Charging port metal has finally snapped - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

I have noticed for a while now, the metal between the charging port and the screen on my prime occasionally bends in slightly for reasons unknown (perhaps a port connection with the dock? The way I hold the tracker itself? I dunno). I have thought nothing of it, and usually just push my thumb there to bend it back to its original location upon noticing it. This was undesirable, but acceptable up until a couple of weeks ago when I realized that the repeated stress on that little strip of metal finally took its toll, and it appeared to be snapped in the center. Again, I pushed it back to the original orientation, but the damage is now done. This makes me unhappy and must be a design flaw. I take the prime almost everywhere I go and use the heck out of it, but I absolutely baby this device. There's no reason why this should have happened.
I can still charge my prime with no issues. I usually keep my prime either in a cheap faux leather case, or in the case and connected to the dock. I've had my prime since May, and have been completely satisfied with this one exception.
Has anyone else had this same problem? We're you able to have Asus fix the issue, or replace the backing, etc? Is this the beginning of the end for my prime? Like I wrote, I am not having any related issues from this at this time. I do not wish to mail it in, but don't want this to get any worse and have problems with my screen because of the lack of any kind of rear support in that little location. Any shared experiences would be appreciated.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app

Same problem here, all the color has gone and has a wavy shape to it. Not snapped yet though.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app

Likewise, mine has been like this for a while. Can't fathom what might be the reason as the regular charging cord wouldn't cause damage like this.
The dock on the other hand, is a very likely culprit.
Scribbled with the Note II

1. Docking has bent the aluminium frame above the tablet's port
Looks awful. Hopefully the circuit board's connection doesn't crack. It's only a matter of time I guess.

I noticed mine was bent a few weeks ago when I tried to charge it. I pushed it back with a small screwdriver and it looks OK. Now I am constantly looking at it Anyway, I don't hav the dock so this is not related to it (but the dock may cause it too). I put the little shipping thingy on for protection but it doesn't stay in very well. BTW- Had my Prime since Dec 27 of last year so it's taken almost a year for mine to bend. A friend has a TF700 ans his bent as well. Design flaw indeed.

Bent on mine as well.
Sent from my SPH-L710

Mine was bent upon first removal from the box. I never sent it back because they were very hard get last January. Since then I sent it in for RMA repair for the rear camera issue and Asus replaced the entire unit so problem solved!

same here. Started bending out about 6 months after purchase, then after a few more months of me pushing it back in it finally stapped in the middle. I tried to push it back in but it wouldn't go all the way back in so, and it killed me to do this because i absolutely baby my prime, i had to break the two pieces that were now hannging out becuase they were sharp as heck. I don't ever use my dock so that didn't have anything to do with it and it stays in a very sturdy case so this is obviously a deign flaw. I considered sending it back to get fixed, but after all the negative reviews i've been reading from dissatisfied rma customers i am just settling for telling everyone of my friends who ask me that I will never buy another asus product again and if they're smart they'll do the same. Not only did ASUS put out a flawed device, they refuse to fix anyones problems. I don't care about the wifi or gps problems, some devices will always be better in that respect, but when it comes to hardware defects, such as this problem with the casing breaking off, and about 8 months after i bought the prime the small thin plastic piece that separates the two rows of pins in the prime charging port snapped in half and fell out, so now when i plug it into charge i have to be incredibly careful to not bend the pins inside the prime, and forget about me using my $150 keboard dock that completely stopped working after about 10 months. The quality of these products is just unacceptable and matched only by the insulting refusal by ASUS to do anything to assist us who, like myself, invested $650 for their crap products. whew, okay i'm done.

ASUS must realize it's a design problem. My kids broke my charge port, so I sent it in for repair. I was told they would send me an estimate on the repair cost (since it was customer damage). After not hearing from them for a couple weeks, I called up wanting to know what the hell was going on, and found out that they repaired it free of charge and was sending it back. Nice!
-Tracy

mine did the same about a week ago. I plan on taking some sandpaper and gently sanding down the sharp edges.
This isn't really a big deal for me, I am just slightly worried for the glass, but looking inside reassures me it will be fine with the metal plate behind it.
I actually like that my charger goes in a little easier now, although I'll probably have to shell out 30 bucks to buy a replacement soon, the plastic broke off it a while ago.
I'm not even mad, have squaretrade warranty for another year or so - just waiting for an 'accident' to happen, hopefully around the time a new transformer comes. Not interested in infinity after hearing prime can get better FPS and battery life. Hopefully a tablet with a 1280x800 display and next gen hardware will be on the way soon.

Related

[Updated] RMA Update 2/3/2012

Update February 3:
Tried the GPS test again today and I went from 0 satellites before the RMA to now having 7 satellites. Attached is a screen shot of such.
Good job Asus.
Update February 2:
Received my prime last night and played with it for most of the evening. No problems on honeycomb, updated to ICS and still had no problems. There was no information on exactly what they did to repair like I had hoped but all is good.
GPS is slightly better (1 satellite vs. 0 satellites before) but in my opinion, this isn't a GPS device and I don't plan on using it like one.
So in a TL;DR version: If you plan on RMA'ing, it worked effectively for me but the whole process took about a month.
Original post:
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to take the time to keep you all up to date on how the RMA side of the prime tech support is going for me and possibly others.
I sent my prime to Texas on the 5th (It's been quite a while.. I miss it.) A week later it was received by the repair facility (the 12th). The support status website then said "Waiting" for about 18 days then finally it said "Ready for shipping" and the "memo" section said I received a new serial number.
I'm guessing the support staff did extensive hardware replacement or simply gave me a new prime. I hope some sort of repair report/record is included whenever I get my prime back.
Original complaint was absolutely zero GPS and slight backlight bleed.
I attached a screenshot of the repair status screen.
I'll update this post when I get it back and disclose whether or not the complaints have been fixed or if there are any new problems. Hopefully this helps anyone trying to decide whether to RMA their unit or not.
intresting. Please keep us posted on the updates. let us know what is fixed!
mine says Waiting-[WB5] Wait for Repair\Test\Aging
<troll>
Wait, you returned this because of no-GPS and slight backlight bleed...Really? You must have known GPS wasn't working
Even the IPAD 2s have backlight bleed...
</troll>
None the less, good luck, curious how the RMA is going to go.
I am going through my own trials with them. I bought my Prime on the 20th and and received it on the 21st. On the 24th I was at school and opened the tablet (I have the TF201 Dock) and there was a single pristine crack in the screen. Tablet has no abrasions or dents so it is obvious it was not dropped and I am a bit over protective of a new device for the first few months. I think I just got a bad piece of glass, that or the dock is not designed very well. But since the basic design of the Prime dock is the same as the original Transformer I find that hard to believe.
So they received the tablet in TX Friday. Sat in Waiting yesterday. Today it showed they wanted to confirm repair OOW. I called and asked them ??? and they said it was "expertly analyzed" and found to be customer induced damage. I stayed calm and responded with "the table has been treated like it was priceless. The screen cracked when I closed the tablet while in the ASUS made dock. There are no indications of droppage on the tablet and I find it unacceptable to charge the customer for the repair of what is most likely a manufacturing defect."
Now I am waiting 24-48 to hear from a supervisor. Now if I had dropped the tablet I would be like, ok I screwed up. But I did not. And I did buy ADC insurance from Square so I can get it fixed for free, but I am not going to have them fix something I believe is a manufacturing defect. Guess we will see what ASUS customer support is really made of in the next 24-48 hours. Hate having the tablet for 2 days then spending 2 weeks without it. It's like a big tease! lol
Jonasmyst said:
I am going through my own trials with them. I bought my Prime on the 20th and and received it on the 21st. On the 24th I was at school and opened the tablet (I have the TF201 Dock) and there was a single pristine crack in the screen. Tablet has no abrasions or dents so it is obvious it was not dropped and I am a bit over protective of a new device for the first few months. I think I just got a bad piece of glass, that or the dock is not designed very well. But since the basic design of the Prime dock is the same as the original Transformer I find that hard to believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds really weird to be cracking on its own. You'd need to be in very high heat or below/near freezing temps to induce it by nature.
Did someone damage it without you looking? BB gun, threw something, etc. Things can't suddenly crack outta nowhere, but this is pure conjecture of course.
First in the line of a major manufacturing defect?
my touch screen wasnt working and usb didnt work
kaijura said:
Sounds really weird to be cracking on its own. You'd need to be in very high heat or below/near freezing temps to induce it by nature.
Did someone damage it without you looking? BB gun, threw something, etc. Things can't suddenly crack outta nowhere, but this is pure conjecture of course.
First in the line of a major manufacturing defect?
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Click to collapse
I wish someone had hit it or I dropped it, I could have just sent it in for Accident repair but I have to try ASUS first because SquareTrade says it is a manufacturing defect if I did not drop the tablet.
Basically I took the tablet, in the dock and closed it. Placed is in a padded neoprene sleeve. Set the tablet and the sleeve on the passenger seat next to me (where it did not move and I hit no pot holes or anything crazy). Drove from work to school. Picked up the tablet and took it inside. Took it out of the sleeve and opened it. BAM crack. Could barely see it from the front on view. I think I just got a bad piece of glass. I have owned the Evo 4G and I own the Evo 3D and a Kindle Fire. All gorilla glass and I have had no problems (granted smaller screens). I attached 2 pics of the crack. (Yes I know there is a sword in one )
Jonasmyst said:
I wish someone had hit it or I dropped it, I could have just sent it in for Accident repair but I have to try ASUS first because SquareTrade says it is a manufacturing defect if I did not drop the tablet.
Basically I took the tablet, in the dock and closed it. Placed is in a padded neoprene sleeve. Set the tablet and the sleeve on the passenger seat next to me (where it did not move and I hit no pot holes or anything crazy). Drove from work to school. Picked up the tablet and took it inside. Took it out of the sleeve and opened it. BAM crack. Could barely see it from the front on view. I think I just got a bad piece of glass. I have owned the Evo 4G and I own the Evo 3D and a Kindle Fire. All gorilla glass and I have had no problems (granted smaller screens). I attached 2 pics of the crack. (Yes I know there is a sword in one )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clearly looks like a defective screen. Don't see any indication of impact to me. They should repair it.
It would take a lot of force to induce that
Jonasmyst said:
I wish someone had hit it or I dropped it, I could have just sent it in for Accident repair but I have to try ASUS first because SquareTrade says it is a manufacturing defect if I did not drop the tablet.
Basically I took the tablet, in the dock and closed it. Placed is in a padded neoprene sleeve. Set the tablet and the sleeve on the passenger seat next to me (where it did not move and I hit no pot holes or anything crazy). Drove from work to school. Picked up the tablet and took it inside. Took it out of the sleeve and opened it. BAM crack. Could barely see it from the front on view. I think I just got a bad piece of glass. I have owned the Evo 4G and I own the Evo 3D and a Kindle Fire. All gorilla glass and I have had no problems (granted smaller screens). I attached 2 pics of the crack. (Yes I know there is a sword in one )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would guess that a serous amount of flex in the tablet would be required to have that happen. Gorilla Glass however is often misunderstood as break resistant when it actually breaks quite easily. It is hardened glass that is SCRATCH resistant, and not even all that scratch resistant. My daughter scratched the screen on one of my phones with a cheap ring, and she wasn't mishandling it at all, just playing a game. have seen rants about Gorilla Glass breaking on phone placed in their back pants pocket, which is so stupid I can't imagine what they were thinking.
Your glass may indeed have been stressed by the bezel, and assembly, and could easily have been defective, when you consider how many Prime Asus was cranking out in December. If it was stressed in it's frame, and you went out in the cold it could have contributed to its failure. You said you opened it at school. This is important: How did you transport it? In a sleeve/case or just Dock/Tablet in backpack? My thinking is it was stressed, and only took some additional flex or twist to have it snap.
Stand your guns, and just mention ONCE that there are no dents marks or abrasions on the tablet casing. Just calmly (as possible, I know how infuriating CSRs can be) ask for a supervisor, explain that the dock was attached the whole time, and no "accidents" "drops" or anything else occurred. MOST IMPORTANT: Ask : What exactly is the "expert analysis" that was done? Was the glass measure at multiple points with a digital micrometer? What evidence do THEY have to suggest customer induced damage?
Yeah I worked as a CSR for 6 or 7 companies over the years. I can generally remain calm as I remember that they are just following their script and typically have little to no power to do anything other than escalate. I am awaiting a call from a Supervisor which should happen in the next 24-48 hours (which that is not an acceptable practice in mine eyes) so I will see what happens there. I plan on mentioning the lack of ANY drop damage. It's become a matter of principle now. In the end Square Trade will fix it for free but I don't think they should have to.
As for Gorilla Glass. It is hardened glass and can break (albeit not nearly as easy as normal glass) and it's scratch resistance is good but not impermeable. And the solid aluminum frame of the table would have to bend for the screen to bend enough to break. Despite the GPS issue (which I do not care about) and Wi-Fi issue (which I really did not notice any problems aka no worse than any of my other devices) I really like the build and solid feel of the tablet. I'll update once I speak to a supervisor and see what happens.
kerryking1 said:
mine says Waiting-[WB5] Wait for Repair\Test\Aging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine says this too. This means they need a new part. Well they told me that. They are now looking for a replacement. But 64GB Gray is hard to find for them...
Mine is similar. Sent 1-8 and shows they received 1-14. Asked in email yesterday the status and today got an email that it was being replaced. Serial starts now with C10. I am supposed to receive tomorrow and not sure if I'm going to open or just sell / return it. I was hoping they tested before sending but sounds like according to OP that they don't. Kind of a bummer. Mine went back due to a screen chip on original shipping. wifi was fine and GPS was ok though I never drove with it.
So Tuesday I checked my Status to find (low and behold) that is was on hold for customer induced damage/out of warranty repair.
I called customer support and explained to them that the tablet was not dropped and was secured in padded materials during transport, etc. I was told it would be escalated to ASUS Corporate HQ and someone would call me in 24-48 hours. I briefly told him having to wait up to 2 days for someone to contact me was a poor practice. He made a note in my ticket. I waited 48 hours and guess what? NO CALL.
So I called back this morning. Got a rep and the call started bad. I had to give him every piece of information about me again as if I was starting a new RMA despite him having the RMA ticket open in front of him. I then explained I had waited 24-48 hours and not gotten a call from a Supervisor and that I was starting to get upset at the support I am receiving. I got the standard "I apologize for your frustration" and he checked and the RMA was passed to HQ on the first. I asked why it sat around for a day before being passed and he did not have an answer. So 24-48 hours is now 48-72 hours.
By this time my infinite pools of calm are about out. Then he asks me for my phone number so someone can contact me because they don't have. Refer to earlier when I gave him my information (including number) for the second time since this started.
Yesterday I also received an e-mail from the repair center stating the price for fixing the tablet ($186 for the screen and $65 for labor) and a form I could fill out for payment. Really a form to fax in? Are we back in the 90s. I sent them a long e-mail explaining why I was not paying for repair and that I was waiting for hear from a supervisor from HQ and the reasons as to why I believe the tablet screen was defective. I have copied that e-mail I sent and plan on using it as my standard response to we don't fix broken screens under warranty.
So I guess every piece of glass ASUS uses is flawless. At least that is what the repair center thinks.
UGH! Update again when I hear from someone.
Updated OP
You sent it in for only a slight backlight bleed? Must've been more than slight to make you want to send it in. Plus going from 0 sat's to just one can barely be called an improvement. Plus a month wait...
Well glad to hear you got device back n satisfied with it. That's all that matters in the end. Not all RMA are nightmares but the post a coupple ones back sounds bad. I'd be pissed off.
I sent my prime back on January 5th. It had all the issues with it. After 25+ days waiting I got a brand new prime! I think I had to wait because I had the 64GB Gray and they did not have these in stock. This prime serial starts out with a "C". Everything has been working perfectly! GPS, WIFI, KEYBOARD, LAG... those were all the issues I sent it in for. WOW is all I can say! This thing works like it is stated on their product page!
GPS needs to be in the window to work but, it works and works well! I not sure what the peoples homes are made of when they can sit in their house and get it to work.
Time to go mess with it more!
demandarin said:
You sent it in for only a slight backlight bleed? Must've been more than slight to make you want to send it in. Plus going from 0 sat's to just one can barely be called an improvement. Plus a month wait...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well good things come to those with patience I suppose. Today I had a 7 satellite lock within about 15 seconds.
Screenshot attached to the OP.
bscotth said:
Update February 3:
Tried the GPS test again today and I went from 0 satellites before the RMA to now having 7 satellites. Attached is a screen shot of such.
Good job Asus.
Update February 2:
Received my prime last night and played with it for most of the evening. No problems on honeycomb, updated to ICS and still had no problems. There was no information on exactly what they did to repair like I had hoped but all is good.
GPS is slightly better (1 satellite vs. 0 satellites before) but in my opinion, this isn't a GPS device and I don't plan on using it like one.
So in a TL;DR version: If you plan on RMA'ing, it worked effectively for me but the whole process took about a month.
Original post:
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to take the time to keep you all up to date on how the RMA side of the prime tech support is going for me and possibly others.
I sent my prime to Texas on the 5th (It's been quite a while.. I miss it.) A week later it was received by the repair facility (the 12th). The support status website then said "Waiting" for about 18 days then finally it said "Ready for shipping" and the "memo" section said I received a new serial number.
I'm guessing the support staff did extensive hardware replacement or simply gave me a new prime. I hope some sort of repair report/record is included whenever I get my prime back.
Original complaint was absolutely zero GPS and slight backlight bleed.
I attached a screenshot of the repair status screen.
I'll update this post when I get it back and disclose whether or not the complaints have been fixed or if there are any new problems. Hopefully this helps anyone trying to decide whether to RMA their unit or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your kidding right? You sent your Prime in to have GPS fixed? There is no fix you cannot use it for navigation what the heck do you care if you can lock on to satellites or not it's irrelevant. You haven't had your Prime for a month and your happy with Asus?..... ROFL
Thanks OP. My replacement unit is coming on Monday. Here's my status: http://i41.tinypic.com/211jep2.jpg
And yes, GPS was one of several reasons I RMA'd.

Dock failing

Hi all,
I'm just about to RMA my dock. The top and bottom halves are starting to separate and the hinge is getting looser and looser.
I've already emailed tech support and they have suggested user error - IE I'm forcing the tablet into the dock too hard! I will assure them that this is NOT the case!
I'll see what the tech guys say when I RMA it but I have to admit i'm more than a little disappointed.
Has anyone else on here noticed anything similar?
i have not seen this on mine, BUT i can see how this would happen. it honestly does not seem to have anything to do with pushing it in to hard. but more so with pushing it in when it is not aligned corretly.
it will slowely pull the hinged area apart over time, me and my mother both have the prime and dock. and she is not heavy handed at all but hers started to do the same thing yours is doing. after having her show me how she instered it into the dock. i noticed that she was not looking at the angle of the hinged area and just pushing softly until she would find the right angle for it to slide in. and as she was pushing softly the hinged area would move and seperate from just wiggling the prime till it fit in.
not saying that you doing this, but that seemed to be the cause of her dock starting to do what yours is doing. so i had to show her a better way of visually aligning the prime and dock so it would just slide in.
thats my OP anyway. hope that it gets fixed bruh
I have notice that mine pops apart if I pick it up by the front right corner. I do not mean that I am grabbing the very edge of the corner, I am merely picking it up as I would a netbook or other similar device. When I do this the dock pops apart at the USB port and along the back behind the hinge. You can tell the dock bends when it happens. It seems to be that the dock can not hold up to the weight of the tablet. I have only had this happen twice as I now make sure to pick it up with both hands. There is no damage since it just pops back together but one has to wonder how they can charge $150 for something that is so cheaply made. I will not be sending it back but I am still a little disappointed. Functionality is still great and I am still happy with the product, just wish I didn't have to be careful of how I pick it up.
While it probably could have been assembled better, I can only imagine RMA is going to consider this Customer Induced Damage and want to charge you more than the dock is worth by the time all is said and done. Good luck though.
Yatyas said:
I have notice that mine pops apart if I pick it up by the front right corner. I do not mean that I am grabbing the very edge of the corner, I am merely picking it up as I would a netbook or other similar device. When I do this the dock pops apart at the USB port and along the back behind the hinge. You can tell the dock bends when it happens. It seems to be that the dock can not hold up to the weight of the tablet. I have only had this happen twice as I now make sure to pick it up with both hands. There is no damage since it just pops back together but one has to wonder how they can charge $150 for something that is so cheaply made. I will not be sending it back but I am still a little disappointed. Functionality is still great and I am still happy with the product, just wish I didn't have to be careful of how I pick it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect that this is the case - the tablet and dock have always been correctly aligned and no excessive force has been applied to the dock mechanism.
I've cancelled the RMA as ASUS wont tell me what the charges might be for sending the dock in. however its being UPS'd from the UK to Czech Republic so i cant imagine it would be cheap.
I've put up with all the issues so far, but this is the last straw for me. Tablet is great but build quality sucks big time. No more ASUS products for me

15 Days later this happens

Of course it happens 1 day after the return period. Hopefully this will be covered by Asus and not turn into a RMA nightmare. Does anybody have any info if this is an easy fix? Also my battery is draining at a more rapid speed too. Could these problems be related? The last 2 pins on the bottom are now broken off as well.
-UPDATE- 6/1/12
Sent it out for an RMA on May 18th, one day before my 30 day RMA would expire. I got it back from Asus after a couple little scares. First, I forgot to take out my Class 10 32gb Micro SD card. I went on to the support chat and they said it was no problem and happens all the time. I called customer service after and they made an addendum to my RMA saying an SD card was included. After about a week and a half of the status saying "Repairing" it finally changed to "Waiting for customer reply OOW-CID" I again went straight to support chat and they guy told me that it might be a case of Customer Induced Damage. I explained that it was most definitely not CID. He told me to call and explain my case becomes sometimes it turns out not to be CID. Procrastination got the best of me and I forgot to call. Next thing I know I get an email saying Asus shipped my Prime back. At this point I just hoped for the best. Coming home June 1st I see a little package right outside my door. All the time wondering why Fedex didn't have anyone sign for it like the directions say. Someone could have a nice little tablet assuming they were brave enough to take it off my steps. Opened it up and BAM! Fixed good as new!!!! SD returned and everything! The only thing that I was a little puzzled by was they gave me back my crappy broken cord. Which is what started this whole thing in the first place. I don't really care about that since I got another one off eBay for like 8 bucks. So here's the breakdown:
Pros-
Fixed for free
SD card was taken care of
Only 12 calendar days (not work days) until it was back in my hands
No new scratches/dents/cracks/bleeding/anything from being opened and worked on
Very helpful customer service
Cons-
Didn't replace cord (No big deal)
Put me on that short list of people that had a very positive RMA experience. I thing Asus is starting to get it's shizz together after some less that stellar RMA performances. I sent mine to the Texas facility BTW.
Explodee said:
Of course it happens 1 day after the return period. Hopefully this will be covered by Asus and not turn into a RMA nightmare. Does anybody have any info if this is an easy fix? Also my battery is draining at a more rapid speed too. Could these problems be related? The last 2 pins on the bottom are now broken off as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not a factory flaw (although i think the connector on the tablet is asking for it), I'm afriad, youll be liable for the repair.
Battery drain could well be bacause there are pins shorting on each other, try to seperate any that are touching with tweezers etc (carefully)
Any idea how much they will charge?
I have similar damage to my dock (not tablet). It got dropped while being charged & landed on connector. Both cable & dock connector damaged. Definately a weak point!
I contacted ASUS UK who's only suggestion was return for repair (at quite a high MINIMUM cost).
Instead, I've obtained a new dock from the USA - probably cheaper than a repair.
I've also managed to obtain new connectors and will attempt my own repair.
paulpuk said:
I have similar damage to my dock (not tablet). It got dropped while being charged & landed on connector. Both cable & dock connector damaged. Definately a weak point!
I contacted ASUS UK who's only suggestion was return for repair (at quite a high MINIMUM cost).
Instead, I've obtained a new dock from the USA - probably cheaper than a repair.
I've also managed to obtain new connectors and will attempt my own repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get a new dock connector? I was looking around and couldn't find a replacement part.
I'm not 100% certain until they arrive, but I think the connectors are made by TE connectivity, either part number 2129260-2 or 2129273-1
I have ordered mine from Mouser Electronics
uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/TE-Connectivity/2129276-1/?qs=UlfnwZ2x8nSgxOi2zKjuCA%3d%3d
There is a Data Sheet available from this page that provides information on the range.
Explodee said:
Of course it happens 1 day after the return period. Hopefully this will be covered by Asus and not turn into a RMA nightmare. Does anybody have any info if this is an easy fix? Also my battery is draining at a more rapid speed too. Could these problems be related? The last 2 pins on the bottom are now broken off as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if its been less than 90 days since purchase, I think you can buy a squaretrade warranty ...check out the site or call and ask them what the policy is.
Read through this thread it will give you a better grasp on them:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1471404&highlight=squaretrade
Try http://www.asusparts.eu/index.php?cPath=222155_222535
not exactly sure what the part number would be .. you might have to take yours apart to find that out first
how did you do that?
How did it happen? Is there a way to say how it happened that's not far from the truth but sounds a little more in your favor? Something like : I was having difficulty connecting the power supply since I got it and thought it wasn Edit: wasn't right and now it looks like this and won't work anymore?
I'd also change the pic to a little farther away. While it's good for us it looks bad on your part showing it that close up to Asus. Don't know but maybe they would have you send a pic before you send the tab to determine if it is covered.
I think I would just act like I don't know exactly how it happened and see what they say. I think they would cover it because it is so new.
I made a request about a week ago on the Asus site but they were way too slow to respond so I called them up yesterday. I had a very helpful guy on the phone talking to me who was asking me all the questions. I told him that I am super careful with this thing and gadgets in general. (Never lost a phone, or even broken one. Same with all my computers/mp3 players and so on) I had a case and screen protector ordered even before I bought my Prime. I told him the cable must have been crappy and it totally screwed up the inside connector. He put me on hold after I gave him my whole spiel and came back with a RMA number and instructions/e-mails to be sent out for service. I am posting on here to see if anyone had a similar experience and also to see if this would be covered. I read in the e-mail that physical damage is not covered. But if the cord is faulty and caused this then it would be covered right? And since I was given RMA authorization does that mean I'm in the clear? Or am I sending it away for 3 weeks for them to just say tough break sucka, we don't cover that.
It's possible it could be covered but best believe they will check to see if this was user induced damage(U.I.D). If they don't cover it and you're within 90 days of purchase, just buy the squaretrade warranty that covers physical damage. It'll be cheaper than paying Asus to fix it if they decide not to cover it. I seriously doubt someone would intentionally break the only source of power for the device but Asus could see it as user caused damage by not handling the plug Right.
Your story makes me Leary now of constantly using the prime while plugged up. I don't want to stress the 40pin connector to break like yours did.
Good luck! Remwber square trade of you within that 90 day window and if Asus denies you coverage.
Explodee said:
Of course it happens 1 day after the return period. Hopefully this will be covered by Asus and not turn into a RMA nightmare. Does anybody have any info if this is an easy fix? Also my battery is draining at a more rapid speed too. Could these problems be related? The last 2 pins on the bottom are now broken off as well.
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Aren't these pictures of an original TF-101, rather than a Prime? The design of the back cover is a bit of a give away.
TheKraken said:
Aren't these pictures of an original TF-101, rather than a Prime? The design of the back cover is a bit of a give away.
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Lol, what? TF101 is thick and brown, doesn't have tapered edges like the Prime. That's a Champagne Gold tapered edge slightly covered up by a Skinomi carbon-fiber skin.
Anyway, that sucks. Wouldn't the part itself be interchangeable with TF101 counterpart? Or would they maybe be routed differently? Didn't look at the linked parts, is that what they were?
buxtahuda said:
Lol, what? TF101 is thick and brown, doesn't have tapered edges like the Prime. That's a Champagne Gold tapered edge slightly covered up by a Skinomi carbon-fiber skin
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Yup, you're right. My mistake.
Have to say, I'm not liking that Skinomi skin compared to the Prime's spun metal finish.
TheKraken said:
Yup, you're right. My mistake.
Have to say, I'm not liking that Skinomi skin compared to the Prime's spun metal finish.
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Yeah, it also is too abrasive of a surface. Protects the Prime and all, but be careful with expensive wooden tables, and it's rubbing the fake leather off my minisuit case. I actually just took it off the keyboard so it's only on the Prime now. Once I tire of it altogether, I think I'm just going to put Skinomi's clear cover on the entire thing; keep it protected and pretty
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD via my tethered HTC Vision
TheKraken said:
Aren't these pictures of an original TF-101, rather than a Prime? The design of the back cover is a bit of a give away.
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LMFAO at this. =)
As far as CID, the guy could have given you an RMA number just to get rid of you. I hate to be so blunt about it but you MAY have a fight on your hands with this one. They MAY tell you since its CID you have to pay shipping both ways, now I am not saying that it IS CID but they may claim it to be.
I wish ya the best of luck with it and let us know how it goes.
Sent from my EPAD using Tapatalk 2
Something to look into before you send it off. I was looking for a new credit card yesterday and I noticed that bank of america and amex and maybe other cards offer a shopping service where:
Within 90 days, if your item is stolen or damaged, they will cover it 100%.
bottom line: CALL YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY to see if they'll cover it, if Asus tries to charge you for it.
From other people's stories, they may just call it customer induced damage (CID) and try to charge you for it.
Good luck though!
nhshah7 said:
Something to look into before you send it off. I was looking for a new credit card yesterday and I noticed that bank of america and amex and maybe other cards offer a shopping service where:
Within 90 days, if your item is stolen or damaged, they will cover it 100%.
bottom line: CALL YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY to see if they'll cover it, if Asus tries to charge you for it.
From other people's stories, they may just call it customer induced damage (CID) and try to charge you for it.
Good luck though!
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Yeap, thats a 100% amex only thing, and only if you purchased it on their card. Definately nice though to know thats in your back pocket if you carry one.
Screwedupsmitty said:
Yeap, thats a 100% amex only thing, and only if you purchased it on their card. Definately nice though to know thats in your back pocket if you carry one.
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i think i might have seen that on the bofa website too. doesn't hurt to call up and ask though
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app

Micro crack in Asus Prime Touchscreen caused by the official dock

Hi all,
First off, can I thank all the contributors to this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1530660
I realise I could post this in the thread above but I think it deserves a new thread.
After reading 25 pages of the above thread I thought I should closely inspect my screen for any sign of damage caused by the dock. A lot of the cracks look like they are caused by the dock and mine is only really used in the dock (about 95% of the time used in dock). Inspecting it I have found a micro crack in the tablet screen. It is covered by the dock and even with the dock removed it is very hard to see unless the light catches the crack right and the tablet it at the correct angle. I would have missed this had I not seen the thread above. The first I would have known about it would have been when it inevitably cracks properly. Like this one http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jIpaym8J4kk/T5wAQhFMV2I/AAAAAAAAX4U/AlpDo7CTrQg/s1600/cfp7.jpg (thanks tomanytoys for posting the picture of this one)
Others have claimed that their screens had spontaneously cracked without being dropped or impacted when left in a cold car overnight or after closing and opening the dock/tablet. This is obviously the cause in many case's
A little background on my tablet.
I have owned my tablet since 14/01/2012, pre-ordered from curries website so got it on the first day of release in the UK. I love it.
I (carefully) open and close it regularly, using the dock to protect the screen while its not in use (even if its just for a couple of minutes to make a brew). The tablet has never left my house and I use it docked 95% of the time. It has never been dropped and I have not added rubber tabs to the dock to prevent the screen cracking as some people have.
Here are the pictures of the micro crack.
The next picture is the tablet and dock. The tablet is not fully docked so you can still see the marks (but not the crack) and there position relative to the dock .
The next picture shows the tablet and dock again, this time the tablet is fully docked. Notice the marks are now completely covered by the dock. The small marks you can still see are dust and are in the previous picture as well.
The next picture is taken with a digital microscope (not the greatest resolution) from above the crack. Most of the marks you see to the right of the scratch are grease, You can see from the direction of the streaks how I remove the tablet from the dock (left thumb on the release catch, lifted away with my right hand), however the 2 small marks below the grease, on the corner of the glass are 2 more cracks starting. These 2 marks are too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Next picture, again taken with the microscope was taken from a near horizontal plane. Its shows the other 2 marks well and shows that the main crack does not go all the way through the glass.
My microscope also does video but I am having problems uploading or converting the weird file format it's outputting but in the video I have made, I move a light source around the crack and it shows up, almost 3d in appearance. I will try to do the video again in another format later.
Everyone that owns a dock should check their touchscreen for these micro cracks. They are very hard to see and much easier to miss, I know exactly where it is but finding it and pointing it out to another person is difficult every time I have done it.
Looking at pictures of other spontaneous cracks they can be on the left side like mine or on the right, near the right dock latch. Most cracks seem to be on the left like it mine. Maybe this is because most people are right handed.
My GPS dongle arrived just after I noticed the crack. The dongle doesn’t fit (or not without forcing it on) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622447
If I had not noticed the crack and I had decided to force the dongle onto the tablet I am sure it would have cracked the touchscreen immediately so be warned.
I have emailed Asus about the problem but I have not received a response but it is the weekend.
It is my intention to only send this back to Asus for repair when I have an independent engineers report about what has caused the crack so there is no argument from Asus about consumer induced damage. Mine could go all the way at any minute or while sending it to Asus for repair/inspection. I have other tablets so I can afford to be without it for a bit, back to Tegra 2 for now.
I will update as soon as I here from Asus about this issue
Anyone with a crack in the same place is welcome to beat Asus over the head with my pictures.
To my mind this is conclusive proof that the design of the dock/hinge is faulty because all the pressure of opening them is placed on a small area of glass. I am not a expert in glass or mechanical engineering but this seems obvious even to a layman what has caused this and other cracks.
Wow...now that definitely was caused by the dock, no doubt. I actually undocked mine to check for cracks after reading this. I am still amazed and grateful that my screen did not crack after dropping the Prime on concrete while docked...twice. I thought a cracked screen was a sure bet after dropping it, especially after reading all of these posts of screens cracking on their own. If you watch a tear down of the Prime you will see how flexible the glass is. I saw a picture of a plastic pry tool prying the bottom middle of the screen up at least an inch, while the left and right edges of the screen were still snapped into the rear panel of the unit. I really think it might be defective glass, and not the dock. I've had my Prime 2 weeks less than you, and it's docked only 50% of the time, so it's constantly being docked and removed. All that docking/undocking and the 2 drops never gave me a crack. All the more reason to get a SquareTrade policy.
I agree with you about the insurance for accidental damage but its not really the responsibility of an insurance company to pay for fault caused by bad design.
On the subject of insurance, while I was reading the thread that brought the problem to my attention I was thinking "got to some gadget insurance on this" I did a quick search and you can get insurance cover for as little as £40 per year so it would be silly not to get insurance after spending £500 on the Tablet.
I will get some when this is sorted.
Please don't make duplicate threads...
As you said yourself, you should have posted in the other thread.
Thread closed.

TF201 came back after RMA in worst shape

I recently sent my TF201 out for WiFi "boost" and second green camera fix. Went out in the stock box and padding and came back in the same. Somewhere in there fix factory they managed to dent 2 corners and whoever pieced back my tablet did a crappy job. I can literally squeeze 1mm close the right side to the top; some more than less.
Besides not improving if not making the WiFi worse, the techs did something to my TF to ding up the 2 corners. Anyone else experienced such.... well, poor treatment of their TF?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk HD
I had a very similar experience with my first RMA. Wifi wasn't improved at all, Camera was blurry. Came back with a dent in the top corner and scratches and all this adhesive on the back... There was also a gap between screen and frame, and clicky noises everywhere. Sent it back again to 'fix' these dents and scratches and also fix serial number issue+Fix Wifi.
Came back second time with brand new casing, Wifi was improved a bit, Camera was fixed and serial was re-written. So now my prime is in flawless condition. However, I still can't unlock the device so it's going back AGAIN! Lets hope they don't scratch it because it's as good as new right now.
Tell them that it came back in bad condition and for them to 'fix' it or replace it.
On my second rma to the czech republic they returned my prime with the screen not seated correctly because of something out of place behind the screen (if I pushed the screen down near the speaker the lcd flexed and distorted like there was something under the lcd). The original box that I sent in perfect condition came back with a dent in every corner. The outer packaging was fine so it was not dhl the did the damage it was asus service that kicked it around the depot for 3 weeks.
A bigwig at asus uk customer support agreed to replace the box when I sent it for the third rma to correct the screen but when it can back about 3 weeks later it was in the same beat up box. I let i drop because I was sick or the problem and was glad to get my tablet back after nearly 3 months of rma's.
This is standard ASUS service. Learn from it and concider another manufactuer when buying you next device, I know I will.
Edit
I should also point out (to be fair to ASUS) that it is ASUS's policy to replace a device with a reconditioned unit after the third RMA for the same problem. When mine was returned for the third time it was a reconditioned unit in perfect condition (other than the bootloader unlock error). The one I sent had a few tiny scratches and a small scuff on the top corner so I was pleased to recieve a replacement even if the whole experience was like pulling teeth.

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