Related
I wanted to break this off since the other topic was looking to be mostly about the LCD's
floatpoo said:
I wanted to see if the blank sockets on the system board were active. So I grabbed my multimeter and tested each pin to see if any delivered power. I don't know if these sockets are controlled by software, but it looks like these sockets are inactive.
(cant post link ref other thread....)
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I'm an electronics tech (avionics really) just so you know my background, and I am by no way a programmer i just hack my way throught when i need... poorly at that. I'm a long time reader but don't post much.
I havent taken mine apart yet, I bought it for the wife to use as an ereader she was using her evo before and already has bad eyesight I just dont think reading on that small screen is good for her. However we planned on returning it today because she couldn't get anything to work... But i loaded VAGAn-Tab rom on it and she likes it ALOT more now, but we still might be returning it (she thinks it to big and heavy to hold). So all I have to work with is the internal pics posted by other members and I thank you for them!
I was thinking about using a mini pci card with 3g/4g and GPS to solve my problem like this one for Sprint Customers looks very nice and they claim android support. Could someone please verify the length available for the card from the socket to the mounting holes? It should be around 50mm but i cant tell from the pic.
I cant post a link so google
franklinwireless
M600_datasheet_v1.pdf
Then after more research I figured out that think I can get the GPS to work on the board. I found that the RXM-GPS-SG-T looks to be the exact chip they are using, the pin look to match exactly VCC, GND, RX, TX, RF, VOUT. So they are using an active GPS antenna (but could be modded for passive). They use NMEA-0183 or SiRF Binary output selected by a serial command. So we need to figure out if the TX is going to U39 making U39 the interface to the unit, or directly to somewhere else (idk need to see board) I hope i can attach my pic i made or maybe an admin can post it for me.
However the PCI slot might be just as hard to use, the pin 20 that has 3.3v isnt what we want, but it could be a software control to disable/enable the card. However we still need A+ on pins 2,52 (3.3V), 6,28,48(1.5V) and maybe 24(3.3V Aux) dependeding on the card. We could be dealing with a "Non Standard" connector, they are out there but most OEM's dont bother with them. More likely to find them on a Asus product ect. It's common for the SIM card to be powered by the PCI card itself and the board looks wired that way. I have 2 Digi International Mini PCI express Wifi/Cell Development boards and thats how they both power the SIM card. Pin 16 should goto Pin 1 on the sim card, 14->2, 12->3, 10->6 but maybe 7 or 8.
Getting the Power to it could be software or hardware. Looks like around U8 on the frontside could a Vreg setup, Or it could be as simple as putting in some 0 ohm resistors around R15 and R14. We also see that U7 is unpopulated on backside. So that leave us with U7,U8, R15, and R16 which could mean they are all part of the same circuit if they laid it out with any logic. TP1,2,and 3 also make me believe this is true, however they match up to LED_WPAN#, LED, WLAN#,and LED_WWAN#. I sure wish they match the power input pins, but that means all those missing resistors could just be for unpopulated status LED's. Like I've said over and over i cant tell ya unless i can probe around the board.
As far as the memory, yes its possible, I do BGA replacement at work. What I am afraid of is that the other memory chips look to be exactly on the other side and I'd be afraid of messing them up. I'd have to look at my jig at work and see if I could set it up without any problems.
I'm no electronics expert but I dabble. I'd be interested in internal GPS and a memory boost. I'm pretty confident in my soldering skills and would try something if directed by someone smarter than me.
This is something I am very interested in. Any new info on this?
ihaveathumb said:
This is something I am very interested in. Any new info on this?
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I sadly no longer own a G tablet, wife thought it was to heavy to read books, and hated the screen. I cant argue with her on either of those points, so we returned it. However I got the ok to buy a referb on if i can find one, but when I did at my local store i showed them the paper and they told me they dont sell that stuff there and send me away. I talked to 3 different people too basically all told me to go f off. I even tried another time with the 7" they sell same results. I dont know why it gets listed on the website if they wont sell it.
Not to get sidetracked, but i even did by the proper bga fittings to solder the ram chips too lol..
So no its probably not going to go any farther from my stand point, if anyone wants my help I still read the forums everyday.
I'm just gonna wait and see what comes out in the future that XDA gets behind, because I'de never buy anything that didnt have an active community here.
IF you were looking for a reader fo rher mainly, you should've really gone with the Nook Color... eInk devices are good too IF you don't really need good PDF support and/or need it to read more complexly formatted documents, e.g. technical manual, mathematics texts, etc. i.e. eInk is best suited for ficiton and other simply formatted documents, but it VERY readable except in poorly lit conditions where you'd need external lighting of some sort.
Very true I should have bought her a nook, but now she doesnt want it because its not powerful enough for her needs imo. She also wants to login to her school (blackboard) and be able to use overdrive. Plus she likes dungeon defenders and I dont think that can handle it. We are just gonna wait it out and see what comes along, mostly cause we have our first due next month, so trying to be frugal.
mystkrh said:
Very true I should have bought her a nook, but now she doesnt want it because its not powerful enough for her needs imo. She also wants to login to her school (blackboard) and be able to use overdrive. Plus she likes dungeon defenders and I dont think that can handle it. We are just gonna wait it out and see what comes along, mostly cause we have our first due next month, so trying to be frugal.
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Click to collapse
Yep, you'll want a full blown tablet then and I suspect that the NC would be too much of a bother to get setup for her for what she wants it for...
All the 10" tablets are fairly heavy too, so you'll probably have to stick to looking for 7/8" tablets and I suspect Tegra 2 or multi-core cortex-a9 SoCs from other mfgs... not much in the way of 7" ATM other than the elocity a7 (was c. $300 around xmas), but it's not very hacker friendly and I don't know if they ever got the USB port to run in non-host mode... probably best to not even look at it...
The g Tablet would, as many have already said, be a great tablet if it had gps mainly and increased memory. Adding pci-e would be even better. I would be extremely happy with the addition of gps. I would be very tempted to allow somebody with expertise and high level of confidence of success to experiment on my tablet.
GPS+
Just bought my Gtab yesterday. As you know the stock Roman/UI sucks big time. I installed Clockwork followed by CyanogenMod 7 and what a difference. Anyway I looked on the web for a dock and it seems there is a Chinese version of the Gtab that has higher spec's including GPS. It would seem logical to assume the U.S. motherboard has the same circuits built in. Who knows what's possible....
It's too bad that more people don't feel like tearing up their electronics to start soldering things to them.
I'm going to go ahead and tell you to re-read the title, this is ADVANCED
Now, I shall start with the traditional warning:
I am in no way responsible for any damage this information causes your device or anything else. This will absolutely void your warranty. Proceed with only the most extreme caution possible.
Thanks:
ejhart - Thank you for your advice and wisdom on IRC, always helpful.
t3h_g3n3r4l & floatpoo - Thank you for your teardown pictures and advice on disassembly.
Myself? - I thought a section of thanks with three people seemed silly.
Right, on to the information.
I liked the 16GB internal storage, but I knew we could have more. But how? That's what this "guide" answers.
So, how much extra storage would you like? 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, even 256GB?!?! Well, it's all up to how much you're willing to spend.
We know from the thread in Android Development that USB hubs are supported on our tablets. We also know that USB flash drives are supported. You might get the picture now...
There are two ways to go about this: The "Easy" method or the "Oh My God Why Do Soldering Irons Have to Be So Mean!?" method. We'll start with the Easy method.
Easy Method
1. Open tablet. (Told you it was easy, JK)
2. Acquire soldering iron, USB flash drive, 20-26 Ga. wire, solder, wire strippers, and steady hands.
3. Now find the USB connector on the tablet's motherboard. Solder a wire to each of the 4 points, leave enough length for routing.
4. Disassemble USB flash drive. Remove the USB connector on the drive (depends on drive, they tend to be too tall to fit inside the tablet).
5. Now, this is a little tricky. Figure out which pins on the USB drive touch which pins on the USB connector on the motherboard.
6. Solder the wires to your USB flash drive matching the pins like I said in step 5.
7. Now place the USB drive safely in the tablet, I suggest the spot that is an empty square (I think its where a 3G modem would go, image below). Route the wires so they don't get smooshed.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
8. Voila! You now have a bunch more internal storage!
Issues caused by this method:
1. This will most likely disable use of the USB port :/
2. Will decrease battery life minimally.
Now, if that didn't seem too scary, go for it or keep reading to see if you can handle the second method.
Oh My God Why Do Soldering Irons Have to Be So Mean!? Method
1. Take a deep breath.
2. Open tablet.
3. Acquire soldering iron, USB flash drive, 20-26 Ga. wire, solder, wire strippers, USB hub (I suggest Belkin Ultra Mini USB Hub sold at many places, http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-4-Port-Ultra-Mini-F5U407/dp/B000Q8UAWY Its the perfect size), tweezers, and steady hands.
4. Disassemble USB hub and USB flash drive. Remove the USB connector(s) on both.
5. Unscrew motherboard from tablet and disconnect all cables to remove it. Be very careful, the tiny wires in the connectors rip very easily and are pretty much impossible to repair.
6. Draw yourself diagrams of how the USB pins are laid out on the tablet's connector, the hub's connectors, and the flash drive's connector. These will come in handy, trust me.
7. Take a deep breath, this is where this method gets its name.
8. I suggest a friend help you with this step. The pins leading directly to the motherboard need to be desoldered and lifted from it. Hold the pins with tweezers or pliers while your friend applies heat to melt the solder so you can pull the pins out.
9. Attach a wire to each pin and solder it on. Leave enough wire to route it. Mark which wire is which. (You can also use an old IDE ribbon cable to keep the wires tidy and organized, thanks to TheQuicksilver for that idea!)
10. Now place the motherboard back where it was, running the wires underneath it (that's my suggestion for tidiness, but you can also route around the metal sheath for ease) and out the corner of the large square that I mentioned earlier. Go ahead and screw it on, you don't need the bottom side anymore.
11. Now take your de-connectored hub and place it in the empty square I have mentioned. It fits perfectly Attach it to the board in whatever fashion you wish, just avoid shorting any connections.
12. Solder the wires from the USB connector on the board that you routed on to the USB hub in one of the connectors spots, making sure to match pins.
13. Now the hub should have a USB cable coming from it, take that and cut off the connector, leaving you with 4 cables (if there are 5, the 5th is extra ground and I don't believe its needed since this isn't fully powered). Attach the cables according to their corresponding pins to the holes that the tablet's USB connector was attached to with solder.
14. Take a breath, you have successfully added an internal USB hub to your tablet!
15. Place the disassembled flash drive wherever you believe is best. Attach it in whatever way you see fit, glue or electrical tape, whatever.
16. Attach a wire to each of the pins on the flash drive and run them to a second connector on the USB hub.
17. Congratulations, you are pretty much done! You can plug it all back in and test it before closing up if you would like.
18. Route wires to avoid crushing and protrusion on the back of the tablet. Make sure all installed items are safely attached.
19. Make sure all connections are firm.
20. Boot tablet.
21. Open favorite file explorer program and browse to usbdisk. If it shows the contents of the drive you are a master of soldering! If not, check all your connections and pin layouts.
Issues caused by this method:
Will decrease battery life a little more compared to Easy method (shouldn't be very much, the hub and drive don't take much power).
Burnt fingers from soldering iron
You understand why the methods are called what they're called.
If you were to drop a 32GB SD card and a 64GB USB flash drive in the tablet, you would have 112GB (closer to 106GB because of rounding and other stuff)!!!! A 256GB flash drive would be about 300GB!!!!!!!!! (but those cost hundreds of dollars :/ ) Suck on that iPad.
If you have questions, post them. If you have suggestions, post them. Good luck!
Also, feel free to join #tegratab. I'm Winnah9000 on there.
EDIT: PS, I am in the middle of the second method. My soldering skills are not exactly up to par, especially with this awful iron. If someone else finishes this before me, post up how its working and if you have any, pictures
EDIT 2: I don't know if I'll actually finish this, I don't have the patience unfortunately. Hopefully TheQuicksilver will let us know how it goes for him
brave
I must say at least... brave.
jpalacio said:
I must say at least... brave.
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Not really too brave. The first attempt borked the device so it was returned to Sears for refund exchange. Not too much risk when the other consumers are paying for your mistakes.
Good to see you got it set up!
I think I will almost certainly give this a try (the second method). A couple thoughts:
If you have a trashed old IDE cable lying around, that's a great source of a nice ribbon cable you could use so you don't have to deal with a bunch of separate wires.
Go to Rat Shack and get a desoldering iron or vaccum suction solder remover. They're only a few bucks, and should make it easy to remove solder from the mobo. Otherwise, at least get some wick to use.
Find someone with a decent iron to use. Those 40W Rat Shack irons are absolute garbage and nearly useless.
Also, the octopus style USB hubs might work best. The PCBs are super small, and the style requires no plug desoldering or anything, just simply disconnect the wires. Ex:
jpalacio said:
I must say at least... brave.
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Click to collapse
Thank you
thebadfrog said:
Not really too brave. The first attempt borked the device so it was returned to Sears for refund exchange. Not too much risk when the other consumers are paying for your mistakes.
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Click to collapse
I ran the risk of them not taking it back so no. What consumers? You think Viewsonic cares at this point? They've discontinued the G Tablet and almost all support for it. Not to mention it would take them 2 cents of parts and 1 dollar of labor time to replace the cables I borked and they could sell it refurbished at Sears and still make plenty of profit. I'm pretty sure their profit margin is a little bit more than 1 G Tablet.
TheQuicksilver said:
I think I will almost certainly give this a try (the second method). A couple thoughts:
If you have a trashed old IDE cable lying around, that's a great source of a nice ribbon cable you could use so you don't have to deal with a bunch of separate wires.
Go to Rat Shack and get a desoldering iron or vaccum suction solder remover. They're only a few bucks, and should make it easy to remove solder from the mobo. Otherwise, at least get some wick to use.
Find someone with a decent iron to use. Those 40W Rat Shack irons are absolute garbage and nearly useless.
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Click to collapse
Didn't even think about a IDE cable, that's a really great idea! I should've gotten a desoldering iron or something of the sort but I didn't think I would need it :/ My friends lack soldering irons, lol.
Good luck with it
TheJesus said:
Thank you
I ran the risk of them not taking it back so no. What consumers? You think Viewsonic cares at this point? They've discontinued the G Tablet and almost all support for it. Not to mention it would take them 2 cents of parts and 1 dollar of labor time to replace the cables I borked and they could sell it refurbished at Sears and still make plenty of profit. I'm pretty sure their profit margin is a little bit more than 1 G Tablet.
Didn't even think about a IDE cable, that's a really great idea! I should've gotten a desoldering iron or something of the sort but I didn't think I would need it :/ My friends lack soldering irons, lol.
Good luck with it
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Right On!...... I return stuff all the time ... and so does the whole world too
good man!
catttman said:
Right On!...... I return stuff all the time ... and so does the whole world too
good man!
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Returning things after you do things that are not covered by the warranty to screw it up is the reason companies lock down devices and charge ridiculous prices in the first place. But I understand the thinking now. It will only cost the company a couple of cents to fix it....wrong. As far as "and so does the whole world too", not true. Just because you have no honor or morals don't assume the rest of the world is the same.
It's all good. Keep taking advantage of "the man". And keep wondering why prices keep going up and quality keeps going down. In the end we the consumer get screwed because the companies don't pay for your mistakes. They just pass the cost down to us and keep their profit margin intact.
I'll just say that as someone who has worked for both Sears and as a repair technician for an electronics company (making old school WinCE PDAs no less), very little consideration is given to the reasons for many returns. In fact, by the time it gets into the hands of a refurber, they may not even know what the original problem was, and just strip it down and rebuild/test it step by step as a matter of course. The lion's share of issues can always be attributed to iD10t errors, a smaller portion to actual hardware failures, then a miniscule number to folks doing something like the idea here. The number is small enough that it was certainly never an economic consideration in anything I was ever part of. I only say this because the idea that people who break stuff and return it drive up commodity prices is much more myth than fact. The concept makes sense, but the actual numbers are too small to factor in to cost in the long term. I'm not trying to argue with thebadfrog, this is just my experience from having a foot in both industries.
That said, if you break your crap, deal with it. That's still basic responsibility. If you screw up, own the mistake, and don't make others have to put up with it.
For what it's worth, it should be almost impossible to actually hurt your Gtab with this mod if you use a modicum of care and patience. Don't rush, pay attention to where your iron is, and don't force anything. About the worst that can happen is you break the tablet disassembling it, or you hook up the wiring wrong (in which case, you just undo it and start over. It shouldn't actually hurt anything.).
TheQuicksilver said:
I'll just say that as someone who has worked for both Sears and as a repair technician for an electronics company (making old school WinCE PDAs no less), very little consideration is given to the reasons for many returns. In fact, by the time it gets into the hands of a refurber, they may not even know what the original problem was, and just strip it down and rebuild/test it step by step as a matter of course. The lion's share of issues can always be attributed to iD10t errors, a smaller portion to actual hardware failures, then a miniscule number to folks doing something like the idea here. The number is small enough that it was certainly never an economic consideration in anything I was ever part of. I only say this because the idea that people who break stuff and return it drive up commodity prices is much more myth than fact. The concept makes sense, but the actual numbers are too small to factor in to cost in the long term. I'm not trying to argue with thebadfrog, this is just my experience from having a foot in both industries.
That said, if you break your crap, deal with it. That's still basic responsibility. If you screw up, own the mistake, and don't make others have to put up with it.
For what it's worth, it should be almost impossible to actually hurt your Gtab with this mod if you use a modicum of care and patience. Don't rush, pay attention to where your iron is, and don't force anything. About the worst that can happen is you break the tablet disassembling it, or you hook up the wiring wrong (in which case, you just undo it and start over. It shouldn't actually hurt anything.).
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No argument from me.....well said. I just didn't think it was very brave or right to do something outside the warranty and break it and then get a brand new one by lying to sears. I agree this doesn't drive costs much but it does make companies look for more ways to lock down their devices so we can't mod them.
thebadfrog said:
No argument from me.....well said. I just didn't think it was very brave or right to do something outside the warranty and break it and then get a brand new one by lying to sears. I agree this doesn't drive costs much but it does make companies look for more ways to lock down their devices so we can't mod them.
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Click to collapse
I agree and disagree with you in different parts. I don't intend to turn this into a flame war, just an intelligent discussion among adults.
Yes, this may cause companies to perhaps look more into locking down a tablet, but that would only be physically, not with the software.
No, costs aren't driven up by this. That's simple economics. Inflation is the reason technology keeps getting more expensive (even with costs to manufacture them going down).
No, it won't cost more than a couple cents to fix this. It was two cables that would take almost no effort to replace.
Yes, I agree the whole world doesn't return things after they did something uncovered by the warranty, but there are certainly more than three... Its not those that return the tablet after they did something uncovered, its the people that bought the tablet and found out it lacked flash/market (and the awful UI, lol) so they returned it fully and all of those tablets had to be returned to Viewsonic to be re-packaged and either sold falsely as new or sold at a big loss to profit as refurbished.
All in all, a few uncovered tablets heaped in the pile of thousands of returned tablets is nothing.
I try to stay out of these "adult" "discussions", but I can not help but to respond to The Jesus last post.
His logic is suggesting that it is ok for just a few people to shop lift from a store since 98% of the shoppers are honest and don't steal. "All in all, a few uncovered tablets heaped in the pile of thousands of returned tablets is nothing."
I have a problem with that type of logic. Multiply that idea across every part of everyday life. Think about what you get?
My only two cents on this subject.
Back on subject, Woot has 32GB drives on sale today that should be sufficiently small once stripped of their case: http://www.woot.com/
My last post on the subject.
I believe "TheJesus" made my point for me.
insight3fl said:
I try to stay out of these "adult" "discussions", but I can not help but to respond to The Jesus last post.
His logic is suggesting that it is ok for just a few people to shop lift from a store since 98% of the shoppers are honest and don't steal. "All in all, a few uncovered tablets heaped in the pile of thousands of returned tablets is nothing."
I have a problem with that type of logic. Multiply that idea across every part of everyday life. Think about what you get?
My only two cents on this subject.
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Click to collapse
I was going with a few uncovered tablets meaning uncovered by warranty, but I suppose by some strange logic that can be converted to stealing. Actually, the people that steal do affect a bottom line in industries where profit margins aren't huge (i.e. grocery stores. For each big bag of M&Ms stolen they have to sell 20 more to cover that loss).
I'd like to return your two cents for an exchange
thebadfrog said:
My last post on the subject.
I believe "TheJesus" made my point for me.
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I assume you mean my account name?
Annnyyyywwaayyyyssss, glad to hear it TheQuicksilver. A nice 80GB of storage sounds pretty good (Flash drive, SD card, and internal)
Just an update, picked up a hub and 16GB flash drive on Amazon for $20. Hub should be in tomorrow, drive next week. Will test and strip the hub when it gets in ahead of time and pass on the photos and such.
TheQuicksilver said:
Just an update, picked up a hub and 16GB flash drive on Amazon for $20. Hub should be in tomorrow, drive next week. Will test and strip the hub when it gets in ahead of time and pass on the photos and such.
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Click to collapse
Awesome, can't wait to hear how it goes. You should go ahead and install the hub while you wait for the drive
TheJesus said:
Awesome, can't wait to hear how it goes. You should go ahead and install the hub while you wait for the drive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We'll see how I feel when I get the PCB out and stripped. I don't like doing stuff in steps too far apart normally. Plus, can't really do much with it otherwise, though I could hack in an old 256MB drive or something for the sake of demonstrating. I'm trying to think if there's anything else worth added on, room allowing...
Oh, and for those interested, here's what I'll be working with:
- SanDisk 16GB Cruzer Micro USB 2.0 Drive SDCZ6-016G-A11 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004AW6RUQ/ref=oss_product)
- High Speed 4-Port Octopus USB 2.0 Hub (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002FFT8Z6/ref=oss_product)
In theory, the drive will be nice since it has a retractable connector, which means no tough connector to pull off. The hub uses what should be about the smallest controller board you can find, readily wired for the soldering work we'll do, and also no connectors on the board to remove.
seems dangerous
I will not be trying this although it looks cool. I am perfectly happy with my 16gb right now. I also added a 16gb external. But I must say this is a cool thread!
Hi, i just got my transformer and have no idea how to charge it up.
the charge came with a section for the usb to plug into, then a second section which has the plug on it. I cant get these bits to fit together at all, they keep falling apart, and when they do decide to stay i don't get any indication that my tablet is charging. I also plugged into the usb into my laptop and the charging indicator still didn't appear.
Any help is appreciated, thanks!
the 2 parts of the charger snap together, at first I thought I had mine together but got the same result you're experencing. You have to put the 2 parts together till you hear or feel the snap,I had to apply a fair amount of pressure to get the 2 pieces connected. It's not you, the charger pieces are just really a snug fit and need a bit more force than one would think to get them connected.Once you've got it connected you'll know as you'll feel the difference immediately. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the help, they snapped together after i put quite a lot of force into it, it seems to be charging now, thanks!
i had to initially push past the point i thought i'd break it in half to get the two pieces joined together.
I actually thought my charger was defective when I first tried to assemble it. It just wouldn't go in.
Finally after 2 weeks of trying here and there, it snapped in. Good thing (actually not a good thing) that Asus Support is so unreliable because they still haven't shipped a replacement adapter.
Guess I should cancel with the Asus RMA but I'm not even sure if they were ever going to send it...
Anyway, the adapter is really a bad piece of hardware: it felt like I was going to break the damn thing at times. (I guess it isn't as widespread or maybe some people were luckier than others because I haven't really seen a huge commotion about it)
For those that aren't sure why their tablet isn't charging then this is probably why.
strikethreeout said:
Anyway, the adapter is really a bad piece of hardware: it felt like I was going to break the damn thing at times. (I guess it isn't as widespread or maybe some people were luckier than others because I haven't really seen a huge commotion about it)
For those that aren't sure why their tablet isn't charging then this is probably why.
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Click to collapse
So it's a bad piece of hardware because it doesn't break when strained and connects very securely? Wow your view sure is skewed. Yes it's hard to press it into the other piece, how is this a bad hardware problem?
i won't use such complicated transformer . too complex . quit to use
seshmaru said:
So it's a bad piece of hardware because it doesn't break when strained and connects very securely? Wow your view sure is skewed. Yes it's hard to press it into the other piece, how is this a bad hardware problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because had I actually broke the damn thing, I would be liable for damages. It's still plastic so it is still breakable. Plus, the metal part is bendable given enough pressure.
Did you even think that maybe they should have made a one piece for the adapter to begin with? Or at least assembled it at the factory so that consumers don't need to deal with it at all?
Second, I shouldn't have to spend an exorbitant amount of time figuring out why this thing wouldn't connect. Where in the manual did Asus say you needed to apply a large amount of pressure? In what other electronic device/adapter do you have the same amount of difficulty assembling the device?
Remember, if you break this thing, then you have no way of replacing it without buying a new TF because Asus's support is that terrible. (I am not the only one who can testify to this)
Maybe it is a feature for YOU; but having adapter assembly difficulties is not something that I would consider as "good hardware". Excuse me if I don't want to ruin something I just spent $550 (tablet + dock) on -- especially since I have no other way of charging it besides the extremely slow USB option.
strikethreeout said:
Because had I actually broke the damn thing, I would be liable for damages. It's still plastic so it is still breakable. Plus, the metal part is bendable given enough pressure.
Did you even think that maybe they should have made a one piece for the adapter to begin with? Or at least assembled it at the factory so that consumers don't need to deal with it at all?
Second, I shouldn't have to spend an exorbitant amount of time figuring out why this thing wouldn't connect. Where in the manual did Asus say you needed to apply a large amount of pressure? In what other electronic device/adapter do you have the same amount of difficulty assembling the device?
Remember, if you break this thing, then you have no way of replacing it without buying a new TF because Asus's support is that terrible. (I am not the only one who can testify to this)
Maybe it is a feature for YOU; but having adapter assembly difficulties is not something that I would consider as "good hardware". Excuse me if I don't want to ruin something I just spent $550 (tablet + dock) on -- especially since I have no other way of charging it besides the extremely slow USB option.
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But you didn't break it. Because it's built well. It doesn't say large amount of pressure but it does say how to assemble it in the manual. Besides my HTC charger is made in the same fashion, a little easier to assemble but it's done to reduce production cost and make it easily adaptable (hence the 100~240v range) by more than just Asus.
seshmaru said:
But you didn't break it. Because it's built well. It doesn't say large amount of pressure but it does say how to assemble it in the manual. Besides my HTC charger is made in the same fashion, a little easier to assemble but it's done to reduce production cost and make it easily adaptable (hence the 100~240v range) by more than just Asus.
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I may not have but what if someone broke the adapter because of the difficulty, then who is to blame? And when I said it was a "bad piece of hardware", I meant the design, which is an integral part of any hardware. (also, just because something doesn't break, doesn't mean it was built well. But, that is another issue entirely) I don't want to feel that I might break something that I invested a large sum of cash in. I am not the only one that felt that felt like they were going to break the adapter. Some people are even afraid to disassemble it because of the frustration they dealt with when putting it together in the first place.
And where in the manual does it say how to assemble the adapter? You mean that one picture -- with no words at all -- where they draw an arrow in between the two parts? Yeah, big help -- like if I couldn't tell in the first place. They don't even tell you that you need to push it in all the way. The first time I tried, I pushed it in half because it wouldn't go deeper. How was I supposed to know that you needed to apply much more pressure? Also, how do costumers know if their device is defective if there are no instructions and assembly is more difficult than should be?
Again, assemble it at the factory or make it a one piece. Do you have a source for production costs? I find it difficult to believe assembly costs would be that much higher if they had just put it together. This isn't like plugging in the USB cable where everything is a nice and easy fit; it was way too frustrating than it should have been. Asus probably saves money from having to deal with consumers complaining about the charger if it came ready to use.
To me, hardware depends on the experience and that includes assembly. I don't want to worry about whether or not I might break it. (it is just an adapter, it shouldn't be this troubling!) I have never had an HTC adapter so I can't speak for that but I have never had trouble with adapters before. All companies want to save money but I don't have difficulty with their adapters. It's ridiculous that I have to talk about the adapter since with every other device/company, it is a non-issue. Again, the worst part is that you have no backup option besides buying a new TF to get a replacement adapter in case anything goes wrong.
strikethreeout said:
I may not have but what if someone broke the adapter because of the difficulty, then who is to blame? And when I said it was a "bad piece of hardware", I meant the design, which is an integral part of any hardware. (also, just because something doesn't break, doesn't mean it was built well. But, that is another issue entirely) I don't want to feel that I might break something that I invested a large sum of cash in. I am not the only one that felt that felt like they were going to break the adapter. Some people are even afraid to disassemble it because of the frustration they dealt with when putting it together in the first place.
And where in the manual does it say how to assemble the adapter? You mean that one picture -- with no words at all -- where they draw an arrow in between the two parts? Yeah, big help -- like if I couldn't tell in the first place. They don't even tell you that you need to push it in all the way. The first time I tried, I pushed it in half because it wouldn't go deeper. How was I supposed to know that you needed to apply much more pressure? Also, how do costumers know if their device is defective if there are no instructions and assembly is more difficult than should be?
Again, assemble it at the factory or make it a one piece. Do you have a source for production costs? I find it difficult to believe assembly costs would be that much higher if they had just put it together. This isn't like plugging in the USB cable where everything is a nice and easy fit; it was way too frustrating than it should have been. Asus probably saves money from having to deal with consumers complaining about the charger if it came ready to use.
To me, hardware depends on the experience and that includes assembly. I don't want to worry about whether or not I might break it. (it is just an adapter, it shouldn't be this troubling!) I have never had an HTC adapter so I can't speak for that but I have never had trouble with adapters before. All companies want to save money but I don't have difficulty with their adapters. It's ridiculous that I have to talk about the adapter since with every other device/company, it is a non-issue. Again, the worst part is that you have no backup option besides buying a new TF to get a replacement adapter in case anything goes wrong.
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Or you could, you know, buy a new adapter.
Besides, I've not seen a single report of a broken power adapter because they tried to assemble it so your complaining about something that hasn't even happened and will unlikely happen since it's obviously made to take the strain if thousands of people were able to put it together without breaking it.
Personally I feel secure in the fact knowing that it's well built and wont come apart easily like other similar style chargers I have seen, but I guess pressing 2 parts together is a giant issue which is nearly impossible to do and oh god, you might even break your nail!
And yes paying a bunch of people to click 2 parts together is quite costly.
seshmaru said:
Or you could, you know, buy a new adapter.
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Where do buy a new adapter for this? I've been waiting for one since I got mine a while ago. The cord is too short, the power adapter shakes around in the wall socket, and you can't buy an extra charger because no one makes them except for Asus at this point (and even Asus doesn't have them to buy separately at this point).
anywho said:
Where do buy a new adapter for this? I've been waiting for one since I got mine a while ago. The cord is too short, the power adapter shakes around in the wall socket, and you can't buy an extra charger because no one makes them except for Asus at this point (and even Asus doesn't have them to buy separately at this point).
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there's a "coming soon" page for a wallcharger with a few online retailers.
seshmaru said:
Or you could, you know, buy a new adapter.
Besides, I've not seen a single report of a broken power adapter because they tried to assemble it so your complaining about something that hasn't even happened and will unlikely happen since it's obviously made to take the strain if thousands of people were able to put it together without breaking it.
Personally I feel secure in the fact knowing that it's well built and wont come apart easily like other similar style chargers I have seen, but I guess pressing 2 parts together is a giant issue which is nearly impossible to do and oh god, you might even break your nail!
And yes paying a bunch of people to click 2 parts together is quite costly.
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Buy a new adapter... Have you been reading any of my posts? Okay, sell me yours for market price. There aren't any for sale if you haven't noticed. And no, I don't count waiting a month for a pre-order as an option. If you're willing to deal with one month of charging it through USB alone then by all means, give me yours.
Frankly, if I broke a nail then yes, it is badly designed. Not sure why you think that adds to your point.
"And yes paying a bunch of people to click 2 parts together is quite costly."
And you know this for a fact because...? I asked for sources and you give me, "trust me, I know." Do you even realize how much they pay their factory workers in China? (Apple factory workers get around $1 an hour when factoring in overtime) Do the math: if that one guy can put together 50 an hour, then that's 2 cents in extra costs per tablet order. (they are actually much more efficient) The most expensive part is getting the materials -- NOT the labor. Compare that to saving money on customer service for complaints on the charger.
I honestly don't care if you have a different opinion. But, keep your snide remarks to yourself. If you don't wish to participate in a friendly debate and continue to flame then fine, you win. It's really not worth my time. Try to realize that some people might have different opinions from yours.
Clearly, almost everyone had difficulty putting the damn pieces together. Do you honestly think people share your views on that being a good thing?! I really don't know what chargers you've used but I've never had trouble with others. I have never broken an adapter before so that means, they must be well built, right?
Even you admitted that it was more difficult to assemble than other chargers. How is that a good feature when most other chargers don't require assembly at all? Again, it cost almost nothing to have it assembled in the factory to begin with AND all the tablets I've seen didn't have this adapter "feature"-- so, what is your argument again? (I guess Asus, the multi-billion dollar company, can't afford it) Hell, why did they even assemble the tablet? Save costs! Send me just the case and the insides next time too.
anywho said:
Where do buy a new adapter for this? I've been waiting for one since I got mine a while ago. The cord is too short, the power adapter shakes around in the wall socket, and you can't buy an extra charger because no one makes them except for Asus at this point (and even Asus doesn't have them to buy separately at this point).
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Exactly my point.
I really don't see how pre-ordering one with no timetable for release is an option.
And you're exactly right: the cord is much too short. I guess that's okay since it saves production costs
strikethreeout said:
Buy a new adapter... Have you been reading any of my posts? Okay, sell me yours for market price. There aren't any for sale if you haven't noticed. And no, I don't count waiting a month for a pre-order as an option. If you're willing to deal with one month of charging it through USB alone then by all means, give me yours.
Frankly, if I broke a nail then yes, it is badly designed. Not sure why you think that adds to your point.
"And yes paying a bunch of people to click 2 parts together is quite costly."
And you know this for a fact because...? I asked for sources and you give me, "trust me, I know." Do you even realize how much they pay their factory workers in China? (Apple factory workers get around $1 an hour when factoring in overtime) Do the math: if that one guy can put together 50 an hour, then that's 2 cents in extra costs per tablet order. (they are actually much more efficient) The most expensive part is getting the materials -- NOT the labor. Compare that to saving money on customer service for complaints on the charger.
I honestly don't care if you have a different opinion. But, keep your snide remarks to yourself. If you don't wish to participate in a friendly debate and continue to flame then fine, you win. It's really not worth my time. Try to realize that some people might have different opinions from yours.
Clearly, almost everyone had difficulty putting the damn pieces together. Do you honestly think people share your views on that being a good thing?! I really don't know what chargers you've used but I've never had trouble with others. I have never broken an adapter before so that means, they must be well built, right?
Even you admitted that it was more difficult to assemble than other chargers. How is that a good feature when most other chargers don't require assembly at all? Again, it cost almost nothing to have it assembled in the factory to begin with AND all the tablets I've seen didn't have this adapter "feature"-- so, what is your argument again? (I guess Asus, the multi-billion dollar company, can't afford it) Hell, why did they even assemble the tablet? Save costs! Send me just the case and the insides next time too.
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I never said it was good that it's harder to put together, I just said I like it. My only original point, which still stands is that it's a solid built charger which is only proven more by the fact that even though we have to press quite hard to put it together there isn't a single report of a broken charger. You can say all kinds of other non-related nonsense but the fact remains; it's well built, even if it's hard to put together.
seshmaru said:
I never said it was good that it's harder to put together, I just said I like it. My only original point, which still stands is that it's a solid built charger which is only proven more by the fact that even though we have to press quite hard to put it together there isn't a single report of a broken charger. You can say all kinds of other non-related nonsense but the fact remains; it's well built, even if it's hard to put together.
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I've never seen a adapter from a big company that wasn't "well built". And my argument still stands that they could have made it less frustrating especially given the fact these adapters are hard to come by. (I guess this is the nonsense part: me expecting a more fluid experience)
Anyway, I'm done arguing about a stupid charger.
My original intent was to help others who didn't know why their chargers weren't working. This was the case until you came out of nowhere and called my views "skewed" about a single comment I made on the quality/design of the hardware. (like if this thing was God's gift to the world and the other manufacturers were making crappy chargers; like if that was the whole premise of my post) Do you think it really matters if this charger should be classified as good or bad hardware?! (well, to me it doesn't) If you want, I will go back and edit my original post because that wasn't part of my original intent anyway.
Again if TL;DR:
a) If the device doesn't have the thunderbolt sign, then it isn't charging.
b) The adapter needs to be pieced together fully. (even if it feels like it won't go in)
c) Force is needed until you hear a click sound.
If you don't mind, I would like to continue helping those who need troubleshooting on their devices.
This adapter is a piece of crap. My adapter melted the first time I plugged it in. Well built. haha... I went to best buy and picked up a Dynex Ultimate charger for 30 bucks. It has a 10 foot cord and works great it charges at 11 volts/1.5 amps.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex&#...d=9462949&st=dynex ultimate charger&cp=1&lp=1
ohh, here is a pic of my melted adapter
Soooo, does anybody know why in god's name the adapter was shipped in two pieces? lol
I have to admit that I am to some extent accustomed to post here and chatter over trifles when I am free and spend a lot time with my gadgets. But there always comes some boring things, such as the low power of ipads and phones. And sometimes I found the usb connectors on my PC is not enough to support my work as convenient as possible. So I searched on Amazon and found a relatively suitable item maybe I can use to solve my issue .
http://www.amazon.com/Unitek-Chargi...ie=UTF8&qid=1393946646&sr=8-6&keywords=unitek
Does this item worth being considered as a perfect one? Have the charging ports of this hub has the same capability of power supply as car charger or wall charger ? What will be the prominent performance? It seems that this seller has various kinds of similar products named 'USB HUB". I am afraid I could not make any decision but be attracted by its appearance and price unless you guys give me wise advice. Thanks a lot!
Its about time to replace my Samsung Alias 2. One of it's biggest faults is the proprietary charging port, although I must give it credit for surviving this long.
Im looking for a "dumb" phone to replace it. My only true requirement is that it works on Verizon, but my primary wish after that is a USB type C charging port since thats becoming the new universal port. Failing the availability of a dumb phone with type C, I can settle for micro USB.
...
These are some features I dont need, but would like to have. Even having one of these features would be nice if you can suggest a phone with it:
Cheap Well, I guess I dont want to pay 150 bucks for a flip phone if I can avoid it.
Compact. Remember the Samsung Juke? I would love a phone that was similarly small.
Smart'ish They don't make a phone with Android that doesn't require a data plan do they? How about something with well thought through apps added into it's functionality? My Alias 2 was somewhat useful in this regard, especially with it's full keypad to type in notes.
Swiss army knife A phone with blutooth, flashlight, etc, maybe things I might not have thought of that could help out in a pinch.
Durable Something at least solidly built
Exceptional Battery A phone that either had exceptional standby time or the ability to swap in AA batteries in emergencies would be very useful.
Any thoughts everyone?