issue is gone too. Tempting...
JJEgan said:
slightly better GPS than my SGS1 which worked .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would have to be much better than 'slightly better' in my case... my SGS1 was unable to drive me out of the block.
Slightly better as in the tracks posted you mention are much the same as my SGS2 tracks .
SGS1 tracks much the same except not as accurate on bends and they would snap to the side of the road rather than the centre . But 100% usable as GPS .
Just carried out a cold boot GPS test 4mins 8 satellites locked .
As i see it most had no problem SGS1 and likewise SGS2 .
But some did and some have and no real reason why .
jje
i get indoor fix within 20 seconds. I have used CoPilot for a 50 mile journey, and it is more stable than it was on my hero, which used to lose satelite reception until i restarted copilot.
I used MyTracks yesterday for a hike and it was dead on. I got a lock in about 10-15 seconds and had up to 4 meter accuracy. I am used to my Captivate where the closest accuracy I got was 40m and would go up to 1200m accuracy. I am very happy with SGS2's GPS to be honest
blue265 said:
I used MyTracks yesterday for a hike and it was dead on. I got a lock in about 10-15 seconds and had up to 4 meter accuracy. I am used to my Captivate where the closest accuracy I got was 40m and would go up to 1200m accuracy. I am very happy with SGS2's GPS to be honest
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been testing an SGS2 for 4 days now and share your impression. It holds on to locks pretty well and its accuracy appears to at least match my stand-alone little Holux GPS receiver (old SiRF III unit). It's no wonder, but it's good enough for car navigation, perhaps even for walking, but probably not for precise geocaching. Overall, from what I've seen from it so far, I have to say I'm pleased that this time Samsung got it right.
It appears to be a lot better than the disastrous SGS 1 (couldn't hold to locks, terrible accuracy, useless GPS).
I'm a bit lazy to post MyTracks paths right now but can do it later if anyone needs to see some.
I have been struggeling to get GPS to work on ICS for a few days but nothing worked. Not any fix worked. Then i discovered that the slick plastic battery cover i bought in China
contained a metallic paint. As soon as i put the original battery cover on GPSWas faaaaaast and accurate. So for those who have problems getting stable GPS, remove any protective cases or battery covers and try again!
Related
Okay guys, here we go with some impressions of a non american prime.
Today, I got my 32GB gray Prime + the gray dock from the first german batch.
I have to say that I never owned a tablet myself before and I currently use a Desire HD as my development phone.
Hardware:
Good:
Build quality is perfect, period. On my Prime there is absolutely nothing i don't like about it.
It's super thin and not too heavy
Power and volume buttons are nice, but not metal
Keyboard dock build quality is on the same superior level.
The screen is absolutely awesome, super bright, perferct viewing angels and the colors are super good too, no yellow hue for me.
The speaker(s) are hands down the best thing I've ever heard on any mobile device. They are loud, they are clear and they have bass . I tried to completely cover it -->not possible with my hand, it still sounds the same
No comment on batterylife yet, it's my first charge
Camera is really good for a tablet, the pictures look much like iPhone pictures look. Really good when zoomed out and pretty strange when zoomed in.
The screen is very easy to clean, no comparision to my phone.
Bad:
Wifi is pretty weak, I can clearly see that it is way weaker than my DHD (it actually doesn't even see my network where my phone connects without any issue)
I won't say anything concerning the actual speed because I am not used to Wifi devices having a better speed than 10Mbps.... One word though: it's slower than my phone.
After the .33 update Wifi speeds are really good, 25-30Mbit/s
It's pretty sad we got only one speaker, you clearly notice the sound comes only from one side
The charging cable somehow feels really cheap. It also doesn't have any kind of snapping thing which prevents unwanted removal of the plug. The connector is like a USB-plug, you plug it and you un-plug it without any button or so to press. The charger itself feels okay.
Keys on the dock could need a bit more travel distance
Screen is finger print magnet, but I actually havenÄt compared this to other tablets
Software
Good:
Hmm, yea what to write here...?
HC runs smoother on the Prime than on my girlfriends Xoom...
Asus Supernote is a pretty decent note taking app. If they add palm rejection it's the best note app out there.
Haven't tested much of the other Asus apps so far
Ah, the Asus quicksettingsmenu is cool too, it's fast and just works
Bad:
HC just sucks, it's not well optimized at all. There are bugs random slowdowns and hangs everywhere
My GPS is broken too (more on this later)
Touchscreen sucks (I put this to software because I don't think it's hardware related). The touchscreen isn't always working properly. It's the same "ghost touching" reported earlier. Also it sometimes just doesn't register at all. You need to tap 2 or even more times.
Touchscreen working perfectly after the .33 update, no more issues at all.
Usage
I love the keyboard, i actually work a lot with that tiny mousepad I never saw me working with a mouse on android
Battery (still first charge of Prime and dock) seems to be pretty good, I am currently on 11 hours of constant usage (webrowsing, a movie, listening to music playing games, etc)
using the touchscreen while docked is a bit hard because the device is very top heavy, you need to hold the dock while working with your finger on the screen
You need to activate the ASUS onscreen keyboard in order to get a QWERTZ keyboard while using the dock. Otherwise it's a QWERTY. That's the most annoying thing I found so far
The "GPS-issue":
Now I had the chance to actually test it myself, so here are the results.
My Prime doesn't lock onto satellites as most others here too.
It barely sees any satellites at all. Where my phone sees 10 sats (all with good reception) the Prime sees from time to time exactly one with near zero reception...
I really think this is software related (or maybe I just want to believe that? ). Read why:
In my opinion we have so many issues with the Primes because ASUS didn't intend to release the Prime with Honeycomb at all.
I think they developed this device only with ICS and once they realized that they can't finish ICS they hurried up to slap HC on it.
Unfortunately the actual testing of the software was more or less forgotten or better suspended due to time constraints.
If I am right we will see a nicely running more or less issue free ICS soon. If this is not the case ASUS really screwed up this time...
Conclusion
All in all I think the Prime is a awesome device which will get perfect once the bugs are gone. I am still happy with my Prime and I'll keep it.
If they fix the GPS and the touchscreen I got a perfect device for my use. Weak Wifi is not really a problem for me
Update
Okay a little update mainly about battery life:
I used the Prime all day now until it reached 2% I got about 9 hours of constant heavy usage, including webbrowsing, downloading lots of things, watching a movie, listening to music playing games, etc.
Then i plugged the fully charged dock and continued using the Prime the same way as before. Currently I am near 12 hours of usage, 23% left in the dock and Prime got recharged by dock to 31%.
I guess the Prime will go up to about 40-45% (all while using it), before the dock gets empty.
So far I am pretty impressed by the batterylife. (remember this is the first charge for both Prime and dock)
See also the added section about the usage.
Second Update
I just got the .33 OTA and it installed fine without any problems.
The touchscreen is super responsive now, no more issue at all in this case.
Wifi seems to be faster too, GPS hasn't changed at all (as expected)
Diamondback2010 said:
The "GPS-issue":
Now I had the chance to actually test it myself, so here are the results.
My Prime doesn't lock onto satellites as most others here too.
It barely sees any satellites at all. Where my phone sees 10 sats (all with good reception) the Prime sees from time to time exactly one with near zero reception...
I really think this is software related (or maybe I just want to believe that? ). Read why:
In my opinion we have so many issues with the Primes because ASUS didn't intend to release the Prime with Honeycomb at all.
I think they developed this device only with ICS and once they realized that they can't finish ICS they hurried up to slap HC on it.
Unfortunately the actual testing of the software was more or less forgotten or better suspended due to time constraints.
If I am right we will see a nicely running more or less issue free ICS soon. If this is not the case ASUS really screwed up this time...
Conclusion
All in all I think the Prime is a awesome device which will get perfect once the bugs are gone. I am still happy with my Prime and I'll keep it.
If they fix the GPS and the touchscreen I got a perfect device for my use. Weak Wifi is not really a problem for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting point you raise and something that I was thinking about also, maybe the drivers for the GPS were intended to work only with ICS (I don't know enough to comment on this) and that's really why we're getting such shoddy reception. However the fact that ASUS are now removing all traces of the device having GPS in the specs list does suggest that it may well be hardware related.
I'm expecting a statement pretty soon from them.
Thanks for the short review! Do you have the 64GB Prime?
JoeyLe said:
Thanks for the short review! Do you have the 64GB Prime?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, the 32GB + dock bundle in gray.
Diamondback2010 said:
Nope, the 32GB + dock bundle in gray.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those already out in Germany? You're lucky there! Will be another week or 2 before it will come out in Holland.
Doktaphex said:
However the fact that ASUS are now removing all traces of the device having GPS in the specs list does suggest that it may well be hardware related.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen this mentioned before. Is this true?
I see it still lists GPS here:
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201/#specifications
ModestMuse23 said:
I haven't seen this mentioned before. Is this true?
I see it still lists GPS here:
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201/#specifications
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, here it still is too: http://eee.asus.com/eeepad/transformer-prime/specification/
Gps is still listed in specs on Asus global site.
Diamondback2010 said:
Okay guys, here we go with some impressions of a non american prime.
Today, I got my 32GB gray Prime + the gray dock from the first german batch.
I have to say that I never owned a tablet myself before and I currently use a Desire HD as my development phone.
Hardware:
Good:
Build quality is perfect, period. On my Prime there is absolutely nothing i don't like about it.
It's super thin and not too heavy
Power and volume buttons are nice, but not metal
Keyboard dock build quality is on the same superior level.
The screen is absolutely awesome, super bright, perferct viewing angels and the colors are super good too, no yellow hue for me.
The speaker(s) are hands down the best thing I've ever heard on any mobile device. They are loud, they are clear and they have bass . I tried to completely cover it -->not possible with my hand, it still sounds the same
No comment on batterylife yet, it's my first charge
Camera is really good for a tablet, the pictures look much like iPhone pictures look. Really good when zoomed out and pretty strange when zoomed in.
The screen is very easy to clean, no comparision to my phone.
Bad:
Wifi is pretty weak, I can clearly see that it is way weaker than my DHD (it actually doesn't even see my network where my phone connects without any issue)
I won't say anything concerning the actual speed because I am not used to Wifi devices having a better speed than 10Mbps.... One word though: it's slower than my phone.
It's pretty sad we got only one speaker, you clearly notice the sound comes only from one side
The charging cable somehow feels really cheap. The charger itself is okay
Keys on the dock could need a bit more travel distance
Screen is finger print magnet, but I actually havenÄt compared this to other tablets
Software
Good:
Hmm, yea what to write here...?
HC runs smoother on the Prime than on my girlfriends Xoom...
Asus Supernote is a pretty decent note taking app. If they add palm rejection it's the best note app out there.
Haven't tested much of the other Asus apps so far
Ah, the Asus quicksettingsmenu is cool too, it's fast and just works
Bad:
HC just sucks, it's not well optimized at all. There are bugs random slowdowns and hangs everywhere
My GPS is broken too (more on this later)
Touchscreen sucks (I put this to software because I don't think it's hardware related). The touchscreen isn't always working properly. It's the same "ghost touching" reported earlier. Also it sometimes just doesn't register at all. You need to tap 2 or even more times.
The "GPS-issue":
Now I had the chance to actually test it myself, so here are the results.
My Prime doesn't lock onto satellites as most others here too.
It barely sees any satellites at all. Where my phone sees 10 sats (all with good reception) the Prime sees from time to time exactly one with near zero reception...
I really think this is software related (or maybe I just want to believe that? ). Read why:
In my opinion we have so many issues with the Primes because ASUS didn't intend to release the Prime with Honeycomb at all.
I think they developed this device only with ICS and once they realized that they can't finish ICS they hurried up to slap HC on it.
Unfortunately the actual testing of the software was more or less forgotten or better suspended due to time constraints.
If I am right we will see a nicely running more or less issue free ICS soon. If this is not the case ASUS really screwed up this time...
Conclusion
All in all I think the Prime is a awesome device which will get perfect once the bugs are gone. I am still happy with my Prime and I'll keep it.
If they fix the GPS and the touchscreen I got a perfect device for my use. Weak Wifi is not really a problem for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great first impressions. I also believe this has the best sound out of any mobile device I've heard before. in the themes and apps section there's a thread on an app called Volume+. its a volume booster that uses a speaker mod to accomplish this. let me tell you, IT WORKS GREAT. my prime now is wayyy louder than stock and has more bass to it also. I confirmed this with a decibel meter testing the speaker mod off vs. on. definitely a dramatic increase in sound and quality. has various profiles and even advanced ones so you can use equalizer if you feel up to it. that thread had link to marketplace for it. its a paid app. but he also says, in description, you can get that same app for free from his website. which he lists in app description also. just thought I'd spread the word as the sound now is unbelievable for the most part.
glad to hear you liking your Prime. hopefully it'll serve as a great developement tool for you also.
Thanks for the review. Surprised that the WiFi isn't as strong as the Desire HD I would have thought it would be. Maybe this can be improved, certainly sounds like it would be better with optimized ICS as well.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
ModestMuse23 said:
I haven't seen this mentioned before. Is this true?
I see it still lists GPS here:
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201/#specifications
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JoeyLe said:
Yeah, here it still is too: http://eee.asus.com/eeepad/transformer-prime/specification/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
acidus. said:
Gps is still listed in specs on Asus global site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its true. check out the GPS issues thread n You will see. they began to remove it first from the U.S. Asus site. they probably in process now of trying to remove all traces of it..lol
demandarin said:
great first impressions. I also believe this has the best sound out of any mobile device I've heard before. in the themes and apps section there's a thread on an app called Volume+. its a volume booster that uses a speaker mod to accomplish this. let me tell you, IT WORKS GREAT. my prime now is wayyy louder than stock and has more bass to it also. I confirmed this with a decibel meter testing the speaker mod off vs. on. definitely a dramatic increase in sound and quality. has various profiles and even advanced ones so you can use equalizer if you feel up to it. that thread had link to marketplace for it. its a paid app. but he also says, in description, you can get that same app for free from his website. which he lists in app description also. just thought I'd spread the word as the sound now is unbelievable for the most part.
glad to hear you liking your Prime. hopefully it'll serve as a great developement tool for you also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, nice never tried that app before, but it works perfectly
Thanks for that tip
demandarin said:
its true. check out the GPS issues thread n You will see. they began to remove it first from the U.S. Asus site. they probably in process now of trying to remove all traces of it..lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, no trace of GPS on german site...
First batch in Poland and gps works perfectly.
Wysłane z mojego Transformer Prime TF201 za pomocą Tapatalk
Diamondback2010 said:
Okay guys, here we go with some impressions of a non american prime.
Today, I got my 32GB gray Prime + the gray dock from the first german batch.
I have to say that I never owned a tablet myself before and I currently use a Desire HD as my development phone.
Hardware:
Good:
Build quality is perfect, period. On my Prime there is absolutely nothing i don't like about it.
It's super thin and not too heavy
Power and volume buttons are nice, but not metal
Keyboard dock build quality is on the same superior level.
The screen is absolutely awesome, super bright, perferct viewing angels and the colors are super good too, no yellow hue for me.
The speaker(s) are hands down the best thing I've ever heard on any mobile device. They are loud, they are clear and they have bass . I tried to completely cover it -->not possible with my hand, it still sounds the same
No comment on batterylife yet, it's my first charge
Camera is really good for a tablet, the pictures look much like iPhone pictures look. Really good when zoomed out and pretty strange when zoomed in.
The screen is very easy to clean, no comparision to my phone.
Bad:
Wifi is pretty weak, I can clearly see that it is way weaker than my DHD (it actually doesn't even see my network where my phone connects without any issue)
I won't say anything concerning the actual speed because I am not used to Wifi devices having a better speed than 10Mbps.... One word though: it's slower than my phone.
It's pretty sad we got only one speaker, you clearly notice the sound comes only from one side
The charging cable somehow feels really cheap. It also doesn't have any kind of snapping thing which prevents unwanted removal of the plug. The connector is like a USB-plug, you plug it and you un-plug it without any button or so to press. The charger itself feels okay.
Keys on the dock could need a bit more travel distance
Screen is finger print magnet, but I actually havenÄt compared this to other tablets
Software
Good:
Hmm, yea what to write here...?
HC runs smoother on the Prime than on my girlfriends Xoom...
Asus Supernote is a pretty decent note taking app. If they add palm rejection it's the best note app out there.
Haven't tested much of the other Asus apps so far
Ah, the Asus quicksettingsmenu is cool too, it's fast and just works
Bad:
HC just sucks, it's not well optimized at all. There are bugs random slowdowns and hangs everywhere
My GPS is broken too (more on this later)
Touchscreen sucks (I put this to software because I don't think it's hardware related). The touchscreen isn't always working properly. It's the same "ghost touching" reported earlier. Also it sometimes just doesn't register at all. You need to tap 2 or even more times.
The "GPS-issue":
Now I had the chance to actually test it myself, so here are the results.
My Prime doesn't lock onto satellites as most others here too.
It barely sees any satellites at all. Where my phone sees 10 sats (all with good reception) the Prime sees from time to time exactly one with near zero reception...
I really think this is software related (or maybe I just want to believe that? ). Read why:
In my opinion we have so many issues with the Primes because ASUS didn't intend to release the Prime with Honeycomb at all.
I think they developed this device only with ICS and once they realized that they can't finish ICS they hurried up to slap HC on it.
Unfortunately the actual testing of the software was more or less forgotten or better suspended due to time constraints.
If I am right we will see a nicely running more or less issue free ICS soon. If this is not the case ASUS really screwed up this time...
Conclusion
All in all I think the Prime is a awesome device which will get perfect once the bugs are gone. I am still happy with my Prime and I'll keep it.
If they fix the GPS and the touchscreen I got a perfect device for my use. Weak Wifi is not really a problem for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where in Germany are these available?
The whole thing is just an incredible failure by Asus. They obviously rushed and keep rushing an unfinished product to market in order to beat the new ipad launch in January. Its nothing more than a big FU to the consumer. Return for refund, dont let them get away with this BS.
Sent from my my i9000 running CM or MIUI
jotka2 said:
First batch in Poland and gps works perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lucky you. Got mine yesterday, yes same batch in Poland distributed by Euro RTV AGD, and can confirm that the GPS reception is of very low signal. Long time for first lock, and looses the signal very easily.
Side by side comparison with my TF101 clearly suggests problems with GPS of the TF201.
Diamondback2010 said:
[*]The charging cable somehow feels really cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is. It look like the same cable as the one in TF101. Mine chipped on the corner - on itself, just while I was plugging it.
It also doesn't have any kind of snapping thing which prevents unwanted removal of the plug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually a good thing, so if you trip on the cable, the device will hopefully unplug and not crash.
Magnesus said:
It is. It look like the same cable as the one in TF101. Mine chipped on the corner - on itself, just while I was plugging it.
It's actually a good thing, so if you trip on the cable, the device will hopefully unplug and not crash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never thought about it this way, but you are right
Just kinda unhandy when you are doing things with it while charging (maybe the initial charge is the only time this happens at all )
Diamondback2010 said:
32GB gray Prime + the gray dock from the first german batch.
where in Germany did you get yours??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi there,
i am new to asus transformer prime.
i recive my transformer prime yesterday and i am so extremly happy with it =)
after i read some postings about gps problems i got scared... i was afraid that i have to sent the prime back.
ok i went outside to my car to test the transformer...
after i saw some videos at youtube, where some guys make a video from startup the prime till the satfix i also do that... i recorded it with my sg2...
now i want to share that video with you.
btw. its a german standard delivered prime, no import or something like that and its the honey comb standard stock firmware... no update in germany at the moment.
plz excuse my english gramar
I am impressed, considering you got 11 locks.
Same here. Your grammar is terrific and thanks for posting your results. Unfortunately,my results aren't anywhere near this, but hoping for a solid ASUS fix. Regards.
hi mates,
i'm really sorry for you guys... it is unbelievable that ther are so many differences between the devices. i live rather rural, and thought that i would have a bad signal. but i am glad that my prime works well.
I live in Italy, and it looks like our version would be a little different... But it will be available from 25-30 January, then I'll buy one and update you on the tablet status.
Mine does the same thing, until i start moving. then they start dropping off and wont stay locked.
after new update my gps turns worthless... that suxx thx asus!
I would be in the same suxx boat after the update.
after factory resetting the signal is much better... like at hc...
the prime is after f-r much faster, so if you update and you are possible to f-r than go for it.
single problem, the camera driver hang one time with scrambled picture but after a restart everything is fine...
The weirdest thing is with 10 sats used it was still at 45 feet accuracy.
mikeypopps said:
The weirdest thing is with 10 sats used it was still at 45 feet accuracy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And fluctuating wildly. While good for a Prime, it's still pretty bad. I posted this in another thread but here's a G-Tab under similar conditions.
Impressive video. Thanks. So you said after update it messed it up till you reset. Have you, since then, did a similar test and got similar results? ALSO, how does GPS in prime handle the locks once you in a moving vehicle?
---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:12 PM ----------
BarryH_GEG said:
And fluctuating wildly. While good for a Prime, it's still pretty bad. I posted this in another thread but here's a G-Tab under similar conditions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. hardly any difference. Yours fluctuated between 15, 30, n 40ft accuracy. Mostly between 30 n 40ft. Same number of satellites. Yes the prime did fluctuate more overall but still basically same end result. Both had 11 satellites and 10-11 of them locked. Both devices accuracy fluctuating range was basically the same. Prime has knocked on the 15ft. Accuracy door..lol. overall impressed of the prime compared to your galaxy. Considering so many things going against the prime, it performed quite well.
AND I know the real comes in a moving vehicle. So stationary, the too looked very similar and not enough difference to say one is alot better than the other.
ALSO, what was that crazy sound when you got your first lock? Lol
I have never gotten mine to show even one satellite. I have only tested in my living room with metal blinds closed though since it has been about 5F degrees lately and in my house is the only real world use I have for GPS on my tablet.
Evo_Shift said:
I have never gotten mine to show even one satellite. I have only tested in my living room with metal blinds closed though since it has been about 5F degrees lately and in my house is the only real world use I have for GPS on my tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here..lol we need to take our primes outdoors for a real test. I think once we get our first lock ever, then it will easily indoors as it will have the data from previous or first lock already set. So it won't take as long to get new locks. Maybe this weekend ill finally take the Prime outdoors n see. Its been too cold out to be standing around waiting for a lock..lmao
ya, the accuracy is killing me... it jumps betwen 20 and 110...
*edit*
wow thx Barry for you comparsion... i realy thougt the g-tab would be better than the tfp in gps... nice video thx again
were you outdoors at the test
*edit2*
demandarin said:
Impressive video. Thanks. So you said after update it messed it up till you reset. Have you, since then, did a similar test and got similar results? ALSO, how does GPS in prime handle the locks once you in a moving vehicle?
---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:12 PM ----------
lol. hardly any difference. Yours fluctuated between 15, 30, n 40ft accuracy. Mostly between 30 n 40ft. Same number of satellites. Yes the prime did fluctuate more overall but still basically same end result. Both had 11 satellites and 10-11 of them locked. Both devices accuracy fluctuating range was basically the same. Prime has knocked on the 15ft. Accuracy door..lol. overall impressed of the prime compared to your galaxy. Considering so many things going against the prime, it performed quite well.
AND I know the real comes in a moving vehicle. So stationary, the too looked very similar and not enough difference to say one is alot better than the other.
ALSO, what was that crazy sound when you got your first lock? Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i will do a new video on ics... it feels a bit better now with gps... after factory reset i went to my car and do the same test as in the first video... i have now a bit more solid signal... but some difference in the weather... the first video was on a cristal clear sunny day and today as i tested the gps it was snowing... so the signal today was a bit better although it was snowing...
and the crazy sound was a message =)
*edit3*
you really should test yours outdoors... mine have indoors 10 fixes but with instabler connection...
I would like to test my gps outdoors. Don't feel like standing outside in snow and 20 degree weather.
bjfrank said:
I would like to test my gps outdoors. Don't feel like standing outside in snow and 20 degree weather.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
snow and 20°??? wow awesome... no i mean fantastic... where do you live i will visit you for about two weeks for boarding???
or do you mean -20°??? than i stay here
mikeypopps said:
The weirdest thing is with 10 sats used it was still at 45 feet accuracy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find the same thing. My wifi seems to be okay. At least I can get good speed in the bedroom and living room. Have used it at the hospital with little problems (I was told the hospital's wifi is not that great). GPS, in my house shows 45 feet accuracy where as my HTC Evo 3D shows 10 feet or so.
black-DraGon82 said:
snow and 20°???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
°F, I presume
oh... same as here.. so i stay here ^^
READ THIS POST AND POST 74 AND FURTHER
Have you ever seen such quality in the GPS signals and the fixes? (picture 1)
Ever since I got my TFP in early January I have been trying to find a way to enhance the GPS and the Wifi. I read just about all the threads on these subjects and tried every tweak. Even the crazy ones ;-) But because of the form factor I wasn't going to drill holes and put antennas on the back (respect guys, awesome work)
It started with a poster that got flamed straight away. He put a phone on the top right hand corner and got a better GPS. I felt sorry for him because everyone treated him like a retard. Just for the sake of being able to put the flamers in their spot I gave his idea a chance.
And it worked!!! But it was not practical. I can't walk around with a phone pressed against my TFP. But it was a start. Something started happening.
Next came the screwdriver trick. Even better result. Then I discovered the paperclip trick. Again improvement. But still not good enough and certainly not stable. It was difficult to reproduce. It became clear to me that positioning was very critical.
On the Wifi side people started enhancing their signal by placing foil the right Wifi antenna. Then they started using beer cans. It worked for some. But for others it didn't work. Theory was that somehow the Wifi signal got shielded forcing the other Wifi antenna to kick in. Tried it. Worked sometimes and at other moments didn't work. But there was something. And again it became clear to me that positioning was very critical.
Furthermore I started fooling around with grounding to the back plate. It had a dramatic effect on Wifi and GPS. As soon as something touches the back plate the signals die. I got the impression that the Wifi and GPS antenna were to close to each other and with all the RF signals they were screwing each other.
But all together there were things happening. I started documenting exact positions and sizes of the tweaks I was applying. Wifi was reasonable for me as long as I had a good base signal. GPS had my attention. I could get an external GPS, I could tether from my phone, I could buy a map, I could ask directions.
But NO!!!!
I wanted the GPS inside the Prime to get a reasonable fix.
It has cost me a lot of hours of trying, tweaking, adapting, and documenting.
But......
I FOUND THE 10 CENTS SOLUTION!!!
You only need to buy a 1 mm stainless steel cable.
Instructions (also see diagram):
1. First get yourself a beer. And drink it (this is the best part)
2. Then cut yourself a square 15x25 mm from the can (carefull)
3. Stick it in the right place onto the glass
4. Make sure it is isolated with electical tape on the topside
5. Place steel cable across the isolated square (I don’t know if this matters but I used 9,75 mm length = 0,5 x wavelength of GPS)
6. Fix it in place with electrical tape
And ......
ENJOY A GOOD GPS (better than my HTC Sensation)
Up to now this is the best result I can get.
Probably sizes and locations can be optimized.
However my experience is that the cable has to extend outside the plane of the TFP. Either vertical or horizontal. As long as it is inside the confines and flat on the glass of the TFP the signal dies instantly
And the electrical tape on top can be exchanged for something better looking.
Customize it like a sticker of a mouse with the tail being the steel cable.
Or a droid sticker with antenna ears upwards.
Outside and in the car I get a 4 second lock and after 10 seconds 15 sats and 10 locked. Inside has improved but not really good enough.
I have reset the prime before testing, cleared AGPS and Wifi off.
I hope you guys enjoy and appreciate my solution.
And if someone finds a better or more elegant solution please post.
Have fun
Oh I forgot to mention. The trick also works with the paperclip. Use a small paperclip. When straightened the length is 95 mm. Also works. I turned to the steel cable because I wanted something flexible.
very cool.
I currently have a beer can piece myself on my prime
-not as precise as yours, but it improves my wifi
not a beer, but after this j i shall try!
You guys are awesome....I've been looking for this all day..... a reason to drink beer tonight ^_^ oh and a possible gps solution without opening my TFP
Does yours maintain GPS lock while moving at highways speeds?
wynand32 said:
Does yours maintain GPS lock while moving at highways speeds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll test that. Drink beer and going high speed on the autobahn
wynand32 said:
Does yours maintain GPS lock while moving at highways speeds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YEP
Perfect turn by turn navigation.
On the highway about 10 locks and in urban area a minimum of 6 locks.
And all the time average 14 sats in sight.
I have not tried it yet in an area with very tall buildings.
I think the highest buildings during my tests were 6 floors.
If this can be independently verified (and sounds like it can be), then someone could definitely make a little money with this. Not enough to retire on, but a little spending money.
A question: could this be made into something that could clip onto the Prime and so be easily added/removed? While I wouldn't tape anything to my Prime, I'd clip something on it if I were to want GPS to work (which I don't actually, but being speculative here).
wynand32 said:
If this can be independently verified (and sounds like it can be), then someone could definitely make a little money with this. Not enough to retire on, but a little spending money.
A question: could this be made into something that could clip onto the Prime and so be easily added/removed? While I wouldn't tape anything to my Prime, I'd clip something on it if I were to want GPS to work (which I don't actually, but being speculative here).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes can be done.
I have been trying some solutions myself.
But the positioning turned out to be a critical factor.
Had to work that out first.
Wanted to share those results first.
But some sort of minimized and customisable clip on device would be nice.
Either pimped or just simple
I'm thinking you could use a simple clip like we use at home for potato chip bags. Line the inside of one part of the clip with the require metal, add in the wire, and then you could simply clip it on when you need GPS. Those clips aren't particularly strong, either, so no worries about damaging the Prime.
I might give this a shot myself this week, if I get some time.
The 12 Steps to ruin.... and a Hangover
My attempt (not really but could be fun)
1. Drink one can, cut open and place on screen.
Tape was too old. Can kept falling off.
2. Get another can and drink then place on screen again.
New tape stayed on but can didn't work.
3. Get yet another beer. Had a brainstorm idea to try doing the same for Wifi... got another beer.
Drank beers, needed a pee. Wife threw out the empties.
4. Got another two beers. Rang friend to ask if he had a beeter metal cutter....
5. Got two more beers then forgot what I was doing.
6. Glot two more bbers. Needed another pee.... Came back stood on berr cans. They were hiding on the floor.
7. Grot a new crate of beers in from the sheller hic! Drunk clan cut finger with can opener. Oh Eck...
8. Opened nudder bleer. Got drill out and dilled lotsh of oles on can.
Bol*x.... need a pee.
9. Sloped can wid whisky bottle... Poored whiskey on wire... Sh1t.. where da fcuk did wire come ffrommm???
10. Passt hammmmer to schreen. Bloke grass an spong at glue.
11. Glue noo worrrk. Need beeerr. hic!
12. Shud not put fingerss in live lectric shockket!
Fin............. Dont work.
zzzzZZzzZzzzzZzzzzzz
So I guess the prime as a glorified beer coaster wasnt too far off since it can improve signal strength.
hey guys come on.
I'm trying to start a serious thread and now you are turning it into something hilarious.
Well they always say 'keep on smiling'.
Had a great laugh.
Great story.
Let's see if thereś any beer left.
Cheers guys
Jesus.. you couldn't pay me to do this.
BTW, I got better than you without this nasty hack. I have screenshots of 18ft right in my backyard. No tin foil, no duct tape, not guitar/bike wire.
But none of it matters... AS YOU CANT DRIVE AND GET IT TO WORK
Lock-N-Load said:
Jesus.. you couldn't pay me to do this.
BTW, I got better than you without this nasty hack. I have screenshots of 18ft right in my backyard. No tin foil, no duct tape, not guitar/bike wire.
But none of it matters... AS YOU CANT DRIVE AND GET IT TO WORK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VVVVVVVV
dingdonggggg said:
YEP
Perfect turn by turn navigation.
On the highway about 10 locks and in urban area a minimum of 6 locks.
And all the time average 14 sats in sight.
I have not tried it yet in an area with very tall buildings.
I think the highest buildings during my tests were 6 floors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually just got 18 ft in my brother's front yard Same place I kept getting nada for a couple weeks. No mods, but not stable either. Soon I'll have external antenna and be done with it
*EDIT: Obviously with data on, but I was getting 1 bird in and out of view with the same setup pre-.15. That is not to say .15 in any way helped this.
**EDIT:
PM'd you
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Buxtahuda,
So what antenna will you be using?
dingdonggggg said:
Have you ever seen such quality in the GPS signals and the fixes? (picture 1)
Ever since I got my TFP in early January I have been trying to find a way to enhance the GPS and the Wifi. I read just about all the threads on these subjects and tried every tweak. Even the crazy ones ;-) But because of the form factor I wasn't going to drill holes and put antennas on the back (respect guys, awesome work)
It started with a poster that got flamed straight away. He put a phone on the top right hand corner and got a better GPS. I felt sorry for him because everyone treated him like a retard. Just for the sake of being able to put the flamers in their spot I gave his idea a chance.
And it worked!!! But it was not practical. I can't walk around with a phone pressed against my TFP. But it was a start. Something started happening.
Next came the screwdriver trick. Even better result. Then I discovered the paperclip trick. Again improvement. But still not good enough and certainly not stable. It was difficult to reproduce. It became clear to me that positioning was very critical.
On the Wifi side people started enhancing their signal by placing foil the right Wifi antenna. Then they started using beer cans. It worked for some. But for others it didn't work. Theory was that somehow the Wifi signal got shielded forcing the other Wifi antenna to kick in. Tried it. Worked sometimes and at other moments didn't work. But there was something. And again it became clear to me that positioning was very critical.
Furthermore I started fooling around with grounding to the back plate. It had a dramatic effect on Wifi and GPS. As soon as something touches the back plate the signals die. I got the impression that the Wifi and GPS antenna were to close to each other and with all the RF signals they were screwing each other.
But all together there were things happening. I started documenting exact positions and sizes of the tweaks I was applying. Wifi was reasonable for me as long as I had a good base signal. GPS had my attention. I could get an external GPS, I could tether from my phone, I could buy a map, I could ask directions.
But NO!!!!
I wanted the GPS inside the Prime to get a reasonable fix.
It has cost me a lot of hours of trying, tweaking, adapting, and documenting.
But......
I FOUND THE 10 CENTS SOLUTION!!!
You only need to buy a 1 mm stainless steel cable.
Instructions (also see diagram):
1. First get yourself a beer. And drink it (this is the best part)
2. Then cut yourself a square 15x25 mm from the can (carefull)
3. Stick it in the right place onto the glass
4. Make sure it is isolated with electical tape on the topside
5. Place steel cable across the isolated square (I don’t know if this matters but I used 9,75 mm length = 0,5 x wavelength of GPS)
6. Fix it in place with electrical tape
And ......
ENJOY A GOOD GPS (better than my HTC Sensation)
Up to now this is the best result I can get.
Probably sizes and locations can be optimized.
However my experience is that the cable has to extend outside the plane of the TFP. Either vertical or horizontal. As long as it is inside the confines and flat on the glass of the TFP the signal dies instantly
And the electrical tape on top can be exchanged for something better looking.
Customize it like a sticker of a mouse with the tail being the steel cable.
Or a droid sticker with antenna ears upwards.
Outside and in the car I get a 4 second lock and after 10 seconds 15 sats and 10 locked. Inside has improved but not really good enough.
I have reset the prime before testing, cleared AGPS and Wifi off.
I hope you guys enjoy and appreciate my solution.
And if someone finds a better or more elegant solution please post.
Have fun
Oh I forgot to mention. The trick also works with the paperclip. Use a small paperclip. When straightened the length is 95 mm. Also works. I turned to the steel cable because I wanted something flexible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like it close to the location for the Easy Wifi Improvement Mod only with the added wire.
PolishPoet said:
Looks like it close to the location for the Easy Wifi Improvement Mod only with the added wire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's the point.
Kill the primary WiFi (if that's what it does... and I think it does) with the aluminum, then use the wire as a conductor for the GPS signal, just kind of funneling it to the right area for the internal antenna to get a concentrated blast. Per RF theory I've seen around here, the signal then doesn't need a hard line to the antenna, it'll travel that little gap from covered wire to antenna easily.
hey! That crazy asian with the phone on the corner was me! I've been meaning to post my further investigation on this and this is what I did.
1. Bought a Moco case on Amazon for like $12.
2. Put Prime in case.
3. Cut a 5 inch speaker wire. The tiny ones, not monster cable but them average size wire about 22 gauge (?).
4. Place the wire under the case but above the Prime in same location as yours. It stuck out so I bent the end and tucked it into the headphone opening.
5. Went for a drive. I drive a bronco and with the case set up to stand the Prime up, I was able to watch GPS test as I drove. Kept very steady GPS lock with no less than 4 at a time. Tried Google maps with Bluetooth data tethering to my phone to draw map and now I have a 10.1 in screen gps !
I think getting a case (any case) is a good investment for your Prime. It can also very casually and discreetly hide any of these " additions" to your Prime to enhance certain features like those with the foil wifi "mod".
So I didn't get to drink any beer but I sure will not drink scotch out a can!
OMG beard, too funny ...lmao....
I have noticed recently (perhaps related to the .21 update?) that Google sky was not tracking well with my movements... so I tried 2 compass applications to validate the e-compass performance.
The compass behavior is really squirrely and seems to have very little correlation to which direction the tablet is pointed.
It seems that the compass must have worked better in the past as Google Sky used to work great.
Can anyone else report if their compass is working properly? What app did you use to verify it? What orientation did you hold your TFP to get a good result?
Mine has never worked correctly, and I've been trying off and on since I first got it in December, before any official ICS update was even released. I always assumed it was related to the poor GPS performance.
nategodin said:
Mine has never worked correctly, and I've been trying off and on since I first got it in December, before any official ICS update was even released. I always assumed it was related to the poor GPS performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly the same for me. And I have the (same) prime ever since December as well.
MNDaveC said:
I have noticed recently (perhaps related to the .21 update?) that Google sky was not tracking well with my movements...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No change (for better or worse) with .21 or ... ever
MNDaveC said:
It seems that the compass must have worked better in the past as Google Sky used to work great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It never worked reliably. I'm sorry but I am skeptical about your statement "worked great". Search this forum for my posts mentioning the e-compass as almost unusable.
I once had fun watching the compass readings constantly revolve, making full 360 deg sweeps in just a little over a minute (sic!). A recalibration brought back the unreliable, miserable readings.
Yes this is a problem. But can be fixed by a simple step. Just move, rotate your tab in all directions (up down, left right and on its own AXIS)
This should fix the compass. In my case, thus would fix it but would revert back
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
I also confirm twitchy e-compass... no new news here though, it is all related to our known problems.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Make sure you do not have mock locations enabled in the developer settings....This throws off the compass
google skymap sucks for me too. I'll double check to see if mock locations is on, I don't think it is, I've fiddled with all the skymap settings with no results.
I have to calibrate my compass using GPS Status every time I want to use it. After that, it seems to work fine.
There seems to be a problem with keeping calibration settings for the compass after each reboot...
These e-compasses do not use the magnetic field to give direction. They totally rely on GPS. GPS accuracy requires movement. The compass gets 2 (or more) readings, and then caculates the location and direction from them.
Even a good GPS device like Garmin, will have difficulty. If you are stationary, the gps reading will vary. The best accuracy for consumers is about 10 ft. If you had a test app, and were stationary....you would see that the individual gps readings are grouped in about a 10 ft radius from your position, with a few being outside that.
robertg9 said:
These e-compasses do not use the magnetic field to give direction. They totally rely on GPS. GPS accuracy requires movement. The compass gets 2 (or more) readings, and then caculates the location and direction from them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please stop diffusing inaccurate information.
Prime is equipped with a physical magnetometer. PERIOD.
You can try to recalibrate the compass by moving the device in a large figure of eight in a horizontal plane, outside and away from any ferrous metal.
Also, beware of any magnetic devices, fastenings or closures in protective cases you might buy. Don't park your Prime on a convenient HiFi loudspeaker top!
FG
ForeignGadger said:
You can try to recalibrate the compass by moving the device in a large figure of eight in a horizontal plane, outside and away from any ferrous metal.
Also, beware of any magnetic devices, fastenings or closures in protective cases you might buy. Don't park your Prime on a convenient HiFi loudspeaker top!
FG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Prime's keyboard itself has a magnet in it, and I'd imagine the Prime does as well to register that field so that the screen shuts off when you close it.
But yes! Keep your Primes off of awesome speakers lol, as well as all your other precious electronics
I haven't actually played with the compass all that much as I've fretted over WiFi/BT and GPS. I know that my accelerometer consistently feels off: until I actually run tests on it. I think many of our issues (outside of the aluminum body and bad choice in wireless module) really are drivers and apps' implementations of h/w as opposed to the h/w itself.
robertg9 said:
These e-compasses do not use the magnetic field to give direction. They totally rely on GPS. GPS accuracy requires movement. The compass gets 2 (or more) readings, and then caculates the location and direction from them.
Even a good GPS device like Garmin, will have difficulty. If you are stationary, the gps reading will vary. The best accuracy for consumers is about 10 ft. If you had a test app, and were stationary....you would see that the individual gps readings are grouped in about a 10 ft radius from your position, with a few being outside that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not know why the hell you would post this. The meter does detect magnetic fields. Why do you think they call it an ecompass. Put a magnet close to it and open a compass app. Even your GPS explanation is horrible and incorrect.
sorry I just hate when people give out stupid info
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium
ForeignGadger said:
You can try to recalibrate the compass by moving the device in a large figure of eight in a horizontal plane, outside and away from any ferrous metal.
Also, beware of any magnetic devices, fastenings or closures in protective cases you might buy. Don't park your Prime on a convenient HiFi loudspeaker top!
FG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I have read this and tried on an android phone with no success. Just to clear things up, do I keep the prime oriented the same way through the figure eights or point it through, kinda like a kid playing with a toy car driving in a figure eight. Also do I keep the prime horizontal as well? sorry to sound like a dolt, but I can see many ways to do a figure eight with the prime. Your Horizontal plane was a help.
As far as I know, just keep the device pointing the same way and horizontal.
If your compass does not respond to this, I suggest it might be stuffed.
FG
It would make sense that they would update the faulty hardware when they found the problem. I'd still like a TP 201 but GPS is a necessity for aviation navigation. If the problem was fixed in later batches, I would buy one.
Well, if GPS is a necessity... don't go for the TP... it's a fantastic device, but not intended to be used as a GPS device... it's a design fault more than a hardware fault... perhaps if the TP Infinity has GPS it would be better...
prime will work fine for navigating now that asus is giving away free external gps dongles..read my gps dongle test thread for more details
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1602789
Is the dongle only for people who bought a TP before the GPS was removed from the specifications?
Would a person who bought a TP today get a dongle?
skypony said:
Is the dongle only for people who bought a TP before the GPS was removed from the specifications?
Would a person who bought a TP today get a dongle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes..dependent on where you live though. most places can get them
I bought a Prime 1.5 weeks ago. After rooting and apply the aGPS fix, my GPS works great. I haven't waited longer than 10 seconds for a lock. Maybe they did improve it.....
I would not trust a non dedicated GPS system for aviation. That is just asking for trouble.
I have a later TFP (C1 series) and my GPS is functional but not great.
The Asus TFP aluminum case (product design - good for appearance and sturdiness) imepeeds GPS and Wi-Fi in some cases.
I ordered the GPS dongle and anticipate this will bring GPS reception up to the level of my smartphone.
jlabrat said:
I have a later TFP (C1 series) and my GPS is functional but not great.
The Asus TFP aluminum case (product design - good for appearance and sturdiness) imepeeds GPS and Wi-Fi in some cases.
I ordered the GPS dongle and anticipate this will bring GPS reception up to the level of my smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
recent testings, including mines and other members, show prime gps dongle performing better than smartphone gps
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Mr Zulu said:
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please post back after you receive the dongle and test it on your flights. i bet you will be surprised as to how well and accurate the dongle performs.
Mr Zulu said:
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the free GPS Extension Kit; this is what Asus calls in the packaging it does help the GPS. What the Kit does is it disables the built in GPS and uses the dongle GPS. Works good, I tested to see indoors. I have the C3OK serial TP and the GPS kind of works outside, but with the dongle, it finds your location within 30 seconds after the first time. I prefer not to have the dongle, but at least I can use it if I ever wanted to really use the GPS. I have my TP rooted, so I might try the GPS hack that has been really working. Here is a quick view of the dongle.
demandarin said:
please post back after you receive the dongle and test it on your flights. i bet you will be surprised as to how well and accurate the dongle performs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It came in today and while I haven't flight tested it yet I think I have to say color me not impressed.
When I first got the tablet with Honeycomb still on it, I could get and lock onto GPS with it sitting on my dining room table near a window with an accuracy of 90 something feet. Outside was a little better... maybe 40 feet or so but I have no doubt that if I was diving (or flying) that the lock would be lost but I never tested it.
When the tablet updated to ICS, I lost ALL GPS function. Never could see a satellite inside or outside even when left for hours under an open sky.
Well, with the dongle, my GPS now see satellites again... but not as good as I had with the native GPS and Honecome operating system. Sitting here on the same dinning room table near the same window, I mostly do not have lock. Occasionally it will grab a lock but the best I've seen is accruacy o 143'. The last lock I had was to 757'. Currently as I type, no lock. Outside after setting for a long time, I got a lock to 70 or so feet. As I walked around the yard, accuracy fluctuated between that 70' and 125' but was mostly between 90' and 125'.
I'll have a chance to test it in a small aluminum cockpit going 200mph tomorrow and see how it does... not expecting much.
---------- Post added at 03:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 AM ----------
Woops, sorry. Nevermind. It didn't occur to me that it might perform better after restarting the prime (since it's hardware and the software has been restarted several times since the last update).
In any case, it's actually impressive now. Inside it's a solid 40 or so on the accuracy. Outside walking around the back yard, it holds a solid 12' or so. Best I've seen.
I'm feeling better about it's chances tomorrow. We'll see.
Finally got a chance to post back here. It worked flawlessly in the airplane. 17' to 20' accuracy when the Prime was sitting on the seat next to me. Would go to less than 10' accuracy when I held the Prime in front of me where it would normally be when I'm working on it and that's going at about 200mph. Nice feature added to the charting software.
I still regard it as just a 'nice feature' though. It really is easy enough to just swipe the chart to your location without GPS. Most airplanes have GPS in the panel now (mine has three) so you already know your location and most GPS units built in the last 12 years or so contain most of the information you'd need on a typical flight in the database so we don't even have to look at these charts during the actual flight that often anymore... and some of the more recent ones have the charts actually loaded into them (mine does not and is what I use the Prime for). When we douse a chart in flight, it's not to see where we are (since we already know that), it's to look up some detailed information that's not in our GPS databases, or perhaps the most common reason... to look up the spelling of an assigned intersection (spellings are typically very odd) so that we can access that intersection in the panel GPS.
Now, there are SOME older planes where the owners may not of updated their panels to have a GPS in them. For those, I'd want to buy a tablet with a good working GPS. In that case, a GPS would be a HUGE benefit.