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There’s been a lot of discussion about just how bad the Prime’s GPS is, especially for navigation, with some folks claiming theirs is “working.” There have even been claims it works in a moving car and someone posted this pic as proof.
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Six out of nine satellites with a 90’ accuracy while the Prime is completely horizontal on the dashboard and smashed forward against the windshield is piss poor and by no means a realistic example. If that’s the best it can do, it’s unusable for navigation. And that’s using GPS Test, not real navigation s/w.
I took these three vids today using a G-Tab to show what navigation typically looks like. I use navigation a lot while traveling and the Zoom and Jetstream perform identically. In other words there’s nothing special about the G-Tab or its performance in these videos. And I intentionally used different routes that changed directions so that no one can say "but..." Navigation shouldn’t be hard and you should never have to question its performance. It should just work. This also isn't to show how great the G-Tab is, but to help you guys understand what your expectations should be of GPS and navigation on a tablet, any tablet.
CoPilot
1) Cold Boot
2) Flight Mode On
CoPilot doesn’t require either a 3G or Wi-Fi connection to work at any time. All the data it relies on is stored locally. In this example the G-Tab ran solely on its stand-alone GPS from start to finish. The G-Tab’s sitting on the passenger seat which is where it usually is when I use it rental cars on the road. The direction it’s facing changes numerous times so its ability to maintain a satellite fix isn’t dependent on being in a particular position. At 2:35 you’ll see it navigate an S turn. If accuracy was any higher than 15’ that would be impossible. Throughout the video you’ll see how accurately it keeps position and changes direction as the car does. At 6:19 I intentionally go off route. It corrects so quickly you have to look at the orientation of Ash Street to even notice. The same thing happens again at 7:50. And for the finale you can see the tablet fall off the seat of the car in a turn. G-Tab’s are sturdy.
Google Navigation 1
1) Cold Boot
2) 3G On (to download route guidance)
3) Start Google Navigation
4) 3G Off
The maps are cached but Google Navigation needs to download the driving directions via 3G or Wi-Fi. Once downloaded it can navigate from GPS alone. That’s what this vid shows. You can see how accurate the positioning is based on how well Google Nav keeps up with the car’s position; especially approaching turns. The car changes position multiple times and you can see it passing under bridges and overpasses without losing the signal. At 4:19 watch how accurately it navigates a curve. At 5:18 watch the car’s position change at a turn and how well Google Nav keeps up with it.
Google Navigation 2
1) Cold Boot
2) Flight Mode On
3) GPS Test (1:10 – 1:45, 10 out of 10 satellites and 15’ accuracy in 35 seconds)
4) Flight Mode Off
5) Google Nav downloads driving directions
6) Flight Mode On
Like the first Google Nav vid, it never misses a beat. But why would it? It’s maintaining 15’ accuracy consistently.
So comparing against the pic of the Prime on the dashboard you can see just how bad the GPS in the Prime is compared to a G-Tab (and other tablets) So while everyone beats there head against the wall trying to prove it works you can also see how futile that is. Even a 50% improvement would be half of what the G-Tab’s (or Zoom, or Jetstream) capable of. And I use navigation sometimes twice a week in cities in the U.S. and Europe. If the G-Tab was operating at 50% it would be useless to me (and you too). So god's speed to the developers and to those hoping for an ICS fix. In all my time on XDA I’ve never seen s/w fully overcome a h/w problem. And this my friends is a h/w problem. Anyone else that's used a tablet for navigation feel free to share your expereinces and how they compare to what I've shown.
PSA: Spokane's a podunk town. I strongly recommend against shooting video in a moving car on busy streets.
While I agree you pay $500 for a working tablet with GPS... on the other flipside,who the F uses a tablet for GPS. Use your phone or buy a garmin god damnit. It's just not practical to use a tab.
chugger93 said:
While I agree you pay $500 for a working tablet with GPS... on the other flipside,who the F uses a tablet for GPS. Use your phone or buy a garmin god damnit. It's just not practical to use a tab.
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You do whatever you want. For me, and probably others, using a tablet for GPS makes sense. Here's some of the advantages:
1) It's got a bigger screen which is easier to see when you're driving.
2) A lot of the tablified GPS apps have a split screen mode which makes it easier to navigate at turns and on expressway on and off ramps.
3) Tablets have better GPS chips and antennas so they're more accurate (ironic, isn't it).
4) The battery on a tablet's a lot bigger than a phone so it'll last three times as long if it's not plugged in.
5) Using a tablet vs. a phone doesn't drain the phone's battery while you're on the road.
6) The phone's free to make and receive Bluetooth calls.
I posted the vids only to give people that even care about navigation something to benchmark against. I could care less what people choose to use for navigation or if they don't care about GPS at all. I'd assume the latter group would have no interest in this thread anyway (hint).
Have you tried using a 7" tablet for car nav? How would legibility fare against a 10"? Seems to me that it would be easier to mount a 7" in a location more in front of the driver, as opposed to a center location where you have to turn your head and look.
oh man not again
we know. I bought it and kept it anyways.
BTW, have an Ipad 3g. Never used navigation on it without it being wired to the internet, 3g or tethered. Will be the exact same with tf201.
AND, now, my phone has google maps. this way, I can still watch old Billy Mays infomertials on youtube whilst navigation with the phone.
just don't buy it dude. put it on craiglist and get something else.
Now is the time to be looking for or finding a solution. Or seeing what Asus is going to do about it. this is beating a dead horse. already known GPS sux, even Asus admitted. So instead of dragging the issue out, which is widely known, lets focus more of solving the problem vs. just keep talking about how bad it is.
e.mote said:
Have you tried using a 7" tablet for car nav? How would legibility fare against a 10"? Seems to me that it would be easier to mount a 7" in a location more in front of the driver, as opposed to a center location where you have to turn your head and look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me, 7" is too close to the size of my phone. I mostly use the tablet for video, web, news and stuff like that while I'm traveling so I like the extra real estate. With 5.3", 7", 7.7", 8", 8.9", 10", and 11.6", it really comes down to personal preference.
demandarin said:
So instead of dragging the issue out, which is widely known, lets focus more of solving the problem vs. just keep talking about how bad it is.
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Click to collapse
So without an example of "good," how would you know how bad "bad" is and what a working threshold is? Also, people trying to use Google Nav to do some of their own testing couldn't figure it out. At least they can now see how it works. And some people who haven't seen a tablet navigate might find watching one in action interesting.
Again, with no interest in GPS, I don't understand why anyone would keep extending a thread on it just to let the world know (once again) they don't care. It's important enough to some people that they returned their Prime's over it so it's not like no one cares.
Hmm, that's a good demo of Co-Pilot for me. Although, I think I prefer the graphic of Sygic... But yea, pretty accurate demo of GPS navigation on a tablet.
Btw, I noticed some significant lag with your G-Tab....
You've listed Moto/Samsung/HTC as tabs with good GPS. Not sure about the Jetstream, but both the GTabs and Xoom also have dual-band wifi. I don't think it's a coincidence that all these are also phone vendors. Their tablets tend to be better designed, and unsurprisingly, cost more.
Despite the shiny iPad-like shell, the TF201 is pretty similar in build quality and price to the TF101 and other "mainstream" tabs. Even without a metal shell, I wouldn't bank on GPS performance for any of the non-phone vendors' units.
Connectivity is something these tab vendors will need to improve. Most of the issues listed with the Prime (and to a lesser extent, with 1st-gen Droid tabs) are about I/O: HDMI, bluetooth, USB, wifi, GPS.
Some of the blame lies with the OS. Frankly, I'm looking forward to Win8 tabs if only for Windows' proven connectivity.
shinzz said:
Btw, I noticed some significant lag with your G-Tab....
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Blame me, not the G-Tab. I have a ton of stuff syncing and widgets that dependent on outside data so booting takes a while. It's 3G so it's always connected so it's not an issue in daily use. It's actually worse in airplane more because everything looking for a signal does and has to fail before the UI’s normal again.
Thanks for making this thread, maybe it will shut up those that swear their GPS is working flawlessly lmao.
A lot of people use a tablet for GPS. Just because you don't see yourself using it doesn't mean everyone should also not use a tablet for GPS...
I don't use GPS at all for anything but I could see how many people would like to use it, especially for their jobs.
jzen said:
Thanks for making this thread, maybe it will shut up those that swear their GPS is working flawlessly lmao.
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Click to collapse
Part of the issue is everyone seems to have a different definition of "working." The guy with the Prime on his dashboard swears his is "working." If people watch even short segments of the video it shows how important precision is for accuracy. And the difference between 90' and 15' hurling along an expressway at 70MPH looking for an exit is the difference between making it and not.
e.mote said:
You've listed Moto/Samsung/HTC as tabs with good GPS. Not sure about the Jetstream, but both the GTabs and Xoom also have dual-band wifi. I don't think it's a coincidence that all these are also phone vendors. Their tablets tend to be better designed, and unsurprisingly, cost more.
Despite the shiny iPad-like shell, the TF201 is pretty similar in build quality and price to the TF101 and other "mainstream" tabs. Even without a metal shell, I wouldn't bank on GPS performance for any of the non-phone vendors' units.
Connectivity is something these tab vendors will need to improve. Most of the issues listed with the Prime (and to a lesser extent, with 1st-gen Droid tabs) are about I/O: HDMI, bluetooth, USB, wifi, GPS.
Some of the blame lies with the OS. Frankly, I'm looking forward to Win8 tabs if only for Windows' proven connectivity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm, can you tell me how dual-band WIFI helps with GPS?
Jetstream and Xoom has better design over TF101?
Last I checked, all these vendors use similar GPS chip (btw, Asus is releasing padfone.. doesn't that qualify Asus and phone vendor?)
shinzz said:
Umm, can you tell me how dual-band WIFI helps with GPS?
Jetstream and Xoom has better design over TF101?
Last I checked, all these vendors use similar GPS chip (btw, Asus is releasing padfone.. doesn't that qualify Asus and phone vendor?)
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Click to collapse
I got the point of what he's saying. Asus has far fewer products dependent on far fewer radio combinations than a manufacturer that builds phones does. Motorola, Samsung, and HTC sell tens of millions of mobile devices equipped with multiple radios. It makes sense that their experience makes a difference in the finished product.
>Jetstream and Xoom has better design over TF101?
I don't know about the Jetstream, but the Xoom is better constructed. It has none of the build-quality issues that occurred with the Acer/Asus/Toshiba tablets. You can verify by scanning the start of the respective tablets' general forums for complaint frequency.
The GTab has some issues, eg the "Newton rings". But in overall volume of complaints, it's a still only slight second to Xoom. The largest by far is the Prime, followed by Acer A500, then Asus TF101.
There are other models with worse issues, eg the Iconia A100 with terrible screen & battery life, but they aren't as popular, so complaints are fewer.
>Last I checked, all these vendors use similar GPS chip
Consumers tend to obsess over chips and specs, eg quad-core. For GPS, antenna and overall system design matters more, or even most. For other aspects, the proof is real-world app performance.
>(btw, Asus is releasing padfone.. doesn't that qualify Asus and phone vendor?)
Dell sold a phone as well. That doesn't make it a phone vendor.
e.mote said:
I don't know about the Jetstream
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The Jetstream's built like a tank. And it's as big as one and weighs as much too. I wanted to like it and Sense on a tablet was cool, but it just wasn't comfortable to carry around or even hold.
The GTab has some issues, eg the "Newton rings".
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Click to collapse
That is the biggest complaint. Samsung changed the screen design in October so newer G-Tabs don't have the issue. The other biggest "discussion" is the love/hate relationship with TouchWiz.
the proof is real-world app performance.
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^^^^^
This. Always.
Dell sold a phone as well. That doesn't make it a phone vendor.
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Click to collapse
And if the PadPhone fares as well as Dell's phone attempts sell your Asus stock. I love the concept of the PadPhone, just not from Asus.
People who use a tablet for gps, please post a sign on your windshield or something. Cause I would sure love to drive in front of you and when you look down at you tablet gps on the passenger side, slam my brakes and get paid by your insurance. Easy win. "Officer it's not my fault. I bet you he took his eyes off the road to play with the gps on his tablet". CHA-CHING!!
Better yet, why not set up a 22 inch monitor on the dash and have your phone output to the monitor. Instant ultimate GPS!! BAM!!
Of course this is all fun and games
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201
I'm a bit confused by the videos and such. I appreciate you making them, but what are you comparing them to? Is it to the picture of someone's prime?
I don't really see how that is accurate at all. Was the photo shown the best possible accuracy anyone with a prime has ever had? There are so many variables here that are out of your control that is there is no way you could claim this as proof that the prime's GPS in extremely bad.
I'm not trying to argue that the prime's GPS is fine, I just don't see how this test proves anything. Show a prime next to you galaxy tab in these videos to show that there is in fact a difference if you want to claim such, otherwise it doesn't support your argument at all.
unxconformed said:
I'm not trying to argue that the prime's GPS is fine, I just don't see how this test proves anything. Show a prime next to you galaxy tab in these videos to show that there is in fact a difference if you want to claim such, otherwise it doesn't support your argument at all.
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Click to collapse
Well, with two different nav programs, GPS Test, and multiple different driving scenarios, you've witnessed what a typical tablet using GPS is capable of without depending on Wi-Fi. Can the Prime pass any of those tests? Until it can, no one can say the Prime’s GPS is “working.” Besides, now that the bootloader’s unlocked I’m sure the devs are going to look at GPS. They now have a bogie. But having used tablets for GPS all over the world, anything less than 75% of the performance shown in the vids isn’t usable for driving navigation. The G-Tab even becomes a bear in thunderstorms.
P.S. - The best performance of a moving Prime is in the pic in my original post. And since it's a still vs. a video I'm guessing that's the best it could do, not the worst.
This is for the people Satisfied with their device. People that are happy with device. THE ones who were glad to make their purchase and would do it all over again. Basically for those with a more Positive outlook on life n doesn't let little things get to them
This thread will be an expansion of the Positive Transformer Thread going in a more detailed direction. I'm sure a majority of you, like myself are tired of all the complaint threads about what Prime doesn't do well or not at all. Soo.....
This thread is to list "What does work great on your Prime". Also how does Prime help you in day to day functionality? Like examples of the Prime being very useful or coming in handy in everyday scenarios. How do your friends, family, and peers react when showing off the power of Prime? What are some standout features on Prime? Positive stories n testimonials fully welcomed. All others will be Charbroiled! Lol
So you can see the direction this thread is trying to take. To expand on the great form factor and functionality of a device that works well for you. With so many issue threads, its time to expand on the flip side, the Majority side, that most here in Xda actually love their device and keeping it.
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There's more than enough complaint threads as there is. This is another way of letting new people know that things on the surface aren't always what it seems. There's a flip side to every story.
"EVERYTHING IS NOT AS GOOD AS IT SEEMS AND EVERYTHING NOT AS BAD AS IT SEEMS, SOMEWHERE IN-BETWEEN, REALITY FALLS" Remember that with anything in life
Update: We now have Official Bootloader Unlock Tool. More reason to be happy to own a Prime. Custom roms will be here b4 you know it!
Everything works on my prime except GPS. Serial # BC, still running .11 stock.
I sit at a computer all day for my job, so I really just wanted a device that I could plop into bed with to surf the web and watch videos. In that respect, the Prime is perfect. Web browsing is as fast or faster than my netbook, and I really like physically interacting with web pages - a touch interface is the way to browse the web, IMO.
Considering I have yet to use my prime while not laying in bed, functional GPS is obviously a non-issue for me. This is a good thing, since the GPS on mine is entirely broken.
My biggest concern was WiFi performance, but I have to say I've never noticed a problem. I sit fairly close to my router in my small studio apartment, so it's possible I've never gone far enough away from it to notice signal degradation. However, I can routinely achieve speeds of > 15Mb / 5Mb down/up anywhere in my apartment, which is more than sufficient for my means.
Gaming was another big selling point for me, and not much needs to be said about the Tegra 3. Thing is a beast. We all know Android doesn't even fully utilize that horsepower, so I'm pretty excited to see what the dev community comes up with after we unlock the BL
Finally, I love the form factor. The thinness and lightness of the TP astounds me every day. And signal attenuation aside, I love the spun aluminum case. It looks and feels premium, durable and high quality. I may be an Android fanboy, but I have to give Apple props for their solid build quality - now I have to give Asus props as well, because the TP is probably the prettiest piece of Kit I've seen in the Android world so far.
I've been very happy with my unit so far. I know I got lucky by avoiding many of the most serious problems - lockups and whatnot - but in many ways I'm impressed that ICS has as few problems as it does, what with being brand new and all that. In contrast, I had to engage in a much greater level of hackery with my Epic 4g to get it to a workable condition, and that was after Froyo had already been out for almost a year.
Picked up my C1-serial Prime end of January at BestBuy.
Mine basically has no usable GPS to speak of. It works outdoors for geo-location to about 50', but loses lock as fast as it gets it. Navigation is impossible. But, I knew that going in and didn't care that GPS might be problematic. I looked at it as a "value added feature that might not work". My box doesn't state GPS as a feature anyhow, so I can't complain too loud.
Beyond that, everything else is pure awesome. I have a 17" widescreen laptop that is more of a desktop replacement than a laptop, and it's definitely not that portable (The battery dies in about 90 minutes of use without being plugged in, even on the "power saving" setting in Win7) so having the prime for web surfing and reading on the couch or in bed is awesome.
I haven't come across a task that I couldn't perform on the Prime that I could on my laptop. Sure, some things are more difficult to accomplish on the tablet (Especially since I don't have the keyboard dock for it ... yet) but I could still do them in a pinch. I even used TurboTax online on it and managed to get my taxes done.
I like that Polaris Office is installed as well, as it gives a quick way to view MS office documents out of the box when needed. I usually just import them to my Google Docs, but if I'm even in a location without 'net access, it's nice to have something that works offline.
The other thing I REALLY appreciate is OTA updates. My Galaxy S phone never had that until I migrated to CM7, and I'm missing OTA horribly on it too since I moved to CM9. Not having to tether to keep it updated is pure awesome.
I can't say enough good things about this device.
anti09 said:
Everything works on my prime except GPS. Serial # BC, still running .11 stock.
I sit at a computer all day for my job, so I really just wanted a device that I could plop into bed with to surf the web and watch videos. In that respect, the Prime is perfect. Web browsing is as fast or faster than my netbook, and I really like physically interacting with web pages - a touch interface is the way to browse the web, IMO.
Considering I have yet to use my prime while not laying in bed, functional GPS is obviously a non-issue for me. This is a good thing, since the GPS on mine is entirely broken.
My biggest concern was WiFi performance, but I have to say I've never noticed a problem. I sit fairly close to my router in my small studio apartment, so it's possible I've never gone far enough away from it to notice signal degradation. However, I can routinely achieve speeds of > 15Mb / 5Mb down/up anywhere in my apartment, which is more than sufficient for my means.
Gaming was another big selling point for me, and not much needs to be said about the Tegra 3. Thing is a beast. We all know Android doesn't even fully utilize that horsepower, so I'm pretty excited to see what the dev community comes up with after we unlock the BL
Finally, I love the form factor. The thinness and lightness of the TP astounds me every day. And signal attenuation aside, I love the spun aluminum case. It looks and feels premium, durable and high quality. I may be an Android fanboy, but I have to give Apple props for their solid build quality - now I have to give Asus props as well, because the TP is probably the prettiest piece of Kit I've seen in the Android world so far.
I've been very happy with my unit so far. I know I got lucky by avoiding many of the most serious problems - lockups and whatnot - but in many ways I'm impressed that ICS has as few problems as it does, what with being brand new and all that. In contrast, I had to engage in a much greater level of hackery with my Epic 4g to get it to a workable condition, and that was after Froyo had already been out for almost a year.
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Yeah, Tegra3 is a beast.
m3t4lw01f said:
Picked up my C1-serial Prime end of January at BestBuy.
Mine basically has no usable GPS to speak of. It works outdoors for geo-location to about 50', but loses lock as fast as it gets it. Navigation is impossible. But, I knew that going in and didn't care that GPS might be problematic. I looked at it as a "value added feature that might not work". My box doesn't state GPS as a feature anyhow, so I can't complain too loud.
Beyond that, everything else is pure awesome. I have a 17" widescreen laptop that is more of a desktop replacement than a laptop, and it's definitely not that portable (The battery dies in about 90 minutes of use without being plugged in, even on the "power saving" setting in Win7) so having the prime for web surfing and reading on the couch or in bed is awesome.
I haven't come across a task that I couldn't perform on the Prime that I could on my laptop. Sure, some things are more difficult to accomplish on the tablet (Especially since I don't have the keyboard dock for it ... yet) but I could still do them in a pinch. I even used TurboTax online on it and managed to get my taxes done.
I like that Polaris Office is installed as well, as it gives a quick way to view MS office documents out of the box when needed. I usually just import them to my Google Docs, but if I'm even in a location without 'net access, it's nice to have something that works offline.
The other thing I REALLY appreciate is OTA updates. My Galaxy S phone never had that until I migrated to CM7, and I'm missing OTA horribly on it too since I moved to CM9. Not having to tether to keep it updated is pure awesome.
I can't say enough good things about this device.
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Click to collapse
The constant OTA updates is a luxury we enjoy more compared to other makers or devices. We have seen more updates n a lil over a month compared to others in a whole year..lol. always good to have tthe latest firmware and drivers on device. It is good we have a way to roll back to a previous version if needed.
The battery life is great on Prime and will only get better as more updates roll out and custom roms arrive. Even overclocked prime gets good battery life. Plus like you said, there's nothing out there to really even make the Prime bust a sweat yet. So power of Tegra3 hasn't even been really tapped into yet. As far as these newer more powerful chips on the way, I'm not worried or pressed at all. As long as i have overclocking, we can easily match or surpass power of those chips.
The mobile scene may about to change up big time with the Announcement of Ubuntu Desktop OS being introduced into Android. Plus it will be officially supported and brings a true desktop experience to mobile devices. This might be the start of the home PC disappearing. Can't wait till we get this integrated into Prime. Its not even a hack. Ubuntu officially supporting Android and hopes this will integrated into 2012 and later mobile solutions. So Win8 better watch out. Android about to officially have Ubuntu desktop support and experience.
Some might say the constant updates are a symptom of a problem at Asus. I say they are a company trying their best to fix users problems.
I really don't believe there's some grand conspiracy going on.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
What i REALLY like on my Prime + dock:
- Great battery life
- keyboard very usable
- Fast
- I am able to print and scan on my Canon Pixma (using PrinterShare and Canon apps)
- Instant on (awesome)
- Bright and colorful screen
- Comes with some good useful apps (Backup, MyNet, Polaris, etc)
- Thin and lightweight
- Android ICS and Google Market (definitely not an iOS fan here)
- I can use my QNAP torrent with the QGET app
Unfortunately my unit has a bright spot on the LCD and I am sending it back to the store. Also has weak WiFi and BT+WiFi dropout. I don't need offline GPS.
Things that could be better on Prime:
- Speakers, trackpad must be disabled to avoid cursor jumps
Things that need improvement on Android:
- Chrome, Docs.
I love the screen on my prime. During bootup I can see a couple spots of light bleed but during any use it is completely invisible. The screen is bright and clear and just looks generally amazing. I have zero dead or stuck pixels, no bright spots or any discernable defect whatsoever when using it.
I love its abilities to play video, it has chewed up and swallowed absolutely everything I have thrown at it so far including 14gb 1080p move files without a single problem.
I love its portability and take it with me to the university and use it all the time. Locks onto wifi without a hitch in the multitude of places I use it there. With it and the dock it is very useful for SSH into the universities Linux system to do some light Java and c programming in VI. I do wish there was an eclipse ide available for android and cannot wait for it to be available.
I also love to use its Bluetooth abilities to sync up my PlayStation controllers and play all my favorite oldschool games through its amazing ability to run many emulators. It also plays new games built for android some of which have tegra 3 specific versions and simply look amazing.
Lastly, I love how fast I can type on a screen holding it in portrait view and using thumb keyboard. The touchscreen is extremely responsive and I can type long posts, such as this very one, with speed and ease.
There are many other things use it for that i cannot recall from my very taxed brain at the moment but it goes without saying that I have no need for a laptop since I can carry this around and easily vnc into my home desktop Linux for any heavy lifting and use dropbox to easily get to any powerpoints or documents I may need on the go.
One last thing, its pure contentment for me to lay back on the couch while the wife does her thing and I can sit and browse the web with ease using boat browser. Never have I had a more satisfying way to consume the ol www.
rand4ll said:
I love the screen on my prime. During bootup I can see a couple spots of light bleed but during any use it is completely invisible. The screen is bright and clear and just looks generally amazing. I have zero dead or stuck pixels, no bright spots or any discernable defect whatsoever when using it.
I love its abilities to play video, it has chewed up and swallowed absolutely everything I have thrown at it so far including 14gb 1080p move files without a single problem.
I love its portability and take it with me to the university and use it all the time. Locks onto wifi without a hitch in the multitude of places I use it there. With it and the dock it is very useful for SSH into the universities Linux system to do some light Java and c programming in VI. I do wish there was an eclipse ide available for android and cannot wait for it to be available.
I also love to use its Bluetooth abilities to sync up my PlayStation controllers and play all my favorite oldschool games through its amazing ability to run many emulators. It also plays new games built for android some of which have tegra 3 specific versions and simply look amazing.
Lastly, I love how fast I can type on a screen holding it in portrait view and using thumb keyboard. The touchscreen is extremely responsive and I can type long posts, such as this very one, with speed and ease.
There are many other things use it for that i cannot recall from my very taxed brain at the moment but it goes without saying that I have no need for a laptop since I can carry this around and easily vnc into my home desktop Linux for any heavy lifting and use dropbox to easily get to any powerpoints or documents I may need on the go.
One last thing, its pure contentment for me to lay back on the couch while the wife does her thing and I can sit and browse the web with ease using boat browser. Never have I had a more satisfying way to consume the ol www.
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Click to collapse
What I love about my TP...
Screen > clear, sharp and very bright
Battery > Outstanding especially when you combine it with the dock
Design > clean, light and sturdy. I love the choice of colors
ICS > runs smoth and quick... the only issue so far after upgrading to ICS is the flickering screen
GPS/Wifi > Works very well and consistent... I don't understand all the hoopla surrounding the issues with GPS... if I really need to use GPS I use my Thunderbolt
Apps > Polaris Office, Backup, Cloud
My TP is like my Amex... I don't leave home without it!
I really hope Gary and Asus can fix the flickering screen issue
Well, I've had my Prime since 12/21/11, and to this day I have no complaints. In fact, I look back on the HC days and realize how killer this thing runs on ICS. Good support from Asus with consistent updates too.
Tegra3: Lag? Never heard of it. Impressive graphics, what more could you want from a tablet.
Screen: IPS+ is great, even in the sunlight (much better than I expected!) and is not fatiguing after extended use. I personally leave it on IPS+ mode with Auto Brightness and it's perfect.
Form Factor: This thing is so well conceived and executed. Quality build, everything just fits so well, especially with the dock.
Connectivity: Especially with the dock, having the USB and SD. HDMI out has turned out to be a better alternative than the built in USB on my TV, better image and sound quality.
Is it perfect? Maybe not, but as close as I could have really hoped. The things that matter to me are: 1) Highly useful day in and day out; 2) I enjoy using it day in and day out.
I was one of the lucky guys getting a solid TP since day 1, I honestly don't have complaints, this is a wonderful piece of technology in every aspect, it has everything I wanted on a tablet. The GPS isn't great yes, only performs outdoors, but hey, I don't really care, as I only used it to test for feedback here on XDA, I own a specialized navigation device for my car and a smartphone when walking in case I need, therefore, I don't need a tablet for such tasks. I wanted a Prime for other things, email, notes, video, surfing and most of all, a portable yet powerful machine to carry around. The flexibility is incredible and the battery life ridiculous, please name a device on the market with this characteristics?! Yep, the TP is unique, enough said...
Cheers
Another happy camper. I have not had any problems with my prime at all. I've used it 60' from my router with BT enabled and disabled. Made no difference.
It works great for me, no matter where I take it as long as there is a wifi signal.
I just wish my keyboard dock would show up after being on backorder for over two months.
I use my Prime mainly for watching worldwide cams, listening to radio/police scanners in my local area, reading emails, cloud printing, drop box, remote access to my PC and other client PC's.
I wouldn't trade this Tablet for any other available on the market at this time. I love it. It's fast, great resolution, handles every app that I've thrown at it. I'll hang onto it until ASUS comes out with a 6 or 8 core Tablet.
I love my TF PRime!
demandarin said:
This is for the people Satisfied with their device. People that are happy with device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my prime since the 4th of January, and just recently found a dock in stock. Mine is one of the early BCO* machines. (BCOKAS005) but works like a charm. No screen bleed through, the speakers after rooting and applying the help here are far better.
First, I absolutely love ICS and the ASUS' screen quality. It's outstanding! The GPS on my unit has the usual issues, but why would I want to lug around a tablet for GPS! I also looked at is a value-added feature. It works, good. It doesn't, that's fine too.
What astounds me is the sleek design of the slate. I have mine Docked most of the time and love the "netbook" look. It's the center of conversation whenever people come by.
I've used it as a VNC client and server. I ran FTP servers, IRC clients, even a bittorrent client. I absolutely love it's ability to not only stream from DLNA, but actually run as a DLNA server. There's so much this little piece of kit can do, and so elegantly, it daily points out to me just how far personal computers have come from their humble beginnings in the late 70s.
I LOVE MY PRIME. If I was to change something, I would get the 64gig model, but I spent a few minutes moving large media files to microSD and USB connected drive, and have much more memory for software.
Long posts like this one would be difficult using the virtual keyboard. I touch type and the base's keyboard, even though it's chicklet is more than enough to type well.
This slate was a gift from my wife. I bought the dock; and have been loving my little netbook ever since
I love my Prime, like no other
I love my Prime, like no otherself, really. I use it CONSTANTLY, pretty much most of the day at work (I had to justify the cost by doing SOME work with the thing) I basically take all my meeting notes with it, and I have all my company appointments come through using Google Sync to Outlook on my desktop.
Thank God for ICS we use a Cisco VPN solutionat work, and on Honeycomb, getting a VPN connections was never gonna happen. I knew the solution was in ICS, so I was super happy that Asus got it out even earlier than scheduled.
I do get pissed about GPS, and will never let Asus off the hook for that screw up, but that does not negate the fact that My Prime is a stellar device. I take it down to breakfast at work and read news (News 360, News Republic, Pulse, PressReader, USA Today and Google Currents. That enough NEWS for ya?
The only current issues are that .15 blew away whatever GPS I had (it comes and goes with these frequent updates.) While that makes me a bit grumpy, as I don't have any major issues, it's a necessary evil, as Asus busts their collective butt to fix the serious issues that affect some users. These are almost a "rite of passage" for the first Tegra 3 Tablet in existence.
The other issue I see is stuttering/freezing on Riptide and Shire Runner. I am still trying to get a fix for that. Best I can do is reboot just before playing as a workaround for the present.
Why mention these things in a "What works great on your Prime" thread? Easy one. BALANCE.
It's not all a bowl of cherries running at the bleeding edge, sometimes the teething pains are quite dreadful, but a small price to pay to "boldly go where no tablet has gone before".
And no stealing my slogan there, Demandarin! Excuse me while I go see about rolling back to .14. Maybe. I have to decide on that still.
SmartAs$Phone said:
I love my Prime, like no otherself, really. I use it CONSTANTLY, pretty much most of the day at work (I had to justify the cost by doing SOME work with the thing) I basically take all my meeting notes with it, and I have all my company appointments come through using Google Sync to Outlook on my desktop.
Thank God for ICS we use a Cisco VPN solutionat work, and on Honeycomb, getting a VPN connections was never gonna happen. I knew the solution was in ICS, so I was super happy that Asus got it out even earlier than scheduled.
I do get pissed about GPS, and will never let Asus off the hook for that screw up, but that does not negate the fact that My Prime is a stellar device. I take it down to breakfast at work and read news (News 360, News Republic, Pulse, PressReader, USA Today and Google Currents. That enough NEWS for ya?
The only current issues are that .15 blew away whatever GPS I had (it comes and goes with these frequent updates.) While that makes me a bit grumpy, as I don't have any major issues, it's a necessary evil, as Asus busts their collective butt to fix the serious issues that affect some users. These are almost a "rite of passage" for the first Tegra 3 Tablet in existence.
The other issue I see is stuttering/freezing on Riptide and Shire Runner. I am still trying to get a fix for that. Best I can do is reboot just before playing as a workaround for the present.
Why mention these things in a "What works great on your Prime" thread? Easy one. BALANCE.
It's not all a bowl of cherries running at the bleeding edge, sometimes the teething pains are quite dreadful, but a small price to pay to "boldly go where no tablet has gone before".
And no stealing my slogan there, Demandarin! Excuse me while I go see about rolling back to .14. Maybe. I have to decide on that still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good post. Last part made me grin..lol.
I think you should just stay on .15. The stuttering in games not caused by update. I had that happen randomly even on honeycomb and early ICS builds. Not sure what exactly causes it. I know once it goes away or I get it to go away, it usually doesn't come back. I had same deal happen with 9mm game. As soon as i started up the stage, I could play for a few seconds then screen/game would stutter n start flashing. Happened several times in a row. I was about to give up on it but tried a few things first. First I made sure I had no b.s. apps or anything running. To make sure game had as much ram as possible to run with. Then I rebooted the tablet. Issue went away and has been good ever since. Even beat the game. Similar thing happened with my shadlwgun THd that came with prime, since I bought it at Gamestop. I could play for a while then game would stutter n freeze. I just exited out the game completely then relaunched it and everything was well. All my games play very good now n i have alot of them.
Have most of all the heavy duty, good graphics games. Like 9mm, Asphault6 HD, Dead space, Madden 2012, new sonic(not b.s. sonic cd..lol), Sprinkle, Backstab HD, Samurai 2 vengeance, Shine runner THD, Riptide GP THD, air attack HD, Grabitron, Osmosis HD, Sentinel, Neo Geo emulator, PlayStation emulator, Snes emulator, genesis/Sega master system emulator, OnLive....and lotz more...lol
Gaming is a blast on this device. I have the iControlPad a bluetooth gamepad for mobile devices. Works beautifully, and the popular emulators work just 100% perfect on the tegra3 while having great battery life.
I can even output it to a TV and play all those great classics like FF7, Zelda OOT, Tony Hawk 2, Starfox in HD.
Also i think point and click adventures are perfect for a touchscreen device. I hope devs see this as well and release lots of them to the market
My wife and i really love to play stuff toghether cuddled up on the couch, and adventures are the perfect games for that.
Browsing of course is superb and i like it even more than on a regular PC.
And its just something else to watch movies wherever i want. I mean yeah i could hook up a laptop to my TV before, but ah its always a hassle. Then the battery runs out after you're half way through, you need to look for a cable, then the cable is not long enough etcetc. Having the screen just in your hands, is something else.
Oh btw i dont have any issues so far. GPS works as i expected - gets a lock everytime but wont be usable for navigation. Wifi is strong all over my place.
Oh and a little bonus - my electric bill is cheaper because i dont use my PC all that much anymore
And when i'm using the prime it feels like the future has arrived. If you know what i mean
Most of you probably don't recognize my name because I only posted while we were waiting for the release of the Prime.
I generally don't post because almost everything I would post about already has a thread. And we all know how congested this forum is with useless posts.
This time I was prompted to post because I wanted to share a nice experience I had, albeit small compared to what others have posted in this thread.
This morning I spent two hours playing Riptide GP. I usually play this on balanced mode, but today I forgot to change the setting and it was in power saver mode as I played. To my surprise the game functioned great, even in power save mode! I played for a good two hours straight and I took less than 20% of my battery.
Like I said this is a small thing but as I use my Prime more and more I am realizing just how premium this device is. I'm soooo happy with my purchase.
Dock is on its way to me is a couple if weeks! Icing on the cake at that point.
desert_mouse said:
Most of you probably don't recognize my name because I only posted while we were waiting for the release of the Prime.
I generally don't post because almost everything I would post about already has a thread. And we all know how congested this forum is with useless posts.
This time I was prompted to post because I wanted to share a nice experience I had, albeit small compared to what others have posted in this thread.
This morning I spent two hours playing Riptide GP. I usually play this on balanced mode, but today I forgot to change the setting and it was in power saver mode as I played. To my surprise the game functioned great, even in power save mode! I played for a good two hours straight and I took less than 20% of my battery.
Like I said this is a small thing but as I use my Prime more and more I am realizing just how premium this device is. I'm soooo happy with my purchase.
Dock is on its way to me is a couple if weeks! Icing on the cake at that point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recognize the name but yes, games play great on prime in power savings mode also. I think I remember seeing that the power settings doesn't exactly apply 100% to playing games or watching movies. The processor will scale as needed to push the games. That's why you played game with no issue on power savings mode. Also why you can throw any type of HD movie at prime and it'll play fine even on lowest power setting. I've seen it actually recommended to play movies in that mode for the longest battery life.
No experience is too big or too small. Glad this thread made you come out and post on the experience. We need more positivity or good experiences being let known to others. Lots of people tend to think its just issues surrounding this device. Which is far from the truth. We have this thread and the Positive transformer thread to show the flip side to this madness.
demandarin said:
I recognize the name but yes, games play great on prime in power savings mode also. I think I remember seeing that the power settings doesn't exactly apply 100% to playing games or watching movies. The processor will scale as needed to push the games. That's why you played game with no issue on power savings mode. Also why you can throw any type of HD movie at prime and it'll play fine even on lowest power setting. I've seen it actually recommended to play movies in that mode for the longest battery life.
No experience is too big or too small. Glad this thread made you come out and post on the experience. We need more positivity or good experiences being let known to others. Lots of people tend to think its just issues surrounding this device. Which is far from the truth. We have this thread and the Positive transformer thread to show the flip side to this madness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah I remember reading about that as well, regarding the scaling when gaming. More important was the battery life it took while playing. Impressed that it didn't suck away more.
I'm one of the very pleased with this Prime who doesn't post much but reads almost everything here. I'm annoyed that GPS doesn't work and principally I think Asus should be accountable for this. With that being said, at no time have I ever considered returning my Prime. This thing blows away anything out there.
I wish it were bigger..
My primary goal for a tablet is to read technical PDFs and its just a tiny bit
too small for my old eyes. close though and better then my ipad.
But that aside everything works great on this beast. My device never had
any wireless or gps issues. It can see as many gps satellites as my phone
does. Playing games is fabulous on it. I stream my media collection to it with
'emit'.
battery life is great with .14 and .15, no complaints at all with the thing.
Have noticed the occasion game stutter but only in "stupid zombies"
everything else even graphically intense games dont have the issue.
still need a jabber client that supports muc..
Serial BCOK - bought online at office depot mid January update .14
My biggest complaint is that the TFP has WiFi connectivity issues. I go to the university and there are areas where other android tablets and the iPad have signal allowing people to use the internet and mine simply refuses to connect or has random slow connections.
It would make sense that they would update the faulty hardware when they found the problem. I'd still like a TP 201 but GPS is a necessity for aviation navigation. If the problem was fixed in later batches, I would buy one.
Well, if GPS is a necessity... don't go for the TP... it's a fantastic device, but not intended to be used as a GPS device... it's a design fault more than a hardware fault... perhaps if the TP Infinity has GPS it would be better...
prime will work fine for navigating now that asus is giving away free external gps dongles..read my gps dongle test thread for more details
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1602789
Is the dongle only for people who bought a TP before the GPS was removed from the specifications?
Would a person who bought a TP today get a dongle?
skypony said:
Is the dongle only for people who bought a TP before the GPS was removed from the specifications?
Would a person who bought a TP today get a dongle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes..dependent on where you live though. most places can get them
I bought a Prime 1.5 weeks ago. After rooting and apply the aGPS fix, my GPS works great. I haven't waited longer than 10 seconds for a lock. Maybe they did improve it.....
I would not trust a non dedicated GPS system for aviation. That is just asking for trouble.
I have a later TFP (C1 series) and my GPS is functional but not great.
The Asus TFP aluminum case (product design - good for appearance and sturdiness) imepeeds GPS and Wi-Fi in some cases.
I ordered the GPS dongle and anticipate this will bring GPS reception up to the level of my smartphone.
jlabrat said:
I have a later TFP (C1 series) and my GPS is functional but not great.
The Asus TFP aluminum case (product design - good for appearance and sturdiness) imepeeds GPS and Wi-Fi in some cases.
I ordered the GPS dongle and anticipate this will bring GPS reception up to the level of my smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
recent testings, including mines and other members, show prime gps dongle performing better than smartphone gps
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Mr Zulu said:
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please post back after you receive the dongle and test it on your flights. i bet you will be surprised as to how well and accurate the dongle performs.
Mr Zulu said:
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the free GPS Extension Kit; this is what Asus calls in the packaging it does help the GPS. What the Kit does is it disables the built in GPS and uses the dongle GPS. Works good, I tested to see indoors. I have the C3OK serial TP and the GPS kind of works outside, but with the dongle, it finds your location within 30 seconds after the first time. I prefer not to have the dongle, but at least I can use it if I ever wanted to really use the GPS. I have my TP rooted, so I might try the GPS hack that has been really working. Here is a quick view of the dongle.
demandarin said:
please post back after you receive the dongle and test it on your flights. i bet you will be surprised as to how well and accurate the dongle performs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It came in today and while I haven't flight tested it yet I think I have to say color me not impressed.
When I first got the tablet with Honeycomb still on it, I could get and lock onto GPS with it sitting on my dining room table near a window with an accuracy of 90 something feet. Outside was a little better... maybe 40 feet or so but I have no doubt that if I was diving (or flying) that the lock would be lost but I never tested it.
When the tablet updated to ICS, I lost ALL GPS function. Never could see a satellite inside or outside even when left for hours under an open sky.
Well, with the dongle, my GPS now see satellites again... but not as good as I had with the native GPS and Honecome operating system. Sitting here on the same dinning room table near the same window, I mostly do not have lock. Occasionally it will grab a lock but the best I've seen is accruacy o 143'. The last lock I had was to 757'. Currently as I type, no lock. Outside after setting for a long time, I got a lock to 70 or so feet. As I walked around the yard, accuracy fluctuated between that 70' and 125' but was mostly between 90' and 125'.
I'll have a chance to test it in a small aluminum cockpit going 200mph tomorrow and see how it does... not expecting much.
---------- Post added at 03:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 AM ----------
Woops, sorry. Nevermind. It didn't occur to me that it might perform better after restarting the prime (since it's hardware and the software has been restarted several times since the last update).
In any case, it's actually impressive now. Inside it's a solid 40 or so on the accuracy. Outside walking around the back yard, it holds a solid 12' or so. Best I've seen.
I'm feeling better about it's chances tomorrow. We'll see.
Finally got a chance to post back here. It worked flawlessly in the airplane. 17' to 20' accuracy when the Prime was sitting on the seat next to me. Would go to less than 10' accuracy when I held the Prime in front of me where it would normally be when I'm working on it and that's going at about 200mph. Nice feature added to the charting software.
I still regard it as just a 'nice feature' though. It really is easy enough to just swipe the chart to your location without GPS. Most airplanes have GPS in the panel now (mine has three) so you already know your location and most GPS units built in the last 12 years or so contain most of the information you'd need on a typical flight in the database so we don't even have to look at these charts during the actual flight that often anymore... and some of the more recent ones have the charts actually loaded into them (mine does not and is what I use the Prime for). When we douse a chart in flight, it's not to see where we are (since we already know that), it's to look up some detailed information that's not in our GPS databases, or perhaps the most common reason... to look up the spelling of an assigned intersection (spellings are typically very odd) so that we can access that intersection in the panel GPS.
Now, there are SOME older planes where the owners may not of updated their panels to have a GPS in them. For those, I'd want to buy a tablet with a good working GPS. In that case, a GPS would be a HUGE benefit.
Just today a blurb on engadget really hit home with me, he describes the prime experience perfectly.... amazing device but just don't trust it:
The ASUS Transformer Prime is one of those "time machine" devices. You know, the kinds of gadgets you'd love to travel with into the past simply to blow people's primitive minds. I think about that every time a new generation of video game consoles debuts and I'm sure millions would love to take an iPhone back 20 years. With the Prime, I remember being amazed way back in 2011 that such processing power could be shoehorned into a thin, metal tablet. The combination of an optional keyboard, super-bright screen and NVIDIA-powered gaming was simply too much for me to pass up.
It's been seven months, and much of that initial amazement still remains. After playing games like Grand Theft Auto III and the Tegra 3-enhanced Shadowgun, I'm convinced we tech enthusiasts live in an exciting time. Yet for all its technical prowess and flexibility, something's always nagged me about the TF Prime. I just don't trust it. Apps can randomly crash and the OS doesn't always respond to my inputs with the speed I'd expect of a quad-core device. Some apps also don't respond well if I attach the keyboard dock during use (e.g., mistaking a space bar press and an Enter key command). In those cases, I have to close down the app, attached the dock and then restart whatever program I was using. I generally avoid doing anything hugely important or time-sensitive on my Prime for fear that something will crash at the worst possible moment.
That lack of trust significantly diminishes its usefulness as a work companion, but I have few complaints about the Prime as a purely recreational device. Movies look great, the screen remains usable outdoors (in Super IPS+ mode) and the fact that I can plug in a wired Xbox controller to the keyboard dock is icing on the cake. So, no, it's not the perfect, all-in-one device I was hoping for, but the Transformer Prime remains hugely impressive. I'd still take it back in time with me and amaze our ancestor with my quirky, but fun, transforming buddy.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/24/...atim-dual-usb-power-pack-v-moda-crossfade-LP/
Again, this is not to insight another prime bashing session, this tells you why the device is so awesome-- but also relates some of the shortcomings that it has. I always intended to use the prime for companies as a replacement for a thin client-- and alternative to an ipad for those many users that want a tablet with some utility but the prime never lived up to that... trying to see what I can do with the infinity now...
jordanmw said:
Just today a blurb on engadget really hit home with me, he describes the prime experience perfectly.... amazing device but just don't trust it:
The ASUS Transformer Prime is one of those "time machine" devices. You know, the kinds of gadgets you'd love to travel with into the past simply to blow people's primitive minds. I think about that every time a new generation of video game consoles debuts and I'm sure millions would love to take an iPhone back 20 years. With the Prime, I remember being amazed way back in 2011 that such processing power could be shoehorned into a thin, metal tablet. The combination of an optional keyboard, super-bright screen and NVIDIA-powered gaming was simply too much for me to pass up.
It's been seven months, and much of that initial amazement still remains. After playing games like Grand Theft Auto III and the Tegra 3-enhanced Shadowgun, I'm convinced we tech enthusiasts live in an exciting time. Yet for all its technical prowess and flexibility, something's always nagged me about the TF Prime. I just don't trust it. Apps can randomly crash and the OS doesn't always respond to my inputs with the speed I'd expect of a quad-core device. Some apps also don't respond well if I attach the keyboard dock during use (e.g., mistaking a space bar press and an Enter key command). In those cases, I have to close down the app, attached the dock and then restart whatever program I was using. I generally avoid doing anything hugely important or time-sensitive on my Prime for fear that something will crash at the worst possible moment.
That lack of trust significantly diminishes its usefulness as a work companion, but I have few complaints about the Prime as a purely recreational device. Movies look great, the screen remains usable outdoors (in Super IPS+ mode) and the fact that I can plug in a wired Xbox controller to the keyboard dock is icing on the cake. So, no, it's not the perfect, all-in-one device I was hoping for, but the Transformer Prime remains hugely impressive. I'd still take it back in time with me and amaze our ancestor with my quirky, but fun, transforming buddy.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/24/...atim-dual-usb-power-pack-v-moda-crossfade-LP/
Again, this is not to insight another prime bashing session, this tells you why the device is so awesome-- but also relates some of the shortcomings that it has. I always intended to use the prime for companies as a replacement for a thin client-- and alternative to an ipad for those many users that want a tablet with some utility but the prime never lived up to that... trying to see what I can do with the infinity now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And i thought it was only me that thought about "Time Machine" devices !!!
superb take on a prime i agree, but i still feel we have more to come from it. I still havnt unlocked mine yet ... and i have been sooooooooo close a number of times. I dont think its the prime per say, but rather android though ... its just not as advanced as it should be... that can be said for the apps available too though, nothing is properly geared for a tablet yet, its come on leaps in the past few years but still not where it should be.
Personally i really hope JB fixes a few of the issues with speed etc... but as soon as lilstevies Ubuntu is released, i'll be on it ASAP!
Sums up the prime perfectly! Cheers for posting this. Hope you're prepared for the tfp hate flames that should start arriving soon...
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app
i know what you mean..
i love my prime , playing with it, tweaking etc.
but its just not stable enough for serious stuff. i remember some months ago , i went to TechED and needed a device to make notes and stuff... decided to leave the prime at home and used my sgs3 instead... cant have a crashing device screwing up my unsaved work!
However , since im running Jellybean this is a complete different story! ran cm10 unofficial and atm. baked blackbean. WOW! finally i am completely happy with this thing. havent seen a single reboot/crash ever since! and stuff will be even better when asus releases their new kernel sources.
there are still small lockups every now and then on I/O operations but they dont bother me anymore.
conclusion: asus completely failed on ICS builds. from tf101 up till tf700: unstable, slow and buggy!
even on aosp roms it was not stable... kernel issus or something?
but i dont care anymore. tomorrow im going for a holiday and will take my shiny buddy with me. trusting that it wont fail on me . playing games in the sun with a large coctail at my side :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
Got the infinity, I admit android needs some polish but it can be viable, just needs some tweaking... helps to start with a better device with less issues. I know the infinity has some issues also but nothing like the prime and now I am on a device that asus has not abandon.... yet
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium
A great take on the prime! With some tweaking the prime can be perfect - apart from wifi/gps I guess.
Yet another post to thank OP.... perfect description of prime
I also bought it for on the road use with the keyboard, spending countless hours away from office in nearby European countries, running company and coordinating my guys (in real time)... had original transformer 101 with keyboard before and was sold on the system and practical use, but the TF101 was soooooo slow it was like waiting for paint to dry, but at least when the paint was dry it didn't flake off or discolour.... the prime dries the paint a lot quicker but yep, we all know, you just don't know what is gonna happen during the dying/ curing process or shortly thereafter...
I sold my TF101 to a rival/colleague who was an android newbie and he is now continually thanking me and telling me how wonderful it all is.... I, in the meantime, have forsaken the prime and had to go back to my Google I/O Samsung without keyboard to be sure that nothing gets fcuked up or lost whilst working all the time on the road
Windows 8 tab with keyboard, outlook etc just seems more and more like the work solution I need when it arrives and the sexy gorgeous transformer prime will be relegated to gaming personal use and wow factor for its looks.... such a shame!!
Would love to time machine one back to start of 20th century along with one of those digital watch thingies that along with time shows ambient temperature, pulse rate, altitude, barometric pressure and the rest, "invent" the tech to fabricate the chips etc then retire as world's richest man and use my wealth to search out Steve Job's ancestors to ensure that he never happened and protect the world from the rise of the fruit company and its lawsuits
I'm off to stare through the "rectangular glass panel" whilst crunching through a "green/red fruit that is plucked from trees in orchards " and stare at the mountains.... sorry can't use the shorter words as some people have apparently exclusive rights to them
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Its not perfect but after all the criticisms i have to say i like it
Sent from my TrueSmart using XDA Free mobile app
It's ok, I like mine too
What do you like about it though?
I'm getting another SIM to use in it and I think I'll like it more then, but the fact that the companion app is so poor means that the integration with bluetooth isn't an option really.
I'm quite happy with it too.
I have the 1/8 2100 version, and all seem to work well.
- It started up out of the box
- The cradles charge ( I got the extra one I ordered)
- the buttons don't fall off
- call quality is awesome
- screen sensitivity is good (sometimes a little too good, but hey)
- bluetooth, wifi and gps have a proper connection
- "back button" swipe left action works
And in general use:
- surprisingly easy to read on small screen
- even able to watch short video/tutorials on watch (very handy when needing both hands free)
- app installing/start up goes quick
- I use Minuum Keyboard now, and that is awesome, Frees up half the screen for reading conversations, perfect!
- with Minuum keyboard it's also easy to make small voice commands that turn to text, for me works even quicker than responding with the "normal phone" in the old days
by having the phone on the wrist it makes checking if you need to respond 10 times faster. Just a flick of the hand and a two finger swipe when you get a short vibrate or buzz from a message/email/update and you are ready. Where as the "normal phone" you have to get out of the pocket, check and put back.
The two biggest downside that I find, are not necessarily omate related but more smartwatch in general:
- by having the watch on your wrist, if you use it for typing, by default are using both arms. Where as a "normal phone" you can operate with one hand.
- I don't 100% like the reading angle: you have to hold your arm really parallel to the body to read without make strange neck moves. Having "landscape" mode is even worse.
I think about 35 degree angle of the arm would be a way better reading position. That maybe would be the biggest advantage of the round type smartwatches like the moto 360, the ability to adjust the screen orientation till it ergonomically fits you best.
Wiggz said:
What do you like about it though?
I'm getting another SIM to use in it and I think I'll like it more then, but the fact that the companion app is so poor means that the integration with bluetooth isn't an option really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experience is pretty much identical to timkey's. It does what its supposed to. Typing is obviously slower but its better than I thought. Screen is sharp. It's fast. And it's a phone on my wrist I think rooting it and putting on soft keys and a status bar are pretty essential though. I do find the touch screen goes a little haywire sometimes.
To help with the viewing angle, I wear it a little loose and then I can twist it slightly towards me.
Sent from my LG-V500 using XDA Free mobile app
I like it because it functions just how I wanted it to. Its quite simply an android phone on your wrist, which is pretty damn awesome. Calls work pretty good, texting on this is awesome (so handy being able to just look at your wrist), and it's pretty much taken every app and game I've thrown at it so far. I also like being able to throw a song on and have handsfree music, so I can cut rebar or something at work and have music. And to top it off, I get pretty great battery life out of it. It's always lasted at least a full day, if not two. Even after two days the lowest I've had it is 30%
So, despite the company itself acting like a total noob for supporting this, it does function quite well (after some necessary patching of course). Having proper sources and support with proper firmware updates and having more tweaks android is known for available, would all just be icing on the cake.
So would those who like it buy a TS2, or has the arrogance and sheer mismanagement of Omate put you off, even though you enjoy the product?
I enjoy mine, though I can rarely use it as intended due to water issues. I have a T-Mobile sim in it. I would not only not ever buy anything associated with Omate ever again, but also not Umeox and not MTK. Never Again.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
It depends. I mean, the reality is I paid about £120 for a brand new android phone in watch form. If the TS2 was also a bargain, I'd probably get one. Hopefully they would learn some good lessons from this.
I am an engineer and did my degree in electronics, so I have some experience with product development. It was very clear to me that the timescales Omate were claiming were ridiculous and that made me question their competence. I'm still impressed they produced what they did as fast as they did. The testing problems people are experiencing are not acceptable but they are expected. Omate kinda painted themselves into an corner with their optimistic claims and high ambitions.
Now, all that said, I don't see what I would want from a TS2 that in don't get from this device. Its too small to do anything too intricate. It creates a WiFi hotspot and provides basic smartphone functionality well, which is all I need it for. Maybe if I got a 4G data plan, it might be good to have a watch that can make use of it but that's all I can think of.
Sent from my LG-V500 using XDA Free mobile app
The device has potential. I could maybe live with the HW shortcomings like IP rating, non-responsive buttons, add SD-card kills back seal etc as well as HW limitations like a little too heavy and too thick. The delays and communication failure from Omate is a separate story. I believe llepen believes what he says, he is still communicating still.
What I do not accept is the crappy firmware, that is HW specific. Noproper open source either. That kills BTLE, battery etc, as well as limits the adaptations required to get Android usable on a small device. I am not talking about limiting functionality like Android Wear, but an adapted Android experience w button actionssweep. Omate/Umeox mostly relies on MediaTek, and MediaTek seem to make good HW, but are both breaking GPL and incompetent in SW development.
I love my TS. I tried to have few expectations as to not be let down if it sucked, but I was happy to find that it was just about everything I could hope for in a smartwatch. It is solidly built, not too big, the screen is very sharp and sensitive, the camera is Good Enough(tm) (though the camera app really should rotate 90 degress left, which it does in the BlueTooth tether ROM, iirc).
My one major complaint is that Omate's version Android is awful. I work around it with third-party software (e.g. Nova Launcher, All in One Gestures), and with some effort, after-market ROMs can be ported. I'm very disappointed that no sources are available, but we all knew that would be the case.
That the notification bar is always hidden bugs the heck out of me, but the BlueTooth tether ROM fixes that.
Screen-on battery life is okay; not great, not awful, but it charges very quickly, so that's usually not a big deal. Screen-off life is fantastic.
I wish I could change the DPI for Ingress. It would be so cool to be able to play on my wrist.
Working with Omate is indeed like rolling a boulder uphill, and while I'll probably never buy anything from them again until they prove themselves reliable, I do believe Le Pen is trying. And I'm as disappointed with Omate as I am with those who continue to try to poison the TS community, making productive, open collaboration difficult.
timkey said:
I'm quite happy with it too.
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Click to collapse
I agree with just about everything you say. Anymore I use my phone only for long text conversations and more-than-casual web browsing. Everything else is done on my TS. Flesky is remarkably easy to use once you get used to it (although whoever decided to put backspace next to return needs a smack in the face). I'm especially happy that it's so easy to read text on the small screen as I read lots of RSS feeds on and off all day long.
The reading angle bothered me at first, but my arm just had to get used to being held in an unfamiliar position.
gerhardo said:
I could maybe live with the HW shortcomings like IP rating, non-responsive buttons, add SD-card kills back seal etc as well as HW limitations like a little too heavy and too thick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The IP rating and back seal issues don't matter much to me, but I can see how that would be a disappointment to other users. The button responsiveness, weight, and thickness are fine for me. It did seem a bit heavy for the first day or two, but I quickly got used to it.
nicktastique said:
I wish I could change the DPI for Ingress. It would be so cool to be able to play on my wrist.
Working with Omate is indeed like rolling a boulder uphill, and while I'll probably never buy anything from them again until they prove themselves reliable, I do believe Le Pen is trying. And I'm as disappointed with Omate as I am with those who continue to try to poison the TS community, making productive, open collaboration difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xposed Framework
Xposed Per App Settings
I consider setting default dpi to something higher than 120, to see better and change dpi where needed
gerhardo said:
Xposed Framework
Xposed Per App Settings
I consider setting default dpi to something higher than 120, to see better and change dpi where needed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but it doesn't work, and others have confirmed. Is your experience different?
Smockingjacket said:
So would those who like it buy a TS2, or has the arrogance and sheer mismanagement of Omate put you off, even though you enjoy the product?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
While I like the watch itself, if I were to drop another $200-$300 on a new watch, it would be from a company that can support it's device a little more competently. I really doubt we'll ever see a firmware update.
Although as long as this watch doesn't **** the bed I should be using it for a good long time. It functions pretty much like I want it to, so I don't feel the need to upgrade anytime soon.
I like it as well. After changing launcher and installing a few apps I felt it was usable. I tried for a while to use it as phone replacement. It DOES work as that, but the upsides of having a watch (smaller / lighter than a phone, won't forget something strapped to your arm and so on) doesn't really outweigh the downsides (hard to type, sometimes hard to navigate menus, small screen causing readability and layout issues, battery is slightly worse than my phone, etc). The most annoying issue though is when the screen goes into over-sensitive mode and register button press all over the place. Someone said it gets a lot better with a screen protector on, I will try that.
However, it does work great in some areas. My main use is for exercise - RunKeeper (and similar apps) works great. I can take a run, track my progress, listen to music, and see notifications if someone is trying to reach me, without needing a much more cumbersome phone jumping around in my pocket.
It's also useful when I'm outdoors, say fishing or hiking. While it isn't waterproof, it does what I need (gps / maps, tell time, make calls if I need to, no risk of dropping it).
So overall, it's a nice device (even though software and such needs some urgent updates). Maybe not great for a phone replacement but for outdoor use and exercise it's really good imo.
nicktastique said:
Yes, but it doesn't work, and others have confirmed. Is your experience different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works fine for me, using it for SuperSU and Titanium.
Well, the TS is unavailable again: Screen is black, no response to buttons (except the feedback I added with Xposed Additions to get virtual physical button) and no adb. adb is a common issue, very seldom works. But I have my device for a couple of days, I have occasionally borrowed one for time to time though.
He means that changing the DPI to 90 for Ingress doesn't work, I think, gerhardo.
Actually, I play Ingress with my TrueSmart and the stock Ingress client (only) and it mostly does work. Hacking and firing work fine from the front screen long press menu and I was even able to deploy I found recently mainly by lucky pressing in the portal view on a crunched up set of buttons there. I had previously thought deploying impossible with stock and stock. Its still impractical.
What was reported no longer working was adjusting the DPI because of some change Niantic introduced into their code at some point a while back. I have not tried that anyway.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
trent999 said:
He means that changing the DPI to 90 for Ingress doesn't work, I think, gerhardo.
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Click to collapse
Yes that's what I mean in particular. Ingress no longer honors density settings via App Settings. It doesn't even appear to honor ro.sf.lcd_density on the TS, though it does on my Note 2 (which is annoying since it's set to 280).
I like mine too (1/8 2100 Dev).
Straight from the box, no patch, no rom, no bootloader, no nothing. The apps tho aren't there but it's almost like when the new Xbox, Playstation or Nintendo come out - people don't introduce games until the hardware is in use. I figure the developers of apps are waiting, working and planning something awesome for all smartwatches (not just companions).
Omate, well, hopefully, lessons on their side have been learned and fingers crossed the TS2 (if there is one) will be better planned for.
Hats off to SWApp Link tho. The app is the best thing that's been introduced for me. I had my SIM in my phone originally, then the watch and now back to the phone (just to work out what is best for me - I take a lot of photos and use 4G too much so my Note 3 is where my SIM is needed most) but the app - Bluetooth aside - is absolutely wonderful.
I don't regret buying the TureSmart, nor regret using Kickstarter - I have backed many an idea over the months. My regret is that the technology in total isn't there, yet.
But thank you XDA for being here :good: