Related
After 2 defective launch ATP's, yesterday I finally got a almost perfect unit with dock. My first 2 Primes from Gamestop were a nightmare. They both had every problem reported. The Prime I bought is fantastic. Even the GPS works perfect w/o WiFi. No lag or anything even with the Killer Whale pacing back and forth. No FC's or restarts with ICS. I Love it.
No problems with the camera and flash.
The only 2 problems that bother me is that, no matter what video player I use the audio always lags through Bluetooth and WiFi and Bluetooth do NOT work at the same time. I really enjoy this Prime because the resolution is perfect for my emulators. Anything higher would cause some of my movies and emulators to look like garbage. The Prime and dock really are a premium product as long as you get one that works. Thank You everyone and Gary Key for pushing Asus to finally put out a world class product.
So moral of the story: 1 out of 3 chances you will get the product you paid for.
I think Asus has stepped up their quality control recently.
What is your serial (only the first 5/6 letters)
So did you get your 3rd TP from GameStop as well or did you purchase it from somewhere else?
So this is very very interesting as it is the second thread that someone has posted indicating a "perfect" prime.
The first thread, I was like "BS" due to the fact that the OP really didn't say anything afterwards. It could, perhaps, be that Asus finally observed the issues with the QC and finally made corrections. After bringing back 2 primes because of backlight bleed, perhaps its time to make another run.
I would like to see the first 3-6 letters of the Serial number, also, if you have the chance a picture of a black background with no backlight bleed. After all, I think you owe it to us to provide some sort of "proof" considering your claims. You just can't come on here and say, "I have a perfect prime" with nothing to show for it when we have so much other material to work from that indicates the Prime is a horrible piece of hardware.
Sure he can. Why not? Why would he owe you anything in that respect?
I think what it boils down to is quality control issues, so it's the luck of the draw... just like there are bad/weak ones coming out, the probability is that there will be ones with no issues as well, and it seems he was able to find one of those.
I mean, mine is as "near-perfect" as it seems to get too... no lockups, the wifi works well, as does the GPS (I don't think it would hold up in real time navigation, but it picks up about 12 sats in a short period of time indoors on the ground floor of my house.) And, it has very negligible light bleed.
That being said, this is my 3rd prime (the previous two I returned due to quality issues - dead pixel, bad light bleed on one of them)
The interesting thing is, I upgraded both of those previous primes to ICS before I returned them (I figured "why not" since they were going back to the store anyways - if they start locking up, no problem). I upgraded them both to ICS without any issues, and used them about 2-3 days each before returning them... not a single lockup on either of them
I'm now on my 3rd prime (all WW SKU), and given that the previous 2 upgraded no problem, I decided to upgrade this one as well. I did, and it's been rock solid.
My friend has one as well, also upgraded to ICS. Also no issues.
So for the record, there's 4 that upgraded to ICS no problem.
QUOTE=Pubnum;22095318] After all, I think you owe it to us to provide some sort of "proof" considering your claims. You just can't come on here and say, "I have a perfect prime" with nothing to show for it when we have so much other material to work from that indicates the Prime is a horrible piece of hardware.[/QUOTE]
My 3rd prime is perfect as well. The gps is weak but it at least works. Not a big issue to me. I think I have fixed the lag-i\o issues as well.
I have a perfect prime n not showing y'all a damn thanggg...lmfao. if you want to be short sighted n believe all the negative stuff then do so. We just just continue to enjoy our devices as we see fit. PRIME is an Excellent piece of hardware when done properly. If it wasn't, I been would've returned mines. Fact for me is, it works great in my day to day use.
I just bought a used prime yesterday on graiglist for $350. Iwas not aware of all issue this table has. I bought like new in box condition and now checking all theproblems list i am happy to say that mine is perfect. No backlight issue, amazing wifi range as good has my laptop, gps connect in a second without wifi, serial number show corret. Im in love with this and getting rid of my useless touchpad
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Ill believe in a perfectly working prime when I see it lol
cyi1 said:
Ill believe in a perfectly working prime when I see it lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, I'm going to wait about two weeks then make another run at it. Lightbleed is the number 1 issue in my book.
skygunner27 said:
The only thing that bothers me is that, no matter what video player I use the audio always lags through Bluetooth. Can someone tell me how to fix this or suggest a video player with subtitles that doesn't suffer from this delay? Youtube and Netflix work perfect with Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this same problem with my original Transformer, with Netflix and my Motorola S9-HD headphones. I never did resolve it, so I simply started using wired headphones.
Bottom line, I don't think this is a Prime-specific issue...
Mine works fine. My GPS reception is mediocre, but it does work. Everything else is perfect.
You guys need to understand that defective products exist. I recently got a galaxy nexus and the phone had awful reception. Dropped connections every 20 minutes or less. Got verizon to replace it with a new phone which works perfectly.
Mine is also fine. Barely any light bleed, GPS not great, and one miniscule bright spot on the screen (not a dead pixel). Everything else is gravy.
pdanders said:
Mine works fine. My GPS reception is mediocre, but it does work. Everything else is perfect.
You guys need to understand that defective products exist. I recently got a galaxy nexus and the phone had awful reception. Dropped connections every 20 minutes or less. Got verizon to replace it with a new phone which works perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We agree that defective products exist. But Asus is clearly having an issue with quality control. And it isn't an issue with just a small few. 90% of them have backlight bleed issues. If you think you don't, you're probably not looking hard enough.
What it really comes down to is what you personally are willing to live with. My prime is great, wifi is strong, gps works (locked on 5 sats last night) however it has a single dead pixel. Is this a game breaker? No. My first prime had 2 bright areas and 2 dark areas. This was a game breaker. I returned it and ordered a new one. Now the new one has a dead pixel however when actually using the prime I don't notice one single dead pixel.
If you can live with the issues you have with your Prime, great. Use the hell out of the TFP and give it great word of mouth. If you have a defective unit and you can't live with the defects by all means return it. I would never advise anyone to do otherwise. I'm a giant advocate for not accepting poor service or quality. I worked the last 4 years doing QA, I know how things go.
However if you can't seem to find your perfect TFP, let it go. Find another device and just move on. We understand your frustration but continually badmouthing something others like/love will only cause contempt and discord.
This is not directed at anyone in particular.
TLDR: If you have a good TFP great, if its defective sorry return it and move on.
Hyflex said:
What is your serial (only the first 5/6 letters)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BCOKAS
Pubnum said:
So this is very very interesting as it is the second thread that someone has posted indicating a "perfect" prime.
The first thread, I was like "BS" due to the fact that the OP really didn't say anything afterwards. It could, perhaps, be that Asus finally observed the issues with the QC and finally made corrections. After bringing back 2 primes because of backlight bleed, perhaps its time to make another run.
I would like to see the first 3-6 letters of the Serial number, also, if you have the chance a picture of a black background with no backlight bleed. After all, I think you owe it to us to provide some sort of "proof" considering your claims. You just can't come on here and say, "I have a perfect prime" with nothing to show for it when we have so much other material to work from that indicates the Prime is a horrible piece of hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I'll take a pic later to show no bleeding. I'm not sure why you don't believe me. Look at my previous posts here. I'm probably the last person on Earth to give the ATP praise. This is the first positive thing I've said about the Prime....and it was hard for me to do so, with all the negative posts I have made about my past experiences.
seeknom said:
Sure he can. Why not? Why would he owe you anything in that respect?
I think what it boils down to is quality control issues, so it's the luck of the draw... just like there are bad/weak ones coming out, the probability is that there will be ones with no issues as well, and it seems he was able to find one of those.
I mean, mine is as "near-perfect" as it seems to get too... no lockups, the wifi works well, as does the GPS (I don't think it would hold up in real time navigation, but it picks up about 12 sats in a short period of time indoors on the ground floor of my house.) And, it has very negligible light bleed.
That being said, this is my 3rd prime (the previous two I returned due to quality issues - dead pixel, bad light bleed on one of them)
The interesting thing is, I upgraded both of those previous primes to ICS before I returned them (I figured "why not" since they were going back to the store anyways - if they start locking up, no problem). I upgraded them both to ICS without any issues, and used them about 2-3 days each before returning them... not a single lockup on either of them
I'm now on my 3rd prime (all WW SKU), and given that the previous 2 upgraded no problem, I decided to upgrade this one as well. I did, and it's been rock solid.
My friend has one as well, also upgraded to ICS. Also no issues.
So for the record, there's 4 that upgraded to ICS no problem.
QUOTE=Pubnum;22095318] After all, I think you owe it to us to provide some sort of "proof" considering your claims. You just can't come on here and say, "I have a perfect prime" with nothing to show for it when we have so much other material to work from that indicates the Prime is a horrible piece of hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed my bezel seems a lot tighter than my previous primes. I think that has something to do with backlight bleeding.
The Prime on display also had no backlight bleeding. I had made arrangement to take the display model if my Prime had bleeding.
shep211 said:
My 3rd prime is perfect as well. The gps is weak but it at least works. Not a big issue to me. I think I have fixed the lag-i\o issues as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice.
eduardmc said:
I just bought a used prime yesterday on graiglist for $350. Iwas not aware of all issue this table has. I bought like new in box condition and now checking all theproblems list i am happy to say that mine is perfect. No backlight issue, amazing wifi range as good has my laptop, gps connect in a second without wifi, serial number show corret. Im in love with this and getting rid of my useless touchpad
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastic.
wynand32 said:
I had this same problem with my original Transformer, with Netflix and my Motorola S9-HD headphones. I never did resolve it, so I simply started using wired headphones.
Bottom line, I don't think this is a Prime-specific issue...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really hope I find a fix soon. I need Bluetooth to work for all my movies and anime.
MOD64 said:
So did you get your 3rd TP from GameStop as well or did you purchase it from somewhere else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bestbuy.
How are you guys testing your gps? What I do to test is open google maps so I can get a map of my area. Then I drive around the block and see if I'm being tracked real time.
I drove around here in Anchorage with a constant lock on 8. There is a discrepancy of about 65 feet. Can someone pleaase help me with Bluetooth audio delay during video playback? This delay does not happen with Youtube or Netflix. It only happens with every video player I use. Asus wants me to RMA. There's no way I'm giving up this Prime!!!
Someone is offering me $450 for my Transformer Prime with the Keyboard dock. I am tempted to accept it, and wait for the prime or another tablet.
My problem with my tablet are the very weak wifi connection (for example, I cannot play HD videos on my TP whereas my EVO 4G plays the same videos with no problem at all, 3mb download while my computer gets 12mb), the lack of GPS connectivity (I have never been able to view a single satellite using GPS test), and I hate that ASUS chose to put only one speaker, which makes listening not really pleasant.
Do you think I should accept it or should I hope that ASUS will find a way to amke things better on the TP?
I don't know what kind of issues you have had, but I guess the question is do they make the tablet unusable for you, or do they just irritate you because you paid a premium for a high end tablet and (quite rightfully) expect it to work as advertised ? I ordered my Prime back in December, Amazon was out of stock and I had to wait, during the wait I read up on all the issues and seriously considered cancelling my order, but decided to give it a chance, Amazon's no hassle return policy helped a lot in this regard. I'm glad I decided to give it a whirl because the Prime meets my needs and is going to allow me to lighten up the gadget load while travelling, by replacing one of my laptops, my Kindle and potentially my iPod.
I have had my Prime for all of 8 days and so far I am pleased. The thing OTA'd itself to Sammich and presumably applied the wi-fi and GPS patches at that time. From what I have seen the wi-fi range isn't stunning, but it's more than adequate. The Wi-Fi King at my house is my little Toshiba NB201, it out ranges every other device we have in the place and it typically runs 3-8 db stronger than the Prime. But the Prime is right there with my iPod Touch, and seems a bit stronger than my wife's Toshiba laptop. GPS is so so, and that's not a real issue for me, but it'll lock up pretty quickly outside, and within 30 seconds in the house. I can't complain much about that. I have seen some of the other issues that people complain about, the browser was pretty dodgy for a couple of days after the Sammich update, I also noticed screen flicker after playing Spirit off the Market, but both those issues appear to have either fixed themselves, or the Prime pulled a fast one and updated without telling me. Either way they are fixed. I'd be hard pressed to take a $250-$350 hit unless the tablet was just unusable for my intended purpose. I hope this helps and good luck with your Prime, if you keep it make sure you hold Asus feet to the fire to get it fixed.
tablet and keyboard for $450 and you still thinking about it. Even if you don't want to keep it you can make profit out of it
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Yep, I'd buy it off of you for that too. Why don't you throw in a SquareTrade warranty in and make this a perfect deal?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
I was considering accepting because I am right now disappointed by the fact that I cannot watch HD videos on the net and, frankly, if a device is wifi only, the wifi connection should not suffer any weakness, and in my case, it makes me feel I have a useless device if I cannot do my favorite things on it. Also the fact that ASUS is releasing a new version of the transformer with a different back plate makes me think they now there is a problem with the current device and they are not able to fix it. But on second thought, I will keep it and hope ASUS does something to improve my experience.
Wendemixda said:
I was considering accepting because I am right now disappointed by the fact that I cannot watch HD videos on the net and, frankly, if a device is wifi only, the wifi connection should not suffer any weakness, and in my case, it makes me feel I have a useless device if I cannot do my favorite things on it. Also the fact that ASUS is releasing a new version of the transformer with a different back plate makes me think they now there is a problem with the current device and they are not able to fix it. But on second thought, I will keep it and hope ASUS does something to improve my experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol the TF700 is just hteir "next" product that won't be out until the summer. People have also proved that hte case isn't what caused the issue. It's a bad connection to the antennas.
That said, the tablet plus dock cost $650. Are you saying you'd accept $200 less than what it costs???
nhshah7 said:
Lol the TF700 is just hteir "next" product that won't be out until the summer. People have also proved that hte case isn't what caused the issue. It's a bad connection to the antennas.
That said, the tablet plus dock cost $650. Are you saying you'd accept $200 less than what it costs???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone would have to be a fool to accept that kind of loss....lmfao device still brand new...
Quick question on the serial number sticker on the bottom of the transformer prime. If that sticker has been peeled off, does the warranty still apply? The serial number is viewable in the android settings, but I just wanted to be sure.
Its still valid. Plus there's probably somewhere inside prime shell that has it also.
There hasn't been any cases of warranty being denied for some cheap lil flimsy serial number sticker. It isn't even that sticky..lol
Only issue there was was of a place of business trying to deny someone a return based on serial number sticker missing. Serial number can easily be seen inside settings and there's other ways to determine serial number. So I wouldn't worry about it. Best thing would be to remove the sticker and put it in a safe place. I lost my sticker like in the first week or 2. Not worried at all about it
I assumed as much. I'm sending mine in for RMA due to multiple hot pixels (at least 3 very distinct spots, and 1 that is starting to look like a 4th and getting worse). The sticked peeled off almost a week after a bought it just from use. Definitely right about the stickers being flimsy as hell.
Check your warranty card as well. It should have your serial number in there.
Mines didnt come with serial number afixedto device at all only on warranty card and the box itself .Now my ? How do you determine dead pixels ?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Eddy315west said:
Mines didnt come with serial number afixedto device at all only on warranty card and the box itself .Now my ? How do you determine dead pixels ?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just look at them. If they are black they are normally dead. If they are stuck on one color then that is a stuck pixel. Sometimes they can be stuck on black too.
Thanks guess im lucky no dead pixels
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Mine weren't so much dead pixels, or stuck pixels for that matter. Mine looks more like something pressing into the screen from the other side and causing brightness. Other threads have called these hot pixels due to the fact that it's a clump of a few pixels together that appear "hotter" than the surrounding pixels.
I just ran a pixel app now switch to a black background and noticed a hotspot area .not a big deal to me to rma though. But luckily i still have 14 days to return to store for full refund . But i love it so much idc and thanks for the explanation
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Shredda said:
Mine weren't so much dead pixels, or stuck pixels for that matter. Mine looks more like something pressing into the screen from the other side and causing brightness. Other threads have called these hot pixels due to the fact that it's a clump of a few pixels together that appear "hotter" than the surrounding pixels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have three of these areas as well :-( i also have non existent er saw a single one. Does warranty cover these "hot" pixels? I want to send it in but I'm going on a trip march 19 and I'm worried i wont have it back by then.
i don't have just a few hot pixels, i have to 2x2cm hot spots they sent me the RMA information but I'm going to document the **** out of the packaging, how it works before packaging, etc.
lp_stealth said:
I have three of these areas as well :-( i also have non existent er saw a single one. Does warranty cover these "hot" pixels? I want to send it in but I'm going on a trip march 19 and I'm worried i wont have it back by then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, exactly the same boat as you. I leave on the 25th and I have no idea the type of RMA process asus provide in Australia that I will receive my tablet back in time.
The serial number sticker on the Prime is partly detached.
I tried to use some glue, but it's not staying as it should.
What happen if I take it all away and save it in the original box?
Demanadarin can maybe ask "the insiders" at Asus.
Anybody managed to have it "fixed" as it should some how?
Sticker can be removed. Your device knows its serial number and that is what will be checked against in RMA, together with vip.asus.com registration.
I got rid of all my stickers. They are just ugly and are there for ease of use only.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Serious Question, This week I'm getting my 6th and 7th Prime I have went through 5 Primes everyone of them has had issues, other than GPS. I don't really care about GPS, I have a 4.5 inch screen on my phone, and it works fine for GPS. I can deal with a GPS issue. I'm not saying that is the case for everyone especially the early adapters, that bought it for intended use of GPS.
Has the Prime even made it off the shelf without a problem? I have had to return everyone that I have received so far because of really weak WIFI issues or WIFI and Blue-tooth together made my WIFI useless. Luckily I haven't had the rebooting problem yet, I did have to shut it down a couple times because the screen just started going crazy out of nowhere.
These are the Last 2 I will take a chance on, I will wait for the new lenovo or Acer or even the 300 or 700 if these fail its over goodbye Prime have a nice life. Hopefully someday someone will fix you, and turn you into the beast you could be. If someone was really good at modding they could make a lot of money from the community here.
So basically in all seriousness, I wanted to know how many people have actually got a defective free Prime? Be honest!
Well, I only got one Prime, and I returned it becaouse of screen artifacts and a bright pixel. I hope the next will be ok, but since I returned 5 Iconia Tab A501 in the past due to pixel problems... I won't hold my hopes high.
Check my sig vvvvvvv
Sent from my 7th TF201
I got two Prime, and 1 Dock.
One prime for me, one for my younger brother.
Both our prime are fine, except for weak GPS, no screen bleed, Good Wifi(As good as my Asus netbook, and my brother's alienware notebook)
We ordered from Bestbuy if that helps.
There is a topic with poll, 400+ people are satasified with their device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1491431
I've had my Prime since Monday - serial number starts C1. The only problem i've had so far was removing the micro-sd spacer.
(If your micro-sd port is not set square to the primes left hand edge the spacer will rest on the inner edge of the case surrounding the port. Solution - use an electric style screwdriver with a blunt end to press down in one corner and angle out the spacer after activating the spring mechanism.)
Wifi seems better than my HTC Desire, but I haven't checked this with bt.
Nor have I checked the GPS.
No bad pixels.
No light bleed. Though I haven't looked hard!
Browser works fine with good streaming and download speed. (to my untrained eye.)
Charged once for about 5 hours whilst using the Prime attached to the dock, which gave me approx 10 hours of use, including gaming, video, music, browsing and setting up, widgets, apps, preferences, etc before both batteries were fully drained.
Charged it overnight last night and can report 100% charge to both batpacks.
I am finding my feet in ICS as my Desire still runs on v2.2 Their is much more control here, although the layout is familliar it feels like breaking in a new pair of brogues. It will be comfortable eventually! I guess HTC's sensui has a bit to do with the slightly alien feeling I am experiencing on the Prime.
"Touch formica desk" I can declare myself satisfied with an excellent and fully working, problem-free Asus Transformer Prime in glorious Amethyst Grey.
note to self - I must check out the GPS and search for lightbleeds.
Got one prime in January and its been perfect for me ever since. There are some software issues that could be worked out but i'm sure that will come. I dont even have a car so gps? meh.
btw just did my powerpoint presentation yesterday with the prime. It didnt let me down and it went really well. Its just that more subtle if you just have a tablet lying there imho.
Third time luck for me.
The first one had no HDMI output and bad light bleed.
The second had a very yellow screen which eventually stopped working.
I've had the third for a week now and I've had no problems. Everything is perfect.
yup!
I went through 10 Primes total to get a good one. Even so the wifi range is subpar.
At this point I would return the Prime and get a new iPad 3rd gen.
skygunner27 said:
I went through 10 Primes total to get a good one. Even so the wifi range is subpar.
At this point I would return the Prime and get a new iPad 3rd gen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not worth the money imho, ipad3 I mean.
Sent from my 7th TF201
had my first one since 12/22. one of the earliest batches. All it took was the first one for me crazy how some go thru multiple ones.
My Prime was neither defective, nor free.
All seriousness, first Prime, received on 12/21/11, and I've never had any issues.
I'm a serious android freak and have never noticed light bleeds or pixel problems on any of them. Maybe its because I don't look for them idk. If I knew what they looked like I'd probably see one or both on all of my devices (5 tablets and my phone) because I'm mental and have major ocd. So whoever replies to this don't fill me in. Thanks!
Better yet I won't come back.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I have my first prime still. I bought in on Dec 23rd. The last update seems to have fixed my in and out wifi problem. So other than GPS, not working that great, I would have to say its perfect. I do love the Prime.
Defect-free, no problems as of yet. I've had since mid-January.
"Has anyone got a defective free Prime yet?"
I had to pay for mine!
No GPS (which bugs me but isn't really vital) but everything else is perfect and always has been.
No bleed. No dead pixels. OK WiFi. Can stream video & use BT headphones
My only slight issue is the Ally case where the power cord plugs in, has bent very slightly. No idea why or how.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Mine is perfect pretty much.
sometimes it seems like the wifi is slightly weaker - but I think its a placebo effect because I'm waiting for it to mess up.
Don't really use my gps but the 3 or 4 times ive fired up google maps it was right on the dot.
no light bleeds.
Got mine on December 30th and has been perfect since. The one time o tested GPS I got fixes and everything, have not used it since but as soon as I do need it for something I will definitely report how it goes, though who knows when that will be as in over two months I have yet to actually need it for a single thing. My wifi is just fine and has worked perfectly in a plethora of places. I have yet to have a place where I can connect and not been able to.
I can detail the rest but would rather not. My prime has been perfect for me and defect free. I don't consider the tiny amount of light bleed I have in the bottom left corner a defect. I can only see it during bootup which is only during is updates as otherwise I never restart. It is absolutely 100% invisible during all normal usebi have put it through in time of my ownership.
So yeah, first prime and defect free.
My first prime ordered on December 26th the camera did not work, everything else was great. Second prime no issues whatsoever.
1st Prime here- C1. No issues at all, besides GPS. Solved that with Bluetooth2GPS & my Nexus. Was worth every penny to me so far perfect compliment to my phone
Hi,
this morning someone sent me a link from Tom's Hardware about this tablet. The articles mentions that some people have modded their case to improve GPS signals.
I wonder why Asus don't revise this product to address this issue.
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
You DONT even have to do all that anymore. Asus is offering free GPS dongles to people who purchase a prime. Offer ends in July. Just take a look in my GPS dongle test thread. Then take a look at the link in my signature THST says positive transformer thread.
Prime is a great device. Get one asap
Well first of all, I find it hard to believe that the aluminum case is causing 100% of the problem. Because, if it were then like you said, why not just change the design of the backplate? My guess is that simply adding a plastic strip to the top of the backplate would not improve GPS performance that much. And personally I think the plastic strip look is ugly as hell. What they could have done is kept the all aluminum finish and just relocated the antenna to behind a speaker grill, which is similar to what other devices with metal casings have done. I am sure the GPS still wouldn't be 'professional grade' but it would at least be better than what we currently have.
Either way, the whole GPS problem was something that was obviously not 'caught' until really late in the production process. If it were caught earlier, I am sure something more pro-active would have been done about it. But by the time they found out, they were in too deep to make a hardware change as they were most likely already in mass production. The early regions of where the device was released they had already advertised the thing as having GPS, both on the box and on the official spec sheets. Then when it was released these people found out that GPS was virtually non-functional and ASUS had to quickly back track and pull GPS as a feature from the spec list. My guess is their lawyers told them they need to do something to avoid a class action law suit and any further bad press around this whole situation. So their options were:
1) Recall the device and then modify the hardware in some way to fix the GPS problem (whether that be done via a newly designed back pate or whatever). And then any new ones produced would obviously have this hardware change incorporated as well.
2) Offer a free addon that improves GPS performance.
As we now know, they went with option 2, which I am sure was also the cheaper route. Also, option 1 would imply an admission of guilt in that they messed up. The GPS dongle option allows them to say: "Although the TF201 is not a professional GPS device, as part of our unwavering commitment to our customers we are offering all customers who purchased a TF201 system a free external GPS extension kit, called a dongle, which may help improve signal reception and optimize the user experience".
Honestly I do not care about GPS in a tablet and I will probably only ever use my dongle a select few times in the entire span that I own and use the Prime. I do think it is good that ASUS is doing something about it though. Other companies may very well have just brushed this thing under the rug and moved on with life (which is what I assumed ASUS has been doing until we found out about the GPS dongle).
jordache16 said:
Well first of all, I find it hard to believe that the aluminum case is causing 100% of the problem. Because, if it were then like you said, why not just change the design of the backplate? My guess is that simply adding a plastic strip to the top of the backplate would not improve GPS performance that much. And personally I think the plastic strip look is ugly as hell. What they could have done is kept the all aluminum finish and just relocated the antenna to behind a speaker grill, which is similar to what other devices with metal casings have done. I am sure the GPS still wouldn't be 'professional grade' but it would at least be better than what we currently have.
Either way, the whole GPS problem was something that was obviously not 'caught' until really late in the production process. If it were caught earlier, I am sure something more pro-active would have been done about it. But by the time they found out, they were in too deep to make a hardware change as they were most likely already in mass production. The early regions of where the device was released they had already advertised the thing as having GPS, both on the box and on the official spec sheets. Then when it was released these people found out that GPS was virtually non-functional and ASUS had to quickly back track and pull GPS as a feature from the spec list. My guess is their lawyers told them they need to do something to avoid a class action law suit and any further bad press around this whole situation. So their options were:
1) Recall the device and then modify the hardware in some way to fix the GPS problem (whether that be done via a newly designed back pate or whatever). And then any new ones produced would obviously have this hardware change incorporated as well.
2) Offer a free addon that improves GPS performance.
As we now know, they went with option 2, which I am sure was also the cheaper route. Also, option 1 would imply an admission of guilt in that they messed up. The GPS dongle option allows them to say: "Although the TF201 is not a professional GPS device, as part of our unwavering commitment to our customers we are offering all customers who purchased a TF201 system a free external GPS extension kit, called a dongle, which may help improve signal reception and optimize the user experience".
Honestly I do not care about GPS in a tablet and I will probably only ever use my dongle a select few times in the entire span that I own and use the Prime. I do think it is good that ASUS is doing something about it though. Other companies may very well have just brushed this thing under the rug and moved on with life (which is what I assumed ASUS has been doing until we found out about the GPS dongle).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1...although the solution of a GPS dongle really kills the idea of a TRANSFORMER prime...cant use it with the keyboard dock, and its not as flush and they said it is..you wont be able to use majority of the leather cases and etc when you are using the dongle
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
proxus01 said:
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
kwazytazz said:
+1...although the solution of a GPS dongle really kills the idea of a TRANSFORMER prime...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really - now it can TRANSFORM into a 'professional grade' GPS device! ;-)
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
jordache16 said:
why not just change the design of the backplate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are, for the 300 and 700 series, back to plastic where the radios are going. iPad tried behind the speaker grille and it still has issues. Its better than nothing but def not perfect.
Yes, the black strip doesnt always look as appealing, however you could cover it with a case or carbon fiber sticker or whatever, i'd much rather go for plastic strip over no radio reception.
And also yes, the interference can definately be 10000% caused by the metalic back plate. Both by blocking the signal and RF noise. Everything pretty much is grounded to the metal back and it, in turn, has a lot of RF noise associated with it. If i attach a lead to the gps or wifi contact inside the tablet and have the wire run outside the tab i get excellent reception. Once that wire goes within about an inch of the tablet the signal drops dramatically. Even if the access point is on the proper side of the tablet so its not blocking the signal.
Asus knows how to make killer electronics. they did an amazing job on the prime, however the demand caught them off guard. They tried to do something different with the metalic design and got caught with their pants down. They will get it right eventually and in the mean time we are at least getting SOMETHING (free dongle for gps, why not?)
The prime is a great tablet, awesome for watching movies, playing games, browsing the internet. ya, the wifi is not that great, i look forward to mods for using the dongle for wifi instead of GPS, but in the mean time this is the best we got, and its good enough. When the 700 comes out i may sell my prime for that but i got money in my pocket. if your on a budget, buy the TF101, its still better than any other tablet (aside from the 201 IMO), or wait for the 300 series which will still be a cost efficent tablet.
Asus is doing their best to remedy this situation. They are a big company and big machines move slow. Considering their track record i will still continue buying their products. I have been impressed overall by the prime, and the 101 before it, and look forward to the 700 when it comes out. Continue doing your research and determine what is going to be important for you (and if you do go Prime make damn sure to test it every way you can before accepting it).
proxus01 said:
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me.
proxus01 said:
I have owned the prime for months. My wifi strength is fine and I dont use GPS enough to justify the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SoTacMatt said:
Same here.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
texstar said:
Same for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here..lmao
my wifi been been performing great where ever i go. whether at home, traveling and tethering, or some where else and hooking up to another public or private network.
The worst problem with the prime is the constant freezes it has...
It`s frustrating.
Tried all the browsers people recommend and the problem persists.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA