It seems that all the primes that I have tested from Bestbuy (4 primes and counting) have no satellite locks and only decent wifi. Please only post if you have received a good tablet with no issues from them.
I have purchased two of them from Best Buy, one I received on the 22nd and the other I purchased it two days ago from my local best buy, the first and only one they have received My first one is "perfect", but my 2nd one has two hardly noticeable screen bleeds which are only really distinguishable if you know were to look (bottom left corner under the return arrow and the recent app button) and one would only spot them during the boot up screen. They are both able to acquire a GPS lock, even indoors but once I move it the connection is lost, outside I can walk and it stays connected for the most part; however, I have not really tested the GPS function while driving (I will try it today... if I remember too but I don't have much hope for it which is why I purchased the $5 GPS workaround). They both get good wifi, by this I mean that anywhere my phone (HD7) is in range so are my primes if my phone is out of range so are my primes and they both get about the same speed. No freezing issues... ok the stock web browser does freeze but rarely maybe once every other day or so and most of the time I just hit wait and it comes back to live. Over all I love my primes/prime my first one is busted until Asus unlocks the boot loader, I just hope its before my 45 days are up or I will be stuck with 2 primes
It took both my primes about a good 5min to get a GPS lock with wifi outside, could not get either one to even see a satellite indoors before getting a lock outside. I originally tried to acquire a GPS lock without wifi outside on my 1st prime but gave up after 5 min. I also tried it with my 2nd one but no luck; although it did see around 5-7 satellites after the first 3min and up to 9 satellites at one point but after 10min and no lock I turned on the wifi and got a lock with in a minute. After that I was able to get a lock indoors with in 3-5 min
Bought from best buy december 23, no problems at all.
Sent from my Galaxy S2
I bought both the TFP and keyboard dock from them. Neither of them has any issues.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium App
mine has been fine too
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
No problems with mine.
None of the common problems
I got mine from BB.com about 2 weeks ago. The device was working 100% fine. GPS was solid, WIFI was great. There was a tiny bit of screen leak in the lower corners, but nothing that I could not live with.
The "un-common" problem occurred when I got my dock...also from BB.com. When I inserted the tablet into the dock the screen would white out, almost like it had its brightness turned up to 1000. I was also able to replicate the problem out of the dock by placing minor pressure at the center of the bottom bezel near the charging port. I have RMA'd it and just put it on a UPS truck today. I will let everyone know how I make out.
Bought mine from Best Buy. Outside of the GPS issue mine is great. WiFi seems fine...on par with my phone/laptop, so no complaints.
Bought mine no wifi,no gps issue,but a tiny bit of screen bleed, but i can live with that. Got my keyboard but i returned it., dont really need one
Proud owner of Transformer Prime TF201
Received mine yesterday from BB online... not problems as of yet. Haven't had the chance to fully test the GPS. I've looked closely and can't find any dead pixels or screen bleed. No creaks in the chassis, and on wifi at home was getting 18mbit down, 5 up (which is about right, I pay for 20mbit down 5mbit up)
No issues here, it has worked great
Aside from some very minor light bleeding on the right side of the screen, no problems at all.
No issues with mine. I did think that the prime was a tad slower browsing the internet than the OG transformer, but seems to have been cleared after the updates.
...but the OG transformer was running Revolver, oc'd...
Mine is fine.
Tablet & dock from BB.com.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Good to hear. Im going on my third next week from Bestbuy, I thought since they havent had any instock, all the stock in the warehouse for OMS orders are from the same batch. So there is still hope.
Just out of curiosity why are you asking if BB ones are good or not since they all come from asus directly? I'd would worry more about first batch vs 2nd batch.
I got one from BB.com around Jan 12. The screen seems good, no bleed or dead pixels, bt/wifi speed drop seems to be in line with what would be expected, and GPS performs as expected. GPS is not great but does get a lock, though it loses the lock when driving.
I'm not sure about the WIFI performance though. It is fast when signal is strong but when I get near the edge of its range it drops out dramatically faster than either my phone or my old viewsonic gtablet. The TFP gets <1mbps while the gtab still gets >10mbps. Does this sound in line with what other users are getting, or would a replacement possibly fix the issue? The signal strength according to WIFI Analyser is about the same from all three devices when doing the test. If this is the expected performance I'll be returning it to wait for the TF700 later this year. I'd rather get one that works well now though, as it is a great device and I could care less about the higher res screen and camera.
I, no issues form my BB purchase, aside from the weak gps obviously.
Bought mine from best buy before the new year and have had absolutely no issues at all. Wifi has been great (picks up college wifi which at my school has a history of being ****ty). Gps I only tested once, which was the same day I got it, and it never completely connected. Keep in mind that was indoors. I never would use GPS on my tablet so idc. But besides that no screen bleeding or tearing. Got the dock as well and must say I love this tablet. Much faster and not even comparable build quality to my old Gtab 10.1. My only complaint is I wish the micro SD card slot was actually built so it could hold a micro SD card all the time, but oh well I'm happy
Sent from my HTC EVO 3D using xda premium
I did until I bricked it
Purchased another Prime from Micro Center yesterday. I'm not sure yet it's as responsive as the one I had from BB.
Related
I was wondering how many people are having problems with their prime? I personally have not have any problems with mine, not even with wifi or gps.
no problems at all and i received it 3 weeks ago,no lights bleeding or anything
i haven't tested the gps wtih ics yet(i don't care much for it)
wifi shows less bars sometimes but i have the same speed everywhere in my house so its ok with me.
For the most part everything works, only problem i have is about 2mm worth of light bleeding, very unnoticeable doesnt bother me. my dock is supposed to arrive tomarrow so hopefully that is working perfect
Mine has been working perfectly. No lag, no reboots, the only issues I have are light bleed, which bother me, and what appears to be two dead pixels that you can only see when the screen is light and is oriented in portrait mode. It bothers me, honestly, but after reading all of the horror stories I may hold off on my RMA for the light bleed and dead pixels.
Just got mine yesterday @ 2:30pm and upgraded to ICS.
Like anyone with a new toy (after installing all my apps) I used it until 2am this morning.
The only moment I saw slight lag is when I had it in eco mode and was downloading 2GB of photos and 4GB of music (I figure putting music and pics as offline on a non-3g tab makes sense).
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Picked up mine on Sunday in UK and been working great ever since (both the dock and the tablet itself), gone through ICS update just making it feel even better!
Now, just need a case for protection.
Been working great since I got it 12/22. ICS update is the best. This was what Prime was made to work with.
a lot of cry babies on these forums so don't believe all the negative stuff, people B*tch about anything
but mine works perfect, no problems what so ever
Mine has a couple of issues. No GPS (at all), some fairly minor light bleeding and haptic feedback doesn't work (just makes a noise but doesn't vibrate at all).
The ICS updates also reduces performance of javascript in the browser too, though scrolling and loading performance are a minor improvement. Typing in the browser is a million times better than on HC, however.
Mine is generally fine. Gps seems not to work but i dont care. I dont need it on tablet.
The only thing that concernes me is that my unit creaks a little...
Orion66 said:
Mine is generally fine. Gps seems not to work but i dont care. I dont need it on tablet.
The only thing that concernes me is that my unit creaks a little...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this happen when you press down on the glass to the right of the charger slot and above the volue adjuster?
Over 75% of people's work fine. Sounds like the 25% are very loud and vocal.
ModestMuse23 said:
Over 75% of people's work fine. Sounds like the 25% are very loud and vocal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which will happen on a new release. There aren't any experts or guides yet to guide people through issues with this unit. And if people have a problem they have all received their units in the past few weeks so they are all trying to figure them out right now.
I know I just received my unit a few days ago and after reading all the threads I was terrified that I had been waiting months for a dud product. But everything appears fine.
So far, so good. I did see some banding in the display while using a game, but after rebooting the device, I haven't seen it since. WiFi's fine, I haven't tested the GPS (and I really don't have a need for it on a large tablet).
I'm waiting for an ordered keyboard dock to come into my local BB.
good
My Prime has been perfect since day one. Office Depot shipped the device to me in a padded envelope, so I was expecting physical damage, but there has been none. GPS Test never shows a sat. lock but every time I open G Maps, or a weather app, it knows exactly where I am. WiFi is great, not as good as a laptop obviously.
Paris6906 said:
I was wondering how many people are having problems with their prime? I personally have not have any problems with mine, not even with wifi or gps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not gonna lie, I am on my second TP. The first one got screwed up from ICS and couldn't do anything without it rebooting.
Got a new one yesterday from Gamestop and I couldn't be happier. Everything works perfect with ICS. I even get the free games that Gamestop includes with the TP.
Mine is working just fine since day one. I hope I can find a dock soon though.
can't say more than a true beast, its fast reliable and im happy i bought it, no problems at all
The issues are Real that some users are experiencing out there. But this poll clearly shows MAJORITY, almost 80% of Prime owners love their devices. Now new people should read stuff like this instead of all those other threads. Like some said here, they were terrified at first seeing some of the stuff posted but once they got it, it was a completely different story. Just glad my device been working great since 12/22. Plus with ICS now, my boot up times are really fast n everything in general is alot smoother n faster. Can't complain at all. Looking forward to more updates and developers updating their apps for ICS. Remember, we are the first tablet out with ICS now
I just havetoo add to this.... Typing from my newly arrived transformer running on ICS! The screen is breathtaking really WOW!! Tegra 3 really puts a new meaning in the word tablet its smooth really smooth. No issues for me so far... wifi is working and gps pinged me on maps inside in under 10 seconds so Im happy.........
Just got my Prime I ordered last week from Amazon. They sent me a BCOKAS.
Same thing as my other previous 2 units. Weak WiFi, some bleeding.
This will be my 3rd return now
Techie2012 said:
Just got my Prime I ordered last week from Amazon. They sent me a BCOKAS.
Same thing as my other previous 2 units. Weak WiFi, some bleeding.
This will be my 3rd return now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is what I got from Best Buy on an exchange last week as well. They said they just got the stock in 2 days before. That said, this one works better than my old one.
The issues are not tied to particular serial numbers.
I also have a BCOKAS that has no light bleeding or wifi issues. It works perfectly.
There are many C1 serial numbers that have issues as well.
BCOKAS here
I have no light bleeding whatsoever, wifi is fine for my purposes. Right now I'm one floor up in the opposite corner of the house getting 2 bars, -70 to -80 dbm. I haven't used a bt
device yet though.
dorianteal said:
I getting 2 bars, -70 to -80 db.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats what I get in my house as well. However when I travel, I can;t connect in some hotspots and hotels. I have to carry my ipad as a backup because it connects fine in those cases.
Techie2012 said:
thats what I get in my house as well. However when I travel, I can;t connect in some hotspots and hotels. I have to carry my ipad as a backup because it connects fine in those cases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I tell if I have bleeding?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
The issues cannot be tied to the BCOKAS serial numbers completely, as mine is one of these (from Amazon) and it suits my needs.
Sure, the GPS is not prefect, but it functions as I expected.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
i have bcokas also and dont see any wifi issue.. one thing i did notice.. others might have too.. that gps doesnt lock inside the house.. the moment i step near the window i get 12 satellites..and locks on atleast 7-9. weird.. but its probably related to the weak antenna as mentioned before.
But does anyone really use gps on a wifi tab .. and if so ..for what?
C1OKAS
Also from Amazon. I returned the 1st one because it was junk... nothing worked after the ICS upgrade.
Amazon replaced with a new C1OKAS and this one upgraded to ICS fine. Wifi is still challenged and weak and still has the Bluetooth issues but not as bad. The GPS is junk. After 25 min I'm lucky if it will fine 7 birds and at best locked onto 2 of them.
Also did the update from ASUS this morn. No change.
Amazon doesn't have any more units... from the posts I'm not sure they reordered. So when my return window hits in about two weeks we may be SOL.
i have BCOKAS
no backlight bleeding all, Gps i get 10 satellite connection withing a minute, wifi full bar around my house, have not tried the bluetooth yet. I suck that i don't really care about GPS or Weak Wifi and i have one of the good ones while others who really needed have those problems. I do care about backlight bleeding and thanx god that i do not have that problem either. Do not care either for bluetooth and have not tested it yet. i would not return it even if bluetooth wasn't working.
I bought a prime on last Friday, from Staples.ca online store.
I have tested that my prime has NO issue at all.
SN: C10KASxxxxxx
Color: Gray
I followed this guide to test it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1475296
Here is my result:
1. Light Bleed - Not found.
2. Dead Pixels - Not found.
3. Serial Number - Found.
4. GPS Reception - Very good, even better than my Nexus S. ( Tested when WiFi off )
5. WiFi Reception - Very good, even better than my Nexus S.
6. Dock/Keyboard Connection - Not tested, I don't have one.
7. Gyroscope - Very good, Orientation changes very smoothly.
8. Updates - Two received when I turned on this tablet.
9. Bluetooth - Paired with Motorola HT820 without any problem.
So far so good...
spa941 said:
4. GPS Reception - Very good, even better than my Nexus S. ( Tested when WiFi off )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What black magic is this?
Did you use Google Maps to test GPS? If so, then please download "GPS Test" from Market and see how many sats it sees and locks on.
Hi. Did you test wifi while you had a Bluetooth connection from more than 20' from the router? Could you try that? Perhaps it's time to try another Prime.
GPS Test screenshots:
Tested with WiFi turned off. The reception seems like a bit weak, the average SNR is 20-30dB(Has more yellow bars). Compared with my Nexus S, almost get same result.
Also tested navigation with Google map, using my Nexus S to supply internet connection. The navigation works fine, just like my Nexus S.
Although the sensitivity is not as good as my Garmin 7490LMT, but it's acceptable, usable. I don't expect more because I won't use a tablet as my navigation tool.
westcoastgeek said:
Hi. Did you test wifi while you had a Bluetooth connection from more than 20' from the router? Could you try that? Perhaps it's time to try another Prime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in a 2 bedroom high-rise building, so the space is limited. But, I went to Coquitlam Poirier Recreation Center, they have WiFi but I don't know where is their router located. I was sitting in the swimming pool viewing area. I think my prime is better than my Nexus S because the prime get -50dBm but Nexus S get -60dBm (WiFi Analyzer). I didn't have the Bluetooth connected at that time.
Hi! Great to hear you received a working Prime! Is there any tiny miniscule aesthetic defects on your prime? I had 2 Primes from Staples and Futureshop all with defects in the camera lenses and in the screen
729927852 said:
Hi! Great to hear you received a working Prime! Is there any tiny miniscule aesthetic defects on your prime? I had 2 Primes from Staples and Futureshop all with defects in the camera lenses and in the screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have even a tiny deficiency on my prime, the only thing I don't like is the color. I want a Champagne one but they don't have.
Tested WiFi with Bluetooth headphone connected and a music playing. I don't see any significant signal fall out on WiFi Analyzer. The prime is about 10m away from the router but separated with a dry wall.
I have a C10KAS bought in Canada as well and I don't quite have the same results as you. I have some screen bleed and my GPS is not good. The Galaxy S line and I think the Nexus S have notoriously bad GPS reception so that's not really a fair comparison.
However, like you I've had pretty much flawless Wifi reception along with all the other great things you listed. =)
Hey there,
I just got mine in Belgium and I was wondering when you say that the wifi is better than your nexus s (I happen to have the same also hence my question), what are the results distance wise? In my house, I've tested both around 20ft from the router (on the same floor). The prime got a better signal indeed but the dl speed is not as fast as the nexus s. and once I start getting even further, the prime gets really overpassed both as signal strength or dl speed. I don't know if I should return it or not, but if this is the best result people are getting from the tablet, it's quite sad. when you guys say pretty much flawless, what distance is acceptable to you?
I will also try to check on some open wifi spaces and let you guys know
Great news spa. The deal breaker for me is Bluetooth and wifi must work together. Gonna try another prime soon I think. I wish future shop or bestbuy carried the 64gb version. Their return policy is so much better than NCIX.
Can you test Bluetooth over an HD YouTube or Netflix...i have a Canadian CO2k and Ihave the wifi/bluetooth issue
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Yeah, don't buy prime from NCIX.
westcoastgeek said:
Great news spa. The deal breaker for me is Bluetooth and wifi must work together. Gonna try another prime soon I think. I wish future shop or bestbuy carried the 64gb version. Their return policy is so much better than NCIX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both stores have it in-stock online. I ordered last week and got it in 3days.
---------- Post added at 01:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 PM ----------
willoxx said:
Can you test Bluetooth over an HD YouTube or Netflix...i have a Canadian CO2k and Ihave the wifi/bluetooth issue
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works for me and no issue..l Bought from Bestbuy.ca
willoxx said:
Can you test Bluetooth over an HD YouTube or Netflix...i have a Canadian CO2k and Ihave the wifi/bluetooth issue
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested last night, it works with HD youtube smoothly in any room in my apartment.
You know the signal noise level should be higher in an apartment then it in a house, and in my situation, I can't even find a non-used channel for my wifi router, so the interferance is obviously high. I mean it's not comparable for people in different situation, if you want one prime just buy one from your local store and have it tested in your home/office, wherever you want to use it.
There are lots of facts we need to consider, such as what kind of router you use, the bluetooth device, and so on... whoever's test is just a particular case and it might not work for you at all.
spa941 said:
Yeah, don't buy prime from NCIX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not ? I bought from there with express rma insurance. There shouldn't be a problem right ?
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Thanks I will check bestbuy and order one from there. NCIX, will not take a prime back unless they feel there is a major problem, so a little light bleed or not perfect wifi, will not cut it with them. I buy so much from them and I had to fight to get them to take mine back 3days after I bought it due to major light bleed and no wifi with Bluetooth. Plus they wanted to charge me a 15% restocking fee. So I'll never buy any non computer component from them again.
---------- Post added at 11:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------
Ok so I just ordered Prime No. 2 with a keyboard and all from FutureShop. Lets hope things have improved and everything is good outta the box. At least if its not up to snuff I can return it easily.
Thanks guys for the suggestion of ordering it there - I dint know they ahd the 64GB version.
Canadian Tf201
I have a prime from staples in Canada too and everything seems ok. No major issues. I can get a good lock on 10/12 satellites indoors from the GPS. My wifi is a little weak; About the same as iphone 4 probably. It seems all good. I was thinking about returning it because of the wifi issues. But, i am still undecided. It works good in my house. If you turn on BT the wifi signal does cut like 5dB. However, i don't use BT.
Overall good tablet. Screen is nice. Seems to run smooth.
Serial: C10KAS
Got it one week ago.
Heideggerguy
heideggerguy said:
If you turn on BT the wifi signal does cut like 5dB. However, i don't use BT.
Heideggerguy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just remember that if you don't have everything working, it may affect your resale value should you decide to upgrade and try to get a decent dollar for your tablet. Just something to think about before your chance to return your unit expires.
When my new tablet arrives I will put it through every test I can think of even if I don't plan on using a certain feature, because I want to be able to sell it down the road.
Cheers
Just chime in and tell me how your WiFi/GPS is, and how your prime is operating.
If you don't have anything positive towards this thread GET OUT. I'm trying to get a better understanding of how everyone with a BCOKAS model is doing.
My wifi is decent/crap, I have to be within 10 feet of any router for a good connection. GPS is worthless
I'm waiting on "Gary Key" to come out with his amazing solution of fixing this. That's why I haven't RMAed or Unlocked yet.
Besides the WiFi, I LOVE THIS DEVICE. I could use the GPS on my phone.
Sooo hows your BCOKAS Prime ???
WIFI: Range is horrible
WIFI + BT: Recently tested this feature.... performs extremely poorly. Will do more test.
GPS: I can get few birds (including inside of the house) & few will lock with pathetic signal. However, everything disappears once it starts to move...
That's including aGPS... horrible.
Browser: Adequate once Chrome browser was deleted. However, still getting the "wait" pop-up window or force close on occasion.
Games: Don't really game on my Prime but it works well when I do (games look good as well).
Streaming Media from Network(movies): Due to poor WIFI range, it doesn't work well once I am 15+ ft away from the router.. however, if I am within 10ft range.. it works well. Also, if my Prime is idle for few mins. (5+).. & if I wake up my Prime... screen flickers & I see screen tear... & when I unlock it.. it'll freeze/lag & Prime will reboot. (This continues even after soft reset.. haven't done factory reset yet)
eReader: Probably the main reason why I continue to use Prime. MyLibrary from Asus is my fav. eReader app. Yes, I mainly use Prime for reading eBooks... (not exactly the reason why I purchased but it works well).
WIFI:
My wifi range is very similar to my GNex so it's not terrible. I just ran a Speed Test and was getting around 4-5D and 4-5U on the wireless here at my work which the signal strength is around -70dB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS:
2-3 birds outside, nothing inside and I never get a lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BT:
I have a lot of trouble getting things to connect to it but it can be done. Performance with wifi on is poor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OS:
Been getting launcher crashes of late so I installed GO HD and that seems to have helped, but I will say that apps in general are not very stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than that, I'm in the same boat David. Waiting to unlock based on what I hear from RMA's. I started a thread a couple weeks ago to try and gather info from those who RMA'd for BT/WIFI issues but at that point no one really had. Maybe we can get some results now...
My bcokas
I have had this one since late Feb or early March (my 2nd one).
Only one or two uncommanded reboots--I am not a heavy user--I do not know enough about it to be a serious user, YET.
I am pretty computer knowledgeable, though.
I just took my prime outside (Anchorage, Alaska at the International Airport)
I have a wireless G network at our office. It is on the second floor inside a wooden frame building-close to, but not visible through a window. I connected with the WiFi Analyzer using the speedometer style gauge and received -73 to -75 DB at approximately 300 feet away on our ramp (aircraft parking area). I did not attempt any downloads--pretty chilly outside today.
Next, I loaded the GPS test app from Chartcross, and while outside (completely wide open), got no birds. This did not surprise me. I have found that if no birds are visible, a complete shutdown & restart will usually bring the GPS back to life. IT DID!!
Within 30 seconds of starting the app (after the complete restart), I had 12-14 birds visible and 10-11 in use. Signal strength never exceeded 31 on the graph. The usability remains poor, even though numerous birds in view. The coverage drops off to none frequently but reconnects quickly. As a commercial pilot, I am very familiar with GPS usage. This one cannot be classified greater than "Very Poor". I have the Dual xgps150a that I use via Bluetooth and it works flawlessly.
I have not attempted to use Bluetooth & WiFi at the same time, and therefore cannot comment on that aspect.
Overall, I am not dissatisfied with the Prime. I had no expectations of using the built-in GPS when I purchased it. The WiFi could be a bit better; but I consider it to be usable.
My biggest complaint with the Prime is not the hardware, it is the software. Specifically, the crappy browsers that I have tried (5 or 6). I absolutely hate "TABS" I refuse to use them on my PCs. I am not saying that they are bad, I just don't like them. The only browser that I even remotely can tolerate (thus far) is Dolphin. It still uses TABS, but at least it has a home button. Doing anything on a tablet browser (to me--so far) is like flying from Anchorage to Seattle via Tokyo, Manilla, and Santiago. I guess I am saying that I find all of them to be very user-unfriendly.
I guess I have whined enough.
Jerry In Anchorage, Alaska
Wifi is perfectly fine, no problems with it.
I've only gotten a lock with GPS once, and that was while I was sitting outside.
Haven't tried bt+wifi.
Have been getting some not responding messages with the browser occasionally when opening it.
I don't really game on it, but from the small amount of time I've used N64oid it certainly wasn't unacceptable.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA Premium.
I have had mine since mid January. No obvious issues with wi-fi and I'm able to stream music from my NAS drive to my bluetooth headphones while using the internet. I don't know if it's relevant but my broadband speed isn't exactly stellar (8mb max) whereas I notice that many of those with drop out issues when using bluetooth seem to to have a much higher speed normally.
GPS works in that satellites show indoors and out but the strength doesn't appear to be that great (I get locks but the values in GPS Test have never got near 30). Having said that, I probably would never use a tablet for satnav because of the size - it's far too big for my car whereas my Galaxy S2 phone is much more suitable and less distracting!
I've used most browsers but now mainly use either ICS+ Browser. I've (very) occasionally seen the 'wait' message but other than that everything is good and overall I'm (touch wood!) happy with my Prime.
Bcokas here. Wifi is fine and same as my old Droid charge and now my gnex. GPS got locks the one time I tried it months ago, been off since and never tried navigation with it so can't help with that. I've only tested bt with wifi using a sixaxis controller, seemed fine about 30 ft from router but didn't do a speed test to see if and how much it affected signal strength and speed.
I just got a BC0KAS TF201 back from RMA in Texas. My original complaint was black screen (nothing shows up on LCD), GPS nonexistent (ordered 12/28), and weak wifi. After all the parts replaced (GPS foil, conductive sponges, etc..), screen finally works but thats about it. No satellite locks still indoors or outdoors and still weak wifi.
junrider said:
I just got a BC0KAS TF201 back from RMA in Texas. My original complaint was black screen (nothing shows up on LCD), GPS nonexistent (ordered 12/18), and weak wifi. After all the parts replaced (GPS foil, conductive sponges, etc..), screen finally works but thats about it. No satellite locks still indoors or outdoors and still weak wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a lame story bro.
I'd RMA until they got it right. It sucks that you have to sit there and just take it, while Asus adds you to the satisfied Prime owner statistic.
Overall I have been happy with mine and would compare to some of the more favorable responses here.
Wifi: I initially thought that the .21 made a difference but have re-evaluated. At the furthest point in my house from the router (several walls, 1 floor, 40 ft) I get about 3-4 times slower speeds than other devices. It is still fast enough to surf, stream videos etc.
BT: don't use it much. Wifi speeds are the same whether it is on or off.
GPS: The patches in the dev section actually made some difference. I get a few sats inside with no lock. Outside, I get 11-12 with a lock. GPS test says the accuracy is 30 ft which I doubt would be enough to navigate, but who cares??
Regarding crashes when browsing and so on, I was getting a lot before I unlocked. In the end I just figured screw it, unlocked and installed a rom. I did that about 6 weeks ago and I could count the number of crashes on one hand. Maybe a factory reset would have had the same effect but where's the fun in that
skygunner27 said:
That's a lame story bro.
I'd RMA until they got it right. It sucks that you have to sit there and just take it, while Asus adds you to the satisfied Prime owner statistic.
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Click to collapse
Its not really mine. Its my friend's prime, but i used my creditcard to pay for it. Its his first tablet so hes pretty new to the game. As long as the prime works he can deal until there is a real fix for it, then Ill tell him. I have the receipt (ordered well before the GPS announcement) and all the paper work for the RMA (so there is history that I have complained about the GPS and weak wifi), so they cant deny me the GPS. Couldnt tell if the bluetooth+wifi works since I dont have any bluetooth headphones to test it. I wanna give it a few more months to see if there is any development in the prime.
Thats why I refunded my money, I had few B0CKS and where all the same GPS and weak wifi. Im holding out for something that I can be happy with.
wifi works great. better than my Ipad & atrix phone as far as download speeds, reception strength, and signal stability goes.
wifi/BT works fine. I'm able to transfer big movie files from my phone to prime while prime is hooked up to wifi internet and streaming movie at same time. no slowdown of speeds and movie plays just fine streaming while BT in the background transferring big file.
Gps- never tested outdoors yet. plus I hook up my phone to prime through BT GPS. works great.
overall my early BC model from 12/22 has been performing great for me. no real issues what so ever to complain about really. I'd easily purchase this again if i had to do it over again. my Ipad has nothing on my prime. No comparison to Prime & Android experience. Very pleased with device and its performance. IMO, Asus did a great job on it as mines works as expected and more.
Thanks for the responding!
My wi-fi performance isn't stellar, but it isn't horrible either. I can get better signal than my, older, hp laptop in some areas of my house. I'm happy enough with it to not want to RMA.
I rely on my phone any time I need GPS so I have never actually tested it on my Prime. Seems like redundant use of technology for me. For the same reason, I haven't loaded any music onto my Prime--I have it all on my, more portable, phone.
I love ICS. Sure, I have some difficulty with the browser some times, but I expect Google will be continually making this better. I usually just check in with FB with it anyway. For any serious browsing I use a computer.
One of the things I love the best about my Prime is the dock. I've had zero issues with it and love the short-cut buttons. I'm currently writing a book, completely on my Prime, and it and Polaris Office have been wonderful.
I've been using my BC0KAS TF201 from Best Buy since mid January, and I'm pleased with it overall.
Wifi is nothing to be proud of, but acceptable. Downstairs is not a problem, but upstairs I get slower speeds, which is to be expected.
GPS is absent. I'm lucky to get a lock anywhere, and I've never seen more than 3 sats while driving.
I haven't used bluetooth much.
I use chrome browser and it works fine.
Battery life is somewhat of an issue for me; I keep it on about 50% brightness most of the time, and the battery goes down quite fast at times. Fast charging makes up for it though.
My wifi is usable. I even connected once to free mcdonalds wifi from the parking lot (slow, but checked my email which is what i needed to do). I will have a weak signal upstairs, but netflix worked fine.
Wifi + bt. Again, usable, but signal drops when i feed my stereo bt music and try to watch netflix (really real world?)
No reboots till two updates ago. Way better with .21
Gps is completely useless. I was one of the few who wanted this to replace my aging gps as a nice bonus. Tried all the gps patches from the thread, 1.0rc seems to make things more stable in gps test, but i no longer get locks whatsoever. Also, no skymap fun as its twitchy.
Screen goes through fits with tearing along the left side. Sometimes need to reboot to fix it. Minimal backlight bleeding, didnt even notice till the 3rd time i turned it on, and i was looking for it at that point.
I love this thing enough to have kept it since early jan (bb.com fiasco unit). Not unlocked. Still scared even though i reallllly want to...
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
My WiFi slightly beats out the Galaxy Ace and Wildfire in terms of range and the DL/UL speeds are still pretty good at the furthest away point in my house.
GPS is non existant as far as I can tell, not really got the patience to test it properly though.
Never really use BT+WiFi together so can't comment on that.
My Rear camera doesn't work, just a green glitchy mess. Not sure if it's hardware or software though.
Gaming is good on it, got plenty of emulators working very well and games like Shadowgun run and look great.
Wifi-up to par with my Droid x
Wifi+Bluetooth- no issues
Gps - not so great, its picky about location and view of the sky
Sent from my DROIDX using xda premium
Wifi matches Droid X in speed and signal strength.
I don't use BT on my tablet.
GPS - outside, 10/10 lock/view, vs. droid x 10/16. Inside, maybe 1 in view, no lock. Droid X will get 6/8.
OS, no issues. I did have to wipe going from HC-->ICS, but I wasn't expecting apps to survive anyway,
*edit*
I had issues with triangles appearing on overlays and random bars on the edge of the screen, but those have gone away with the .21 update. The triangle tearing thing was always fixable by just swiping apps off the recent apps list.
Wifi is fine my E4200 version 1 is in the center of the house and I get a decent connection both on the front and back steps and I use the prime to watch network streamed tv show replays with no problems or stuttering in the house. Gps is good in the house at times and non working at other times same outside. Location and weather effect this I believe. My browser hasnt given me any problems to speak of, overall I'm pleased.
In the market looking to buy a 2nd tab in the family.
Seen a lot of offers for used TF201 (some with dock) for the same price as a new TF300...
What do you guys recommend to get, is the WiFi signal issue present in all TF201s and if yes, is it that bad? Or should i just get a new TF300 and forget about TF201?
Does the GPS dongle improve also WiFi signal (indirectly i suppose)?
What advantages does TF201 have over TF300 that should make me choose it over the latter for the same price (or even less)?
Thanks!
I have a C3 serial and it's pretty good.. I think the later versions were better.
But you will get a whole load of people post that the TF701 is better. SDCard fits, Wi-Fi signal is stronger, GPS get's location quicker..
sjrixon said:
I have a C3 serial and it's pretty good.. I think the later versions were better.
But you will get a whole load of people post that the TF701 is better. SDCard fits, Wi-Fi signal is stronger, GPS get's location quicker..
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Click to collapse
TF700 is a different story with a different price, at least in Europe
In scope of this thread is an used TF201 vs a new TF300
There's no denying the TF201 has been plagued with support issues. I returned my first one for WiFi problems. My second one the WiFi is fine. I stream movies on it regularly with no issues whatsoever, for example. GPS has been very bad on both without the dongle.
If you get it from a place that'll take a return/exchange it's a good buy, if not though, I'd recommend looking at other options. It's a great device when you get a good one only caveat that is even for a good one, if you are buying specifically for a lot of GPS stuff don't bother.
zerozoneice said:
Does the GPS dongle improve also WiFi signal (indirectly i suppose)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dongle does nothing to help with WiFi signal. Strictly to help GPS.
GPS is unusable and is not an official feature anymore. Wifi works fine, however max throughput speed is not great, it's fine for streaming video's.
I think it's a great tablet _and_ the screen is great, very good outdoor use. The TF300 does not have this.
Personally.. my wifi was ok, GPS no good but the non-responding apps & powering off while sleeping were deal breakers for me.. I'd stay away from it especially used and unable to return. Luckly someone here found Best Buy willing to take the Primes back under manufacturer defect and I was lucky enough to have that happen for me. Delivering a TF700 tomorrow.
Just a few of my screenshot issues.. if ya want more I'd be more than happy to send them to you.. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1765997
Stay away. Stay far away.
nyijedi said:
Stay away. Stay far away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you guys are scaring me
thing is i found a TF201 32GB with Dock, GPS dongle and case for less than a new TF300...guy says it's a C10 serial and has no wifi issues...
is there a serial# tracker that can verify if there is a wifi problem? were only few batches affected or it's a general build issue.
i got a TF300 today and playing with it but i can return it within 24h if there's something wrong with it...
I had a C1 Prime that I bought in Feb and exchanged for a 700 this past Friday. Wifi by itself was fine for the most part, but when I turned the B/T on using at the same time bandwidth plummeted (20 megs to about 2megs down), known issue.. my opinion I'd skip it for the 300, at least you know you wont have wifi/gps issues with it
zerozoneice said:
you guys are scaring me
thing is i found a TF201 32GB with Dock, GPS dongle and case for less than a new TF300...guy says it's a C10 serial and has no wifi issues...
is there a serial# tracker that can verify if there is a wifi problem? were only few batches affected or it's a general build issue.
i got a TF300 today and playing with it but i can return it within 24h if there's something wrong with it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wifi works fine on my Prime. Don't read into everything you see on the forums too much. People like to blow things way out of proportion and make big deals out of nothing. They will make it sound like wifi doesn't work at all on the Prime and/or will complain that the signal drops off when they are outside their house 50 ft away, or that they only get 2 bars while their laptop gets 3 when in the same location. It's all bs; wifi is completely normal on the Prime. As for those that do have legitimate issues (very few from what I have seen) they are in the minority and should be contacting ASUS for RMA.
GPS on the other hand is not a supported built-in feature so don't expect it to work out of the box without the GPS dongle.
jordache16 said:
It's all bs; wifi is completely normal on the Prime. As for those that do have legitimate issues (very few from what I have seen) they are in the minority and should be contacting ASUS for RMA.
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Click to collapse
LOL, be glad you got a Prime then that supposedly works 100%.
There are plenty of people here including myself who will disagree with you, and I'm no noob by anymeans, my router (Linksys E3000 "High Performance") is less than 5 feet away from me here buddy Its been reiterated over and over the metal backplate is a signal killer. I can't express how happy I was when Best Buy took the thing back.
jordache16 said:
Wifi works fine on my Prime. Don't read into everything you see on the forums too much. People like to blow things way out of proportion and make big deals out of nothing. They will make it sound like wifi doesn't work at all on the Prime and/or will complain that the signal drops off when they are outside their house 50 ft away, or that they only get 2 bars while their laptop gets 3 when in the same location. It's all bs; wifi is completely normal on the Prime. As for those that do have legitimate issues (very few from what I have seen) they are in the minority and should be contacting ASUS for RMA.
GPS on the other hand is not a supported built-in feature so don't expect it to work out of the box without the GPS dongle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiFi technically "works," but works like crap compared to other devices. This is not really debateable. I've tested my Prime on the same network in the same spot next to a Galaxy Nexus, iPad 1, and Nexus 7. Once you move a few feet away from the router (not exaggerating - a few feet), the Prime drops speed at a ridiculous rate. For example, next to the router, all devices, including the Prime, will get over 30 Mbps. As I move away from the router, in the same spot, my other devices will all pull between 15 and 20 Mbps, and the Prime will be lucky to see 3-5 Mbps. And then if I keep moving away, the Prime is always the first one to lose a signal, while the other devices will still download at about 1-6 Mbps. It really depends on your use case. If you'll be using it regularly in areas with good WiFi, you'll be fine. But don't say you weren't warned if you try and use it in areas with weak WiFi.
As for the GPS, just assume the Prime doesn't have it, because it is not functional. Hell, Asus admitted this much when they took it off the box. It does work with the dongle, but you also can't charge the Prime when the dongle is plugged in, so forget about keeping your Prime charged using the GPS on a long road trip.
jordache16 said:
Wifi works fine on my Prime. Don't read into everything you see on the forums too much. People like to blow things way out of proportion and make big deals out of nothing. They will make it sound like wifi doesn't work at all on the Prime and/or will complain that the signal drops off when they are outside their house 50 ft away, or that they only get 2 bars while their laptop gets 3 when in the same location. It's all bs; wifi is completely normal on the Prime. As for those that do have legitimate issues (very few from what I have seen) they are in the minority and should be contacting ASUS for RMA.
GPS on the other hand is not a supported built-in feature so don't expect it to work out of the box without the GPS dongle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please speak for yourself ok?
The prime works fine for me when I'm close to the router, but degrades quickly as you move away. And I'm not talking about 50ft outside the house, I'm talking about the kitchen... 30 ft from the router with a door in between. Locations where other devices, such as my phone, have no issue keeping a decent connection...
Overall you can still browse pretty fine yeah and most of the time stream music. But for me there are hiccups, youtube videos (hd) pause and/or buffer regularly when not in the same room as the router, etc.
GPS is useless, but that is no issue for me as I have no need for it. IO is not great either, supposedly better with the TF700t.
So it' not useless but it is pretty weak and can (or will) cause issues in areas where your connection is not great... Just keep that in mind.
Other then these issues the prime is excellent, beatiful and sleek. The dock is awesome. But to be honest, I wish I could trade it in for something else or that there was some model like this on the market (a non-asus one in this case).
I love my Prime, but under no circumstance or influence could I possibly recommend it to anyone.
It's amazing when you have a model that works fine coupled with a good firmware version (or some custom ROMs I guess), but it's entirely too easy to get a bad mixture.
Mine is running fine after the mods in the development section (still haven't unlocked my bootloader), but WiFi is certainly dampened when compared to other devices. I've heard that certain channels and passcode encryptions are handled better than others. We're all still playing around to achieve optimal signal and it seems that messing with a bit of conductive foam inside the tablet helps to ground the antenna and improve reception. But that requires opening up (not hard) the tablet and technically voiding warranty (just have to be careful and clean).
The BlueTooth/WiFi complaints are completely true and valid depending on what (amounts of) data the BT is pumping out. I generally don't see too hard a hit with your average BT headset, but I think that using any actual stereo headset is going to cause your WiFi to become downright deplorable.
I can use my WiFi in most any room of both houses I spend most my time in *(where each house has 2 routers)*, and over most of my work-place *(which uses a pretty powerful commercial-grade router)*, and I only get a random reboot maybe once every few weeks or so (usually during heavy use, right after I've started bragging but just before the awesome game/app loads up lol). I can go anywhere between one and seven days on a single charge depending on use, that is my favorite part of the tablet/keyboard combo. Having a native setting to use the mouse pad for touch gestures is awesome. The two speakers located directly beside each other don't sound too bad, but are very uni-directional and lose against the outdoors. The screen is magnificent: I can use it any time, anywhere, and everything isn't over-saturated like many competitors' screens (arguably under-saturated though, depends on opinion, eyesight, and luck of the draw). Useful to have the extra mSD and SD slots though I never use the SD in the keyboard; I leave my mSD in at all times and have changed its mount point to within the /sdcard/ directory so that apps can actually access and make use of it. This is only possible because of the leather case I have, otherwise the mSD would long ago have ejected somewhere. /rant
Tl;dr:
It's a great, fun toy which tries to appear productive and savvy; it's entirely unreliable just like its manufacturer and will cause great embarrassment if "shown off;" and I absolutely would not recommend it to someone who does not want to dig down into fixing and patching and playing with the hardware and software.
*EDIT:
Also, as mentioned, GPS is not even worth mentioning
Which is why I do not recommend ASUS to customers regardless. They produce great PC components, they just have some serious quality control issues which are usually covered pretty well by warranty. But none-the-less, their inconsistencies in physical components makes them a general no-no for me.
zerozoneice said:
In the market looking to buy a 2nd tab in the family.
Seen a lot of offers for used TF201 (some with dock) for the same price as a new TF300...
What do you guys recommend to get, is the WiFi signal issue present in all TF201s and if yes, is it that bad? Or should i just get a new TF300 and forget about TF201?
Does the GPS dongle improve also WiFi signal (indirectly i suppose)?
What advantages does TF201 have over TF300 that should make me choose it over the latter for the same price (or even less)?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Prime was fine, maybe even better then fine. But if $300 is about what you were going to spend on a used Prime, I would go get the new 300. WiFi was good with the one I played with at the store the other day. Put it in a case and no one will ever know it's not a Prime.
Seriously - either get a TF300 or better, a TF700.. just pretend the TF201 never existed.
IF you have no use for a GPS (and think very carefully about that - Google Now, for example, relies on both not-fine(WiFi - really - you can't say the opposite of fine that rhymes with course?) and fine (GPS) location for a lot of things it does... and more and more apps are location aware...) and if you don't mind subpar WiFi and Bluetooth, then it's a nice tablet.
Unfortunately, since the TF300 is cheaper and the TF700 is the same price - but with a higher res screen AND both have working GPS, WiFi and BT - you'd be nuts to go with the TF201.
And to be honest - given how Asus has bunged up the entire TF201 fiasco, I'm not even comfortable recommending a Transformer at all. I'd wait for the Samsung Note 10.1 in two weeks, or any of the growing number of Transformer like Android tablets coming out soon.
I agree with buxtahuda all the way. The only reason I can hand my prime to another person to play with without fear of mockery is that I have repaired the improper backplate grounding to the wifi and gps antennas so the both now work well. This required taking it apart (which I didnt mind since I got it so I could do that). The second part of the equation for not being embarassed by my prime is that I put one of the new Jellybean (actually I have tried them all) roms on it. There seems to be no game playing issues or lag with these but since they are prebeta they are missing some features of the hardware.
My boss asked me to recommend a tablet for her after she saw my prime with dock in action at a meeting. I told her to get an Ipad.
whycali said:
I agree with buxtahuda all the way. The only reason I can hand my prime to another person to play with without fear of mockery is that I have repaired the improper backplate grounding to the wifi and gps antennas so the both now work well. This required taking it apart (which I didnt mind since I got it so I could do that). The second part of the equation for not being embarassed by my prime is that I put one of the new Jellybean (actually I have tried them all) roms on it. There seems to be no game playing issues or lag with these but since they are prebeta they are missing some features of the hardware.
My boss asked me to recommend a tablet for her after she saw my prime with dock in action at a meeting. I told her to get an Ipad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to elaborate on the grounding issue? Are you talking those small spongy things?
dagrim1 said:
Care to elaborate on the grounding issue? Are you talking those small spongy things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. We figured out forever ago that they carry continuity, so they're essentially a wire going to the case for grounding.
Or so I gather.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD via my tethered HTC Vision