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Hey Guys,
The Sony Tablet S has made it to the finals of the Tablet World Series Championship Game on LaptopMag. It beat out rival tablets like Ipad 2, Galaxy Tab 10.1, kindle fire and many others. Now its in the final match against the Thinkpad Tablet. So far Tablet S is leading but your votes still count as we still have 2 days to go until the voting closes.
So please go HERE and vote for the Tablet S.
Really surprised at how popular the Tablet S has become beating even the Ipad 2
SEFanX10i said:
Hey Guys,
The Sony Tablet S has made it to the finals of the Tablet World Series Championship Game on LaptopMag. It beat out rival tablets like Ipad 2, Galaxy Tab 10.1, kindle fire and many others. Now its in the final match against the Thinkpad Tablet. So far Tablet S is leading but your votes still count as we still have 2 days to go until the voting closes.
So please go HERE and vote for the Tablet S.
Really surprised at how popular the Tablet S has become beating even the Ipad 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well S tab didnt face Ipad 2 the ASUS did and that was probably a show of force by android users vs apple
Poor multi-tasking. Music lags when browsing the internet and occasionally when reading magazines.
Also it happens to me once that when the battery is very low the screen won't turn on. I charged it and the screen still does not respond. It wasn't turned off as the lock screen sound was still playing. I had to poke a needle to the reset button to fix it.
---------- Post added at 10:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 PM ----------
i dont know why my post ended up here it was meant for another thread i clicked on...?
AnandTech calls the Transformer Prime the "Best Android Tablet on the market"
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime Review Part II: Battery Life & More
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5175/asus-transformer-prime-followup
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jXRoO06aACQ
Yeah, found this really interesting when it was posted here yesterday. A lot of good information.
its easy to be the best when you're the only one running tegra 3....for now....
Its left to be seen how long it'll be "the best".
what's most interesting is that he explains that there was, in fact, a wifi problem. Explains what it was, and how ASUS fixed it temporarily.
I expect we might find in newer revs that the wifi has been placed behind a plastic disk in the back aluminum plate because a dual antenna solution doesn't appear to be a perfect fix.
I think it was a rush bandaid done on a huge mess of production tablets to meet preorders. I think they will have a newer solution once it starts shipping to Europe.
jptech said:
what's most interesting is that he explains that there was, in fact, a wifi problem. Explains what it was, and how ASUS fixed it temporarily.
I expect we might find in newer revs that the wifi has been placed behind a plastic disk in the back aluminum plate because a dual antenna solution doesn't appear to be a perfect fix.
I think it was a rush bandaid done on a huge mess of production tablets to meet preorders. I think they will have a newer solution once it starts shipping to Europe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt it. When they got a unit with both antennas working they had perfectly fine wifi performance so I doubt they would make a design change when its working fine. Plus I think a plastic window would look pretty bad on that brushed aluminum backing.
I felt Anand's review was slightly biased towards Apple because he really likes the MBA.
Basically, he said it was better than a netbook, but not good enough to replace an ultrabook/MBA. IMHO, if it's better than a netbook, it's good enough for probably 90% of the users. The MBA isn't exactly what I would call a "real" laptop in any case.
As far as I can recall, no review sees the big picture of how having one device that replaces two (tablet+laptop) ultimately simplifies computing (and life). Oh well.
joe_dude said:
I felt Anand's review was slightly biased towards Apple because he really likes the MBA.
Basically, he said it was better than a netbook, but not good enough to replace an ultrabook/MBA. IMHO, if it's better than a netbook, it's good enough for probably 90% of the users. The MBA isn't exactly what I would call a "real" laptop in any case.
As far as I can recall, no review sees the big picture of how having one device that replaces two (tablet+laptop) ultimately simplifies computing (and life). Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's absolutely true that, for many people, a TF/Prime+dock won't replace a notebook. There's just not quite the right software yet, particularly in MS Office editing apps, and there are still some things that are just downright painful to do on an Android tablet (even with the dock).
That's not to knock the Prime+dock, because of course it's better for yet other things than notebooks. Incredibly long battery life, no heat (so can be used comfortably in more settings), etc. are real advantages.
Bottom line is that both devices have their place, which is why I'll have both.
joe_dude said:
I felt Anand's review was slightly biased towards Apple because he really likes the MBA.
Basically, he said it was better than a netbook, but not good enough to replace an ultrabook/MBA. IMHO, if it's better than a netbook, it's good enough for probably 90% of the users. The MBA isn't exactly what I would call a "real" laptop in any case.
As far as I can recall, no review sees the big picture of how having one device that replaces two (tablet+laptop) ultimately simplifies computing (and life). Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? He recommended the Prime so I don't know about bias...
I mean he likes the MBA, yes. But, the air is a good product -- just because it's an Apple product, doesn't mean he is biased. (IMO the Air is a laptop) And he's right, the tablet with dock isn't very productive. (relative to more robust systems) I don't even recall if he said the Prime was better than a netbook -- because productivity-wise, it's not. He said it'll probably be okay for most users but he wouldn't go so far as to say that it was a "laptop replacement" or even a "netbook replacement".
In fact, I don't think he went far enough. This is not an ideal product to get work done. For real productivity, a computer OS is recommended. For tablet use (like quick emails and such) then yes, the prime is great. But, as I used my original tablet + dock, I came to realize that typing wasn't that great of an experience. The typing was slow on a lot of sites (the lag was very evident), it was missing spell check (that's pretty important for me), Google docs SUCKED on tablets, the keys were quite cramped (expected but still wasn't comfortable), excel/powerpoint editing was a pain, and Polaris was missing an auto save feature/spelling/grammar check.
I think some of these points are addressed in the Prime but I still think that if you are a person who uses office a lot (especially if you plan to do anything besides just word documents) then I'm not sure the dock is useful. In the end, I didn't even bother with the dock anymore since it was just an extra thing to carry around. I DLed a very cool thumb keyboard that proved extremely useful for typing on tablets. (I can't seem to remember the name and I sold my tablet + dock recently) It seemed faster to use the on screen keyboard than the dock in some instances.
I would also be wary about typing essays on this thing. I think they fixed most of the crashes but there isn't an auto save feature so I would be extremely annoyed if something happened to my work. (I had rare Polaris/Honeycomb crashes but they did happen) I want to think about what to type -- not worry about remembering to save every 5 minutes.
I actually think everyone sees this as a fusion of the laptop and tablet... but it's not. (and most of it is due to software issues) As a tablet, it was superb; but, as a laptop, it was extremely underwhelming.
I guess for me the idea that a small laptop (13-in and under) is "comfortable" doesn't make sense. Heck, I only find the 17-in ones to be good enough.
Not knocking (only) the MBA, but those laptop keyboards cannot compare to a regular desktop keyboard. And it's hard to manage many windows / data sources on a small laptop screen. On the desktop PC, I'm probably at least twice as efficient as on my laptop.
So, I think it's all relative. The Prime might not be great for long documents, but should be good enough, especially compared to the iPad.
strikethreeout said:
I actually think everyone sees this as a fusion of the laptop and tablet... but it's not. (and most of it is due to software issues) As a tablet, it was superb; but, as a laptop, it was extremely underwhelming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that the TF/Prime+dock is better as a notebook than a notebook is as a tablet. Not perfect, but it works in a pinch.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
He also was talking a lot about Honeycomb in the video review and at the end talked about seeing if it improves with ICS.
Was this tablet not meant to be a ICS launch tablet, if thats true then we cant really see how well it does until the ICS update is here.
wynand32 said:
I think that the TF/Prime+dock is better as a notebook than a notebook is as a tablet. Not perfect, but it works in a pinch.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me see you recalculate a 5GB Excel spreadsheet on any tablet. Same thing for a 10GB PowerPoint with imbedded video. Tablets are OK as desktop replacements for light duty, but the heavy stuff chokes them both h/w and s/w wise. Also, when you create complicated documents in any of the fake-Office products they appear funky to people opening them in real-Office. So typically you have to do some clean-up on a desktop or laptop with anything you create on a tablet.
BarryH_GEG said:
Let me see you recalculate a 5GB Excel spreadsheet on any tablet. Same thing for a 10GB PowerPoint with imbedded video. Tablets are OK as desktop replacements for light duty, but the heavy stuff chokes them both h/w and s/w wise. Also, when you create complicated documents in any of the fake-Office products they appear funky to people opening them in real-Office. So typically you have to do some clean-up on a desktop or laptop with anything you create on a tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Methinks you're missing my point.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Nekromantik said:
He also was talking a lot about Honeycomb in the video review and at the end talked about seeing if it improves with ICS.
Was this tablet not meant to be a ICS launch tablet, if thats true then we cant really see how well it does until the ICS update is here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Asus or any other manufacturer can use ICS on a product. The Zoom was the HC launch tablet but there aren't any official tablets for the launch of ICS. It's whoever gets there first. Samsung was the official launch partner for ICS in general with the Galaxy Nexus.
---------- Post added at 07:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 PM ----------
wynand32 said:
Methinks you're missing my point.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must have... Other than the convenience of a touch screen, what can't you do on a laptop that you can do on an Android tablet?
BarryH_GEG said:
Must have... Other than the convenience of a touch screen, what can't you do on a laptop that you can do on an Android tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you nailed it on the head: convenience. A touch screen with 16 hours of convenience.
I mean what is the point of a laptop when a desktop has twice the power for half the money, with a larger screen and better ergonomics, and can do a heck of a lot more? Same difference.
BarryH_GEG said:
Asus or any other manufacturer can use ICS on a product. The Zoom was the HC launch tablet but there aren't any official tablets for the launch of ICS. It's whoever gets there first. Samsung was the official launch partner for ICS in general with the Galaxy Nexus.
---------- Post added at 07:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 PM ----------
Must have... Other than the convenience of a touch screen, what can't you do on a laptop that you can do on an Android tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android apps???
BarryH_GEG said:
Asus or any other manufacturer can use ICS on a product. The Zoom was the HC launch tablet but there aren't any official tablets for the launch of ICS. It's whoever gets there first. Samsung was the official launch partner for ICS in general with the Galaxy Nexus.
---------- Post added at 07:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 PM ----------
Must have... Other than the convenience of a touch screen, what can't you do on a laptop that you can do on an Android tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, quite a few things, of course. Comfortably hold at an ergonomic distance for ebook reading and watching video. Use in settings where a notebook is untenable (e.g., lounging on the couch). And the touchscreen is more than just a "convenience." It affords an entirely different user interface paradigm that's better suited for a number of tasks (e.g., email triage, casual browsing, photo selection, etc.).
My point is that both types of devices have their uses, and comparing them is pretty meaningless. If a person can only afford one, then that person would need to really assess their needs before choosing one over the other. Saying a notebook is the better device is like saying a car is better than a motorcycle--which is only true if you evaluate the motorcycle by the standards of a car. Judged by the standards of a motorcycle, a car falls short.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
wynand32 said:
Well, quite a few things, of course...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally got what you're saying and mostly agree. This thread-within-a-thread started with the limitations of a tablet for heavy duty computing which is true. I bought a tablet (in addition to a laptop) for all the reasons you listed. It's a fantastic consumption device. If someone owns both they can pick the one that suits what they're doing at the moment best. To pick only one is a personal choice depending on what it's going to be used for. I think a couple of us just wanted to, from experience, make sure others didn't think that tablet+keyboard+Teg3 is going to do all that a Windows or iOS laptop can do and as well. Anyone that's lost a couple of pages of work in a fake-Office product will attest to that.
Assuming you have access to a desktop machine somewhere, RDP/VNC is quite good at solving these heavyweight application needs - or the question of how to access an IE-only web interface on a tablet. It isn't perfect, and it won't solve all of the issues, but I can see it maybe making quite a difference to the way most of us use PCs.
This worries me: "Aluminum does a fairly good job of attenuating RF signals, which contributes to worse range on WiFi than the original plastic Eee Pad Transformer. WiFi performance at the edge of reception as well as the maximum usable WiFi range are both noticeably lower than its predecessor."
My current Transformer is barely registering my WiFi router when I'm in other room. I'll have to change the router or sth.
Like many of you I picked up an Evo View last week during the "pretty good" sales. Have it sitting on my table burning a whole in my brain wondering whether I should keep or sell (as new) before I crack into it. I also recently received an Acer A100 which is also new. I love the Flyer but quickly see that the development is not very popular. I appreciate the work being put into it, but am considering selling both to pickup a Galaxy Tab 7 plus (which I know has quite the lack of development also, for now)
Any thoughts from those who currently own a View. My main concern is using it when I travel on WiFi, 99% movies, with some occasional gaming and internet use. My SGS2 handles pretty much everything else. Your thoughts are appreciated.
I grabed a few Kindle Fires and then thought I missed the Sale on the HTC EVO View 4G for 230 give or take and paid 300 for it.
I see the sales coming and going and kinda want to kick myself for ordering, but mine is brand new.
Keep in mind there are many of these suckers in peoples hands and that hopefully means more interest in the dev community. I also have read that a legit honeycomb update is coming. Im happy with the device as is, but I also have an iPad 2 as my main tablet.
I am in a some what similar circumstance, making that decision myself on what way to go. First I made a decision that I needed to be iThing and Android compatible to give myself the best of both worlds, primarily software that works on one vs. the other, and be able to take advantage of free software, etc. on both sides of the fence. For the Apple side of things, I have an iPad and iPod, big and small, no medium choice in the apple line.
For Android, I have a phone, an A500, a Flyer, and a View. The intent was to give the Flyer to my GF for a Christmas present, and keep the View for myself. Then the debate would be whether the A500 10.1" tablet gets more use, or the 7" View, and do I need both.
I chose the Flyer and View because they are comparable spec wise to anything else in the 7" line, are selling now for a competitive price, and have the pen feature other ones don't have, giving it a leg up. My GF is an English teacher and will probably use the pen feature.
I was on the verge of rooting her Flyer, and was wondering if I should even bother for her purposes.
---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 PM ----------
I bought a View, then thought they weren't going to ship it, so I bought a second one, and ended up with two Views. I am willing to deal on the second one
Thanks for the responses so far. I am looking for a device to replace my OG Galaxy Tab. I still like it but looking to mess with something else. I don't really need more than one tablet, just sold a few phones and 3 other tablets. Had to slim down the arsenal. If I can get good video playback and some occasional gaming done, I just may crack open the View. Hard to decide though, I really want a Galaxy 7+, but they are still $400 and nearly scarce. Samsung hasn't really gotten any traction on them yet.
For video playback I use rockplayer or mvideoplayer.
Audio I just make sure it's either mp3 or wma and most times they play in the native music player.
As far as honeycomb or ics coming out I'm personally just waiting until htc releases (if they do) something off those builds. Since the kernel source is available I am at least happy that I can modify it a bit more than just the rom.
In the end though only you can decide what you really want in a device. I sold my first view because I was getting tired of not having a kernel source and bought my second one because I really didn't want any other tablet.
It's your preference but the flyer/view tablets are very well capable of most anything you can throw at it. Shoot, I even make phone calls from my view (using skype or grooveip depending on video or not) using my ps3 bluetooth headset. Once you change the bluetooth profile in the build.prop there's no reason why you can't use most bluetooth headsets or devices (keyboards). Good luck on your decision though.
I purchased the View because I wanted a pen based system to use more in the work environment. We just opened our campus up to Wifi and expanded the security rules to allow personal tablets to connect to it. I also added the $19.99/mo. Sprint Tablet plan for those times that I am out of range.
After playing with the tablet for a day now I am not trilled because the pen integration is limited with GB. I hope we get HC on the view so that the pen integration is expanded. I was able to purchase an Android notepad app that worked with the pen so I have more solutions than the stock notepad.
Do. Know if there is going to be HC for the View?
I also have an iPad which for now will remain my primary non-work device and I remain optimistic that through the developers on this site we can get he View better.
I'm thinking of buying a tablet, money is not my major concern, so my ideal tablet needs to do the following:
- no problem for video playback for the following formats: mkv, avi, rmvb, flv. I owned a samsung captivate before and my captivate can play all formats I have (even 720p, I don't have any 1080p files) smoothly. I'm not sure if ipad2 + xbmc can do that.
- browsing - my major concern is the speed. The reason I got rid of my samsung captivate was because of the speed, sometimes it's really laggy even I rooted it, installed custom rom + lag fix. I'm not sure if this applies to the transformer with ICS
- reading books. I read pdfs, sometimes mobi files, but most of them are pdfs and simple txt files
- programming?? I am a developer I'm not sure if I can use ipad 2/transformer/any android tablet to do some programming? it will be great if I can run xampp, wamp or xampp alternate (apache), it's not a must
- reading comics. Most of my comics are in zip/rar (.jpg) formats with size = 1024x768
- last but not least - no lag at all. Again the reason why I replaced my samsung captivate with an iphone 4 was because the captivate was really laggy.
I'm considering the ipad 2 and transformer prime (if there is a better android tablet please let me know ), I don't want a new ipad (aka ipad 3) as the retina display won't suite my needs (reading 1024x768 comics, or watching old tvs
(with 640x352)
It will be really helpful if you can tell me if the transformer suites my need, if not please recommend a good tablet.
many thanks!
prime seems to fit all those needs very well and can do lots more. the stock OS is very fast,slick,n smooth. IMO, faster ui transitions than ipad2. prime display is very nice. especially for looking at your comics.
---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 PM ----------
prime will play any video format you throw at it with ease. plus HD diaplay
---------- Post added at 05:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:51 PM ----------
Prime=Lag free
thanks demandarin for a quick response.
I read an article from somewhere else that the prime has a keyboard problem. Just wondering if it's been fixed?
I just got a Prime, I've owned an iPad in the past.. I can tell you the Prime BLOWS AWAY they iPad.
This is the only tablet I've ever used that I've considered a PC replacement.
I got the dock and it's my primary machine now.. there's really nothing that I do in my daily computing that I can't do on the Prime.
On any other tablet I've owned (Thrive, iPad2, Iconia) this was not the case and I ended up returning them all.
For the programming, depending on what you do, you may have to remote into a PC or get a cheap VPS and remote into that.
I do that for SQL development and it's great.
With the dock I can use the keyboard and touchpad, or plug in a USB / Bluetooth mouse.. works great for me.
The iPads are WAY over hyped and if you do end up getting one, you'll realize how limited it is.
I would definitely recommend the Prime or TF101 (non-Prime Transformer).
HTH
For programming natively on the Prime, check Java AIDE app in the market.. I mean, google play
it will be a plus if I can do some programming using the transformer, if I can't then I'll just use my macbook air.
I DO love android. The only thing that I don't like is its UI responsiveness. However if ICS improves the UI responsiveness significantly then I'll go with the prime.
redjersey said:
it will be a plus if I can do some programming using the transformer, if I can't then I'll just use my macbook air.
I DO love android. The only thing that I don't like is its UI responsiveness. However if ICS improves the UI responsiveness significantly then I'll go with the prime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung devices lag no matter what. I've had my Prime fire a couple days and use it as my daily driver now. Fast and smooth. I can't wait to flash a ROM, I'm still waiting a couple days... and the other devices you mentioned are iLimited...Good luck, with your decision
This ISN'T my Transformer Prime
Pixelation said:
Samsung devices lag no matter what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why is that?
Another thing to note, they have Ubuntu natively for android devices.
Things like that would probably never happen with IOS.
redjersey said:
why is that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it will be great if Pixelation / someone can explain this to me? should I avoid samsung products in the future?
I haven't heard of any keyboard problem. I hear great things about keyboard dock. if you mean touch keyboard, there are several great choices to choose from. I got hooked on thumb keyboard. best keyboard ever IMO.
For programming, I have found DroidEdit to be an excellent basic source code editor. Along with Agit to pull in git repos (and one of the github apps), I find the Prime to be pretty excellent for reviewing code.
I don't do much LAMP programming these days, so I don't know, but you can always SSH into some server with ConnectBot.
For interpreters/compilers, there is a compiler for c/c++ (c4droid), and REPLs for Scheme and Ruby. I have installed Terminal IDE, and done some simple stuff with it (grep, etc), but not much beyond that. It seems to be a powerful environment.
I haven't used an iPad extensively, so I can't speak to that.
I think if you want to buy tablet you can wait little more time for buy asus transformer pad infinity! Prime have small problems with software and another things
For developing Android apps, use AIDE.
For developing other stuff, use a chroot -- I suggest Debian stable for ease of apt-get install {whatever}. You will need a terminal emulator (I use BTEP) and optionally something like Xvnc.
My tablet is equipped for C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, and Ruby development. I use the same exact tools that I use on my work station, on the development server at work, and on personal netbooks/laptops/desktops. Learning Vi IMproved or EMACS and the unix environment is well worth it, you would have a less "Integrated" experience otherwise without much hacking. I can even cross compile crud to Windows 32-bit/64-bit off my tablet.
But be warned while awesome for running Android, large C/C++ projects can take a good bit of time to compile. This is no twin Xeon quadcore build server.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Forum Runner
thanks everyone for helping me making the decision, I think I'll wait for a few months and get a transformer pad 300 or a asus eee memo 370t
Hey guys,
I own a sensation with stock JB and LOVE android and google's interface to death. I need a laptop for school to take notes and the transformer fits the bill. I keep reading about the wifi bug and am wondering how bad it is? Is it just some devices or all, will I have trouble connecting to networks like a busy library or somewhere weak/loaded with users. I dont really care about GPS, I have my phone with a data plan for that. I was thinking of the tf300 but am worried about breaking the glass and I get the feeling it is fragile as it is not gorilla glass. The infinity is a little out of price range although I am considering trying to buy a used prime from futureshop with extended warranty(owned by bestbuy) and return it and hope for the prime
I dont know about custom roms but Get the Prime only if you're satisfied with casual gaming or browsing, using the prime for school work is just like placing yourself at the edge of a cliff, you'll never know when it'll crash, screen glitch or have a random reboot. File transfers rate using a thumbdrive is dirt slow. The best advice is to wait for the jellybean release and to examine the results and make a decision from there
I love my prime its my 6th but I've finally got a good one. If u get one check the screen very carefully...
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
People who use a custom rom with some tweaks are very happy with it. I use stock and wait for JB. If that does not fix things - I will just install a custom ROM.
Rooted user with ATPTweak and Browser2RAM here. I am very satisfied with my device, using it for college classes and it didn't fail me once. It is great to take notes in SuperNote. Combine that with a camera that is actually good enough to "screenshot" the board from afar and you've got yourself the perfect educational device.
I don't have any of the issues described by other users, except for the occasional ANR when updating apps and using the tablet at the same time.
Very Happy
I bought a second hand one from Craigslist that came with the keyboard. I could not be more satisfied. I know the GPS does not work but I have never needed it. It may reset itself or have an ANR a few times a week, but I game, surf, watch videos all on stock with no problems. I constantly put new ROM's on my phones, so I am sure it could do it on the Prime, but I have never had the need. As to the wireless, it is a little weaker to pick up than say my HTC Sensation, but not so much that it is a problem. My daughter has the Nexus 7 with JB and I think the Prime will only get better with JB.
DeKubus said:
Rooted user with ATPTweak and Browser2RAM here. I am very satisfied with my device, using it for college classes and it didn't fail me once. It is great to take notes in SuperNote. Combine that with a camera that is actually good enough to "screenshot" the board from afar and you've got yourself the perfect educational device.
I don't have any of the issues described by other users, except for the occasional ANR when updating apps and using the tablet at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same situation here. I'm not sure that I would still buy it at the same full price today, seeing how close in specs the Nexus 7 is, but it's still a really nice device.
Put reddit.com/r/aaw on the screen and it's also a chick magnet.
waltthizzney said:
Hey guys,
I own a sensation with stock JB and LOVE android and google's interface to death. I need a laptop for school to take notes and the transformer fits the bill. I keep reading about the wifi bug and am wondering how bad it is? Is it just some devices or all, will I have trouble connecting to networks like a busy library or somewhere weak/loaded with users. I dont really care about GPS, I have my phone with a data plan for that. I was thinking of the tf300 but am worried about breaking the glass and I get the feeling it is fragile as it is not gorilla glass. The infinity is a little out of price range although I am considering trying to buy a used prime from futureshop with extended warranty(owned by bestbuy) and return it and hope for the prime
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for your original question there is no WiFi bug. On many primes there is a physical manufacturing issue where they did not get proper contact between the antennas that are on the glass side of the device and the ground points with the backplate. Is causes the signals to attenuate at fairly short distance from the router. Don't buy it if they don't let you test it against another tablet unless you plan on opening it up and fixing the issue.
As for what everybody else says, yes stock software is buggy and annoyingly unstable. Jelly bean seems to fix most of what ails the prime. Again I wouldn't buy one unless you plan on voiding the warranty and unlocking for a custom ROM.
Your last sentence bothers me about getting the prime cheap and trying to exchange for what I assume you meant to say was an infinity. Why not just switch the price tags in the store or even easier, steal one?
Its the keyboard
waltthizzney said:
Hey guys,
I own a sensation with stock JB and LOVE android and google's interface to death. I need a laptop for school to take notes and the transformer fits the bill. ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One thing I didn't see anyone mention is the keyboard dock and how its (to my knowledge) unique among Android tablets. The keyboard dock has a usb port that works with everything I've thrown at it including flash drives, track balls, external hard drives, mice, usb card readers, and a usb wired Ethernet adapter. I can also use multiple usb devices at the same time using a small usb hub. About the only issue I've had is if I try to use the wired Ethernet and the external hard drive at the same time. Both work individually and also when used together with a mouse, but I'm guessing they draw too much juice to use at the same time - but that's hardly a limitation. As far as usefulness for school work/note taking etc, I would think the dock and its capabilities offers a huge advantage
As far as buggy software, many or most of the complaints I see seem to revolve around the built in browser - which I have basically never used anyway. I use Chrome and Dolphin and don't have any problems.
My WiFi also works more than adequately. I don't get as good a speed as I do with my Dell laptop but I get better WiFi speed than I do with my Droid 3 phone. So it falls in the midrange of my devices. At work, my office is on the other side of the building from the wifi router with an elevator shaft and a bank of metal file cabinets between me and the router. No device gets a very good signal at my desk. But even in that worst case environment, my prime gets a good enough signal to get my email and do light web surfing - which is as good as any device can do in that location. Its not a problem at home at all. It's not a speed demon by any means but I'm not trying to download huge files with it either (as some have said they do). Since I have a variety of devices available including a desktop and a laptop, I'm not sure why I would choose to do things like that using a tablet anyway. For a big download I'd probably do it on my desktop while I do other things with the tablet. Also, I'm guessing you probably don't need to be doing bit torrents and take notes in a class both at the same time?
Which brings up the question of weather its going to be your only device? If you have a regular computer (either laptop or desktop) I would not worry. IMO there are some tasks that tablets are just not well suited to and I don't see how a student could get away with any tablet as their only computer anyway.
All that said, here are a couple of points:
1. buying it specifically for the purpose of returning it is reprehensible. Don't do it. This sort of behavior is part of the reason electronics are as expensive as they are for everyone else.
2. Given that the Transformer Infinity is out and offers all the same advantages as the Prime, the only reason to go with a prime now is if the price is really, really good. I would say that to be reasonable, a used prime would definitely have to cost less than a new TF300 - since the new TF300 would have a full warranty. Unfortunately Amazon has $324 as the cheapest used prime while I would say no more than about $250 would be a good price for a used one (not including keyboard)
3. You could consider a TF300 which once again offers the keyboard dock with all its advantages for around $300 not including the keyboard.
ratman6161 said:
One thing I didn't see anyone mention is the keyboard dock and how its (to my knowledge) unique among Android tablets. The keyboard dock has a usb port that works with everything I've thrown at it including flash drives, track balls, external hard drives, mice, usb card readers, and a usb wired Ethernet adapter. I can also use multiple usb devices at the same time using a small usb hub. About the only issue I've had is if I try to use the wired Ethernet and the external hard drive at the same time. Both work individually and also when used together with a mouse, but I'm guessing they draw too much juice to use at the same time - but that's hardly a limitation. As far as usefulness for school work/note taking etc, I would think the dock and its capabilities offers a huge advantage
As far as buggy software, many or most of the complaints I see seem to revolve around the built in browser - which I have basically never used anyway. I use Chrome and Dolphin and don't have any problems.
My WiFi also works more than adequately. I don't get as good a speed as I do with my Dell laptop but I get better WiFi speed than I do with my Droid 3 phone. So it falls in the midrange of my devices. At work, my office is on the other side of the building from the wifi router with an elevator shaft and a bank of metal file cabinets between me and the router. No device gets a very good signal at my desk. But even in that worst case environment, my prime gets a good enough signal to get my email and do light web surfing - which is as good as any device can do in that location. Its not a problem at home at all. It's not a speed demon by any means but I'm not trying to download huge files with it either (as some have said they do). Since I have a variety of devices available including a desktop and a laptop, I'm not sure why I would choose to do things like that using a tablet anyway. For a big download I'd probably do it on my desktop while I do other things with the tablet. Also, I'm guessing you probably don't need to be doing bit torrents and take notes in a class both at the same time?
Which brings up the question of weather its going to be your only device? If you have a regular computer (either laptop or desktop) I would not worry. IMO there are some tasks that tablets are just not well suited to and I don't see how a student could get away with any tablet as their only computer anyway.
All that said, here are a couple of points:
1. buying it specifically for the purpose of returning it is reprehensible. Don't do it. This sort of behavior is part of the reason electronics are as expensive as they are for everyone else.
2. Given that the Transformer Infinity is out and offers all the same advantages as the Prime, the only reason to go with a prime now is if the price is really, really good. I would say that to be reasonable, a used prime would definitely have to cost less than a new TF300 - since the new TF300 would have a full warranty. Unfortunately Amazon has $324 as the cheapest used prime while I would say no more than about $250 would be a good price for a used one (not including keyboard)
3. You could consider a TF300 which once again offers the keyboard dock with all its advantages for around $300 not including the keyboard.
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thanks guys..... Why I am buying it is because I want something to take notes on at school in class and when reading chapters in books. I use to have a macbook pro that got destroyed taking it to school on my bike everyday, now I own a Levano Y580... (beast of a laptop btw for a great price) but do not want to lug it around and want to just keep it at home. my last two questions are with note taking apps like the one mentioned, Can you save these notes as DOCS then open them on your windows pc in word? also can you use google docs offline like you can on windows on your prime?
also what are the common issues I should inspect in regards to hardware issues?
waltthizzney said:
thanks guys..... Why I am buying it is because I want something to take notes on at school in class and when reading chapters in books. I use to have a macbook pro that got destroyed taking it to school on my bike everyday, now I own a Levano Y580... (beast of a laptop btw for a great price) but do not want to lug it around and want to just keep it at home. my last two questions are with note taking apps like the one mentioned, Can you save these notes as DOCS then open them on your windows pc in word? also can you use google docs offline like you can on windows on your prime?
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Well, that's getting to more a matter of what software you want to use and how you want to take your notes. Handwriting recognition does not work for me...not on the prime and not on anything else I've tried. Even things that work for others don't work for me. My handwriting is so terrible that it just doesn't work. So I can't speak to that. And I absolutely despise on-screen keyboards as well for anything other than web surfing etc. So the keyboard dock is the biggest reason I chose the prime in the first place...though what works for you is for you to decide.
As to typing notes (which I assume is OK with you since you said you used to do this on a laptop) there are a number of options. You mentioned knowing Android well so I will leave it to you to pick apps that do the job for you. As far as what is on the machine as it comes out of the box, there is Super Note which I don't particularly like. There is also Polaris Office which handles Microsoft Office documents quite well in my opinion). Any 10 inch screen is not going to be that great (once again for me) to do detailed editing, but matched with the keyboard dock it works great for typing notes to be saved as Word docs and transferred to the PC later. However I mostly use Polaris office for reading documents others have sent me.
What I actually use for notes most of the time is Ever Note so that my notes get auto synced to my desktop PC. These can be easily copied and pasted to Word Documents if I wanted to though I rarely actually do that.
As far as Google Docs, I don't really use them but I don't think you can get at them off line (i.e. with no internet connection)
As far as carrying it around every day, well, the tablet can get broken too. So if your Mac Book got "destroyed" then I'm not sure a tablet will fare much better...a lot of it is made of glass after all. But if you are set on a tablet, I don't think the Prime is any more fragile than any other.
---------- Post added at 03:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:49 PM ----------
waltthizzney said:
also what are the common issues I should inspect in regards to hardware issues?
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Click to collapse
That's a question that will typically generate a flame war on this forum between the people who have had problems and those who have not. I'm one of the ones who hasn't had any problems getting it to do the things I want it to do.
But I'll leave it to you to browse the forums and decide for yourself.
ratman6161 said:
Well, that's getting to more a matter of what software you want to use and how you want to take your notes. Handwriting recognition does not work for me...not on the prime and not on anything else I've tried. Even things that work for others don't work for me. My handwriting is so terrible that it just doesn't work. So I can't speak to that. And I absolutely despise on-screen keyboards as well for anything other than web surfing etc. So the keyboard dock is the biggest reason I chose the prime in the first place...though what works for you is for you to decide.
As to typing notes (which I assume is OK with you since you said you used to do this on a laptop) there are a number of options. You mentioned knowing Android well so I will leave it to you to pick apps that do the job for you. As far as what is on the machine as it comes out of the box, there is Super Note which I don't particularly like. There is also Polaris Office which handles Microsoft Office documents quite well in my opinion). Any 10 inch screen is not going to be that great (once again for me) to do detailed editing, but matched with the keyboard dock it works great for typing notes to be saved as Word docs and transferred to the PC later. However I mostly use Polaris office for reading documents others have sent me.
What I actually use for notes most of the time is Ever Note so that my notes get auto synced to my desktop PC. These can be easily copied and pasted to Word Documents if I wanted to though I rarely actually do that.
As far as Google Docs, I don't really use them but I don't think you can get at them off line (i.e. with no internet connection)
As far as carrying it around every day, well, the tablet can get broken too. So if your Mac Book got "destroyed" then I'm not sure a tablet will fare much better...a lot of it is made of glass after all. But if you are set on a tablet, I don't think the Prime is any more fragile than any other.
---------- Post added at 03:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:49 PM ----------
That's a question that will typically generate a flame war on this forum between the people who have had problems and those who have not. I'm one of the ones who hasn't had any problems getting it to do the things I want it to do.
But I'll leave it to you to browse the forums and decide for yourself.
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Click to collapse
thanks for the reply...... Trying to decide between the tf201 which has a nicer screen vs the tf300 which has most bugs fixed and will not get as scratched!
I just got a new Prime on ebay for $300. Did I pay too much considering some of the problems I've been reading about?
kosenn said:
I just got a new Prime on ebay for $300. Did I pay too much considering some of the problems I've been reading about?
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just think you got it $200 cheaper than most of us and if you dont care about warranty all can be fixed or worked around other than (as far as i know) bt/wifi dropout http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1443868&highlight=dropout.
I just got my Prime 201. I tried to upgrade from 3.2.1 and it shows no updates available. The build number is HTk75.us_epad-8.8.3.33-20111223.
kosenn said:
I just got my Prime 201. I tried to upgrade from 3.2.1 and it shows no updates available. The build number is HTk75.us_epad-8.8.3.33-20111223.
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so go to asus and download one if its available. they have instructions there too. This is of course not in the least bit applicable to the thread you have posted in. (OMG listen to me, I have become my father)