New Prime Owner Checklist - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

Hi,
I am expecting delivery of my Prime from Amazon next week. I have been closely monitoring many problem threads on this forum, and I am starting to loose track. I was hoping for some help. I want to have a checklist of things to test so that I can make a reasonable decision on whether to keep, return for a full refund, or swap out for a replacement. I think Amazon gives me 30 days. So here is what I have so far.
OTA bricks systems?
Bleeding on the screen (I don't even know what this means... can anyone clarify?)
Dead/bad pixels on the screen
wifi performance
wifi+BT performance
GPS (despite Asus basically throwing in the towel on this)
HDMI audio (of 5.1 audio only?) output all going to one channel
Switching performance modes results in low image quality
TouchScreen response in the corners when charging
Any others?

saheemg said:
Hi,
I am expecting delivery of my Prime from Amazon next week. I have been closely monitoring many problem threads on this forum, and I am starting to loose track. I was hoping for some help. I want to have a checklist of things to test so that I can make a reasonable decision on whether to keep, return for a full refund, or swap out for a replacement. I think Amazon gives me 30 days. So here is what I have so far.
OTA bricks systems?
Bleeding on the screen (I don't even know what this means... can anyone clarify?)
Dead/bad pixels on the screen
wifi performance
wifi+BT performance
GPS (despite Asus basically throwing in the towel on this)
HDMI audio (of 5.1 audio only?) output all going to one channel
Switching performance modes results in low image quality
Any others?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Add: TouchScreen response in the corners when charging
Item 2: Put a black background on the screen and look at the sides for white light.

Related

Need recommendation for GT-P7510 display issue

This GT-P7510 with me began to show some reddish display problem. Below is the 10-second video. The 1 minute video I have a problem uploading as of now, but working on it.
Code:
http://youtu.be/SG3A13qesWY
Once the redness takes over the screen (0:05 onwards), the tab will have reddish gradients especially visible when viewing videos, full screen colored pictures, or operating the camera, something like in 256 colors mode or less with red gradients. Its not seen on this short video, but can be seen on the next video still in the works of uploading.
Aside from that, the tab works perfectly normal. When in low brightness and used for everything else aside video, the issue is not much noticeable can it can be used just as any other normal fully working units.
Now my problem is I don't have warranty as unit came from abroad and after bringing the unit to local Samsung, I somehow feel that they don't want to spend time to think about the issue thru the way they talk with me. Looks like they have to improve their staff for customer service attitude but that's not the point of this post. Anyway, the proposal to me after having the unit with them for more than a week for assessment was to "replace the screen and camera". I did not have it repaired for the moment so I can think about it carefully and ask for recommendations.
I mean, hello. All works well aside from that reddish tint. I completely understand that all Galaxy Tab 10.1 are less than a year old and all warrantied so doing replacement will probably fix the problem and with least use of brains. I guess that's the protocol for all 10.1 units with any hardware issue as Samsung will cover the warranty.
However, didn't they think maybe something just need replace on the board, like perhaps just the CPU/GPU chip or somewhere similar? The screen is the most expensive part of the device and if that's the one need replacement then it already goes to the level of thinking of the thing is already in the borders of "beyond economical repair".
Also, where did the idea the camera needs replacement as well? I will do a testing of a video call and see if the other party will see me reddish and will update this post.
I've thought of several options:
1. Auction it off whilst being honest with the issue of course, letting the market dictate the price by starting a low bid.
2. Just use it (or have a toddler/kid play use it), live with the issue for the moment. I play with it also in terms of testing custom ROMs and curious of the upcoming ICS onto it. I can prefer not to use it as I have a competitor tablet as well.
3. Wait it out for this tab10.1 to go mainstream to the masses and mature, when many owns it more chances of parts coming along and 3rd party repair technicians that can do isolation and swap out parts with a worse unit (ie. broken screen).
4. Wait it out, then go back to Samsung which probably by then knows already how to use brains to isolate the issue and provide a knowledgeable recommendation as probably that time they handle out of warranty units. Also, hopefully by then whatever replacement part cost should have gone down.
As like all my other stuff, the thing is mint, screen protector on & back protected by TPU (whilst the back plastics are still there intact) even before it was used, boxes and all accessories are as new, the power adaptor still has its plastic skin on. That's why I am kind of "attached" to the unit, this is something that has no physical sign of use at all.
Any futher recommendations or other inputs on how to move forward with this?
Samsung concern
Hi,
Good day. I would like to ask your conctact information (email address and contcat number) in order to settle your concern. Kindly send to my personal email at [email protected].
Thank you,
Cris

WiFi sort of DOA - until I thumped it. Keep it?

Picked up a grey 32GB at Best Buy yesterday. Got home, charged and then connected to my wireless: Netgear WNDR4500. It connected but said I was at -1mbps. Minus? Reset the router, restarted the tablet/computer/dsl gate/etc. Still -1mbps.
I remembered where the antenna was from Anand's teardown so I moderately thumped it with a flick of my finger (like playing paper football with the triangles). As soon as I did BAM! 65mbps! Seriously? Should I keep this thing or take it back?
Savedsol said:
Picked up a grey 32GB at Best Buy yesterday. Got home, charged and then connected to my wireless: Netgear WNDR4500. It connected but said I was at -1mbps. Minus? Reset the router, restarted the tablet/computer/dsl gate/etc. Still -1mbps.
I remembered where the antenna was from Anand's teardown so I moderately thumped it with a flick of my finger (like playing paper football with the triangles). As soon as I did BAM! 65mbps! Seriously? Should I keep this thing or take it back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
might as well keep it...it'll be under warranty if it goes again....and you never know if there's more stock available.
It shouldn't revert again most likely since if the pogo pin antenna thing was stuck in the down position it is now in the up position with no way of being pushed down again.
I concur
Modded by MBOK
I would carefully evaluate the unit to make sure EVERYTHING else works to your satisfaction: audio, haptic feedback, screen quality (not too yellow, good colors, solid text), GPS (to whatever extent it matters to you), microphone, touchscreen, etc.
If everything checks out, then consider keeping it. I'm faced with the same sort of decision myself. I have three sitting in my house that I'm trying to decide between (or return all of them and get a different one entirely, or even just give up):
1. Great screen (excellent temp, great colors, very solid text) except for one stuck pixel, decent haptic feedback, but a vibration from the speakers at full volume, non-functional GPS, weaker wifi.
2. Good screen (a little warmer than #1, colors are good but not as much detail, text decent but not as sharp) but a little light bleed, great GPS (locks quickly to many satellites indoors, as many as 12/14 outdoors), stronger wifi, but broken haptic feedback and stains on the backplate that I can't remove.
3. Horrible screen (whites are a dingy yellow, color is washed out, text is pixellated), non-functional haptic feedback, good audio, good GPS and wifi.
All three are BCs and 0214 hardware builds. #3 is clearly going back, but with #1 and #2 I have to choose between the best screen I've seen on a Prime and the rest that's wrong with it. Not an easy choice--I can see details in images on its screen that I can't see on #2.
My point? As Forrest Gump would say, you never know what you're gonna get. If you return the one you have, you run the risk of getting one with more of a problem.
Barff1984 said:
might as well keep it...it'll be under warranty if it goes again....and you never know if there's more stock available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Peoples warranty experiences with asus have been less than satisfactory, not to mention they make you pay freight.
wynand32 said:
I have three sitting in my house that I'm trying to decide between (or return all of them and get a different one entirely, or even just give up):
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Admittedly off topic but did you buy these all from 1 place? We are clearly in different leagues as I would not have the balls to return three of these to the same vendor not to mention explaining the $1500 in charges to the credit card to compare screen colors to my wife.
Could be the pogo pins... if the SN starts with BC0CK it has bad hardware probably
Last night all was well. It is a BC but I've not heard/read any bad BC stories unlike some bad C stories.

[Q] Force Color Temperature?

Hey guys. I am a new owner of a Transformer Prime, and I must say my device has been an excellent performer all throughout. However, I have noticed that its display has a slight yellow-ish tinge, in which I compared it to a store demo Prime that had a much better white balance.
I don't want to go through the hassle of getting another Prime, for reasons of avoiding a dud with even more out-of-the-box problems. What I am thinking is if we could force the color temperature to a cooler one, it should offset the slight yellow hue present in some Primes.
Tried Chainfire3D and CF-Lumen, but to no avail; I've seen no changes to the screen when forcing any setting, so I guess the drivers aren't TFP-compatible as of yet. Also thinking about Supercurio's Voodoo screen tweaking app, but again he has yet to support the Prime. Is it possible anyhow to do this, at least? We could ask the devs to sort this issue out.
Are you sure thats a good ieda?
While I understand your fear of getting potentially worse issues (Asus has yet to get QA/QC under control after the rush to try and fill the supply line) I am sure I would not want to count on asoftware tweak to force temperature to something cooler to overcome what may BE a hardware defect. I have heard of these yellow tinged displays and I would return one for tha so fast it's little Spun Metal Head would spin some more.
Besides, aren't you not within your return period? It's not like you have to do an RMA. Go to the store, make them open one right there and test. If it's same or worse, open another, e;lse walk and take your chances with software/driver changes.
So basically, I shouldn't rely on a software fix but instead take my chances at replacing the device. Fair enough, I can make a case because the demo Prime on the same Best Buy store I bought this one did have a better white balance when I compared both side-by-side.

Thread for problems/failures (not including GPS or WiFi)

I know we're sick to death of the GPS and WiFi issues and I think we're all in agreement that we're stuck with what we have, like it or not. However, I'm seeing a lot of other problems that are getting onesie posts and it seems to me that a general 'problems' thread would move it all into one place - so the 'I don't want to see any negative discussions of the toy I spent $500 on' crowd will only have one thread to avoid in the future.
So allow me to start. Last week I got my GPS dongle and when I attached it, it worked quite well...
However, a few days later, I found that the backside 8MP camera had failed entirely. When I launch the camera app, it hangs for a few minutes, then comes up with a 'preview' image that's the desktop kind of chopped up and shuffled, but in shades of brilliant green.
If I switch to the front (1.3MP) camera, it works correctly.
I've factory reset it. No change.
I've hard factory reset it. Also no change.
I grabbed the last firmware and reflashed that. Still no change.
So I called Asus and they've RMAed it, so it goes back today.
I have no evidence that there's a relationship between the GPS dongle and the camera failure - so, I won't make one other than to note that that was the only thing I've stuck into my Prime in the last week. Could just be a coincidence.
Very frustrating nonetheless. It's like most all the tech I bought around Christmas is failing and going away for a month or more to repair.
Sorry to hear your toys aren't being so fun
The camera thing is a little unsettling. I don't use my tab to take a lot of pics, but I sure would be peeved if it went out. I take it your bootloader is still locked? Were you rooted? Can you get it to work again by putting pressure on the backplate around the camera?
see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1444084 for a similar thread
Tried that already... mod closed it. It is really time to sticky the thread mentioned above!!-- that is if the op would update it.
thenrz said:
Sorry to hear your toys aren't being so fun
The camera thing is a little unsettling. I don't use my tab to take a lot of pics, but I sure would be peeved if it went out. I take it your bootloader is still locked? Were you rooted? Can you get it to work again by putting pressure on the backplate around the camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use mine to video meetings and presentations... it runs for almost an hour per chunk and the battery can record about 8 hours with the dock.
I've not unlocked mine, so it's pure Asus ROM.
I tried pressure to see if I could get the GPS to work (didn't), and now that you've mentioned it - I hope that's not what buggered the camera.. but alas, no - I didn't try that as a fix for the camera.
It's off to Asus RMA limbo now... so I can't check it.
drherron said:
see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1444084 for a similar thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did read that thread - but it was more for known issues... I was hoping to focus on other less common 'real world' failures and problems... like the camera failing, or someone trying to hang a device on the USB.
Believe me, given how short tempered and touchy some of the people here are to anything even remotely negative, I sat and thought hard about even considering posting this... but the camera failing right after attaching the GPS dongle struck me as kind of important...
Diamondback has not closed this thread and actually referenced it when closing another thread like it. If this is where we can keep a list of known issues, THEN GREAT! Can I get you to add some issues to the list?
Potential issues:
- Sod (sleep of death)- device will not wake up when power button is pressed. (reported more of an issue on firmware prior to .21 but still seen intermittently)
- Browser wait or force close- Web browser seems to offer you the option to wait or force close frequently, wait usually allows the page to load.
- Heavy 3D games crash- Issue seems worse after .21 update, frequent force close and outright crash when playing T3 optimized games, sometimes reboot.
- Camera freeze- when completing a video recording the camera can freeze and ask to FC or just stop responding to any input.
- Input freeze while download/install- issue occurs when installing or downloading in the background where you are unable to press any buttons including the home or back.
- Screen Mura- Many users report dark/light patches in their LCD, this seems to be common and some users are just now noticing the issue.
- Cracked Screen- This is an interesting one, many claiming that the dock is causing it and some have even resorted to creating their own bumpers to prevent the prime's screen from touching the dock. Some have had it crack just by picking up the tablet itself. Some claim it is the pressure of holding it by a corner and cleaning the screen while holding.
- Digitizer inaccuracy- This is the complaint "I can't draw a diagonal line without it going all wavy on me!" It is an actual issue and although there are users reporting settings that allow it to work properly, the default configuration will leave anyone who just opens it up and tries to draw an "X" scratching their heads.
- Device fit/finish issues- Some users report bezel separation and some report that light pressure near the camera increases wifi signal.
- Sound issues- User reports of audio dropping out all together until reboot is performed.
Having 6 primes go through my hands since January from B-C3 serial numbers, I have seen the majority of these issues first hand and can confirm that some devices seem to have more of these than others, but still have yet to find one that suffers from none of these issues.
Having serious issues since .21 with game reboots. Seems I can't play any of the games with heavy graphics to work properly. It's driving me crazy. Do we have any fixes? I'd like to be able to play the games I've spent money on for longer than 10 minutes without the entire game crashing.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDAto
KDLMaj said:
Having serious issues since .21 with game reboots. Seems I can't play any of the games with heavy graphics to work properly. It's driving me crazy. Do we have any fixes? I'd like to be able to play the games I've spent money on for longer than 10 minutes without the entire game crashing.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDAto
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get this issue frequently also, it seems to me that they work better after a fresh reboot. I sometimes launch a game and it will work for about 10 min like you said, then freeze or graphics corruption. I reboot the prime and then it seems to play fine for as long as I want to, but if I start launching other apps before playing the game, it does the same 10 min, then needs reboot. Demandarin said that there was an update coming soon that will address the issue but that was almost a month ago. Have not seen any updates from Gary from asus either?!?!?!?
I would also like to be able to play my games with no issues. WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS END?!?!
KDLMaj said:
Having serious issues since .21 with game reboots. Seems I can't play any of the games with heavy graphics to work properly. It's driving me crazy. Do we have any fixes? I'd like to be able to play the games I've spent money on for longer than 10 minutes without the entire game crashing.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDAto
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was a fix for me and many others...
[MOD][Custom Build Prop] Increase Overall Performance & Battery Life of PRIME
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1647357
You will have to be rooted since you will be altering/adding to build.prop. I did read somewhere in the OP about being able to do it even if you are not rooted.
Since I did this mod my Prime is even more responsive and fast. All the games I've had issues with are no longer issues. Or just wait for the update. I here that the fix will be in the coming update as well
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
jordanmw said:
I get this issue frequently also, it seems to me that they work better after a fresh reboot. I sometimes launch a game and it will work for about 10 min like you said, then freeze or graphics corruption. I reboot the prime and then it seems to play fine for as long as I want to, but if I start launching other apps before playing the game, it does the same 10 min, then needs reboot. Demandarin said that there was an update coming soon that will address the issue but that was almost a month ago. Have not seen any updates from Gary from asus either?!?!?!?
I would also like to be able to play my games with no issues. WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS END?!?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Calm down lol. I know everyone is so accustomed to having there updates every week we are somewhat spoiled in a sense. I would rather they take there time then put out a solid update and make sure it actually fixes and have a positive experience from it.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
I would like a stable update also, just want my prime to work properly, or at least get us nv flash so I feel good enough about unlocking to flash someone's stable custom rom.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA
Diamondback told me to post here:
After 5 months of ownership, I regret having dropped so much...
...money on a tablet that Asus clearly didn't give a crap about. For $600, you can get a fast processor, thin and light tablet, bright screen AND:
- an ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE touchscreen digitizer (seriously, my kid's Toshiba Thrive 10" (which came out a year or so before) has a gorgeous digitizer, and the TF201 has a piece of junk bottom of the barrel. Touch-Screen Tune Up can't even help it. You cannot make a straight line for your life. you can't make a nice continuous curve at all, it's pathetically low resolution. At first I was frustrated because after I noticed things were crummy, I went to BestBuy to try it on the TF101, Thrive, and Xoom, and the TF101 still had issues, Xoom was ok, and the Thrive was the best. For a product that cost half as much as the TF201, it has an infinitely better digitizer)
- an exposed MicroSD card while in its slot, so it's nice and easy to accidentally bump it and pop it out.
- Nearly Zero accessory availability (they are always out of stock on chargers, cables, whatever)
- An all metal case that does indeed kill radio signals (who was the genius that came up with that one)
Ok, so the main issue is the terrible digitizer. Even when i'm scrolling up and down on a webpage, i see the screen jump every centimeter or so as my finger reaches a new digitizer point. It is a joke. The most important piece of hardware on a TOUCH device is the TOUCHSCREEN and it is easily the worst touchscreen on any touch device i've seen and it happens to be on the most expensive touch device i've ever seen. That's what really ticks me off. If I paid 100 bucks for it I wouldn't care so much since I would expect cheap parts, but for $600 I do not expect cheap parts.
And within a couple months of it's release they already announced the replacement 700 tablet, with the main changes being a higher res screen and a plastic port for radios to communicate. Nice going Asus. Your other products might be solid. You blew it on the TF201. I'd like to see how the 200$ Nexus 7 is with respect to the digitizer. for 1/3 of the price of the TF201, did asus use a crappy digitizer with it too??
My kid's first gen tablet has a top of the line digitizer and the one that cost over half a grand has one that looks like it came off a palm pilot.
/end rant/
ugh... i hate getting ripped of, and i hate incompetence.
Yea there are positive things about the tablet, there is a whole thread about that. But this really upsets me. When you buy flagship and literally state-of-the-art stuff, that's what you expect. Maybe I shouldn't have bought my son's $250 dollar tablet, then i wouldn't have known how badly Asus ripped of their customers on their $600 tablet.
jordanmw said:
I would like a stable update also, just want my prime to work properly, or at least get us nv flash so I feel good enough about unlocking to flash someone's stable custom rom.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So much for that hope!!.. still no freakin fix with .28!
and I agree, the digitizer is garbage! My wife refuses to take notes on it because of the "diagonal line issue" where you can not get a diagonal line that is actually straight, no matter how hard you try!

[Q] Two with screen bleed; RMA again¿

My first nexus 9 had terrible light bleed in locations where everybody else is having issues: along the top bar, bottom left corner, and some along the left side. It was horrible to the point that I returned it to amazon within two days and got a new one. This new one has light bleed in the same locations but about 40% less. It is still noticeable in a brightly lit room when I am using an app that does not have a black bar at the top (e.g. google play store).
So, should I RMA for a second time? Does their exist any nexus 9's without backlight bleed? I'm not sure if it's worth it to keep playing RMA roulette so I was hoping for some input.
Other options are to look at some of the other tablets, in particular the Nvidia Shield and perhaps the new nokia tablet that was announced. Or maybe even go back to the dark side and get the new iPad air, although I really prefer the front facing speakers on the nexus 9/shield.
I am a medical student so my use is primarily productivity but includes: 1. Studying (highlighting pdfs, etc), 2. Accessing patient data through PowerChart, and 3. Multimedia stuff (twitch streams, youtube, netflix, etc.). It's therefore useful for me to have a somewhat larger screen, but not so large as to not fit in my whitecoat pocket. I'm worried that something like the Shield would be a bit too small for my uses. For reference I can barely squeeze an iPad 3 in my white coat pocket.
Any advice?
This is what I do:
I will keep the tablet, as the bleeding is not terrible, and wait for two months or so (after christmas), until they improve their production quality, then I will RMA it in the hope of getting one nearly perfect tablet.
simmac said:
This is what I do:
I will keep the tablet, as the bleeding is not terrible, and wait for two months or so (after christmas), until they improve their production quality, then I will RMA it in the hope of getting one nearly perfect tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But can you do that after having it for so long? What would you state as the reason for RMA?
Laz35 said:
But can you do that after having it for so long? What would you state as the reason for RMA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my country (Austria) this should work.
My reasons will most likely be the lightbleed, the bad to nearly not working NFC and the bad volume rocker.
simmac said:
In my country (Austria) this should work.
My reasons will most likely be the lightbleed, the bad to nearly not working NFC and the bad volume rocker.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Im from Denmark myself and I imagine that the same rules apply here however in my order details it says within 15 days after delivery I can contact them if I have issues (bought it on google play). So this made me assume that they would question why I didnt raise the issue earlier. Maybe not. Hmmm
Is your NFC working fine?
If not, you can argue, that you haven't used NFC until this time.
However, here in Austria, (and probably in the whole EU), there is the "Gewährleistung" in addition to the warranty, which means, the seller has to prove that the issue wasn't there when you got it in the first 6 months after you received it.
But make a call to Google play and tell them your problem and my idea, I think, they might confirm that this is working.
And please tell us!
If I find time to call them, I will try that too.

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