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[Q] Should I Wait for Prime? Is it Worth It?

Thread was moved to Q&A NEXT TIME PUT IN CORRECT FORUM.- The Moderator
Hey guys, I need a little help here,
First off im from Singapore and I first settled on Transformer Prime as the tablet i was gonna buy. I dont know whether the prime is releasing in December for singapore or if they are gonna push it till 2012 Jan. i just wanted to ask if the 100 (est.) bucks extra is worth the advantages and the wait?
What Im gonna use my new tablet for
Entertainment and Productivity substitute for my laptop on the go: Music, Movies, Ebooks, Taking Notes in School (im a student), Internet surfing, mild gaming, Video Conferencing (seldom), taking photos (seldom)
Pricing Details in SGD
Transformer TF101 (with dock) : $699 (may be able to bag a few extra goodies thanks to the upcoming IT Fair)
Transformer Prime (with dock) : estimated $810 - $830
(I'm planning to get the dock also because the keyboard and extended battery life would really come in handy. Was also one of the reasons i chose the transformer over others)
Advantages as far as I can see with the Prime vs TF101
Quad Core vs Dual Core
Aethetics (thinner, more good looking etc) (not a MAJOR issue but it would be nice to have a better looking tablet)
16GB vs 32 GB on board memory (not really an issue cause I have a 32gb microSD which is more than enough memory, worst come to worst just use the SD card slot in the dock for extra memory)
8MP vs 5 MP camera
other than these, are there any more significant differences between choosing Tegra 3 vs Tegra 2, ive read that the overall performance is slightly faster on the tegra 3 but is it worth the wait and the 100 odd bucks?
Thanks! Really Appreciate any help you can give me =)

for what your using it for you could go either way
prime will have better battery life be more future proofed and have more grunt if you can afford it do it
if not tf101 is still a great tab in my opinion
Sent from my tf101 using xda premium 1.54Ghz

EVERYTHING is better on the prime, you should wait,
Don't forget the Screen, the sound, everything !

If I were in you I would wait for the release of Prime and go buying the TF101..cause maybe then you will find some offers to buy the first version of the transformer..
Prime will have some bugs when comes out and maybe you have to wait for someone to find a method to root it..
now TF101 is rootable for all versions (also SBKv2) thanks to the RazorClaw method and has already a great active community..
Prime will be lighter and more powerful..but I think TF is just good enough to do what you want to do..

For crying out loud, wait! Wait! Even if it was 3 months out i'd wait.

As stated above, i would wait for 2 reasons... Wait for any possible defects to be identified and addressed first. Then wait for it to be rooted and even wait for a custom rom to be developed for it.

cavsoldier19d said:
As stated above, i would wait for 2 reasons... Wait for any possible defects to be identified and addressed first. Then wait for it to be rooted and even wait for a custom rom to be developed for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And by then, Samsung or somebody will have a tab in the works, and then you'll have to wonder if you should buy THAT when it comes out. . . .
As the vast majority of tablet use (mine anyway) is way below the threshold of the device, spending so much money is just crazy just so I'll be on the bleeding edge. To me, $810 is ridiculous.
Buy a TF101 and donate $400 to charity.

SilverZero said:
And by then, Samsung or somebody will have a tab in the works, and then you'll have to wonder if you should buy THAT when it comes out. . . .
As the vast majority of tablet use (mine anyway) is way below the threshold of the device, spending so much money is just crazy just so I'll be on the bleeding edge. To me, $810 is ridiculous.
Buy a TF101 and donate $400 to charity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's your prerogative if you want to fall victim to buying everything new thing that comes out. They love people like you. It all depends on what you are looking for...being on the absolute bleeding edge, you come to accept that you may have defects and that your device may not be able to be rooted yet. For me, its a comfortable medium between bleeding edge and functionality. I would rather have a TF101 rev with no defects and with the ability to be rooted and rom'ed, than having a TF Prime that just hit the shelves with possible defects and no possibility of being rooted/rom'ed for a good while.

Tend to agree with a mixture of the above:
Buy what will do the jobs you want to do
The next gen after Prime is probably already being developed
Save some money if you can if the tf101 fits your needs.
Or get a preowned tf for now and then sell it on again to part fund the prime.

My wife asked me the other day what I will be able to do with the Prime that I can't do with my OG Transformer. My honest answer was: absolutely nothing. I realized that there is literally nothing* that the Prime will do out of the box day one that the TF can't do, and over time the only difference will be that the Prime will eventually run some games a little faster/better as they're optimized for Tegra 3.
However, I'll still be getting the Prime, and here's why: it's better in every single aspect of what makes a tablet enjoyable to use:
1. The Prime is faster, so there should be fewer frustrating hesitations and lags. ICS might help that on the TF, but the Prime will still provide a better experience.
2. It's thinner and lighter. I'm actually envious of my wife with her Galaxy Tab 10.1, because it's so much nicer to hold in actual use. The TF isn't _terrible_, but the GT is definitely more pleasant.
3. I can _just barely_ use the TF outside in direct sunlight, if I squint and hold it at _just_ the right angle. With almost double the brightness, the Prime should be very usable when I'm outside on the back porch getting some sun and wanting to read an ebook.
4. The anti-fingerprint coating would be welcome. I spend more than a few minutes a day just cleaning the screen on my TF.
5. The Prime should have significantly improved sound, perhaps the best that's yet shipped on a tablet. I like decent quality sound, and while not terrible, the TF is a bit of a disappointment in this area.
6. 30% better battery life would mean I'll _never_ have to worry about plugging in the Prime during my typical usage patterns. As it is, I'm sometimes lacking just about an hour with the TF and need to plug in. The Prime should mean I never have to worry about it. Of course, having 18 hours with the dock will also be incredible.
7. I don't care about the 32GB vs. 16GB storage, and would rather have a $399 Prime to choose, but I understand why ASUS is positioning things the way they are. And $499 for the 32GB Prime will still be $100 cheaper than $599 for the 32GB iPad 2.
8. I don't often take pictures using my TF, but man, those sample shots taken with the Prime sure do look nice. Hell, those are heads and shoulders better than I get from my Motorola Photon, and so who knows, maybe I'll find opportunities to use the Prime's camera.
The only thing the Prime doesn't seem to have that I wish it did is haptic feedback (I was surprised how much I like it on my wife's GT 10.1). But of course the TF doesn't have it either, so it's a wash.
I'll be willing to spend a couple hundred dollars to upgrade to the Prime (after selling my TF+dock combo) simply because the Prime is so much better. ASUS basically fixed every weakness of the TF, and kept the best thing about it--the dock. That's worth the money to me.
*As I thought about it more, I realized that because it has NEON, the Tegra 3 is better at high-def video. However, I never watch high-def video on my TF, and so _for me_ there's literally nothing.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for you replies, its given me a lot of food for thought regarding this. Being my first tablet, i want to make sure i make the right decision. Thank you so much. i value all your comments =D

cavsoldier19d said:
That's your prerogative if you want to fall victim to buying everything new thing that comes out. They love people like you. It all depends on what you are looking for...being on the absolute bleeding edge, you come to accept that you may have defects and that your device may not be able to be rooted yet. For me, its a comfortable medium between bleeding edge and functionality. I would rather have a TF101 rev with no defects and with the ability to be rooted and rom'ed, than having a TF Prime that just hit the shelves with possible defects and no possibility of being rooted/rom'ed for a good while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a first generation Asus tablet, so are you one of those victims that you speak of? If the prime can't be rooted right away, its not a brick. You can have plenty of use with it until it WILL be rootable. Its only a matter of time. Each to his own, but I'd rather have the slimmer, lighter, faster unit for a bit more cash. Hands down. These things are on a yearly cycle, maybe 18 months. You can't sit back too long or you will be asking these questions about the NEXT tablet, and so on...

Not exactly. I have a B60 revision of the tf, so I didn't buy it the day it hit the shelves. This rev corrected defects in the previous revs. Not to mention that when I bought my tf, it was already rootable and custom roms were already available. It is also my first and only tab to date. So no, I am not the person to go rush out and buy the latest and greatest thing. I will most likely end up buying the prime, but not the day it hits the shelves.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using XDA App

>However, I'll still be getting the Prime, and here's why: it's better in every single aspect of what makes a tablet enjoyable to use:
I think the hardest thing is to be honest (objective) with oneself. Most of reasons you provided sound like rationalizing, indicated by the "better in every single aspect" hyperbole.
>1. The Prime is faster, so there should be fewer frustrating hesitations and lags. ICS might help that on the TF, but the Prime will still provide a better experience.
>...over time the only difference will be that the Prime will eventually run some games a little faster/better
You're contradicting yourself. Anyway, the lags experienced in normal use are due to the OS, as you said it yourself. The objective answer here would be to wait for ICS, than to pay another $500.
>2. It's thinner and lighter.
Thinness doesn't contribute to being more enjoyable to use. It only provides better aesthetics, which mattered only for a short while. It contributes to the lust of new toys; that's basically it.
The Prime isn't that much lighter to justify the $500 (additional) expenditure. This is rationalizing, unless of course $500 is chump change for you. But if so, you wouldn't have gone through all this soul-searching.
>3. I can _just barely_ use the TF outside in direct sunlight.
How often do you use your TF outside in direct daylight?
>4. The anti-fingerprint coating would be welcome.
A smudge-resistant screen protector would be a better solution.
>5. The Prime should have significantly improved sound, perhaps the best that's yet shipped on a tablet.
Note the "should." And the "perhaps the best" is pure hyperbole. These fall into the "wishful" category.
Ditto for the rest of your proffered reasons.
I'm not saying you should or shouldn't buy. Only you can decide that. I'm merely pointing out the futility of trying to rationalize the purchase of a new toy. Cut to the chase and keep it simple: You want it, and you can afford it. That's it.

I think obviously waiting for Transformer Prime is the best thing you ever do.
Asus Transformer TF101 have sharp edges. It hurts my hand when holding it. Also, the screen is not that sensitive. Asus promise a more sensitive screen.
And with Quadcore, longer battery life, slimmer, nicer to hold, and more future proof, waiting for Transformer Prime is no brainer. This question should not be asked in the first place.

e.mote said:
I'm not saying you should or shouldn't buy. Only you can decide that. I'm merely pointing out the futility of trying to rationalize the purchase of a new toy. Cut to the chase and keep it simple: You want it, and you can afford it. That's it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you know, you certainly spent a great deal of time trying to convince me that my opinion is incorrect. So, okay, sure, whatever.
---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:05 PM ----------
kkcheong said:
I think obviously waiting for Transformer Prime is the best thing you ever do.
Asus Transformer TF101 have sharp edges. It hurts my hand when holding it. Also, the screen is not that sensitive. Asus promise a more sensitive screen.
And with Quadcore, longer battery life, slimmer, nicer to hold, and more future proof, waiting for Transformer Prime is no brainer. This question should not be asked in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thanks, I forgot about the increase touch sensitivity. That's also important...
---------- Post added at 05:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:06 PM ----------
e.mote said:
3. I can _just barely_ use the TF outside in direct sunlight.
How often do you use your TF outside in direct daylight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only part of your post that I can answer objectively: I live in Southern California. So, you figure it out.

>Well, you know, you certainly spent a great deal of time trying to convince me that my opinion is incorrect. So, okay, sure, whatever.
This is a beeswaxing thread. It's all opinions. There is no right or wrong.
The reason I replied is that you were honest with your spouse, that the Prime would impart marginal utility, but then did a complete 180 in trying to justify it to yourself. The irony of it was striking enough to elicit a response.
I well understand techno-lust. That's why we're all here. There's no justifying it, other than that's part of being a techie.

If I had the money to waste on it... I would. The thing is, everyone else has pointed out good points already, but I think the biggest thing you might want to keep in mind is whether or not you will decide to wait it out even after Prime is released.. you know? To avoid hardware/quality issues similar to people with the first transformer? For example, I got mine around July, and by then, I unboxed my transformer and it was completely usable right out of the box (with the exception of netflix). But there were people who bought it months earlier and had lots of issues and bugs, as well as hardware problems.
So... do you think you can wait long enough for it? Honestly, if you've waited this long, you might as well wait a little longer. You'd only be paying like 100 dollars more than what you'd pay for the transformer, but the expected potential is much greater. The potential might NOT be realized, but it's always nice that you could possibly play better video games and whatnot. Good luck by the way.

asdfuogh said:
If I had the money to waste on it... I would. The thing is, everyone else has pointed out good points already, but I think the biggest thing you might want to keep in mind is whether or not you will decide to wait it out even after Prime is released.. you know? To avoid hardware/quality issues similar to people with the first transformer? For example, I got mine around July, and by then, I unboxed my transformer and it was completely usable right out of the box (with the exception of netflix). But there were people who bought it months earlier and had lots of issues and bugs, as well as hardware problems.
So... do you think you can wait long enough for it? Honestly, if you've waited this long, you might as well wait a little longer. You'd only be paying like 100 dollars more than what you'd pay for the transformer, but the expected potential is much greater. The potential might NOT be realized, but it's always nice that you could possibly play better video games and whatnot. Good luck by the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This Asus Transformer Prime is 2nd version of Asus Transformer. So it'll be less bug.
You can buy it at the first day launch without big issue.
The only issue might be screen bleeding and dust under the glass. That one you can check it during purchase or return it to get a new one.

>Asus Transformer TF101 have sharp edges. It hurts my hand when holding it.
So the Prime's edges are less sharp?
"Thin" isn't always good.
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Are We Expecting Too Much?

Am I the only who thinks some people are expecting too much? Maybe it is becuase my uses are so different than others?
I am not looking to control orbiting satelites with this device, nor am I wanting it to compose Adele's next number one smash. It is a tablet! Or, am I missing something. Have these devices come so far in such a short time that we want them to be full desktop or laptop replacements?
I want to: check the weather, see what the local movie times are and read some reviews, check email real quick and perhaps respond, watch a few clips of youtube on a really nice screen, have some entertainment portability when I travel, have a huge GPS in my car (that works), write reviews on Trip Advisor, read about the TomKat divorce, etc, etc. I wonder how many people who are highlighting the faults of this device actually have capable laptops at home!
I want a great screen and the latest device that might last me two, or maybe three years. I am not looking to take over the world with this device in 7 years.
Thoughts?
P.S. - I was joking about the TomKat thing.

Partly.
I'm basically on your side. I also think some people overreact on some issues like the I/O.
I watched the Prime release as I wanted that too but there was an overall bad tone from those who got it. The whole forum was basically just threads about problems or complaining, here it is two or three threads now.
With the Infinity you hear some say "oh no I/O, send it back, its crap" and others that say "it's almost smooth as butter".
But on the other hand it is marketed as a high class tablet and priced like that.
So I expect from ASUS to fix that issues. If they ignore it I will probably send it back after some time if the issue really bothers me that much.
But as I'm still waiting for mine to arrive I won't cancel it because of this now.
Okay maybe it is different in other countries that do not have warranty for 2 years, dunno.

You wouldn't have to have bought the 700 if you'd only wanted to watch the ocassional YouTube clip, LOL. As far as your usage scenario goes, yes, I believe you will have a great device that will last you several years, and possibly much longer than that.
I love the device too, but in my usage scenario (watching movie along with browsing the web for a bit, XDA among it), the I/O issue does rear its ugly head every once in a while. Granted, if actually watching the video, all is great; browsing the web, all is great; accessing the filesystem is less nice with slower responses than my SGS2, let alone when you try and transfer a large file.
And to answer your title question: no, I do not think we're expecting too much for a device of this cost (and theoretical capability). A quad-core 1GB RAM ICS tablet with 64 GB on-board memory should blow everything Android out of the water; so far, the experience hasn't been that bad at all, but I am absolutely convinced there is quite some room for improvement.
And now I think of it: all this time we are used as unpaid beta testers. I wonder why ASUS never stumbled upon the I/O issue itself; is that because they just connected seome hardware in an aluminum casing and brought it to retail, like some cynics said, or is this really so special and unforeseen that they didn't test large file transfers (for example) at all and just didn't test that particular aspect? I do have an opinion on that.

Surfing the web (visiting regular sites) and watching embedded video's in those site should work smooth. Especially with this high-end tablet.
Well, it does not go smooth. That's not a high expectation to me.
I compared it with an iPad1 and and iPad3, and even the iPad1 (>2 years old!) does the job faster and smoother ...

@Marty
Is it fair to say that if Asus expects to produce and sell 7,000,000 of these devices (I do not know what the real production number is), and 6,800,000 of those buyers do not care about I/O, multi-tasking, etc, that Asus WOULD NOT spend time, energy, and resources to make those 200,000 buyers happy?
I love these sites and forums, they are a great resource, but lets face it, people that use and post to these sites are a minority, not majority. And while I am sure producers of these tablet devices, be it Asus, Apple, Samsung, etc, do care somewhat about what is said, they have to produce what they can sell at the highest profit margin and then move onto the next device. Forget the Infinity, Asus probably its successor and its successors successor already in the works!

sag365 said:
if Asus expects to produce and sell 7,000,000 of these devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that this is a realistic number. You have to lower that a lot!

I don't think you're expecting too much.
Went into a local Currys and had a good look at a few tablets. The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 actually looks quite nice and has an amazing screen, so does the Nexus 7 (but again, no 3G or SD card).
I hate to admit it but Apple own the tablet market.
I think I'm going to wait until we have an HD tablet with 3G before I buy one. These days I want to make sure I get the best bang for my buck.

i really do think its the best tab out. no tab comes out as the perfect model an ipad 3 is because there is only 1 of them, nothing to compare within apple. its such closed ecosystem that it runs smoothly because.... u cant do anything YOU want just what they want lol. with android its like PC, so many configuartions its hard to eliminate all bugs, but really good devs are gonna get their hands on this device and fix up a lot of things. also check out endgaget Asus released 4.1 jellybean news to hit the prime and the infinity within the next month

Is it fair to say that if Asus expects to produce and sell 7,000,000 of these devices (I do not know what the real production number is), and 6,800,000 of those buyers do not care about I/O, multi-tasking, etc, that Asus WOULD NOT spend time, energy, and resources to make those 200,000 buyers happy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest. I don't think they pay to much mind to us early adapters. We definitely are the minority...

I received my TF700 yesterday and I was expecting a wow from the screen but my wife screwed it up cause I been using her ipad3 for the last week while waiting for the infinity. The screen is definitely nice and it does run smooth like it suppose to. I saw an IO issue when I was downloading all my apps and sorting them out in my home screens. It was sluggish and the screen turned white twice but I was downloading 22 apps with wifi on and re organizing the home screens which is a lot (at least to me). The wifi and bluetooth are [email protected] great. Distance for bluetooth seems to be much better. Jambox works flawless. The only things I didn't like was it seems the speaker has a lower top volume. Doesn't seem to be as loud as my prime was. I do get a click from the lens when I take pictures. You can hear it in video which is annoying.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app

Crizthakidd said:
i really do think its the best tab out. no tab comes out as the perfect model an ipad 3 is because there is only 1 of them, nothing to compare within apple. its such closed ecosystem that it runs smoothly because.... u cant do anything YOU want just what they want lol. with android its like PC, so many configuartions its hard to eliminate all bugs, but really good devs are gonna get their hands on this device and fix up a lot of things. also check out endgaget Asus released 4.1 jellybean news to hit the prime and the infinity within the next month
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
months
---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:01 PM ----------
dknotty said:
I don't think you're expecting too much.
Went into a local Currys and had a good look at a few tablets. The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 actually looks quite nice and has an amazing screen, so does the Nexus 7 (but again, no 3G or SD card).
I hate to admit it but Apple own the tablet market.
I think I'm going to wait until we have an HD tablet with 3G before I buy one. These days I want to make sure I get the best bang for my buck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I didn't need it for summer months, I would definitely wait for the Snapdragon version.

sag365 said:
@Marty
Is it fair to say that if Asus expects to produce and sell 7,000,000 of these devices (I do not know what the real production number is), and 6,800,000 of those buyers do not care about I/O, multi-tasking, etc, that Asus WOULD NOT spend time, energy, and resources to make those 200,000 buyers happy?
I love these sites and forums, they are a great resource, but lets face it, people that use and post to these sites are a minority, not majority. And while I am sure producers of these tablet devices, be it Asus, Apple, Samsung, etc, do care somewhat about what is said, they have to produce what they can sell at the highest profit margin and then move onto the next device. Forget the Infinity, Asus probably its successor and its successors successor already in the works!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you'd read my posts in here, you'd have seen I have stated exactly to same a few times over, my friend. In 'normal usage' scenarios, owners won't find significant faults, and they accept a hang here or there -- if you work anywhere where you cannot decide on hardware yourself, you are faced with crap hardware all the time and build up mental antibodies to stutters, lags, hangs and what-not.
Having said that, a lot of people come in here for 'other-than-normal usage' scenarios, right ? And you rightly point out that we do not have any market influence except for the direct one (representatives, who probably are depressed and suicidal by now, LOL).

Eroc162 said:
I received my TF700 yesterday and I was expecting a wow from the screen but my wife screwed it up cause I been using her ipad3 for the last week while waiting for the infinity. The screen is definitely nice and it does run smooth like it suppose to. I saw an IO issue when I was downloading all my apps and sorting them out in my home screens. It was sluggish and the screen turned white twice but I was downloading 22 apps with wifi on and re organizing the home screens which is a lot (at least to me). The wifi and bluetooth are [email protected] great. Distance for bluetooth seems to be much better. Jambox works flawless. The only things I didn't like was it seems the speaker has a lower top volume. Doesn't seem to be as loud as my prime was. I do get a click from the lens when I take pictures. You can hear it in video which is annoying.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what you thoughts in comparison?
Would you exchange Infinity for iPad 3?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

MartyHulskemper said:
If you'd read my posts in here, you'd have seen I have stated exactly to same a few times over, my friend. In 'normal usage' scenarios, owners won't find significant faults, and they accept a hang here or there -- if you work anywhere where you cannot decide on hardware yourself, you are faced with crap hardware all the time and build up mental antibodies to stutters, lags, hangs and what-not.
Having said that, a lot of people come in here for 'other-than-normal usage' scenarios, right ? And you rightly point out that we do not have any market influence except for the direct one (representatives, who probably are depressed and suicidal by now, LOL).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I'm not having too many issues with doing 'other than normal usage' scenarios actually. I downloaded multiple HD texture packs for Mario Kart 64, Starfox 64 and Super Smash Bros with little to no lag, then unzipped, copied and pasted the very large (a couple hundred megabytes) packs into their correct folders without really slowing down at all. I was impressed considering my tablet locked up several times while installing and Titanium Backup restoring apps.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

I was just thinking about writing about the same topic. Sometimes I feel that people are expecting to get a full spec laptop.
Yeah the problems are there, but do they make me regret bying the TF700T? Not a bit.

Sometimes I wonder if ASUS even knows the cause of these various performance issues.
Take this scenario - you or I decide to design our own tablet: We get a bunch of investors, we go to a Chinese tech company, we sit down in a board room with their engineers - somewhere - maybe in the US - we show our blueprints of what we want the tablet to do - screen resolution - processor - ports - size - case material - all the usual stuff - any one of us here on XDA could do it - then, a representative meets with you and your investors again 3 months later with a prototype - you tell them what you like and what you don't - they disappear again for another month and return with a new prototype - you test it, it meets with your approval - you give them the go to produce 1000 of them.
We would have our own company, and produce a tablet - which we sell to the public - but we wouldn't have the slightest clue what makes it tick
And if a customer complains what do we do - we contact a chinese engineer explain the problem and maybe they solve the problem or maybe they make excuses for shoddy workmanship and move on to the next bigger contract - its not their problem to provide customer support, its yours - but you didn't make the thing so you don't have a clue how to solve the customer's problems
Again just hypothetical, but with everything being made by Chinese factories, are we even sure that ASUS knows the cause of our problems or the solutions?
Remember the day of having products made and supported in the US is over. Even the Japanese don't make and support their products anymore. Sony products are made in China!
On a side note - I do think they could have taken the time to tell the Chinese engineers to find a way to put the damn speakers on the front, or at least along the bottom and separated - after hearing the speakers on the a700 I'm having a really hard time rationalizing a premium tablet with a cheap monotone side mounted speaker..

Digital Man said:
Sometimes I wonder if ASUS even knows the cause of these various performance issues.
Take this scenario - you or I decide to design our own tablet: We get a bunch of investors, we go to a Chinese tech company, we sit down in a board room with their engineers - somewhere - maybe in the US - we show our blueprints of what we want the tablet to do - screen resolution - processor - ports - size - case material - all the usual stuff - any one of us here on XDA could do it - then, a representative meets with you and your investors again 3 months later with a prototype - you tell them what you like and what you don't - they disappear again for another month and return with a new prototype - you test it, it meets with your approval - you give them the go to produce 1000 of them.
We would have our own company, and produce a tablet - which we sell to the public - but we wouldn't have the slightest clue what makes it tick
And if a customer complains what do we do - we contact a chinese engineer explain the problem and maybe they solve the problem or maybe they make excuses for shoddy workmanship and move on to the next bigger contract - its not their problem to provide customer support, its yours - but you didn't make the thing so you don't have a clue how to solve the customer's problems
Again just hypothetical, but with everything being made by Chinese factories, are we even sure that ASUS knows the cause of our problems or the solutions?
Remember the day of having products made and supported in the US is over. Even the Japanese don't make and support their products anymore. Sony products are made in China!
On a side note - I do think they could have taken the time to tell the Chinese engineers to find a way to put the damn speakers on the front, or at least along the bottom and separated - after hearing the speakers on the a700 I'm having a really hard time rationalizing a premium tablet with a cheap monotone side mounted speaker..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could contract a US engineer to do the job for you. But you still need a brand image which requires time to get into customers' heads otherwise nobody will buy it from you. Well if you don't get the message across to them then who will? Remember, in a big company there's always a chain-of-command on the production side, it's difficult to get it right the first time and they tends to pick-up their mistakes overtime.
However you'll just needing to submit a customer feedback and then wait patiently because Asus has so many products that they're busy dealing with everyday. I'd understand it from a customer's point of view such that problems within the product itself and falling out of specification etc...
For example you see the quality not class A and constantly compares it with another product in similar system, would you rather be disappointed to see it not being a perfect product?
Think about it perhaps the tablet market has just taken off!!!

So far I am very pleased ... what exactly is an "io"? Wait till this gets an aokp jb port and a custom kernel...it will smoke anything coming out for a while
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2

Redefined301 said:
You could contract a US engineer to do the job for you. But you still need a brand image which requires time to get into customers' heads otherwise nobody will buy it from you. Well if you don't get the message across to them then who will? Remember, in a big company there's always a chain-of-command on the production side, it's difficult to get it right the first time and they tends to pick-up their mistakes overtime.
However you'll just needing to submit a customer feedback and then wait patiently because Asus has so many products that they're busy dealing with everyday. I'd understand it from a customer's point of view such that problems within the product itself and falling out of specification etc...
For example you see the quality not class A and constantly compares it with another product in similar system, would you rather be disappointed to see it not being a perfect product?
Think about it perhaps the tablet market has just taken off!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could contact a US engineer to do it for you? You mean in a US factory? There are none. Thats the point.
China IS the only remaining company
ASUS = intermediary between US customer and China
They supply cash a brand name and a list of design requriments - China does all the rest
That disconect becomes a big problem when it comes to product support and problem solving - if you didn't really make it - you are not well prepared to support it

Buy TF700 or wait?

Hello, I want to get a new tablet (currently using and android'ed Touchpad still), and HD resolution is important to me. I've been keeping an eye on the TF700 and now have a chance to grab one for about $345 new. But I know some newer HD tablets were announced at CES and are on the horizon for some time (but I don't think pricing has been announced). At this point should I just hold off to see what is coming, or at that price am I safe to grab the TF700 and be happy for a while to come.
My primary uses will be reading Comics, web browsing, and 720p videos/movies.
Thanks to any help!

6 months ago I would have said buy but today I would wait. The lag issue is a pia (at least if you stick with stock rom) and there are some new hd tablets comming out in the next 3-6 months. The only thing i don't know is if they will have sd slots (which is a must for me but appears to be a nono to google).
mattbooty said:
Hello, I want to get a new tablet (currently using and android'ed Touchpad still), and HD resolution is important to me. I've been keeping an eye on the TF700 and now have a chance to grab one for about $345 new. But I know some newer HD tablets were announced at CES and are on the horizon for some time (but I don't think pricing has been announced). At this point should I just hold off to see what is coming, or at that price am I safe to grab the TF700 and be happy for a while to come.
My primary uses will be reading Comics, web browsing, and 720p videos/movies.
Thanks to any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

jake21 said:
6 months ago I would have said buy but today I would wait. The lag issue is a pia (at least if you stick with stock rom) and there are some new hd tablets comming out in the next 3-6 months. The only thing i don't know is if they will have sd slots (which is a must for me but appears to be a nono to google).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for response, I have no issue modding to a different rom, I've done it on other tablets / phones before (heck I'm using a touchpad modded from webOS to android now anyways). But if modding it doesn't help much then that is a concern.
My other concern was the newer tablets will be priced again in the 400-500 range, or the lower priced HD tablets will have specs worse than the transformer already has.

mattbooty said:
Thank you for response, I have no issue modding to a different rom, I've done it on other tablets / phones before (heck I'm using a touchpad modded from webOS to android now anyways). But if modding it doesn't help much then that is a concern.
My other concern was the newer tablets will be priced again in the 400-500 range, or the lower priced HD tablets will have specs worse than the transformer already has.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My honest opinion, it's very hard to find a FULLY LOADED TABLET like tf700 with the highest resolution screen. If you willing to unlock to use custom rom. I would say YES 100%.

buhohitr said:
My honest opinion, it's very hard to find a FULLY LOADED TABLET like tf700 with the highest resolution screen. If you willing to unlock to use custom rom. I would say YES 100%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your opinion. I pulled the trigger. Worse case if I'm really unhappy I will return it before I unlock it.
Thanks for advice!!!!

mattbooty said:
Thanks for your opinion. I pulled the trigger. Worse case if I'm really unhappy I will return it before I unlock it.
Thanks for advice!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
smart decision!!! bravo!

I bought mine on ebay for 350$ used, well worth it, beautiful screen and nice speed, glad you bought it, 345$ new is nuts, is that a ebay deal or?

Well today there are two alternatives; the acer and nexus 10. The acer is not a bad tablet but it runs a bit warmer and I think it has shorter battery life ( you should check reviews; it's been a while since i've read them). The nexus 10 biggest con is no sd slot but the recent mobiltech - http://www.mobiletechreview.com/tablets/Google-Nexus-10.htm - was over the top positive if you don't need an that sd slot.
-
I'm not unhappy I have the tf700 but the lag thing is a major headache when updating or browsing a lot of web pages and given the price point of the tablet it is a bit downer.
-
Anyways I'll probably stick with it another year and then pick up a 13inch ultra-book (sub 3lb) with 1080p screen.

Yeah I agree be wise to wait. The new Sony, Samsung, Visio etc.. coming out.

I think you should wait ! I own the tf700 and I'm not pleased with it mostly because of the lag and random reboots. Sony announced an HD tablet that seems to be a good one. Anyway you should wait until MWC in Barcelona at the end of next month before you make up your mind.

L_o_k_i said:
I think you should wait ! I own the tf700 and I'm not pleased with it mostly because of the lag and random reboots. Sony announced an HD tablet that seems to be a good one. Anyway you should wait until MWC in Barcelona at the end of next month before you make up your mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But Sony announces great things and releases them 6 months after everyone else. That's why their phone sales are in the toilet. They just came out with a new one, nice phone, but it is about the same as a one x, which came out about 9 months ago. I will also admit the lag issue, but still the best one out there, the screen is amazing.

Arguments for the TF700:
- Screen! 1920*1200.
- Screen. 700 nits brightness and great contrast. Almost twice as bright as an iPad 3.
- Keyboard dock. With additional battery and USB.
- microSD card slot, and full size SD card slot in the dock.
- It looks great.
Arguments against the TF700:
- Lag. Slow internal eMMC. (can be worked around with custom ROMs, but not fully solved.)
- Unlocking to install custom ROMs voids your warranty!
- Unlocking is a lottery, and you still can't replace the bootloader on an unlocked device. (the unlocking tool simply does not work for some people and they get no help from Asus.)
- Somewhat unstable, occasional random reboots, hangs with white screen.
- Build quality issues - people report the docking mechanism breaking, light bleed, screen getting loose.
- Only 1 GB RAM and old (for 2013) Tegra 3 SoC.
- Some software that works on other tablets is not available for the TF700.
- Loudspeaker isn't great.

Some folks are replying without seeming to have read the other comments beyond the first. The OP has already made a move on the TF700T.
For the OP's needs "reading Comics, web browsing, and 720p videos/movie", the TF700T is more than suitable.
No doubt the N10 has higher performance, but at the cost of far worse battery life. And you don't really need an N10 for "reading Comics, web browsing, and 720p videos/movie". I guess you don't "need" a TF700T for that either. Lower ranking devices could fit that bill just fine.
But considering the OP has purchased aTF700T, I think they'll enjoy it.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
Some folks are replying without seeming to have read the other comments beyond the first. The OP has already made a move on the TF700T.
For the OP's needs "reading Comics, web browsing, and 720p videos/movie", the TF700T is more than suitable.
No doubt the N10 has higher performance, but at the cost of far worse battery life. And you don't really need an N10 for "reading Comics, web browsing, and 720p videos/movie". I guess you don't "need" a TF700T for that either. Lower ranking devices could fit that bill just fine.
But considering the OP has purchased aTF700T, I think they'll enjoy it.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, the N10 is nice and all, but I couldn't live without my MicroSD card, the OP will enjoy it a lot, the 1080p screen look brilliant with movies and text, and you can store tons of movies on a microsd

I just got my Infinity 64GB about 2 weeks ago. I'm pretty pleased with it so far. I have noticed a bit of lag on the web, but it's not horrible. I'm sure a fix will eventually come out for it. I don't see it staying that way forever. I'd probably like to eventually root it, but I get totally confused when reading the instructions on how to. I've only rooted my HTC Thunderbolt and that was a pretty in depth task.
I have noticed the little black line thing here and there but it's not too bad either. I figure a fix will come out for that as well.
I will say with 64GB I was able to load 13 High Quality (about 3 - 6gb each) movies on this thing and it works great! Think I might try knocking the quality down of the movie to a smaller file size so I can load a lot more on here. Just haven't found a ripper/compressor that I like that can create ripped movies without a lot of artifacting...
I'd say the most bothersome thing I've noticed with this tablet is the Light Bleed... however it's only noticed during a completely black screen. It's always got the factory warranty, plus I purchased a 3 year Square Trade warranty along with it so I'm good until 2016 with this bad boy.

This is a pretty interesting tablet coming out...
http://www.androidcentral.com/sony-announces-quad-core-10-inch-tablet-z
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mattbooty said:
and now have a chance to grab one for about $345 new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm always on the look out for my GF, she's in the market for a tablet. Where'd you find your deal?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Do it if you are comfortable unlocking, flashing trwp, and installing Clean ROM. After doing so my tab is smoother than ipad4 at my work. New tablets may be coming out but i doubt they have a comprehensive KB dock as good as this one. Screen is better than retina display and other HD tableys bc of IPS+, screen brightness is as important as res due to glare issues, IPS+ is great for combatting this, and i have yet to see another device with super IPS+. The screen goes to 600 nits of brightness rather than 300-350, which is the highest ive ever seen in any tablet or laptop. The range of brightness settings is also badass, you can go to incresibly low to incredibly high, which is great but often unmentioned.
I have actually replaced my laptop and desktop with tf700. Since buying and flashing CROMI i have never touched my laptop/desktop. My workflow is better on this bc of gesture/KB dock combination. I couldnt be happier.
Plus the tf700 is a sexy fckin beast, nothing else out there looks as badass. The mfctring quality is sick. I have dropped mine from around 5 ft off the ground onto concrete on pretty much every edge of this device and it is still working as well as when i bought it. Slid off my kitchen table onto tile floor directly onto the creen and slid about 5 feet, yet the screen doesnt have a single scratch. GO TF700 lol.

If you don't need the keyboard dock. Then jump on the Nexus 10. But if you are planning to use the tf700 and rooting with a flashing rom. Pull the trigger. Tf700 rooted is a beast of a tablet. And just provides so much functionality with the dock. I mean extra battery, sd slots, usb slots. The full package.

Its never to late to RETURN IT! And you will find there are now some that have unlocked it had to send it back and Asus will not fix it even though it was a hard ware problem. I had just bought one a week ago. Would not even turn on. Just look at all the new stuff coming out some in just weeks others a few months. Better to wait. I am

SERIOUS WARNING about ASUS & the TF700T

I want to alert people to the danger of buying products from Asus. They are poorly made and if anything goes wrong, you are screwed. Read some of the 1-star reviews on Amazon for the TF700T (which I am returning), and check out these links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-russnow/asus-computer-products-cu_b_793608.html
http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Asus
http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-fran...us-computer-international-in-fremont-ca-16870
The Huffington Post article is a horror story of customer support that links to many similar stories. The Customer Service Scoreboard site has 856 descriptions of customer service encounters with Asus. 757 of these (88.2%) are negative. And they are not generic - read them. They are specific, and there is a theme. Many of them have pitiful canned responses from Asus.
The BBB has issued an alert for Asus, saying, "We have identified a pattern of complaints concerning service issues. Complaints processed by BBB claim that 1) products sent to the company for repairs are still not working properly when returned to the consumer." Their most recent review of the complaints was January 14, 2013.
It's a shame because the specs for the TF700T looked so good, but I have not enjoyed actually using this machine. Nothing quite works right. I'm sick of the browser crashes. I'm sick of running out of memory. And now my battery meter doesn't work after just 4 months. Maybe I could find a way to recalibrate it, but I'm sick of the problems. I'm finding I don't want to use it - it's just aggravating. I'm not alone in these problems. There are reports of these same issues with the TF700T all over the internet. Since I've learned that Asus does not honor their warranties, I decided to return it to Amazon before it really breaks. It's outside the 30-day window so I won't get a full refund, but hopefully I'll get most of my money back. I did a hard reset and boxed it up.
I wish I'd never bought it. If you haven't bought one yet, I suggest you don't.

Many of their BBB reports are from the early days of the Prime tablet. You think you have isues with your device now, it's nothing compared to the problems that the prime suffered. They tried to fix thing with the gps dongle and were issuing refunds months after purchase if you got lucky. I accept that this is a mobile device and not going to have the full abilities of a laptop or desktop. Technology is advancing but still not totally there yet. If it takes a few seconds longer to load something I'm not going to let it ruin my life like my lollipop was stolen. Maybe that is why the lag does't bother me and I don't notice it.
I've owned multiple Asus produts including laptops and motherboards. When I've had an issue they fixed it with no problem. Every product has people who are not happy with it and there are far more positive reviews and pleased owners of this tablet than hurt bitter ones. Yes it has it faults but for the average owner this machine works fine and may not notice small moments of lag. Power users like those who know XDA may never be fully satisified with any product (in my oppinion). We are into pushing our tablets to higher levels than intended and customizing things. When something new and shiny gets released we upgrade to the new hardware and find new things to be angry with.
Test your luck with other brands. I'm sure they have faults which may or may not bother you. Good luck getting a refund.

Asus makes solid products. The tf700t had Its ups and downs, but I digress. My nexus 7 on the other hand... solid device. No problems whatsoever. They have iffy customer support. Just need to talk to the right people. All in all, their a good company
Sent from my Vivid 4G using Tapatalk 2

permutations said:
I want to alert people to the danger of buying products from Asus. They are poorly made and if anything goes wrong, you are screwed. Read some of the 1-star reviews on Amazon for the TF700T (which I am returning), and check out these links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-russnow/asus-computer-products-cu_b_793608.html
http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Asus
http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-fran...us-computer-international-in-fremont-ca-16870
The Huffington Post article is a horror story of customer support that links to many similar stories. The Customer Service Scoreboard site has 856 descriptions of customer service encounters with Asus. 757 of these (88.2%) are negative. And they are not generic - read them. They are specific, and there is a theme. Many of them have pitiful canned responses from Asus.
The BBB has issued an alert for Asus, saying, "We have identified a pattern of complaints concerning service issues. Complaints processed by BBB claim that 1) products sent to the company for repairs are still not working properly when returned to the consumer." Their most recent review of the complaints was January 14, 2013.
It's a shame because the specs for the TF700T looked so good, but I have not enjoyed actually using this machine. Nothing quite works right. I'm sick of the browser crashes. I'm sick of running out of memory. And now my battery meter doesn't work after just 4 months. Maybe I could find a way to recalibrate it, but I'm sick of the problems. I'm finding I don't want to use it - it's just aggravating. I'm not alone in these problems. There are reports of these same issues with the TF700T all over the internet. Since I've learned that Asus does not honor their warranties, I decided to return it to Amazon before it really breaks. It's outside the 30-day window so I won't get a full refund, but hopefully I'll get most of my money back. I did a hard reset and boxed it up.
I wish I'd never bought it. If you haven't bought one yet, I suggest you don't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I'm quivering with fear!
My Infinity works great, always has. So does my Asus netbook.

permutations said:
It's a shame because the specs for the TF700T looked so good, but I have not enjoyed actually using this machine. Nothing quite works right. I'm sick of the browser crashes. I'm sick of running out of memory. And now my battery meter doesn't work after just 4 months. Maybe I could find a way to recalibrate it, but I'm sick of the problems. I'm finding I don't want to use it - it's just aggravating. I'm not alone in these problems. There are reports of these same issues with the TF700T all over the internet. Since I've learned that Asus does not honor their warranties, I decided to return it to Amazon before it really breaks. It's outside the 30-day window so I won't get a full refund, but hopefully I'll get most of my money back. I did a hard reset and boxed it up.
I wish I'd never bought it. If you haven't bought one yet, I suggest you don't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any problems with my Infinity I am rooted and stock with just bloatware disabled.

BTrack said:
Oh, I'm quivering with fear!
My Infinity works great, always has. So does my Asus netbook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1:good:

Sure the TF700T had its software problem but it's getting better with each update.

Breathe, now step back from the ledge. There you go. It'll be ok.
I have owned a TF101, TF300, an now own a TF700 and a Nexus 7. Not to mention a G75 laptop, 3 ASUS motherboards and 2 ASUS video cards. I have not had any problems with any of them. (and i have gotten some good CS from them as well) I agree with previous posts saying that a lot of those complaints were stemming from the first Prime release (which genuinely had issues).
In my opinion they make just as good or better quality products as there is out there right now. Of course that is just my .02

My observation is that it's hit or miss with Asus products. Sometimes they work great, and sometimes they break prematurely. When they break, you can have big problems. I've read MANY reports of people sending in the TF700T for warranty repair and not getting it back for months, and not getting replies from Customer Service. When the machines did come back, the problems usually weren't fixed. The BBB assessment was updated on January 14, 2013 and the complaints were the same - long delays in getting machines back, and when they came back, the problems remained. So it's not just the Prime.
I loved my TF700T when I first got it - awesome display, loved the dock, etc. But there is something wrong with the memory management. Android isn't supposed to run out like that. My phone doesn't (Motorola Droid X Maxx HD). And the constantly hanging and crashing browsers - reported all over the internet - drove me nuts because I mainly use it for browsing the internet. I tried more than 5 different browsers - all had the same problem. I read a thread in this forum where someone discovered it was related to the TF700T's unusually slow I/O performance. Browsers are heavy users of I/O and memory. The TF700T, besides its memory management bugs, has only 1GB of RAM. I wish it had 2GB.
When the battery meter stopped working (all battery meter apps - the TF700T was reporting its battery level incorrectly) and my first efforts at recalibration didn't work, I went to the Asus site to inquire about customer service and/or warranty support. Their Web site is broken in several places. You can't get a list of local authorized service centers, for example - try it. Plus the Web site is in broken English, and and the support parts are unprofessional and not very confidence-inspiring. I'd already heard some complaints about warranty service problems, so that made me nervous. That's when I started looking at the 1-star Amazon.com reviews and found the links to the BBB alert, extremely low customer service scores, tales of horror, etc.
Others have reported problems with broken pins in the connector to the dock (it's plastic and delicate), and cracks in the casing around the screen - lots of reports of these.
For me, the TF700T was not usable because of the memory management problems and browser stalls/crashes. For someone using it mainly for other things, these problems might not matter so much. The quality control and customer support/warranty problems were the last straw.
I know many people are happy with their Nexus 7's, which are made by Asus. I'm told Google warrants this, so the risk is lower. I'm looking at the Nexus 10, which is made by Samsung.
I'm not comfortable with Asus quality control. They cut corners in places, using some high-end components and some very cheap components. The slow I/O on the TF700T is a case-in-point. I'm even more uncomfortable with Asus customer service and warranty support. It's all very hit or miss. Some people are lucky and their machines hold up, and some are not. Some luck out with customer service and some don't. I don't want to do business with a company like this. If it doesn't bother you, then fine. I'm just posting the warning for those who don't like high-risk purchasing. To each his own.

Have you updated your TF700? I used to get browser crashes and memory problems on earlier firmware builds but they all went away with updates.
Running stock, locked, but rooted fyi

But you're being the boy who cried wolf.
ASUS isn't the only manufacturer by any means who has some products with shortcomings. Nothing is perfect. I am WAY more than pleased with my TF700 and I had one of the first ones available. I haven't had many of the physical problems others have reported and I'm hard on my equipment, mine is all scratched and beat up lookin already but it's completely solid build quality and I wouldn't trade it for anything else, especially with its 1920x1200 screen and bright backlight and awesome viewing angles.
You can fix all the problems you complain about yourself by just unlocking it and flashing something else like CleanROM Inheritance 3.2
the i/o problem isn't all in the memory chips. I assure you. mine is smooth as butter and very fast. hell, just try rooting and installing browser2ram. work around it.
I don't have stock software on ANY computing device I own. NONE of them. I even flashed the ECU in my goddamn Jeep!
stop being a *****, buy the hardware you want and then make it do what you want it to do, but don't make a blanket statement about a company that has been producing some of the most advanced hardware out there for DECADES. They're not fly by night, they're just not american, and they don't wanna take the time/money to train a bunch of stupid americans to deal with their stupid problems.

What exactly was the point of this post? You would have gotten more mileage on the Tf201 forum.

Oh goody another TF700T trash this tablet\ASUS thread.
Just chiming in to say I'm very happy...so glad I came to XDA to find answers and help.
Which has come in bucket loads from users of this tablet that have worked with diligence to make things right.
Most of those one star reviews on AMAZON are from out of box buyers whining about flash or general confusion about Android.
I see this thread going in a bad direction.

I had purchased the TF Prime from Best Buy, after all the issues I had with it, they replaced it (free of charge) with the TF700. Other than losing root with the last OTA (bootloader still locked), I have had no problems with it. Plus, Best Buy said they'd honor the 1 year warranty of the TF700 starting from when I got it, not from the original Prime purchase .

Cheapxj said:
Nothing is perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen.
I am WAY more than pleased with my TF700 and I had one of the first ones available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too.
I haven't had many of the physical problems others have reported and I'm hard on my equipment, mine is all scratched and beat up lookin already but it's completely solid build quality and I wouldn't trade it for anything else, especially with its 1920x1200 screen and bright backlight and awesome viewing angles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love it as well, although I pamper them (it did take a few scratches on the second day, right before my case arrived by mail order.
You can fix all the problems you complain about yourself by just unlocking it and flashing something else like CleanROM Inheritance 3.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're talking software here, and in that sense, I wholeheartedly agree, but..
permutations said:
Others have reported problems with broken pins in the connector to the dock (it's plastic and delicate)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in this boat. The tablet has hardly ever left the dock, and still, both pins snapped off. ASUS CS instantly claims user-induced damage -- as I said, I am very careful with my devices, and I have several ancient ones laying around to prove it -- which is totally and utterly bull.
If it were not for the battery in the dock, I would have considered going another manufacturer route soon, but it's just too good the way it is, even with the ****ty CS. I might go Samsung next time, dunno.
For now, I'm just going the DIY route: tape the tablet inside the dock and use it like a darned laptop with immense battery life. Wish me luck.

originalnabisco said:
Have you updated your TF700? I used to get browser crashes and memory problems on earlier firmware builds but they all went away with updates.
Running stock, locked, but rooted fyi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I, too, was running stock, locked, but rooted. I upgraded to JB briefly, but then downgraded back to ICS. Quite a few programs I need and/or like don't run on JB - notably, the volume booster programs. I could barely hear many YouTube videos without a volume booster utility. This was the main thing occupying my mind at the time I was running JB, but I don't remember the memory or browser problems going away, and I would have noticed that. I've read complaints about memory and browser problems from other people running JB.
My main concern is that Asus hardware is often a mix of good quality components with some very weak links, causing it to malfunction prematurely, and Asus doesn't properly honor their warranty a very large percentage of the time. I know that many people here couldn't care less about that. Once you unlock your device, you void the warranty anyway. Since this is Unlock Central, probably this was the wrong site in which to post this warning. I just like this site and learn a lot from it, so I thought I was giving something back. I didn't anticipate I'd be attacked for my post.
To the person who told me I'm the "boy who cried wolf" and I should "stop being a *****"... Um... first of all, I was born a "*****". I'm a middle aged woman, not a boy. You, on the other hand, sound like a pimple-faced 14-year-old. Second, perhaps you don't care about your hardware being under warranty, but I do. I root my Droids, but I choose not to unlock them.
To all who love Asus and don't care about the many quality, customer service, and warranty complaints, just ignore my warning and move on. Enjoy your TF700T. I have returned mine to Amazon.com. And that's all I have to say about this.

permutations said:
I, too, was running stock, locked, but rooted. I upgraded to JB briefly, but then downgraded back to ICS. Quite a few programs I need and/or like don't run on JB - notably, the volume booster programs. I could barely hear many YouTube videos without a volume booster utility. This was the main thing occupying my mind at the time I was running JB, but I don't remember the memory or browser problems going away, and I would have noticed that. I've read complaints about memory and browser problems from other people running JB.
My main concern is that Asus hardware is often a mix of good quality components with some very weak links, causing it to malfunction prematurely, and Asus doesn't properly honor their warranty a very large percentage of the time. I know that many people here couldn't care less about that. Once you unlock your device, you void the warranty anyway. Since this is Unlock Central, probably this was the wrong site in which to post this warning. I just like this site and learn a lot from it, so I thought I was giving something back. I didn't anticipate I'd be attacked for my post.
To the person who told me I'm the "boy who cried wolf" and I should "stop being a *****"... Um... first of all, I was born a "*****". I'm a middle aged woman, not a boy. You, on the other hand, sound like a pimple-faced 14-year-old. Second, perhaps you don't care about your hardware being under warranty, but I do. I root my Droids, but I choose not to unlock them.
To all who love Asus and don't care about the many quality, customer service, and warranty complaints, just ignore my warning and move on. Enjoy your TF700T. I have returned mine to Amazon.com. And that's all I have to say about this.
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Click to collapse
Insulting or not the comments hit the nail so to speak.
You must expect a bit of a thrashing when treading on a choice that many others have made who are more than pleased with it's performance.
I consider this forum a place providing resolution versus my tablet gave me a boo-boo and it hurt.
You have made the best decision returning your tablet, yet posting here about how it wasn't a good choice for you seems irrelevant to me.
The best of luck to you on your next choice.

Thats OK said:
Insulting or not the comments hit the nail so to speak.
You must expect a bit of a thrashing when treading on a choice that many others have made who are more than pleased with it's performance.
I consider this forum a place providing resolution versus my tablet gave me a boo-boo and it hurt.
You have made the best decision returning your tablet, yet posting here about how it wasn't a good choice for you seems irrelevant to me.
The best of luck to you on your next choice.
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Click to collapse
Funny...not the problems people have, or the issues with Asus support...but how much energy and empathy we put into metallic devices that become throw away in a few years. If we put that much energy and attention to detail into a hard critique of our own lives and societal ills...how much better off we would all be...
I think the TF700 is a usable, attractive appliance that offers a decent, but not exceptional value. It is a transitional device- a hybrid tablet/net/ultra book type of device that is probably better than the Microsoft Surface RT- but really is for only light productivity use- that is use beyond content consumption. I like it, but it is just a cold, metallic appliance. It's real value is in the humans that designed it, produced it and do amazing things with it...
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

Thats OK said:
Insulting or not the comments hit the nail so to speak.
You must expect a bit of a thrashing when treading on a choice that many others have made who are more than pleased with it's performance.
I consider this forum a place providing resolution versus my tablet gave me a boo-boo and it hurt.
You have made the best decision returning your tablet, yet posting here about how it wasn't a good choice for you seems irrelevant to me.
The best of luck to you on your next choice.
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Click to collapse
Where did you get the idea that it's ever okay to be rude and insulting - "thrash" someone who is trying to be helpful?
I was not criticizing anyone else's choice, and I was not complaining about problems I had that are of no relevance to anyone else.
I was sharing information about Asus that many people thinking about buying a TF700T will find interesting and relevant. That may not be you. Perhaps you've already made a purchase and you're happy with it. Or perhaps, like many here, you unlock your tablet and void the warranty anyway, so it's not relevant to you for that reason. But you are not everybody. Many people care about warranties, and many people visit this site before making buying decisions. I do. I was talking to them.
And to the people who counter my warning about Asus with, "Not true because it didn't happen to me", I say, you are a sample of one. Please read the links I posted. Thousands of people have reported problems. There's an alert on Asus from the BBB from just 2 weeks ago. This is a real issue. That doesn't mean that 100% of people experience dreadful warranty service from Asus, but the percentage is unacceptably high, much higher than other companies. They also have a reputation for using some really cheap components here and there in otherwise high-end machines, causing them to malfunction or break down prematurely. If you don't want to believe it, don't. If this is irrelevant to you, move on. If you'd like to know more about it, read the links I posted in the first message.

ok, I'll be nice, these threads are getting old, had you used the SEARCH function I'm sure you would have found at LEAST a dozen threads of the same nature, someone calling ASUS terrible because they didn't do their research before a purchase.
I made the assumption that since you've been around XDA for a few years you might have known to do that BEFORE posting.
oh, and for the record, Having a *****, and BEING a ***** are two very different things, and not mutually exclusive. I pegged you for some kid that bought a toy that they couldn't really afford. I wasn't picking a gender, but the old fable isn't "The girl who cried wolf"
If you're already rooting devices, you are SERIOUSLY missing out by not unlocking them. Rooting lets you "repaint" the walls, unlocking lets you blow them down, rearrange the floor plan and tack an addition on the back.
Get where I'm coming from? We build the additions here.
Now I'm going to take my fat balding alcoholic nerdy ass outside and go finish this bottle of Jameson before I stop being nice after a hard day of babysitting young "professionals" on the job who think they know everything because they spent four years in college and three months actually working. That stuff gets to you after a while.

The Padfone Infinity Thread

On the eve of getting my Padfone Infinity I thought I would start a thread so that users can chat about their experiences with the device and so forth.
So, who else is getting one?
UPDATE: Have the Padfone now. First impressions VERY favourable.
USB OTG testing notes:
USB drives working, including NTFS (first phone besides the Huawei D1 Quad XL to have that). PS3 AND Xbox controllers working out of the box. USB keyboards and mice working - best implementation yet on an Android phone with options for mouse pointer speed and ability to map the mouse buttons to a few different options. USB audio broken, which for me is incredibly disappointing. There is somewhat of a workaround in that USB audio does work with the app USB Audio Recorder Pro, but it is fairly horrible to use as a music player since its real purpose is to allow recording with a microphone.
Oh, and got a second (small) firmware update today...

NZtechfreak said:
On the eve of getting my Padfone Infinity I thought I would start a thread so that users can chat about their experiences with the device and so forth.
So, who else is getting one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm planning to when the price is lower. Btw, since I saw that you get a lot of thanks here, are you a developer yourself? have you ever port ROM before?
Seeing that previous PF didnt get much activity in the development area, PF2 got better with Paul from Modaco, but I think that's about it, no CM or whatsoever. I would love if some developer had this on their hand and the development starting to progress

Justin^Tan said:
I'm planning to when the price is lower. Btw, since I saw that you get a lot of thanks here, are you a developer yourself? have you ever port ROM before?
Seeing that previous PF didnt get much activity in the development area, PF2 got better with Paul from Modaco, but I think that's about it, no CM or whatsoever. I would love if some developer had this on their hand and the development starting to progress
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, I wish I was a developer. I produce some YouTube videos and try to troubleshoot a lot of peoples problems, and that's where the thanks come from. I do know a very good developer though, and may be able to corral him into taking a look into ROM development.

Nice, It's monday now in my time zone, I believe NZ is not that different from Indonesia waiting for your unit to come and for your review of course

Justin^Tan said:
Nice, It's monday now in my time zone, I believe NZ is not that different from Indonesia waiting for your unit to come and for your review of course
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, its here waiting for me at the Fedex depot. Hoping to collect it during my lunch hour, but if not able to then will definitely be straight after work. So looking forward to it!

UPDATE: Picked it up lunch time, just now really getting to play with it. First impressions favourable. More to come (Twitter is the best way to see what I'm up to with it, my stream of consciousness tweets about new phones always go there first).

NZtechfreak said:
UPDATE: Picked it up lunch time, just now really getting to play with it. First impressions favourable. More to come (Twitter is the best way to see what I'm up to with it, my stream of consciousness tweets about new phones always go there first).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are the sides and the buttons aluminum too ?
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DynamicRam said:
Are the sides and the buttons aluminum too ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep.
Currently testing USB OTG and such like, more to follow.

any differences in signal? since I dont have PF2. but PF1 suffer from a loss of signal when you dock it and close, I figured since this was open, it would not interfere with the signal much. any noticable lag when you use tha tablet? can you benchmark using geekbench or whatsoever to test the gpu using the tablet full HD resolution. Sorry if I'm asking too much

Justin^Tan said:
any differences in signal? since I dont have PF2. but PF1 suffer from a loss of signal when you dock it and close, I figured since this was open, it would not interfere with the signal much. any noticable lag when you use tha tablet? can you benchmark using geekbench or whatsoever to test the gpu using the tablet full HD resolution. Sorry if I'm asking too much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not asking too much at all, will get back to you on all of those questions.
Updated first post with results of USB OTG testing.

NZtechfreak said:
On the eve of getting my Padfone Infinity I thought I would start a thread so that users can chat about their experiences with the device and so forth.
So, who else is getting one?
UPDATE: Have the Padfone now. First impressions VERY favourable.
USB OTG testing notes:
USB drives working, including NTFS (first phone besides the Huawei D1 Quad XL to have that). PS3 AND Xbox controllers working out of the box. USB keyboards and mice working - best implementation yet on an Android phone with options for mouse pointer speed and ability to map the mouse buttons to a few different options. USB audio broken, which for me is incredibly disappointing. There is somewhat of a workaround in that USB audio does work with the app USB Audio Recorder Pro, but it is fairly horrible to use as a music player since its real purpose is to allow recording with a microphone.
Oh, and got a second (small) firmware update today...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you compare it with Galaxy S4 or HTC One?
Can you make a review? Because there isn't a good one on the internet.

EIessar said:
Can you compare it with Galaxy S4 or HTC One?
Can you make a review? Because there isn't a good one on the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely will be comparing it to those, I get my One Friday and my S4 Saturday

well, have you received your One and S4? any comparison?

I got mine 2 days ago. I am very impressed of the look and the speed. It is a little too big for me but will get used to it. No problems till now. I am waiting for the official boot loader from asus so I can move gps maps to SD card.

Justin^Tan said:
well, have you received your One and S4? any comparison?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the S4, One *should* be with me later today (it is at the Fedex centre a few minutes from my home).
Vs the S4 it is a much larger and heavier slab, but obviously the fit and finish and materials scream quality in comparison.
S4 WiFi reception better than the Infinity, which I'm guessing suffers a little attenuation due to the materials in use.

NZtechfreak said:
Got the S4, One *should* be with me later today (it is at the Fedex centre a few minutes from my home).
Vs the S4 it is a much larger and heavier slab, but obviously the fit and finish and materials scream quality in comparison.
S4 WiFi reception better than the Infinity, which I'm guessing suffers a little attenuation due to the materials in use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For GPS installed IGO Primo. A lot better than Garmin.

Really? much larger and heavier? spec wise the dimension is not that different IMO, but yeah, holding it and calculating it from the spec can sometimes be different. lots of wifi reception issues with older padfone also, how bout the gsm/3g signal fare with s4?

Justin^Tan said:
Really? much larger and heavier? spec wise the dimension is not that different IMO, but yeah, holding it and calculating it from the spec can sometimes be different. lots of wifi reception issues with older padfone also, how bout the gsm/3g signal fare with s4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Network reception for the S4 seems fine, or at least is equivalent to basically every other handset I've had in the past year or so in the same locations. Ditto the Infinity when not in the pad, reception seems fine, only the WiFi seems to be a bit attenuated by the aluminium body.
...and yes, much larger and heavier. As you say, the impression one has with the device in hand can sometimes bely the measured dimensions. In this case it is very noticeable, but not really in a bad way for the Infinity, it just feels rock solid. Got my One yesterday also. I would say by analogy the One is like a European sports car, and the Infinity a European business car - both attractive and well built with the latter featuring squarer lines and a more understated elegance.

Personally which one is your favorite
and when you said that the reception of infinity when not in the pad seems fine, is that mean there's a reception suffer when in the pad? since it was held tight inside the pad, even iphone 4 suffer from the death grip. just curious ^^

Justin^Tan said:
Personally which one is your favorite
and when you said that the reception of infinity when not in the pad seems fine, is that mean there's a reception suffer when in the pad? since it was held tight inside the pad, even iphone 4 suffer from the death grip. just curious ^^
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Click to collapse
Honestly no idea which is my favourite at this point, from the point of view of internals they are all essentially identical, and that aside they all have pros and cons that balance relatively closely.
In relation to reception and the Infinity:
Cellular network connectivity is fine in the phone, reported signal strength is basically the same as other phones in the same locations. When it is docked in the pad there is a bit of signal attenuation, enough so that in marginal 4G coverage for example it will drop back to 3G when docked (but not when not docked).
WiFi signal strength is not as good as other phones I have at present, however WiFi reception seems unchanged by whether the phone is docked or not.