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[Q] quiz: why did you return your g-tablet?

I got my g-tablet from Sears on November 2 and returned it to the store yesterday. I told them it does not have flash as stated on the box and the display is of very poor quality. I got full refund.
Why did I return it?
- Nvidia quality sucks: I had dead laptop, because of defective nvidia chip. If you don't believe it check this: Apple, Dell and HP got a class action suit against Nvidia: www nvidiasettlement com. OpenGL drivers are full of bugs they may have fixed Angry Birds, but there are plenty other bugs I'm sure.
- Nvidia does not conform to standards. No NEON instructions in Tegra. They try to play their desktop video card game, by providing custom APIs and making their applications incompatible with other ARM CPUs. So far it is the opposite - applications that run good on every other Cortex A8, does not play on Tegra.
- Nvidia keep their specs closed. I tried to get information on how to hook a hardware JTAG debugger, but all specs are opened only for partners.
- The device has the worst display I've seen. In portrait mode it gives me distorted colors even when looked at 90 degrees angle.
- The device is made by Malata and not Viewsonic. There is no track history for this company and I don't want to risk my money with unknown hardware quality (software we all know sucks)
For all folks expecting Notion Ink Adam: I'm sorry but this is going to be the same crap. Notion Ink has no proven record (neither Pixel Qi),combined with a low quality Nvidia chip, this is going to hurt.
I'm going to wait for the upcoming Acer tablet with a 10-inch screen that will run a Qualcomm dual-core 1 Ghz processor (produced on the new 28nm technology, supports out of order execution).
One good word about the G-tablet: the apx mode allows you to flash any OS, but the tablet has only 512MB internal Flash, which is not enough for dual boot.
My perfect tablet needs to be a laptop replacement: that means dual boot Android/Gentoo Linux, ability to boot every other ARM OS(windows phone,etc) from a sdcard. Also it has to have a case with keyboard and mouse pad (to be used as laptop when needed).
The TnT interface shows how clueless are Viewsonic about what the people actually need.

I bought mine about 3 days ago.. and I'm returning it today because of the poor viewing angles on the screen.. and also because of the laggy ui.. even with custom roms
edit: changed my mind and I'm going to keep mine for a while. there's a lot of great work being done with custom roms that might fix the lagginess. looking forward to notion inks announcement on december 9th!

i have had mine for about a week, the only way i'm returning it is if something better comes out within my 30 day window. it certainly does have flaws but i'm gonna give it more of a chance.

I am keeping mine because I am running Android 2.2 which doesn't take advantage of the dual-core processor, and because it is more of an accessory than a laptop replacement for me. This is definitely a hacker's unit more than an out-of-the-box laptop replacement.
-=Sent from my ViewSonic G Tablet using Tapatalk=-

To get a better one
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Keeping mine. Roebeet has been working hard to make this tablet worth something. I have no compaints with this device while running tnt lite other than the screen viewing angles. Even still, 9 times out of 10, im holding my device right in front of me so viewing angles are not as big of factor. This device is really just ahead of its time. The hardware is there, just the operating system is yet to be optimized for a 10 inch tablet with a tegra 2 processor. Roebeets tnt lite is just a sneak peak at what this thing is capable of. Once there is a 100% stock android it will run even faster, or even android 3.0. With this thing being completely open, its only a matter of time. This is a hackers paradise. Its so new that not everyone was able to get their hands on it yet. Give this thing time, i think you will be suprised what this thing can do and regret returning it.

I'm keeping mine. With a good bit of modding its actually nice to use. The screen angles are pretty bad in good lighting but is fine in low light situations. So I just use it in landscape in good light areas. Aside from the screen and sadly the TnT software this Malta pad is great. It even has a potential to be a beast as new products are released and Tegra 2 support becomes stronger.
Anything we get until Feb of next year is going to be a bit of a mess. All the top tier companies who only want to release a 100% consumer friendly product are holding off for Honeycomb. The current releases are either mid tier companies hungry for market share, bottom of the barrel companies releasing crap, and start ups like Adam using time as an opportunity.
We're on the bleeding edge and it shows. Likely the only company thats going to put in the effort needed to make this a good experience is Adam. They're a new company with something to prove. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the their tab ends up going for $600 and still selling well.
Bottom line: If you can put up with the viewing angles and 1 reboot a day this is a decent deal. Especially if you got it for $280 like I did .

Keeping mine and bought up Sears stock for today's sale, sorry about that anyone who shops near me. These rock after being loaded up correctly

No way I'm taking my back. After flashing to TnT Lite 2.02 it's a keeper. Now if I could only get wireless tethering to work it would be golden.

does this question really belong in development?

switt said:
Bottom line: If you can put up with the viewing angles and 1 reboot a day this is a decent deal. Especially if you got it for $280 like I did .
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Click to collapse
For $280 this tablet is a steal. There is no doubt in my mind that I would keep this tablet at that price.
However, at $417 after tax I'm on the fence about keeping this tablet. Performance wise, I can't complain. It's easily the fastest tablet on the market right now. After loading up TnT Lite with flash, this tablet is amazing. It's so much fun surfing the web. Battery life is great, this thing sips power.
but the screen, OMG the screen. It's just bad. I don't know any other way to say it. In portrait mode, it's usable but you can tell the image looks different at the top than it does at the bottom. I've found that there is really only one way to hold the tablet to get a good view and that is directly infront of you slightly below eye level.

linckraker said:
does this question really belong in development?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my question also, but I decided not to comment as I had assumed that a mod would've moved it to general by now.
Anyways ATM I'm keeping it. My primary reason for returning it would be driven by the form factor, as I REALLY MUCH prefer 7" for tablets. Just more portable and better for reading fiction, which means IF I keep that I'll also want a complementary 7" tablet. I just find 10" to be unwieldly.
As secondary reasons I would point out the absence of various features advertised on the box itself.
Just wish that a 7" Tegra2 would come out... I'd be all over it.

Where do i get one for $280
switt said:
I'm keeping mine. With a good bit of modding its actually nice to use. The screen angles are pretty bad in good lighting but is fine in low light situations. So I just use it in landscape in good light areas. Aside from the screen and sadly the TnT software this Malta pad is great. It even has a potential to be a beast as new products are released and Tegra 2 support becomes stronger.
Anything we get until Feb of next year is going to be a bit of a mess. All the top tier companies who only want to release a 100% consumer friendly product are holding off for Honeycomb. The current releases are either mid tier companies hungry for market share, bottom of the barrel companies releasing crap, and start ups like Adam using time as an opportunity.
We're on the bleeding edge and it shows. Likely the only company thats going to put in the effort needed to make this a good experience is Adam. They're a new company with something to prove. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the their tab ends up going for $600 and still selling well.
Bottom line: If you can put up with the viewing angles and 1 reboot a day this is a decent deal. Especially if you got it for $280 like I did .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do i get one for 280$, see them at staples for 399$?

acuralegendz said:
Where do i get one for 280$, see them at staples for 399$?
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Click to collapse
some sears outlet stores have refurbs for 279

I think the problem with the question of "why did you return it" is that the people who did return it are probably not scanning this forum anymore.
I've been scanning the negative comments (which are mostly valid crticisms, I might add), and I've compiled a list in my head:
- The crappy UI
- The crappy UI (important enough to be mentioned twice)
- The viewing angles, especially when watching while laying on a desk. (btw, flip the device around, so that the camera is on the bottom, and you can get around that).
- No official Flash yet, even though the darn icon is on the box.
- App compatibility issues, in particular the g-sensor issue in games.
- Lack of h264 high profile playback support (this is a Tegra 2 hardware limitation, btw).
- Performance, even with the UI mods. That seems to be more of an Android limitation, given that dual core is not being exploited.
- Lack of HDMI given that there's no dock, and a lack of accessories like a case.
- The bang-for-the-buck.
The last one is important because I have seen more than few posts from people returning the item who mentioned that they might have kept it of were $300, or if they could snag a $279 outlet device. It's not that the device is "bad", but more that you didn't want to break the bank for a device that is really not fully optimized yet. And I can understand that 100%.

roebeet said:
I think the problem with the question of "why did you return it" is that the people who did return it are probably not scanning this forum anymore.
I've been scanning the negative comments (which are mostly valid crticisms, I might add), and I've compiled a list in my head:
- The crappy UI
- The crappy UI (important enough to be mentioned twice)
- The viewing angles, especially when watching while laying on a desk. (btw, flip the device around, so that the camera is on the bottom, and you can get around that).
- No official Flash yet, even though the darn icon is on the box.
- App compatibility issues, in particular the g-sensor issue in games.
- Lack of h264 high profile playback support (this is a Tegra 2 hardware limitation, btw).
- Performance, even with the UI mods. That seems to be more of an Android limitation, given that dual core is not being exploited.
- Lack of HDMI given that there's no dock, and a lack of accessories like a case.
- The bang-for-the-buck.
The last one is important because I have seen more than few posts from people returning the item who mentioned that they might have kept it of were $300, or if they could snag a $279 outlet device. It's not that the device is "bad", but more that you didn't want to break the bank for a device that is really not fully optimized yet. And I can understand that 100%.
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Click to collapse
I'm FIRMLY in the $300 camp as BOTH Staples & Sears had the gTab right next to a $299 and $249 Atom based netbooks(ASUS, Acer, Toshiba and something else...). Kind of a smack in the face to be asked to pay $400 for a less functional device, although I can kind of understand part of the reason being that the Tegra2 SoC isn't quite as cheap as ALL of the other SoCs. $400 still just seems like a hype price to me, and I do feel kind of ripped... would feel better IF it had a better camera(maybe 2) and GPS builtin... ...and if I had any REAL expectations of longterm VS support and OS upgrades, e.g. next Android version...
Yes, and I'd have to add viewing angles to my list of possible return reasons from using it a bit last night(in bed) with some sideloaded apps that forced portrait mode...

gturnersr said:
I got my g-tablet from Sears on November 2 and returned it to the store yesterday. I told them it does not have flash as stated on the box and the display is of very poor quality. I got full refund.
Why did I return it?
- Nvidia quality sucks: I had dead laptop, because of defective nvidia chip. If you don't believe it check this: Apple, Dell and HP got a class action suit against Nvidia: www nvidiasettlement com. OpenGL drivers are full of bugs they may have fixed Angry Birds, but there are plenty other bugs I'm sure.
- Nvidia does not conform to standards. No NEON instructions in Tegra. They try to play their desktop video card game, by providing custom APIs and making their applications incompatible with other ARM CPUs. So far it is the opposite - applications that run good on every other Cortex A8, does not play on Tegra.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, glad you were given an opportunity to complain about NVidia.... The class action suit you're referring to was in reality a problem of the OEM which NVidia and most OEMs covered completely. My Dell laptop at work died and was replaced with a newer model in ONE WEEK. Two year old information = FUD.

I returned mine after about 2 weeks. Didn't work well out of the box and wanted something with smaller screen. I went ahead and got the Galaxy Tab instead.
But I will be checking out the Sears Outlet for the blackfriday returns to play around with it.

Because of touch screen
I got my g tablet from Sears the day before Thanksgiving and had a lot of time to play with it. I had gotten to market to work and installed several apps and had even gotten used to the stock UI. But I am extremely disappointed in the responsiveness of the touch screen. There are time you have to press very hard on the icon to open a program. And typing is a chore. Unless there is something you have to do to calibrate the screen I will be returning it Monday. Also, I thought I read that it came with a temporary plastic film over the screen, but mine did not. There was a foam protector attached to the inside of the box.
Is there anything I can do to increase the sensitivity of the touch screen? I would love to keep it - but not with the way the touch screen is working (or NOT WORKING)

cutterjohn said:
I'm FIRMLY in the $300 camp as BOTH Staples & Sears had the gTab right next to a $299 and $249 Atom based netbooks(ASUS, Acer, Toshiba and something else...). Kind of a smack in the face to be asked to pay $400 for a less functional device, although I can kind of understand part of the reason being that the Tegra2 SoC isn't quite as cheap as ALL of the other SoCs. $400 still just seems like a hype price to me, and I do feel kind of ripped... would feel better IF it had a better camera(maybe 2) and GPS builtin... ...and if I had any REAL expectations of longterm VS support and OS upgrades, e.g. next Android version...
Yes, and I'd have to add viewing angles to my list of possible return reasons from using it a bit last night(in bed) with some sideloaded apps that forced portrait mode...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tegra 2 is in the starting point of it's cost curve, so about $75 of the price is cost and correlating profit margin, since companies are not going to scale to their cost
You will find that the newer Tegra 2 devices in Q1 & Q2 2011 will all be around $500, since you will then also be paying for better displays and brand names too
The display on this device is how they were able to put a Tegra 2 in it -cost balancing. Ironically, if the OEM would have rotated the display 180 degrees when building them, it would not be an issue. Display looks as good as the Archos 101- when upside down

G Tab vs Archie 101

I am in the market to buy a new tablet but I have been looking between archos and a viewsonic. I want to stick with a 10 inch screen but I would like to get the most bang for my buck right now my spending limit about 400 dollars.
I am aware that the g tablet has a nvidia dual core processor which is fairly appealing. However I wanted to get some input from people that have had hands on experience with those tablets. Are there any new tablets I should hold out for or what would you people suggest thank you for your help.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

I own both and will probably sell one of them. I'm still deciding, but leaning in favor of the Gtablet. I plan to post a full comparison on my blog (http://www.blendblog.net) where I reviewed the Archos 101 already.
A quick summary though is as follows:
GTablet performs much better. I've not had to worry about memory whereas on the Archos I've often had to manually kill apps to get the device to stay responsive.
The Gtablet is built better. The screen is slightly better, viewing angles are bad on both but the Archos screen feels like you are tapping on cheap plastic wheras the Gtablet feels like solid glass. The tradeoff is that the Gtablet is MUCH heavier, and bigger.
Both of them have very good speakers.
The fiddle factor with the Gtablet is much higher, but if you are here you probably know that. You must root and rom the device, although that is not a tough thing to do. However, I have spent countless hours with mine trying to get it to wake from sleep correctly, an issue many have. I finally figured out a workaround that fixes the issue at the expense of battery life. It seems that some units just have issues waking from sleep, I may still exchange mine because of this.
Build consistency seems to be a bit sketchy on both fronts. The aforementioned sleep issue has bitten me on the GTablet and my Archos has been RMA'd (their support was excellent though) due to a huge stuck blue pixel in the display that was horrible looking.
Archos has one big leg up on the Gtablet and that's video support. It will play anything I throw at it (I did have to buy a $15 AC3/MPEG2 codec package though). The stock video player is much sleeker as well integrating movie descriptions etc. With the Gtablet you are left with the usual hodgepodge of Android video players that don't work with everything etc.
Google was somewhat right in saying Android wasn't ready for "primetime" but I have to say, I find these devices very fun to play with and use on a day to day basis.
I am definitely leaning towards keeping the Gtablet and selling the Archos when I get it back from RMA. The speed advantage of Gtablet is noticeable and with this excellent hacking community in place I feel like there is a much better chance of it being relevant (Honeycomb?) going forward than with the Archos.
I hope this helps!
Sean

Grabbing VitalPlayer pretty much cleared up the problem of the G-Tab not supporting MPEG-2 or AC3, and it's free. YMMV.
VitalPlayer on Appbrain

Where are the codecs for g tablet to match Archos ???
This lack is confusing given the fact that we know tetra 2 is superior. It would seem that xoom will support many popular video codecs when it comes out in Feb!

Archos vs
I own both tablets, and can say without reservation that the G tablet is superior in many ways. It is a much more solid build ( although about 8 oz heavier)
The G tablet is much faster with the Custom Roms. I have had a number of Archos devices, and have been pleased with them, but after owning the G tablet, with its open nature and ability to modify, I will never opt for such a closed off device like the Archos again. Don't get me wrong- it is a good device, but it lacks the potential of the G tablet.

I have the gtablet running Vegan 5
I have no problems playing videos at all using vplayer, rock player and even es explorer has a pretty good player. I played with 101 archos not bad but looks cheap next to the g tab, also as a long time fan of NVIDIA I knew it was going to fast!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I haven't used the Archos, but I was in your exact position a little over a month ago, ultimately I choose to check out the G-Tab because I could pick one up locally and return it in 30 days if I didn't like it. I have to say that at first I wasn't pleased with it overall, but that changed as soon as I started flashing some of the amazing ROMs available here on XDA. I'm not new to flashing my devices, but even if this had been a first time experience for me I doubt I'd have had any problems. Follow steps carefully and you can't go wrong, if you have a question it's most likely already been asked by someone before you, so just search the forums and you'll find the answer quick enough. Long story short the G-Tab would be a real dog of a product if it weren't for this amazing community of developers, but because of them I think it's got a future, a fairly bright one at that. I love my G-Tab more and more everyday, and as of now I do not regret purchasing it.

snipestech said:
I have the gtablet running Vegan 5
I have no problems playing videos at all using vplayer, rock player and even es explorer has a pretty good player. I played with 101 archos not bad but looks cheap next to the g tab, also as a long time fan of NVIDIA I knew it was going to fast!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine's running the same configuration. Do you have anything with audio encoded in AC-3 Dolby Digital? I ripped all my DVD's to my media server using h.264 for video but leaving the original surround sound audio in place. On the Archos I could play those files with the $15 MPEG2/AC-3 plug-in. I have not been able to find a video player yet that does this for my Gtablet (tried ES and Rock amongst others) but I haven't tried the VitalPlayer that theindependent recommended. I'll post back when I get a chance to try that player, it may solve this issue somewhat.
Sean

Same here... Once I did a little more research I found that the Archos 101 had the exact same viewing angle issues with a crappier plastic feeling screen. When you couple that with 256 meg ram and Single Core design it was a simple decision for me.. I figured if I couldnt have an iPAD equivilant screen then I would go with what is future proof. The only real option is the 7inch which every states viewing angles are good - but was still concerned with the future use of the hardware and resale value (at that time). Dual core Tegra's in about 6 - 12 months will hold their value significantly higher than a 256 meg / single core device. By then I see better screens coming out and will upgrade then.
Till then... Im loving the decision - I also agree I was very upset the first few hours until I got the custom rom, kernel, launcher and other apps all up and running..
geoffreywolter said:
I haven't used the Archos, but I was in your exact position a little over a month ago, ultimately I choose to check out the G-Tab because I could pick one up locally and return it in 30 days if I didn't like it. I have to say that at first I wasn't pleased with it overall, but that changed as soon as I started flashing some of the amazing ROMs available here on XDA. I'm not new to flashing my devices, but even if this had been a first time experience for me I doubt I'd have had any problems. Follow steps carefully and you can't go wrong, if you have a question it's most likely already been asked by someone before you, so just search the forums and you'll find the answer quick enough. Long story short the G-Tab would be a real dog of a product if it weren't for this amazing community of developers, but because of them I think it's got a future, a fairly bright one at that. I love my G-Tab more and more everyday, and as of now I do not regret purchasing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

stiphy said:
I own both and will probably sell one of them. I'm still deciding, but leaning in favor of the Gtablet. I plan to post a full comparison on my blog (http://www.blendblog.net) where I reviewed the Archos 101 already.
A quick summary though is as follows:
GTablet performs much better. I've not had to worry about memory whereas on the Archos I've often had to manually kill apps to get the device to stay responsive.
The Gtablet is built better. The screen is slightly better, viewing angles are bad on both but the Archos screen feels like you are tapping on cheap plastic wheras the Gtablet feels like solid glass. The tradeoff is that the Gtablet is MUCH heavier, and bigger.
Both of them have very good speakers.
The fiddle factor with the Gtablet is much higher, but if you are here you probably know that. You must root and rom the device, although that is not a tough thing to do. However, I have spent countless hours with mine trying to get it to wake from sleep correctly, an issue many have. I finally figured out a workaround that fixes the issue at the expense of battery life. It seems that some units just have issues waking from sleep, I may still exchange mine because of this.
Build consistency seems to be a bit sketchy on both fronts. The aforementioned sleep issue has bitten me on the GTablet and my Archos has been RMA'd (their support was excellent though) due to a huge stuck blue pixel in the display that was horrible looking.
Archos has one big leg up on the Gtablet and that's video support. It will play anything I throw at it (I did have to buy a $15 AC3/MPEG2 codec package though). The stock video player is much sleeker as well integrating movie descriptions etc. With the Gtablet you are left with the usual hodgepodge of Android video players that don't work with everything etc.
Google was somewhat right in saying Android wasn't ready for "primetime" but I have to say, I find these devices very fun to play with and use on a day to day basis.
I am definitely leaning towards keeping the Gtablet and selling the Archos when I get it back from RMA. The speed advantage of Gtablet is noticeable and with this excellent hacking community in place I feel like there is a much better chance of it being relevant (Honeycomb?) going forward than with the Archos.
I hope this helps!
Sean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great summary! I expect video support to get a lot better once Nvidia finally releases final drivers. Kind of have too, with all the T2's coming out soon.
In a nutshell, if higher def video is not 90% of the reason you are getting a tablet, the Gtablet is a FAR better choice than the Archos 101. Also, the Archos 101 has a few glaring problems besides a much slower chipset:
1. 230mb of device app space. Gtablet has eight times more space
2. 256mb ram (contant performance battle unless just using for video)

Have both Archos is light and thin, a little bit flimsy, but is a great pmp/ereader especially when on the road. Gtablet is a beast though runs circles around the Archos in regard to performance and flexibility. As a long time Archos supporter I think this my last device from them.

I just installed VitalPlayer from the market, thanks theindependent for the pointer.
It does play AC-3 so my ripped DVD's are fine. I have a 720p video though and it can't keep up, it stutters. The Archos 101 played it just fine.
Hopefully as rushless said, there will be updates to the driver so that hardware acceleration for hidef video can be added.
There are 2 other features the GTablet are missing that I forgot about:
1) No mini-hdmi output port, instead it has a docking station port. I would get more use out of mini-hdmi although the UI on the Archos is very bad when plugged into a monitor as I menitioned in the review on my blog.
2) The kickstand, while somewhat cheesy, is a nice feature on the Archos device.
One plus for the Gtablet (for me at least) is it uses the more standard mini-usb type plug instead of the micro usb plug of the archos. Most of my other devices are miniusb so I prefer this.
I think to sum things up I'd say that if you want a video player and e-reader that can do a nice amount of computer like things I'd go Archos. If you want a computer that is an ok e-reader (just a bit heavier) and can do some video go Gtablet!
Sean

I was seriously considering the 101 until I found this device. I think so far (only 1 day) it is a win.
As far as kick stand I am using a Garmin GPS suction mount for a windscreen on the back it works well.

Stuggy said:
I was seriously considering the 101 until I found this device. I think so far (only 1 day) it is a win.
As far as kick stand I am using a Garmin GPS suction mount for a windscreen on the back it works well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you show some pictures of that? I have a Garmin Widescreen GPS, I ould like to see how you have it setup with the g-tablet.

Sm0k3d 0uT said:
Can you show some pictures of that? I have a Garmin Widescreen GPS, I ould like to see how you have it setup with the g-tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I get home I'll do it. It is basically the mount on the back of the g-tab (choose a location to determine tilt) and then the ball rests on the surface of desk or you can hold it using that.

How were you able to get Vplayer to run?
I've been able to install fine but when I run it I am unable to open any videos, same from a file explorer with the open with menu. Thanks!
snipestech said:
I have the gtablet running Vegan 5
I have no problems playing videos at all using vplayer, rock player and even es explorer has a pretty good player. I played with 101 archos not bad but looks cheap next to the g tab, also as a long time fan of NVIDIA I knew it was going to fast!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You should also consider what you will want in the future their are many new tegra 2 powered devices coming out soon for a reason, the g tablet already has the same hardware but the developement is ahead of all other tablets on the market. I have the g tablet and wouldn't consider any other device thanks to the devs on the forum making it the best tablet available right now.

Sm0k3d 0uT said:
Can you show some pictures of that? I have a Garmin Widescreen GPS, I ould like to see how you have it setup with the g-tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have some pictures here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10099907&postcount=10

RojasTKD said:
I have some pictures here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10099907&postcount=10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine looks just like that - same suction mount. Sorry I didn't upload. And I think I got the idea from that post although I probably would have tried it in looking for a stand method.

I just got my Archos 101 back from RMA.
One thing I noticed that is a big plus for the Archos, at least in my setup is that when it is powered down it "sleeps properly." After 20 hours of sitting on my desk powered down it still has 95% battery life. My GTablet on the other hand won't wake up from sleep properly. You can follow the travails I and others are having on this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=855821. If I leave my GTablet on for 20 hours it will be down to around 15% battery life. That's without my workaround to keep the CPU on when the screen is off that fixes the broken wake from sleep (but does slightly increase this battery drain).
Now maybe I have a defective unit, and I am contemplating returning it still. Can anyone else comment on what they see battery life wise with their GTablet when its sleeping. Preferably someone without the wake up problem my unit has. To test just charge it up, leave it "sleeping" overnight with the screen off and when you wake up the next morning report what the battery life is. The Archos only loses about 1% every 4 hours, the GTablet is losing 4% every hour!
FWIW, Archos support was awesome, I live in the US Virgin Islands and they at first tried to send it UPS which is "international" for us and a cluster to deal with. Because of this the UPS tag that was generated had it going to Pennsylvania (yes this is a common occurrence with UPS and the USVI). I called them immediately and they halted the shipment, then sent it to me USPS Express mail so I had it in 2 days! The replacement unit was in perfect shape.
Sean

[Q] what should l do?? What should l choose?

Ok, to make a long story short. I handed in my prime for RMA and got offered to alternatives , a TF700 or a samsung note 10.1.
Now , I had really ****ty experience with the prime. Primarily wi fi issues, but the performance in general was rubbish. With that said there were many aspects of the prime that l liked, Such as the keyboard and battery time.
My question is what are the known issues that with the note 10.1 and it's main drawbacks?
Keyboard isn't a must, nor is the pen, though l would love both! I could in short go for either.
It's kinda time urgent , I only have a few days to decide.
Help?
Thanks in advance!

The note is superior to tf700 in every way except screen resolution. I exchanged 3 tf700 then tried the note, the results is obvious. I only regret not taking the 3g version.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk HD

Could you be a bit more detailed?

There are no drawbacks as the software is more refined in every way and the hardware is solid and future proof atleast for year or two
But there only difference is the body and the screen resolution
Apart from that it is better then prime or any other tablet in the market even N10 once it gets JB the reason being the world class developement done by Samsung on the OS

The screen on tf700 was deformed, not well fixed on edges. Less ram, only 1 gb, no dualband n Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth 4, low end internal storage, not as fluent as the note. Much better battery on the note. A lot of random reboots on stock tf700, none on the note.
I have changed the 3 Asus after using each one for a few days. I admit that the resolution was great, but the note is a better tablet overall.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk HD

And the price to in India the prime is almost 200 dollars more expensive

the prime? Don't think it factors in as such into my question... Kinda keen on Tf 700 vs Note 10.1
I've read tons of reviews and they go both ways , but it seems the TF700 comes ahead a lot of the time. That's the confusing part. I've tested both in the store, with no clear winner. Screen on Tf is great and they both felt snappy. The pen on the Samsung was fun to use and accurate, but testet a few pens on the transformer and they were pretty good as well. Big issue is 1 gb DDR3 vs 2GB ddr2 , and Tegra vs Exynos. Kinda a bummer considering games and certain apps are tegra focused .
But the old Prime is still in the back of my mind, I\O performance etc...
BUT A BIG DRAW BACK WITH SAMSUNG, I can't plug in a HDMI and USB cable at the same time... kinda need it from time to time ( external drive and HDMI, or game controller and HDMI or...)

I think almost everyone that owns a Note 10.1 went through the same decision. And newer owners are also factoring in the Nexus 10. Obviously the people in this forum chose the Note. You'd get other opinions from forums dedicated to those devices and I suggest you ask and look in those too.
For me, the decision was easy. I dd look at the Asus forums as well as here. In the Asus forums there are tons of post of people having problems. Granted, people with problems tend to find forums. But why do you not see people here posting about problems? The few you do see are mostly folks that tried to either root or flash their units and didn't read the instructions fully. Sure you'll find an occasional legit problem post, but they are so few and far between that it's an effort to find them. That's not the case in the Asus forums.
I spent a lot of money for the Note 10.1. I bought it before any of the recent price drops. I have no buyers remorse at all.

Well good to know. I've posted a similar thread in the ASUS forum just in case, but response has been limited. The big issue l have with the Samsung is lack of ports and weaker battery compared to the ASUS. wouldn't mind a keyboard, but seen that there are dozens of keyboard folios and so on....but again one comes to the issue of battery being drained ( in this case by the bluetooth)
I'm on the fence , 50-50 so that's why I was looking for personal experience with the unit(s). I kinda missed the mark with the Prime , so don't want to mess up again.
BTW I see it mentioned a dozen places, how is the support from Samsung, ie updates etc....?

I owed a prime and had all the bad experiences. I read and read before getting another tablet and everything pointed at the infinity, so I got one. Had it a little over a week and noticed lag from time to time, but nothing major, until I bought the new need for speed... geez, it's unplayable on the infinity. I pulled it up on my note 2 and its flying. So I returned it and got the note 10.1. It flies! The screen is the only advantage the infinity have

I've owned the Transformer Prime for almost a year and I had the Transformer Infinity for about a month before I traded it for a Galaxy Note 10.1.
The memory issues with the transformers is really bad, when you use the browser it constantly hangs and gives ANRs (App not responding). It is basically unusable in the browser. I had the same problem with the Prime and the Infinity, it happens more often when you have multiple apps running.
I debated it for a long time because I really wanted the high resolution, but once I got the Note 10.1 I knew within a day that I made the right choice. Everything works as it should, everything is faster and smoother, graphics intensive games like N.O.V.A. and Dead Trigger actually run better (N.O.V.A was unplayable on the Infinity because it lagged so much). The screen isn't as good, but it isn't worth the issues you have to deal with on the Transformer line.
I used the keyboard dock on the Infinity and loved taking notes in school with it, but since I got the Note 10.1 I started taking notes with the S-Pen and I carry a bluetooth keyboard just in case I need it. I've liked taking notes with the S-Pen so much that I never even use the keyboard anymore.

As a previous prime owner of 8 months, id have to say i have no regrets
What i miss
-usb slot
-full sd slot
-hdmi
-extra battery
What i dont miss
-anr
-wifi/bluetooth issues
-slow playstore install/uninstall
-the cheap buttons on keyboard(one snapped off, too easilly)
The things i wish the note has but doesnt
-a decent port connected keyboard with, hdmi, usb, sd card
The comprimises
-usb/sd card adapter
-allcast(when sammy finally gets its finger out its bum).......stream game over wifi, while using bluetooth gamepad/keyboard/mouse
As a prevoius prime owner yourself, i think your in a position to appreciate this phrase "it just works"......and thats the main thing that makes the things ive lost bearable, trust me its a relief......another thing i like is that it feels more sturdy,
If you can find a tf700 without daily issues, then i'd say go for that, but me i wont trust their quality control on the tablet front for a while
On a side note, battery on the note, even without the extra battery is commendable..........at least 10h constant use on avarage......thats brightness dim, powersave on......by the way powersave is pretty impressive to (limit to1000mhz), no hiccups.

Just to reiterate what banderos101 said,
I'm a former TF101 owner (the original transformer from asus), and I miss the same things he misses. In addition, my transformer often had weird stutterings that may or may not have been associated with the roms I used on it (but it had them on stock too before I rooted and flashed custom roms).
That said, I don't know much about the TF700, but you probably should pick it based on what your primary usage will be. I got the Note instead of another transformer tablet because I take notes using a pen (physics is hard to type notes for) and because it has 2gb RAM. Also, the screen resolution doesn't matter to me much because it didn't put me in shock and awe when I used my friends' iPad retinas and TF700's, but maybe that's because I'm nearsighted.

DeBoX said:
Well good to know. I've posted a similar thread in the ASUS forum just in case, but response has been limited. The big issue l have with the Samsung is lack of ports and weaker battery compared to the ASUS. wouldn't mind a keyboard, but seen that there are dozens of keyboard folios and so on....but again one comes to the issue of battery being drained ( in this case by the bluetooth)
I'm on the fence , 50-50 so that's why I was looking for personal experience with the unit(s). I kinda missed the mark with the Prime , so don't want to mess up again.
BTW I see it mentioned a dozen places, how is the support from Samsung, ie updates etc....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll come at this from a completely different perspective from everyone on this thread. I have an Acer A500. Had it for a few years. Sunday night, my wonderful children decided I needed a new tablet so they dropped my acer out of the car. Off to the store! LOL! I'm not dedicated to any brand at all. I want cheap and as much bang for the buck as I can get. My 2 contenders were the same as yours. Asus Infinity vs Samsung Note. The real question you have to ask is what do you really want the tablet for? What do you expect to get out of the experience? No matter what you read here, the Asus is a better tablet than the Samsung. It has a visibly better screen. It has more storage for the dollar. IE, the 32gb Asus is the same price as the 16GB Samsung. The processor is slightly faster, but the Asus has a 5th independent low power processor that allows it to run much less power therefore slightly longer battery in real world. Average test is about 8 hours for the Samsung, 10 for the Asus.
The Asus also allows you to add the keyboard with an additional battery in the keyboard as well as full sized USB ports etc. So if you are looking for a laptop replacement, it's hard to beat. Now, you're probably asking, why am I putting all this in the Samsung thread?
I bought the Samsung. Why? Because the #1 thing I need from my tablet is the ability to take handwritten notes in meetings and it has to be easy and fast. Bottom line is, the digitizer system on the Note is unbeatable. Period. The Asus can't touch it. The Note is a great screen versus an amazing screen. It's nearly as fast processor wise, 1.4GHz vs 1.6GHz. So while the Asus in my mind is a better tablet, the Samsung Note is better for what I need. And by better I mean, lightyears better. There isn't a tablet on the market that can touch the Note for writing. It is truly paper and pencil good. But if you don't care about that, the Asus is a little better in a lot of ways.

I get 14 hours on the note on regular use, the record being 16 (talking about screen+ WiFi active, not about stand-by). With tf700 i had 11 hours with the first one, the other 2 devices never more than 8 hours (all without the dock, i did not buy one).

mobiushky said:
I'll come at this from a completely different perspective from everyone on this thread. I have an Acer A500. Had it for a few years. Sunday night, my wonderful children decided I needed a new tablet so they dropped my acer out of the car. Off to the store! LOL! I'm not dedicated to any brand at all. I want cheap and as much bang for the buck as I can get. My 2 contenders were the same as yours. Asus Infinity vs Samsung Note. The real question you have to ask is what do you really want the tablet for? What do you expect to get out of the experience? No matter what you read here, the Asus is a better tablet than the Samsung. It has a visibly better screen. It has more storage for the dollar. IE, the 32gb Asus is the same price as the 16GB Samsung. The processor is slightly faster, but the Asus has a 5th independent low power processor that allows it to run much less power therefore slightly longer battery in real world. Average test is about 8 hours for the Samsung, 10 for the Asus.
The Asus also allows you to add the keyboard with an additional battery in the keyboard as well as full sized USB ports etc. So if you are looking for a laptop replacement, it's hard to beat. Now, you're probably asking, why am I putting all this in the Samsung thread?
I bought the Samsung. Why? Because the #1 thing I need from my tablet is the ability to take handwritten notes in meetings and it has to be easy and fast. Bottom line is, the digitizer system on the Note is unbeatable. Period. The Asus can't touch it. The Note is a great screen versus an amazing screen. It's nearly as fast processor wise, 1.4GHz vs 1.6GHz. So while the Asus in my mind is a better tablet, the Samsung Note is better for what I need. And by better I mean, lightyears better. There isn't a tablet on the market that can touch the Note for writing. It is truly paper and pencil good. But if you don't care about that, the Asus is a little better in a lot of ways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your post, it's nice to "hear" a slightly different approach. The problem in my case is that I'm kinda looking for the Jack of all trades , pref master of all
The pen idea is really tempting and l hear people praising it to high heaven. I have an old Lenovo x 201 Tablet and loved it for years, but it's kinda big and cumbersome to lob around for short trips and meetings / classes .
I'm looking for something that can at the very least cover these areas:
Media machine ( connected to a screen)
Gaming
Productivity (notes in class+ I work as an IT consultant so quick notes at work etc. In this case both have almost equal merit. pen vs keyboard )
Stable ( regular updates)
Connectivity ( ports and connections)
Good performance
HAS TO HAVE GOOD BATTERY ( average use wifi + bluetooth + browsing and note taking + maybe a short vid. here and there)
What l don't really care about
Screen rez.
Build materials ( ok, don't want it China cheap, but don't need super hyper space age Unobtanium)
Still trying to narrow down everything l need it for.
I know I want my cake and eat it too, but let's be honest, why have the cake if you can't eat it??

To be honest that was the note 10.1 out of the box... It really doesn't need constant updates because it just works how its supposed too... I've never owned an Asus tablet but wouldn't constant updates mean it has constant problems that are trying to be fixed?
Gaming is fine, you can run the chainfire 3d app for tegra games, I run with sonic and that works fine and a few other games (NFS most wanted, GTA3, Dungeon Hunters 3 and Assassins creed 3) and have no problem...
Notes are easy to take using the pen, think back to high school with a folder, about the same size and not that heavy.
You can get an adaptor for usb connectivity - Just cant use an HDD as it requires too much power but a thumb drive works fine (mines 32gb), I have a 64gb sd card installed and I got the 32gb 3g version, forgot phone, no problem...
Performance is fine, there's no problem and 2gb of RAM makes it snappy - even when you fill it with stuff, I have around 4gb left internally and about 2gb on the 64gb sd card - no lag or stutter...
There is a HDMI adaptor you can get but haven't tried it. If you have a smart tv from 2012 then you can share your screen wirelessly and you can get the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv set. For older versions of TV sets freeing up your usb port you can use the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv instead of the MHL Adaptor.
Screen resolution is fine for what I need, it plays 720P movies very well and I don't care that I can't magnify the screen into infinity when viewing pics or text...
I have had no problem with build quality, mind you most people I know seem to put it into a folder for protection - don't use anything with magnets as it might affect the wacom digitiser.
The S-pen makes it easy to enter notes or data, its a shame that Samsung used a little known format for s-notes but there's ways around that too...
Battery life is awesome, I use it 8 hours a day watching movies, surfing the web, listening to music, writing, taking notes and making calls and still have around 20-25% at the end of the day...
Overall I find it fine for what I use it for, the new JB update makes it so much better....
At the end of the day you will make your decision, if you live in America you might be able to change that decision, but I like my note 10.1. It is the only tab out there that allowed me to make phone calls and that's what pushed it over the edge for me.. That and the bluetooth stylus that doubles as a handset.... :laugh:

ultramag69 said:
To be honest that was the note 10.1 out of the box... It really doesn't need constant updates because it just works how its supposed too... I've never owned an Asus tablet but wouldn't constant updates mean it has constant problems that are trying to be fixed?
Gaming is fine, you can run the chainfire 3d app for tegra games, I run with sonic and that works fine and a few other games (NFS most wanted, GTA3, Dungeon Hunters 3 and Assassins creed 3) and have no problem...
Notes are easy to take using the pen, think back to high school with a folder, about the same size and not that heavy.
You can get an adaptor for usb connectivity - Just cant use an HDD as it requires too much power but a thumb drive works fine (mines 32gb), I have a 64gb sd card installed and I got the 32gb 3g version, forgot phone, no problem...
Performance is fine, there's no problem and 2gb of RAM makes it snappy - even when you fill it with stuff, I have around 4gb left internally and about 2gb on the 64gb sd card - no lag or stutter...
There is a HDMI adaptor you can get but haven't tried it. If you have a smart tv from 2012 then you can share your screen wirelessly and you can get the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv set. For older versions of TV sets freeing up your usb port you can use the wireless adaptor that plugs into the tv instead of the MHL Adaptor.
Screen resolution is fine for what I need, it plays 720P movies very well and I don't care that I can't magnify the screen into infinity when viewing pics or text...
I have had no problem with build quality, mind you most people I know seem to put it into a folder for protection - don't use anything with magnets as it might affect the wacom digitiser.
The S-pen makes it easy to enter notes or data, its a shame that Samsung used a little known format for s-notes but there's ways around that too...
Battery life is awesome, I use it 8 hours a day watching movies, surfing the web, listening to music, writing, taking notes and making calls and still have around 20-25% at the end of the day...
Overall I find it fine for what I use it for, the new JB update makes it so much better....
At the end of the day you will make your decision, if you live in America you might be able to change that decision, but I like my note 10.1. It is the only tab out there that allowed me to make phone calls and that's what pushed it over the edge for me.. That and the bluetooth stylus that doubles as a handset.... :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me more about the wireless HDMI solution. One of the BIG issues I have with the note is the fact that it's lacking ports and there aren't any docking stations etc with both hdmi and usb . I have several really good LED TV's at home , but non have wireless DLNA or similar setups ( have to buy extra plugs etc) so a HDMI port would have been great...
Another issue is the fact that there seems to be an increase in TEGRA optimized games... somthing that's a major bummer since l actually like using the tab as a mini game console .

KoRoZIV said:
I get 14 hours on the note on regular use, the record being 16 (talking about screen+ WiFi active, not about stand-by). With tf700 i had 11 hours with the first one, the other 2 devices never more than 8 hours (all without the dock, i did not buy one).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that 14h out of the box, or have you done some tinkering with it?

For the games run chainfire 3d... You can then run the tegra games with no problem...
Allshare cast dongle or Allshare cast hub - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2003478 & http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089VO7MY/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00

Is it still worth buying this tablet?

Hello everyone.
I am considering buying this tablet, as the price for the TF300TG dropped in my country to the level acceptable by me, but I am a bit worried. This tablet is one year old, yet it seems to be still quite popular. I would like to know its performance, as Antutu results show like ~10k which is quite low these days, on the other hand youtube tests show real racing 3 running quite smoothly.
Is it still worth buying?
I need a tablet mainly for hd movies and web browsing, 3G is a must. I might play some games, but this is not the main goal. I am also considering Lenovo S6000 (but the MTK actually sucks) and PIPO M9 Pro.
I will be grateful for any feedback, suggestions and opinions.
Regards.

Dandry said:
Hello everyone.
I am considering buying this tablet, as the price for the TF300TG dropped in my country to the level acceptable by me, but I am a bit worried. This tablet is one year old, yet it seems to be still quite popular. I would like to know its performance, as Antutu results show like ~10k which is quite low these days, on the other hand youtube tests show real racing 3 running quite smoothly.
Is it still worth buying?
I need a tablet mainly for hd movies and web browsing, 3G is a must. I might play some games, but this is not the main goal. I am also considering Lenovo S6000 (but the MTK actually sucks) and PIPO M9 Pro.
I will be grateful for any feedback, suggestions and opinions.
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i love my tf300 and would buy it again in a heart beat, although there are some new toshiba tablets that look nice

Dandry said:
Hello everyone.
I am considering buying this tablet, as the price for the TF300TG dropped in my country to the level acceptable by me, but I am a bit worried. This tablet is one year old, yet it seems to be still quite popular. I would like to know its performance, as Antutu results show like ~10k which is quite low these days, on the other hand youtube tests show real racing 3 running quite smoothly.
Is it still worth buying?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you want an android tablet + keyboard option there's nothing else as cheap around afaik.
if you arent intrested in the keyboard it loses a lot of appeal.

robgee789 said:
i love my tf300 and would buy it again in a heart beat, although there are some new toshiba tablets that look nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. I love my tf300t. No issues out if it at all. Tom Tom is awesome on it unlike my prime (tf201). The screen is absolutely clear even in sunlight. I primarily use mine outdoors as a huge gps
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

Yes, its still a great device especially if you grab the keyboard. I use mine everyday and haven't found a newer one that's been tempting enough to buy.I say go for it... and then root it and drop a great rom in it

Yes, i love my tf300t its the best tablet i have ever had
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using xda app-developers app

I own the TF300T and (depending on the price) I 'd say it's still a great tablet for web browsing and watching movies.
Some remarks:
- Tablet feels generally fast/smooth, unless you're installing/updating applications or during heavy access of the internal storage. Then the device becomes very slow during these occasions (it's the known I/O issue with the ASUS tablets).
- The tablet screen is not very usable in bright sunny day outdoors, as someone claimed the opposite above. Even at full brightness, I need to find shade to be able to see the screen.
- The speaker is loud, but the placement is not ideal and that hurts/changes the sound depending on how you're holding or placing the tablet. For movies, you need to be careful not to cover the speaker with your fingers. If you want clear stereo sound, it's best to use headphones.
- Screen quality is pretty decent with comfortable viewing angles.
- I can play tons of fun games with no problems at all. However: I do not like/try the heavy 3D games out there. The few I did try long time ago (e.g. dead trigger), the speed was very good. But I generally prefer the simple(r) games.
hope this helps

I've been using my Asus Transformer TF300T (WiFi only) since August 2012 and I am satisfied with it.
At its price range, there is no tablet with a hard-wired keyboard dock (not bluetooth keyboard) that can match it. You should also check out the pricing of its more high-end brethren, the Transformer Infinity TF700KG (3G) and TF700KL (LTE). These Infinity models use a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 Dual-Core processor (1.5GHz) instead of the usual Quad-core Tegra3 in order to fit in the Mobile Broadband radio. The processor may be a downgrade but the screen is upgraded to a Super IPS+ 1920x1200 display. Since you don't plan to play games to much on it, the brighter display would be a nice trade for the less powerful processor.
Some notes if you are getting a TF300:
1. The tablet experiences a weird battery drain bug (especially when connected to the keyboard dock). Unlike an iPad, which you can leave on sleep mode for weeks or months with minimal battery drain, the TF300 will be out of juice within 3 days if you do not plug it in... Turning off all radios still doesn't improve this too much...
2. The charger is very proprietary. Unlike typical Android tablets, the device-side connector is proprietary (looks like an Apple or Samsung 30-pin connector, but is not compatible with either). This part is understandable since this connector also serves as the docking connector to the keyboard dock. The more annoying thing is that the charger is not a normal 5V (10W) USB charger but is a special 15V charger that uses a USB port... Asus fiddled with the wiring so that a normal USB cable plugged into the charger produces only 5V so as not to accidentally fry your other devices, but their proprietary cable produces the correct 15V to charge the TF300. Plugging the TF300 to a regular 10W 5V USB charger will only charge the device if it is turned completely off. And it will take quite a long time to charge...
3. If you will buy the TF300 for the keyboard dock, then you would probably bring it around docked (otherwise, what would be the point of getting the keyboard dock?). You will have a hard time finding a nice, slim case that would fit on the tablet and still allow it to be docked. AFAIK, there is no case that just fits over the tablet portion of the TF300 while still allowing it to be docked and undocked from the keyboard dock. There are folio-type cases that cover the two halves of the tablet when docked but they are not form-fitted to the TF300 and are held in place by elastic bands (ugly...)...
If the keyboard dock is not a necessity and you can live with a smaller tablet, you may want to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (8" tablet with 3G and S-Pen)...
Hope this helps you decide.
Best Regards!
^_^

Having my TF since around 3 months now, I have to revert my former prediction I would not buy it again, or recommend it right now:
Don't get me wrong, it is a great combination of a tablet and a somewhat capable notebook but:
- the CPU is too weak and once the Tegra 4 hits it will be outdated
- always runs at around 40 - 50 % of RAM already used by simple firing up the Tablet
- the screen is not good enough for longer sessions (had to experience that for myself first but it is true)
and the biggest reason for waiting:
Asus announced a new version of the Infinity coming up soon, the baby offers:
- 300 PPI
- 2560 x 1600 resolution
- Tegra 4
- 2 GB of ram (which will soon be the new standard)
So if you can wait a few month and don't mind paying a bit more you will probably end up with the best tablet on the market.
Hope that helped

- the CPU is too weak and once the Tegra 4 hits it will be outdated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's fast enoughimho, the main bottleneck is the storage I/O. And of course it will be outdated once the new version comes out, that's the meaning of the word outdated....
- always runs at around 40 - 50 % of RAM already used by simple firing up the Tablet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a good thing because free RAM is useless RAM. Most of the system is loaded into RAM which means the slow storage I/O is much less of a problem. And even with the whole system loaded, you have ~60% free for demanding applications.
- the screen is not good enough for longer sessions (had to experience that for myself first but it is true)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? Is it too bright? Is the refresh rate wrong? Because it looks fine to me and I watch movies on it.
If anything I think it's main weaknesses are the speaker, poor standby times since the update to 4.2 and the large bezel.

frankgreimes said:
- the CPU is too weak and once the Tegra 4 hits it will be outdated
- always runs at around 40 - 50 % of RAM already used by simple firing up the Tablet
- the screen is not good enough for longer sessions (had to experience that for myself first but it is true)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the CPU:
Personally, I think Nvidia over-sold the capabilities of the Tegra processors. They over-hyped the performance of the Tegra 2 but actually delivered that expected performance when the Tegra 3 was released, then again with Tegra 3 (where its over-hyped performance would only be delivered by the Tegra 4)...
I know this from personal experience since I bought a Motorola Atrix 4G (yes, people like me actually exist! ) for its Tegra 2 processor on Aug 2011 (Asia version) only to find out that its H.264 HW acceleration is limited to simple profile only... (its direct competitor then, the Samsung Galaxy S3, had better H.264 HW acceleration support...)
Tegra-accelerated games (THD) were few and far between and graphics performance was not as impressive as promised.
Then I bought the Asus Transformer TF300T (Aug 2012) with the Tegra 3 processor and thought: "Finally, the H.264 HW acceleration will be fixed and gaming performance would improve..." Well, the H.264 HW acceleration was fixed, but gaming performance remained "meh"...
A lot of popular games (mostly from GameLoft) don't even recognize the device and several workarounds needed to be done to get the games to play. When finally games officially supporting the tablet were released (like Dungeon Hunter 4 and Asphalt 7), I find out the games don't perform fluidly or stutters in the middle of gameplay (Asphalt 7) or are simply unplayable due to the low framerate (DH4)... Then I see my friends playing these same games flawlessly on a Samsung Galaxy Note (1st-gen)...
After some updates for the games and lots of tweaks to free up memory (RAM), I finally am able to play Asphalt 7 with a smooth framerate during the actual race (no more stuttering) but the menus are still not as smooth. I also am able to at least play DH4 (on medium detail settings)...
Which brings me to the RAM issue...
The TF300T came with a lot of gunk that I didn't and had no plan of using. I can't uninstall them without potentially breaking OTA updates. So after discovering that freeing up RAM would allow certain games like the above GameLoft games and other large games (SoulCraft, SpellStorm, etc) to run better, I looked around the forums (mostly this forum) to find utilities like App Quarantine - requires root - (to prevent applications/services from being started at boot and ever after) as well as Greenify - requires root - (to force applications you actually to be hibernated so that they don't "wake up" and "phone home" every so often and not release their RAM and CPU resources) and Auto Memory Manager (to tweak the OOM/out-of-memory settings of Android so that the OS will do a cleanup of empty processes and kill other less important processes when the free memory drops below a certain threshold)...
Regarding the Display:
The screen is not as bright as other tablets, but I knew that going in and obviously it was a trade-off to lower the cost of the unit. It is still usable, as long as you are indoors and do not have a bright light source behind you...
As I replied to Dandry's original post, for his application (general tablet use), the TF300TG (3G version) would still be a match to his needs as long as the price is reasonable (meaning lower than it's original price) and the hardware-docked-keyboard-w/-battery-pack feature is compelling for you...
Cheers!
^_^

Even better with the Official Cyanogen 4.3 Nightlies
I had mine for over 1 yr now, rooted a couple of months ago and now have the new Official Cyanogen 4.3 Nightlies rom installed. Runs great.

I have 2 of them and have no regrets
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

bcombel said:
I have 2 of them and have no regrets
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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+1
Both of my kids have each their tft300 and sharing one keyboard
Since one year now and nothing negative to say...
Go for it
Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515m using xda app-developers app

Citruspers said:
It's fast enoughimho, the main bottleneck is the storage I/O. And of course it will be outdated once the new version comes out, that's the meaning of the word outdated....
This is a good thing because free RAM is useless RAM. Most of the system is loaded into RAM which means the slow storage I/O is much less of a problem. And even with the whole system loaded, you have ~60% free for demanding applications.
Why? Is it too bright? Is the refresh rate wrong? Because it looks fine to me and I watch movies on it.
If anything I think it's main weaknesses are the speaker, poor standby times since the update to 4.2 and the large bezel.
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I don't know about yours, but mine started to have ghostclicks and if I press the black border it acts touch sensitive. Sometimes the tablet runs as smooth as it gets other times I hate to work with it, kind of strange.
The RAM thing really depends how you are looking at it, free RAM should be reserved for tasks that need it, if you are constantly running on 50 % of the full RAM = less ram for the more important stuff. Believe me I have tried to remove all the startup blunder but some apps aren't just going away, i.e E-Mail clients although I am using K-9.
For basic things the screen is good enough, but when it comes down to PDF reading and looking at some more complex websites you can really tell the difference in terms of text-quality. I have seen tablet with 200 ppi + and black actually looked like black not just more grey.
Grifter thanks for your lenghty and great review and recommending some apps I really hope they are going to fix my startup problem because it gets annoying.
Disclaiming: The tablet itself is for sure not bad and the docked keyboard is a great pleasure but right now we are 2 months away from the next Infinity which will offer a lot more for for only + $ 150 so personally speaking I would wait and see this 300 ppi Tegra 4 baby in action before buying one right now. chances are it's going to fix all the previous problems the Transformer-series has had.
But if your looking for a great budget tablet you can't go wrong with the TF 300.

I've been dealing with lots of lag and my friends and dad's Nexus 10 is much smoother. Having the choice again for $100 more, I would have bought the Nexus. Keep in mind I'm on the stock rom and rooted. Can't unlock because of the rma'd issue. Hoping it's smoother with a custom ROM, which I imagine it will be, after the upgrade
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD

TF300T hardware is not bad given the price. You can have a Samsung for better performance if you can afford to fork out more, evidently. My main grudge is the way they treat customers after the purchase. Witness petition after petition that went unanswered. If they don't care about customers, then we simply shouldn't spend money on their products, especially on one that's so prone to bricking as this model - and not always due to users' fault as they're so fond of clamoring. If they deliberately refuse to release the Key so as to drum up service, there's even more reason to stay away.
Unfortunately, corporate moral standards have been set so low in the last two or three decades, consumers can only get them to listen by hurting their bottom line. As the adage goes, evil will flourish where decent people stand idly by. A few years ago, China banked on low prices to gain market shares. Then they understood that without improving the quality of products and services, they will fall out of the race. We should remind Asus of that principle. In this business, being # 3 is a kiss of death. I can see Ipads battling Samsung Notes. Who ever heard of TF this and that competing against anything of substance? God help them, as I don't care to.

Update on the screen quality:
I gave it another chance by taking the tablet with me outdoors (in the shade, in a bright summer day). The screen is barely usable outdoors, period. At full brightness, it's barely visible. And the glass reflects the fingerprints a lot. At some cases I could hardly tell if the screen, beneath the fingerprints, was on or off. (I am not sure if a screen protector would solve this last issue)
graphdarnell said:
In this business, being # 3 is a kiss of death. I can see Ipads battling Samsung Notes. Who ever heard of TF this and that competing against anything of substance? God help them, as I don't care to.
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Be reminded that the transformer line were the first mainstream tablets which had an additional detachable keyboard. That was an ASUS innovation and only now do we see similar hybrid/convertible devices from other manufacturers. Also, ASUS competes very well both with Apple and Samsung, simply because they are behind the Google Nexus devices.

TF300T Was a great workhorse for me for 14 months, I also have a TF700 which I no longer use(IO performance issues and overall slow performance due a 1080p screen resolution with a very slow Tegra SoC) and can finally can let those two go.
The TF300T is still great, specially for watching HD movies(720p only), with the docking option you can have up to 128Gb of storage. 720p videos run great, even 1080p videos run great on my 65"LED tv thru HDMI adapter as long as you disable the video on the TF300T and OC to 1.6 Ghz(Performance Mode), GPS works great, WIFI is decent enough and the multitouch feature on the touchpad was really useful. 8 Megapixel camera(rear)with AF still takes great pics specially if you use the right software and you can even make HD video recording.
My only big complain is regarding the browsing department, I tried everything you can imagine with no success, installed every single ROM, tried every single browser with no luck at all. I heard there's an IO performance issue with Asus TF300T and TF700 tablets.
My wife gave me a Nexus 7 32GB 2013 for my birthday, what an amazing machine for browsing internet content, this is amazingly fast, fast , fast. I just ordered a nexus 10 32Gb which will make my life easier and replace my TF700. I will no longer have the flexibility for the storage as I have with the transformers but who can complain if these new units can perform without glitches,lagging or slowdowns specially browsing internet and playing 1080p videos smoothly.
There is no blame to Asus or the transformer line, maybe just for the I/O issues, I had a TF101 as well(tegra 2). Tegra 3 SoC is the one to blame for. Such a poor SoC with so much publicity that was always under-performing, from the very beginning. It's time to upgrade for me. my 2 cents here.

jrsalda said:
TF300T Was a great workhorse for me for 14 months, I also have a TF700 which I no longer use(IO performance issues and overall slow performance due a 1080p screen resolution with a very slow Tegra SoC) and can finally can let those two go.
The TF300T is still great, specially for watching HD movies(720p only), with the docking option you can have up to 128Gb of storage. 720p videos run great, even 1080p videos run great on my 65"LED tv thru HDMI adapter as long as you disable the video on the TF300T and OC to 1.6 Ghz(Performance Mode), GPS works great, WIFI is decent enough and the multitouch feature on the touchpad was really useful. 8 Megapixel camera(rear)with AF still takes great pics specially if you use the right software and you can even make HD video recording.
My only big complain is regarding the browsing department, I tried everything you can imagine with no success, installed every single ROM, tried every single browser with no luck at all. I heard there's an IO performance issue with Asus TF300T and TF700 tablets.
My wife gave me a Nexus 7 32GB 2013 for my birthday, what an amazing machine for browsing internet content, this is amazingly fast, fast , fast. I just ordered a nexus 10 32Gb which will make my life easier and replace my TF700. I will no longer have the flexibility for the storage as I have with the transformers but who can complain if these new units can perform without glitches,lagging or slowdowns specially browsing internet and playing 1080p videos smoothly.
There is no blame to Asus or the transformer line, maybe just for the I/O issues, I had a TF101 as well(tegra 2). Tegra 3 SoC is the one to blame for. Such a poor SoC with so much publicity that was always under-performing, from the very beginning. It's time to upgrade for me. my 2 cents here.
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Finally managed to make my TF300T run smooth enough at 1.3Ghz(including browsing) with Latest Hydro 8 Rom(JB 4.2.1) and Greenify, App Quarantine and AutoMemory Manager Apps and latest Browse to Ram apK. I'm going to keep my TF300T and start experimenting with my upcoming Nexus 10. However My TF700 definitely goes to craigslist or ebay.

[Q] Thinking of buying this tab **help**

Hi i need your suggestions on buying this tablet i found on newegg.com.
I need a good tablet for games and movies. that is able to be rooted and has good roms (stable)
would you guys recommend this tablet for 169.99
also i see the charger is different. its not micro usb has any of you guys had issues with the charging port?
I will most likely purchase it sunday. if it has good recommendations.
thank you for taking your time on reading this and posting your suggestions.

I would go for the successor, the TF701 (aka new infinity, as far as I know). The most serious issue with the TF700 is in my eyes the bad speeds of the internal flash memory. It also has only 1GB of RAM. As far as I know, both things are solved with the TF701, which is therefore much faster. The TF700 tends to be sometimes a bit slow. Especially Google Chrome is almost unusable for me. Also synchronisation in the background slows down the tablet quite considerably. I do not owe a TF701, so I cannot give you any comparison.
The charger port is not a big problem in my eyes. To charge it, you simply need to use the cable and the charger it comes with. Because I was afraid my cable could break at some time, I brought another one, which you can get quite cheap on amazon or so.
I have some mechanical issues after 2 years of use, though. The locking mechanism with the docking station is broken, so the tablet can be removed without unlocking it first. It is not a big problem, I just have to be a bit more careful when handling it while docked. Also my touch screen is somewhat broken, when connected with the docking station it sometimes generate fake touch events (especially when it is slightly tilted to the back, like one usually does it when using in the dock). I guess it is caused by some tension in the digitiser glass. This is quite annoying, but I did not found many reports of similar problems, so I guess it does not happen frequently.

Im still rocking the TF101 which, honestly, running a custom ROM is just fine for what I use. (Internet surfing, email, facebook, games (nothing crazy fast in gaming though).
I dropped it so may times that its finally at the end of its life..
So I found myself in the same predicament ... 201 vs 700 vs 701.
There's a lot of debates online between the 201 and 700 and then the 700 vs 701. In every case they pretty much recommend going to the next higher model. (shocking, right?!)
But in the end the 700 was going to cost me around 200 with dock (killer amazon deal) and the 701 about 350. (in both cases gently used or refurbished).
I may regret it... but for another hundred bucks I decided that the 701 wasnt worth the additional 150 bucks... Although its CLEARLY a faster hardware tab.
If I were working from it or playing high end games, or if I found a closer price spread... I would have maybe gone to the 701.
Anyway, for those reasons I pulled the trigger on the 32g CHPMG TF700 last night.
Good luck in your purchase either way.