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Having received my transformer this morning, all I can say is i love it! however, there are definitely a few issues that are bugging me;
1. the build quality. i constantly feel where the outer rim and the back casing are supposed to join, but dont and its a constant remind of its quality
2. the dock. its brilliant but the putting the tablet into the dock is so annoying and im afraid I may end up breaking the mechanism on the dock. which leads me to my next point...
3. connectivity. the tablet actually has about as much connectivity as an ipad, which is a REAL shame. would it have been so difficult to implement a micro/usb port onto the tablet? i appreciate the sd card slot but personally I'd have preferred the micro/usb than the sd card, but hey atleast the sd card works! you cannot really experience the transformer properly without the keyboard dock so when docking the tablet I am extremely cautious incase i do do some damage.
4. trackpad. the two buttons on the trackpad also feel really cheap when pressing. I suppose this is to be expected when paying as little I have for this tablet.
My final issue, for now, is the constant freezing of the keyboard which i believe has been addressed in a firmware update in the US and not in the UK. Would be nice to get it soon! anyone know when we brits get this update, and any other update there is floating around??
there is a USB port adapter being released by Asus in the near future. Also the trackpad feels real solid to me.
seshmaru said:
there is a USB port adapter being released by Asus in the near future. Also the trackpad feels real solid to me.
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my buttons on the trackpad feel really plasticy but i guess thats to be expected. although iv not spent a great deal of time with the dock, guess ill have a more informed idea in a few days
kashifnazir said:
my buttons on the trackpad feel really plasticy but i guess thats to be expected. although iv not spent a great deal of time with the dock, guess ill have a more informed idea in a few days
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they feel like plastic but they feel robust and sturdy to me, or are you experiencing different issues?
happy with the trackpad buttons too..they're robust..
as for the docking mechanism..you'll get used to it eventually...and it's a lot easier to dock after being used for a while.
I have no problems that seriously bother me. If you don't like it there's always the option to return it. I would not keep something that bothers me that much!
I am just waiting to see if its a case of getting used to it, will only return as a very last resort because I'm very happy with the rest of the tablet as I'm sure the majority of transformer users are!
Dock is very solid. And it has usb ports so I'm confused about your review.
kashifnazir said:
I am just waiting to see if its a case of getting used to it, will only return as a very last resort because I'm very happy with the rest of the tablet as I'm sure the majority of transformer users are!
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Excellent choice! I think it has a lot of potential. Obviously, the hardware issues won't be resolved but the software will be splendid in a few months!
U say it has as much connectivity as an iPad yet I dont see a micro sd slot ,HDMI port, or a dock slot on the iPad, can u help me find it
cowballz69 said:
Dock is very solid. And it has usb ports so I'm confused about your review.
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i think he means why didnt they add a usb to the tablet as well so if you didnt buy the dock you could have a usb port. i think it would have been a nice feature especially on the left hand side of the tablet where the power and volume buttons are. i do like the dock option especially since it adds more battery life to the tablet.
^ Actually the iPad2 has a dock slot (smartass), it's just basically a keyboard, without any of the usefullness of the TF's dock.
The dock has USB ports, yes, but the tablet itself doesn't. I can see where kashifnazir is going with this; I'd like a USB port - even a micro/mini would do - on the tablet itself as well. If I wanted to just grab something of somone's USB stick, I might not necessarily what to root in my bag for the dock every time.
Regardless, it's relatively minor. The Transformer is still the portable computer I've been waiting for since tablets first hit the market.
kashifnazir said:
4. trackpad. the two buttons on the trackpad also feel really cheap when pressing. I suppose this is to be expected when paying as little I have for this tablet.
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I sort of noticed this issue too, but try this:
Press the trackpad button all the way out on the edge. Feels cheap doesn't it? Now press the button about halfway between the edge and the rubber bumper that the screen rests on when closed. Now, it feels almost better than some netbook trackpad buttons I've used.
My thoughts after some time on the TF
Charger: It appears that the charger is marginal at best and when used to charge the TF/Dock combo with medium battery remaining the charger overheats and either dies or shuts down until it cools. I have been charging separately and if lots of charging is needed, do it in increments. Seems to work fine. Excellent biz opportunity design a 15VDC 3.0a power supply with a USB3.0 female connector.
Dust: The plastic protective cover was covered with dust when I opened the box. Luckily nothing inside the TF. ASUS needs to revisit the assy and packaging cleanliness requirements.
UI: Would be nice to have option to move soft buttons from bottom to side of screen as they are easier to access when holding the device.
Case creek. My case is solid, but I noticed that the hinge on the dock is very stiff and I can see how opening and closing the combo by pushing on the TF could easily cause considerable stress on the case causing it to flex.
Overall for an early adopted device I am impressed.
cowballz69 said:
U say it has as much connectivity as an iPad yet I dont see a micro sd slot ,HDMI port, or a dock slot on the iPad, can u help me find it
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as some of the more eagle eyed readers have spotted, i was simply saying that id like a usb port on the tablet which is more useful than a hdmi and SD slot for me, thats all
kingwp1 said:
I sort of noticed this issue too, but try this:
Press the trackpad button all the way out on the edge. Feels cheap doesn't it? Now press the button about halfway between the edge and the rubber bumper that the screen rests on when closed. Now, it feels almost better than some netbook trackpad buttons I've used.
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Click to collapse
yeh upon a bt more usage ive realised its more sturdy in the middle, just accustomised to using it on th edge but i can adapt
cowballz69 said:
Dock is very solid. And it has usb ports so I'm confused about your review.
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He meant on the tablet itself.
kashifnazir said:
as some of the more eagle eyed readers have spotted, i was simply saying that id like a usb port on the tablet which is more useful than a hdmi and SD slot for me, thats all
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We get that, but why didn't you buy an Acer A500 if having this feature was that important to you? I'm just curious
Sent from my HTC Eva 4G using Tapatalk
Jocelyn said:
We get that, but why didn't you buy an Acer A500 if having this feature was that important to you? I'm just curious
Sent from my HTC Eva 4G using Tapatalk
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Excellent question, main reason was the display and the dock and having played with both I preferred this. However, I did also blindly expect it to have one but its ok, ill just get the USB accesory so life is good
kashifnazir said:
Excellent question, main reason was the display and the dock and having played with both I preferred this. However, I did also blindly expect it to have one but its ok, ill just get the USB accesory so life is good
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I understand, but from a business perspective, I think it would have been a horrible idea for Asus to include a USB/micro USB port on the tablet itself. They wouldn't have the potential to sell nearly as many docks, and getting consumers to buy both parts is how they've chosen to market the Transformer.
Sent from my HTC Eva 4G using Tapatalk
I am wondering if anyone has thought of or even tried removing our new GPS/ WiFi panel from the back of the Tablet. What I am thinking of is to cut/ drill holes in it to increase ventilation to allow the heat to dissipte easier. I have seen something similar built it from the new Asus ZenBook. I am thinking that this could possibly allow us to run some of Clemsyn's higher 1.9 or 2.0 Over Clock kernels easier or allow him to go higher with the GPU? I would be willing to try this myself if I could find an easy way to remove that back piece without needing to remove the screen from the rest of the tablet. I am however not sure if it could harm the tablet more then it could help it. I would love to for some advice and suggestions.
RKnight1983 said:
I am wondering if anyone has thought of or even tried removing our new GPS/ WiFi panel from the back of the Tablet. What I am thinking of is to cut/ drill holes in it to increase ventilation to allow the heat to dissipte easier. I have seen something similar built it from the new Asus ZenBook. I am thinking that this could possibly allow us to run some of Clemsyn's higher 1.9 or 2.0 Over Clock kernels easier or allow him to go higher with the GPU? I would be willing to try this myself if I could find an easy way to remove that back piece without needing to remove the screen from the rest of the tablet. I am however not sure if it could harm the tablet more then it could help it. I would love to for some advice and suggestions.
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Hey fellow GR TF700 owner! Nope, unfortunately there is no way to remove the back piece without removing the screen, ect. You are really talking about a full tear down of the tablet, and rebuild after adding the vents. Sounds like fun though, I am an avid PC modder and if you are looking for a partner in modding, look no further!
If you want an idea of what you are in for.. check this out:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Asus+Transformer+Infinity+TF+700+Teardown/10306/1
Thanks for the input. I didn't know there were so many XDA member from the West Michigan area. I am still debating on performing the operation on my Tablet and I have in fact seen that tutorial. I am just still not sure if it would in fact be a positive. I know that I would have to put some sort of mesh on the inside to prevent dirt from getting inside. I just always notice that my tablet can get arm on the top left corner after a while even if I am using the keyboard. I noticed this even before I unlocked and also recall it happening on my Prime.
It would seem that your warranty may not cover this if you messup on it. I got this info here. Just thought I would give a fair warning
Thanks for the fair warning. I already figured that the warranty would not be valid after i put holes in my device on purpose. I am just trying to figure out if it would in fact help lower the temperature of the device with ventilation holes. I know that our tablets may not be up to standards with actual lap tops or computers, however I do believe that we have better processors internals then early PC's and they even had cooling fans and better ventilation. I do know that we have devices now that are way to thin to put cooling fans or liquid cooling tubes, but why would it not help to put well places ventilation to help our device run cooler and more efficient. I notice that the biggest difference when my devices starts to get hotter is that the battery drains quicker. I have noticed this with any device I have overclocked that once the temperature starts rising, the battery starts dropping quicker.
RKnight1983 said:
I notice that the biggest difference when my devices starts to get hotter is that the battery drains quicker.
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Heat is a form of energy, so the reason for this should be obvious.
Is it possible to take a 32 GB chip and replace it with 16 GB chip, if both chips are in the same size, and for the same phone model?
Or in order to change memory, more things inside the phone are changed ? I hope you understand my question :laugh:
How is your chip attached to the board? If it's a BGA, I don't think you can solder that. If it's indeed possible to change the actual chip, the answer depends a lot of things like the system, the chip operation etc. This is a bit vague question to answer for good. Maybe add some details about the chip and system, board and such?
tapiov said:
How is your chip attached to the board? If it's a BGA, I don't think you can solder that. If it's indeed possible to change the actual chip, the answer depends a lot of things like the system, the chip operation etc. This is a bit vague question to answer for good. Maybe add some details about the chip and system, board and such?
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the help!
I am actually talking about the Galaxy s3 i9300 and the sudden death syndrome which occurs on the 16 GB version, where the eMMC chip fails (it is a BGA :crying,
It makes sense that you can replace the broken 16 GB chip with a new 16 GB, but do you think it is possible to replace it with 32 GB? or things don't work that simple, and when you change from 16 GB to 32, not only the chip itself changes, but many things around it do, so for a 16gb version, you can replace it with only the 16 gb chip?
Btw, theoretically, if I replace an eMMC chip on a dead i9300 , will it revive the phone? or the sudden death kills more components on the way, and not just the eMMC ?
I don't know a lot of the I9300 or the sudden death bug. It does sound to me that the eMMC in question might not actually be physically damaged but just corrupted beyond repair. It might be thus possible to reprogram it using JTAG.
Soldering a BGA is not possible as they use a technique called flow solder, meaning that components are first attached to place and then the board is put into a kind of owen. Many components with tens on pins (actually balls as they're BGA, ball grid array) get soldered at once. The solder balls/bumps are on the underside of the components so you understand why it is not possible to manually re-solder them.
For JTAG, you need to know the ports on the board, have a JTAG file to use, and have a JTAG machine. It's possible in a service shop or corresponding.
I hope this information is useful for you. Like said, I don't know all the particulars here but I used to work with consumer electronics design.
unfortunately i9300 Jtag seem locked , about replacing you have 3% of chance to solve with the standard stuffs .
but early something happened in my mind , removed old chip and resoldered new with wires .. plenty of pins under chip are NC . just few pins is need to be connected on pcb ! #acrazyidea
tapiov said:
I don't know a lot of the I9300 or the sudden death bug. It does sound to me that the eMMC in question might not actually be physically damaged but just corrupted beyond repair. It might be thus possible to reprogram it using JTAG.
Soldering a BGA is not possible as they use a technique called flow solder, meaning that components are first attached to place and then the board is put into a kind of owen. Many components with tens on pins (actually balls as they're BGA, ball grid array) get soldered at once. The solder balls/bumps are on the underside of the components so you understand why it is not possible to manually re-solder them.
For JTAG, you need to know the ports on the board, have a JTAG file to use, and have a JTAG machine. It's possible in a service shop or corresponding.
I hope this information is useful for you. Like said, I don't know all the particulars here but I used to work with consumer electronics design.
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There is no JTAG for the i9300 :crying: but I was sure that you can put a new BGA in the place and use heat gun, it won't work?
About flow soldering, this is a machine that is making the PCB in the first manufacturing process of the PCB right? But if after the manufacturing, a component needs to be replaced? won't that be done by a human and not flow soldering machine? with a heat gun and stuff?
psytr0nic said:
unfortunately i9300 Jtag seem locked , about replacing you have 3% of chance to solve with the standard stuffs .
but early something happened in my mind , removed old chip and resoldered new with wires .. plenty of pins under chip are NC . just few pins is need to be connected on pcb ! #acrazyidea
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But how do you know which pin should be soldered? Do you have the pinout of the eMMC?
Btw, what are the stuff used to do real bga soldering? because you said standard stuff won't do.
*One question still remains, can you replace a 32GB eMMC on an originally 16GB eMMC board? or it doesn't work that way .. and even if they are the same physical size, the boards are a bit different to match for the 16GB and 32GB ?
Thank everyone
BGA soldering, replacement
verynoob said:
There is no JTAG for the i9300 :crying: but I was sure that you can put a new BGA in the place and use heat gun, it won't work?
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Well, the dimensions between pins are very small, so just heating it with heat gun would 1) probably produce fused contacts between adjacent balls and 2) destroy the eMMC due to excess heat.
verynoob said:
About flow soldering, this is a machine that is making the PCB in the first manufacturing process of the PCB right? But if after the manufacturing, a component needs to be replaced? won't that be done by a human and not flow soldering machine? with a heat gun and stuff?
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They normally replace whole modules or boards instead. It's faster and more efficient.
verynoob said:
But how do you know which pin should be soldered? Do you have the pinout of the eMMC?
Btw, what are the stuff used to do real bga soldering? because you said standard stuff won't do.
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Here is a video of a 8 ball BGA re-solder by hand. They call it a circus act, quite fittingly.
(sorry cannot put links here. The forum rules do not allow it. I wrote this with crayons as we are not allowed to have any sharp objects here )
They use the wire method here. I'd say, anything over 8 balls is ... well, impossible by hand.
verynoob said:
*One question still remains, can you replace a 32GB eMMC on an originally 16GB eMMC board? or it doesn't work that way .. and even if they are the same physical size, the boards are a bit different to match for the 16GB and 32GB ?
Thank everyone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That depends on the system, it might work, it might not. There are no guarantees. You can make a better guess of the result if you have pinouts of the both 16 and 32GB eMMCs and two system boards, one 16 and one 32GB version.
Even with all this, it would be interesting to know, why would anybody waste this much work on this task? Why not just save your sweat and nerves and go buy a new 32GB version?
If the JTAG could be unlocked, which could be even easier (illegal methods allowed? ) then the 16 GB eMMC could just be re-programmed. The service should have a JTAG access to this?
tapiov said:
Well, the dimensions between pins are very small, so just heating it with heat gun would 1) probably produce fused contacts between adjacent balls and 2) destroy the eMMC due to excess heat.
They normally replace whole modules or boards instead. It's faster and more efficient.
Here is a video of a 8 ball BGA re-solder by hand. They call it a circus act, quite fittingly.
(sorry cannot put links here. The forum rules do not allow it. I wrote this with crayons as we are not allowed to have any sharp objects here )
They use the wire method here. I'd say, anything over 8 balls is ... well, impossible by hand.
That depends on the system, it might work, it might not. There are no guarantees. You can make a better guess of the result if you have pinouts of the both 16 and 32GB eMMCs and two system boards, one 16 and one 32GB version.
Even with all this, it would be interesting to know, why would anybody waste this much work on this task? Why not just save your sweat and nerves and go buy a new 32GB version?
If the JTAG could be unlocked, which could be even easier (illegal methods allowed? ) then the 16 GB eMMC could just be re-programmed. The service should have a JTAG access to this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
I think you tried to upload an image with the URL of the video? because there is nothing uploaded
this is a thread with full info : emmc pinout and some info .
standard stuffs = ordinary soldering tools , you can use to remove damaged but can't replace it by them ( self experienced ) ..
much temperature is not supported by emmc chips also !! so hard ..
Link
verynoob said:
Thanks
I think you tried to upload an image with the URL of the video? because there is nothing uploaded
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Click to collapse
Here you go. Try googling for "BGA solder"
http://hackaday.com/2012/11/13/hand-soldering-bga-parts-should-be-a-circus-act/
this a movie which will let's think alot , and give more info about this topic .
just watch and decide your self what to do ,. in my side I started to pratice .
http://youtu.be/ds04BTVL8i0
yuuup
verynoob said:
Is it possible to take a 32 GB chip and replace it with 16 GB chip, if both chips are in the same size, and for the same phone model?
Or in order to change memory, more things inside the phone are changed ? I hope you understand my question :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi and yes you can do that, you need to buy replacement emmc 16gb or 32gb with or without os on it ( if not flashing will be needed). You need also hot air machine some flux, after that when emmc is removed you need to clean soldering points on mobo and just put new emmc and solder it again with hot air her is link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOYo9AcUQQI
AlenKing said:
Hi and yes you can do that, you need to buy replacement emmc 16gb or 32gb with or without os on it ( if not flashing will be needed). You need also hot air machine some flux, after that when emmc is removed you need to clean soldering points on mobo and just put new emmc and solder it again with hot air her is link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOYo9AcUQQI
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i bought an emmc chip which is sandisk, i know that the samsung's emmc chips are not sandisk but the chips are almost same except the brand, so will this chip work on samsung n7000?
zhjackss said:
i bought an emmc chip which is sandisk, i know that the samsung's emmc chips are not sandisk but the chips are almost same except the brand, so will this chip work on samsung n7000?
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Click to collapse
Hmmmm not sure. Changing mmc is dangerous for motherboard and in theory it should work but untill you try and put sandisk instead samsung wee dont know.
Does such battery exist for our tablet? Just curious
No because you cannot remove the back...just get a battery pack.
Sent From Capsule Corp.
One of my older tablets was a Transformer, you plug in the keyboard and get extra battery capacity.
Of course the Nexus 9 has no connector for an external keyboard but such a thing for the Nexus 9 would be great.
Well the back could be easily removed with finger nails . I think there is potential for an extended battery. I wouldn't mind it at all.
albsat said:
Well the back could be easily removed with finger nails . I think there is potential for an extended battery. I wouldn't mind it at all.
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I'm sure the company making the battery would mind being at fault for voiding everyone's warranties.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuewklttaSc&feature=youtu.be
Awesome. Not bad. I wish the back panel wasn't attached with adhesive. Makes it much more difficult to change it out on a whim.
sooooo get moto care is what i'm thinking after watching that
I get a warranty match by buying the phone with my visa card, so one year from moto one year thru visa. I skipped moto care
After watching that I cancelled my Best Buy order which still hasn't shipped. I refuse to buy another phone that basically has to be thrown away when the battery craps out. Glued on back is just ghetto.
demi9od said:
After watching that I cancelled my Best Buy order which still hasn't shipped. I refuse to buy another phone that basically has to be thrown away when the battery craps out. Glued on back is just ghetto.
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Sorry to say but it seems like most manufacturers are starting to go this route...the same with weeding out microSD support.
iazybandit said:
Sorry to say but it seems like most manufacturers are starting to go this route...the same with weeding out microSD support.
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Yeah it's a shame. I'll probably end up sticking with my M8 or picking up a G4 once a fully functional AOSP ROM is released. I do hope HTC can pivot and release and more Nexus/Moto type budget flagship next year with the M10.
That's not nearly as bad as I imagined.
As soon as I figure out how to solder in the mod chip, I'll be set.
Did they discover if the pure has dual sim hardware?
It has a dual sim tray but not sure if the software or the sim reader on the US variant is capable of making any use of dual sims
That's what I mean if the teardown revealed if the phone has the hardware capable of dual sim operation ie multiple radios.
toyanucci said:
That's what I mean if the teardown revealed if the phone has the hardware capable of dual sim operation ie multiple radios.
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The video is just that...a tear down. If you watched the video, it doesn't go anymore in-depth other than opening it up and putting it back together
I looked inside sim tray slot for hardware for second sim don't look like it's installed
I'm thinking it might have the hardware to support it, the reason I say it is because the sim slot on the board is double the size of what it regularly is (even considering the fact it has an SD reader, its on the underside of it), and I don't think they would want to solder two different type hardware onto the board, its not cost or time efficient. I think if out of the box it doesn't work, it is probably disabled from the software, however I will pry off the plastic tab on the sim tray and try it myself with dual sims and see what I get.
Actually just took a closer look inside the sim slot, and there are solder points on the board where the pins to touch and read the second sim should be installed but they are not. All you would need to do I guess would be to take the metal shield covering that area off by using a head gun to de-solder the corners or by cutting it off from the top and then solder a second set of the pins onto the board in its designated slot. After that I don't see why it would not work.
Looks way easier than some phones I've watched. I wish he would have removed the battery Wonder if we will see any custom or higher capacity batteries in the future for modders to use. Also if you have motocare I don't see why they won't replace the battery just file a claim before the 2 years are up and say the battery is awful and get another. I don't see the battery life crapping out in 2 years.
I guess the S6's and Notes are ghetto since the glass backs are glued as well
Sent from my SM-G920T using XDA Free mobile app
Looks like room for a bigger battery and the housing design seems better suited with a replaceable battery design and cover. Seems an odd design decision since no unibody contraint.
Glass doesn't do clips. Glued plastic is ghetto. They simply want to sell new phones every year and planned obsolescence is the easiest way to do it.
iazybandit said:
Sorry to say but it seems like most manufacturers are starting to go this route...the same with weeding out microSD support.
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Needs to be banned.
---------- Post added at 12:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:13 AM ----------
demi9od said:
Glass doesn't do clips. Glued plastic is ghetto. They simply want to sell new phones every year and planned obsolescence is the easiest way to do it.
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Also needs to be banned