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[Q] returning an unlocked tablet?

hi,
i bought my tf700 at a bestbuy in portland. i still have this whole month for returning the tablet and i am looking for potentially deal breaking defects... one thing i am worried about is that if i unlock it, i cannot "technically" return the tablet anymore because it cant be relocked... so how likely do you think it is that best buy will notice that i am returning an unlocked tablet?

How about checking it for these deal breaking defects before you unlock it?
Edit:
Also, it's not about whether or not they'll notice it, it's whether or not you should return an unlocked tablet. Which you shouldn't.

Einride said:
How about checking it for these deal breaking defects before you unlock it?
Edit:
Also, it's not about whether or not they'll notice it, it's whether or not you should return an unlocked tablet. Which you shouldn't.
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i understand this. but i am not going to argue about ethics when a $500 product has been conveniently pushed into the market with rampant cases of defects/software issues/ota failures. besides afaik best buy will not lose anything on the replacement. a defective tablet is the vendor's fault. further, unlocking the bootloader hardly does any damage to the tablet itself. asus can easily relock it if it wants - such cases are well known for primes gone in for repair.
i am just asking for experiences of people. it does not make me happy to do this either. but its $500 afterall

You're talking about returning it within a month, which seems to be the store's return policy. If you then return it, Asus plays no part in that since it's the store taking it back. Not Asus. I doubt that the store will contact Asus to check whether it's been unlocked or not.
That would be a problem since they'll sell the tablet to someone else, maybe with a $20 discount since it's been returned. That customer will then end up with a device that doesn't have a warranty from Asus since it's been unlocked.
If you're RMA-ing it, that's different. Asus handles it then.

The way that I understand it, when you return something to Best Buy (or any retailer for that matter) and tell them that it was defective, they simply return it to Asus and they get their money back as well. Now, if you tell them that it works fine and you just didn't like it, they *may* re-sell it as an OpenBox item.
I'd suggest that you claim it is defective so that nobody else ends up with an unlocked bootloader when they didn't want one.
In my eyes, if it can't be unlocked, it's defective. While the unlock app does void the warranty and Asus won't support the app, it should still work! By releasing the unlock app, they are essentially saying that it's possible to unlock the bootloader on the device. If you can't do so, then it's defective.
At least thats my opinion on the matter!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

silenced3 said:
hi,
i bought my tf700 at a bestbuy in portland. i still have this whole month for returning the tablet and i am looking for potentially deal breaking defects... one thing i am worried about is that if i unlock it, i cannot "technically" return the tablet anymore because it cant be relocked... so how likely do you think it is that best buy will notice that i am returning an unlocked tablet?
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Did you receive the ota
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

gmfeny said:
Did you receive the ota
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
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nope no ota for me. im stuck with the .21 firmware. plus i am getting an impression of the speaker burning smell too
the reason i posted the OP was because i was expecting something like the speaker burning issue to crop up. now that it has, i am not going to unlock it. its going back X(

silenced3 said:
nope no ota for me. im stuck with the .21 firmware. (
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It is probably a moot point since apparently if you can not get OTA updates you probably can't unlock.

silenced3 said:
hi,
i bought my tf700 at a bestbuy in portland. i still have this whole month for returning the tablet and i am looking for potentially deal breaking defects... one thing i am worried about is that if i unlock it, i cannot "technically" return the tablet anymore because it cant be relocked... so how likely do you think it is that best buy will notice that i am returning an unlocked tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First I would check to see if you can receive the OTA update. If you can't, then you can't unlock. I would make a case that the unit is defective because you can't get updates, but normally BB doesn't ask any questions (I'm in Portland too and have done plenty of returns/exchanges).
FWIW, I exchanged my unlocked TF300 for the TF700 and they didn't notice. Normally if it is something that is defective, they'll send it back to Asus anyways and they would re-lock it.

I unlocked my TF700 mainly to see if it would since so many people could not and will be returning it to B&H this week as i'm not happy with the performance of the tablet. I'm within the return window and don't anticipate any problems doing so.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium HD app

I see no moral issues with returning a device that is defective or not as expected due to bugs and performance issues. Now I would not mod the heck out of it for 29 days then take it back, but a detached screen, terrible lag, failure to update, and other issues have no bearing on whether its unlocked or not unless you have done something to cause these issues. I have returned several devices over the years to retailers and none have ever been checked for root/roms except at a T-Mobile store where the guy asked how I liked the ROM as he was trouble shooting before boxing it up and giving me a new one. He didnt care one bit. Most Best Buy employees don't know a thing about how to check for this and wouldnt even know a custom ROM by looking at it, there are exceptions however so no offense to anyone here that may have this type of job. Most of these folks just want to get you taken care of so they can move to the next person so they will check receipt, check that the serial number matches and so on then do the refund/exchange.

Returned an unlocked TF300 to Bestbuy and picked up a 700 in return. No issues at all.

Are returns to BB fairly easy? I kinda want to give the tab a test run, but don't want to commit right away.
689 dollars is a small fortune.

upstandingcitizen said:
Are returns to BB fairly easy? I kinda want to give the tab a test run, but don't want to commit right away.
689 dollars is a small fortune.
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Get the 32gig version for $500 + tax. As far as return policy they are about on par with anyone else out there. Expect a line and other inconviences, but they did away with their re-stocking fees on everything except special order items, and thats a hefty 25%. Regardless, I wouldnt recommend modding anything untill you know your going to keep it. Here's the link to the return policy.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Returns...es/pcmcat204400050025.c?id=pcmcat204400050025

upstandingcitizen said:
Are returns to BB fairly easy? I kinda want to give the tab a test run, but don't want to commit right away.
689 dollars is a small fortune.
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Just erase/format the tablet before you return it. The BB employee will turn it on, see that you already erased everything and then give you your money back. Super easy.

richB7 said:
I unlocked my TF700 mainly to see if it would since so many people could not and will be returning it to B&H this week as i'm not happy with the performance of the tablet.
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I'm curious: What, specifically, are you unhappy with? I assume that it's not a physical defect?

I had the original 101 and liked it. Then got the 201 and even though it performed nicely I couldn't get past the WiFi and GPS defects. Returned two. Then went with the Samsung 7.7 and liked it well the responsiveness really took of after installing jelly bean. When the A700 came out tried that but it was way too slow. Waited for the tf700 got it and even though it was less choppy than the acer still pretty lame in moving between screens,browsing or just about anything. Heck Netflix on my $75 mk-201+ device works far better than it does on the 700 for $700.
This weekend I upgraded my phone to a Sammy sgs3 and I was blown away by how responsive it was. Yes they are different devices but it just made it very clear to me just how sluggish the 700 was in comparison. I won't criticize you who love the device, to each his own, but I expect better for this kind of money. Hope you get jb soon....
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium HD app

Is there a way to re-lock an Infinity?

Hello folks. I've unlocked my Infinity using the Asus unlock tool. Well, all I really wanted was to root it (which I did) but I got the two mixed up and I also unlocked it first. I will never be loading a custom rom therefore I'd rather keep mine locked. This also voids my warranty and I'm afraid I won't be able to receive OTA's.
Is there ANY way to lock the bootloader back up like it was from the factory? If I should keep the pad unlocked, convince me why.
Thanks for any help!

No, there isn't. Your S/N is already in their database, too. You may use manual firmware updates from their site and they may still respect the warranty (to certain extent?).
There was enough threads on the two for you not to confuse them (as there is about what you can do with being unlocked), so you pretty much rushed into it. Most likely this will not make your life with the Infinity harder, however.

Dammit. I'm an idiot. Now no OTA for me. Well, I can still return it to where I bought it from. I wish I had paid more attention.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app

ROMs that dont need an unlocked bootloader

ive looking and i couldnt find one. does anyone have one that i dont need to have an unlocked bootloader?

Not physically possible. If you need customization, use root with the stock rom and be very careful not to brick.

how would it not be possible? just use a stock kernel and you should be good. thats what we did with the atrix 2 since the bootloaders locked.

Don't think you can put a custom recovery on without unlocking the bootloader. No recovery = no flashing ROMs

vegandroid said:
how would it not be possible? just use a stock kernel and you should be good. thats what we did with the atrix 2 since the bootloaders locked.
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Don't even start on that bootstrap debacle with moto phones. It was absolutely horrid for flashing anything and was not nearly powerful enough for me. The hassle of using a neutered recovery instead of the real thing is just not worth it, even considering the warrantee.
le rustle face

Keion said:
Don't even start on that bootstrap debacle with moto phones. It was absolutely horrid for flashing anything and was not nearly powerful enough for me. The hassle of using a neutered recovery instead of the real thing is just not worth it, even considering the warrantee.
le rustle face
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.... I fail to see the point of your post. I didn't ask for your opinion on Motorola or what works best for you. Style on topic dude.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

So there is a way to install custom ROM's without unlocking the bootloader? If so, I'd love to know how!!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

The problem is, the methods used on those Motorola phones are very hackish, and not recommended if alternatives are present. And since the TF700 is unlockable, its extremely unlikely those methods will ever be duplicated since those who want to mod can do so without restrictions.
Just look at the OG Atrix community... the instant an unlockable bootloader was leaked, development for those hackish methods immediately halted. Someone ported 2nd init days or weeks before that happened, and nothing was ever written to use it because it simply wasnt needed anymore.

jtrosky said:
So there is a way to install custom ROM's without unlocking the bootloader? If so, I'd love to know how!!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2
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+1. If there was any way to get around Asus's crappy unlocking the bootloader voids the warranty thing I'd jump right on it. I also didn't know that type of thing was possible...
vegandroid said:
ive looking and i couldnt find one. does anyone have one that i dont need to have an unlocked bootloader?
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Did I read that you were going to try to port paranoidandroid to the TF700 last night or was that one of my weird obsessive Infinity dreams ?? I wish you luck if you are going to try - we need a few more devs around these parts.

I personally wasn't worrying about voiding the warranty considering it rooting voided on all the other devices I've had. I'm more waiting for a reason to unlock the boot loader. It's just a nice bonus that rooting doesn't.
I just say wait till you have a reason, and feel comfortable that the device you got is good.

Did I read that you were going to try to port paranoidandroid to the TF700 last night or was that one of my weird obsessive Infinity dreams ?? I wish you luck if you are going to try - we need a few more devs around these parts.
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When i can get jellybean then ill work on it. Im super busy with school and work, but i need to set some time aside to port it for tf700. i just cant spare the time to completely port JB too right now.
Jotokun said:
The problem is, the methods used on those Motorola phones are very hackish, and not recommended if alternatives are present. And since the TF700 is unlockable, its extremely unlikely those methods will ever be duplicated since those who want to mod can do so without restrictions.
Just look at the OG Atrix community... the instant an unlockable bootloader was leaked, development for those hackish methods immediately halted. Someone ported 2nd init days or weeks before that happened, and nothing was ever written to use it because it simply wasnt needed anymore.
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Click to collapse
Makes a lot of sense, thanks!

Personally, I'm still interested in a way to flash custom ROM's without unlocking the bootloader, even if it is "hack'ish".
As a good example, I unlocked the bootloader on my original TF700 after I had it for about 3 weeks. I figured that I was good to go - no major flaws... And then about 2 weeks later, the damn thing died on me, so I was stuck with a less-than-45-day-old device that had no warranty!!
I'm just saying - if there is a way to flash ROM's without voiding my warranty, I'd be *very* interested in doing that, even if it was a little hack'ish!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

its rather hard to install custom roms without an unlocked bootloader.
Consider this: You have a computer that boots directly into windows. Now you have administrator access to the computer however you can't change the boot priority, what disks it boots from, or anything having to do with how the thing starts up. Usually when you want to install an operating system, say windows xp, you would put the disk in, boot from the CD, and install it. Well we have no "boot from CD" option, everything pertaining to that is locked down by Asus.
I know other phones have found ways to sidetrack around that but honestly, with how unreliable they are its often not worth it. Asus has this thing locked down pretty well that its damn near impossible to get enough access to load anything custom at startup (even the unlock they gave us is garbage, if that fails your screwed).
If you want to load something custom you are best to get a third party warrenty and use the unlock.

pileot said:
its rather hard to install custom roms without an unlocked bootloader.
Consider this: You have a computer that boots directly into windows. Now you have administrator access to the computer however you can't change the boot priority, what disks it boots from, or anything having to do with how the thing starts up. Usually when you want to install an operating system, say windows xp, you would put the disk in, boot from the CD, and install it. Well we have no "boot from CD" option, everything pertaining to that is locked down by Asus.
I know other phones have found ways to sidetrack around that but honestly, with how unreliable they are its often not worth it. Asus has this thing locked down pretty well that its damn near impossible to get enough access to load anything custom at startup (even the unlock they gave us is garbage, if that fails your screwed).
If you want to load something custom you are best to get a third party warrenty and use the unlock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even with those methods, you're still restricted. For example, the Motorola phone hacks can run custom roms, but are still stuck with the stock motorola kernels. That means a (somewhat dirty) AOSP rom can be made around the kernel, but a true clean Cyanogenmod or anything requiring kernel level hacks are not possible.

[Q] Warranty for lifting screen when tablet is unlocked

Hi all
My Infinity has always had the issue with screen seperation around the SD card which i could live with however it looks like the little rubber lining that holds the screen in is also lifting a little bit now and I am worried that it will just get worse.
Now i recently unlocked my tablet and understand that is void warranty but as this is more of a design fault would they still cover it?
i just wanted to see if anyone here has done similar.

Heat it very gently with a hair dryer on that area to get it toasty warm (not too hot). Push it back in with your finger and hold in place for a minute.
Problem solved

sbdags said:
Heat it very gently with a hair dryer on that area to get it toasty warm (not too hot). Push it back in with your finger and hold in place for a minute.
Problem solved
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Click to collapse
Thanks, I will give it ago hopefully that will work otherwise I guess I can give Asus a call and see what they have to say.
Has anyone been able to make a warranty claim and get the tablet fixed even though the bootloader is unlocked?

marshysr20 said:
Thanks, I will give it ago hopefully that will work otherwise I guess I can give Asus a call and see what they have to say.
Has anyone been able to make a warranty claim and get the tablet fixed even though the bootloader is unlocked?
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Yes! some people that had the purchased the Asus Prime from Best Buy returned it for the Infinity Claiming Munufature defect like the one you have so if you purchased at Best Buy you could replace it.

diaz2611 said:
Yes! some people that had the purchased the Asus Prime from Best Buy returned it for the Infinity Claiming Munufature defect like the one you have so if you purchased at Best Buy you could replace it.
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I bought mine from B&H photo however i live in Australia so sending it back would be a little difficult.
I have logged warrantly claim with Asus here in Australia and will drop it off tomorrow so i guess we will see what they say.

also is it possible to get stock recovery back and go back to a stock ROM at all?

marshysr20 said:
also is it possible to get stock recovery back and go back to a stock ROM at all?
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Click to collapse
You can go back to the stock recovery and rom, but it isn't possible to relock the bootloader.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

richajf said:
You can go back to the stock recovery and rom, but it isn't possible to relock the bootloader.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2
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How is the done? are there instructions on doing so.
I did see some in another thread but reading it i think people on the JB bootloader were not able to perform these steps.

actually can i just restore the backup i created with TWRP when i had my stock ROM ?

marshysr20 said:
actually can i just restore the backup i created with TWRP when i had my stock ROM ?
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You can use TWRP to flash the complete stock ROM ZIP.

_that said:
You can use TWRP to flash the complete stock ROM ZIP.
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Click to collapse
The fatal flaw in all this is that you unlocked it to put TWRP on it. That unlocker tool goes to ASUS's website, which is why the device needs wireless connected and on when you unlock so that it passes your serial number and gets back a password (custom to each device) to unlock it.
Once that is done ASUS has logged that you unlocked it and voided your warranty. I wouldnt bother with ROM changing. If they look and see you voided the warranty its a crapshoot after that if they will fix it or not.
I know on the TF201 forums many say it was fixed anyway and just as many have said they were billed.

hx4700 Killer said:
The fatal flaw in all this is that you unlocked it to put TWRP on it. That unlocker tool goes to ASUS's website, which is why the device needs wireless connected and on when you unlock so that it passes your serial number and gets back a password (custom to each device) to unlock it.
Once that is done ASUS has logged that you unlocked it and voided your warranty. I wouldnt bother with ROM changing. If they look and see you voided the warranty its a crapshoot after that if they will fix it or not.
I know on the TF201 forums many say it was fixed anyway and just as many have said they were billed.
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I was up front with them when I rang them up and told them it is unlocked and they told me before you bring it in put it back to stock. I just restored from when i did a backup of my stock ROM with TWRP. It still has TWRP installed.
I dropped it off today anyways so i guess we will see if they do it through Warranty. On the sheet of paper they gave me with the Service Number it has under warranty ticked and they said it should be done within 5-10 business days so I guess i will just wait and see if they do it under warranty or not.

Yeah I wouldnt worry about it, locked or not has nothing to do with the screen. Now getting it back unlocked or now locked thats the question.

Zeblade said:
Yeah I wouldnt worry about it, locked or not has nothing to do with the screen. Now getting it back unlocked or now locked thats the question.
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yes, I agree with you. The reason Asus want it back to stock is for testing and make sure the new screen is working correctly, they don't want to see custom dpi and such, save them time to flash back to stock themselves!

I'm glad that Asus at least acknowledges the difference between manufacturing failure and firmware/software failure by flashing roms.

hi guys
just a quick update, I got my tablet back today and they fixed the screen seperation under warranty and thankfully the device is still unlocked so overall the outcome was good!!!

marshysr20 said:
hi guys
just a quick update, I got my tablet back today and they fixed the screen seperation under warranty and thankfully the device is still unlocked so overall the outcome was good!!!
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I'd say very lucky. Read one here where he sent it back hardware problem (he said) and unlocked Asus wants to charge him 250 for new board because its unlocked so he voided the warranty.

[Q] Am I in for a bad time? Refurb TF700T and unlocking

I just purchased a refurbished TF700T and keyboard dock from BuyDig for 269.99. Pretty good price. I briefly owned a TF700T before, and did notice the sluggishness out of the box, but a 1200p tablet for practically $170 is hard to beat. When I had originally owned it, I was aware of CleanROM cleaning up Asus' slow eMMC mess, but at the time given the expense of the device I wasn't willing to give up the warranty. So now that the investment is a little lower, I'm more willing.
The refurb I believe is carried out by ASUS who then sells them back to BuyDig.
The reason I'm asking if I'm in for a bad time is because I've seen reports of other refurb owners who had terrible times getting their devices to unlock, specifically with messages like "unknown" or "invalid" serial numbers when attempting to input theirs. Or they were getting network access errors when trying to communicate with the servers that were responsible for unlocking the devices.
Does anyone have any input on this or experience being in this situation?

Would also like to hear any reports of unlockable success by recent buydig purchasers.
The unlock bootloader poll is only showing that 20% of the responders have issues...but 32% is unknown.
Buydig has a 45 day return/exchange policy, so I’m thinking that I’m going to roll the dice and hope that I don’t need to try and return it.

The only way to find out is to try it! If one thing is consistent in this unlock mess it's that it's totally inconsistent.
Works like a charm for some, others can't unlock at all. And it does not seem to have anything to do with new/refurb/repaired under warranty

berndblb said:
The only way to find out is to try it! If one thing is consistent in this unlock mess it's that it's totally inconsistent.
Works like a charm for some, others can't unlock at all. And it does not seem to have anything to do with new/refurb/repaired under warranty
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Click to collapse
thanks. I just received my refurb today. is it possible to try out the unlook tool to see if it is going to work for a specific device without actually voiding the warranty?
I'd like to wait at least a week or so to see if any major hardware issues pop up. so far, tablet looks to be in working order but some more time before going all in would be nice.

ginhead said:
thanks. I just received my refurb today. is it possible to try out the unlook tool to see if it is going to work for a specific device without actually voiding the warranty?
I'd like to wait at least a week or so to see if any major hardware issues pop up. so far, tablet looks to be in working order but some more time before going all in would be nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you click the button, it either works, and your warrent is voided, or it doesn't work.
Or another option is to contact Asus, and ship it to them, and have them unlock it for you.

bluewr said:
Or another option is to contact Asus, and ship it to them, and have them unlock it for you.
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Click to collapse
LOL! Never heard of that option! If you have first hand experience I would love to hear about it!
I think it's rather the other way around: You ship it to them unlocked for an unrelated problem and it comes back permanently locked.... Asus does not support unlocking.

berndblb said:
LOL! Never heard of that option! If you have first hand experience I would love to hear about it!
I think it's rather the other way around: You ship it to them unlocked for an unrelated problem and it comes back permanently locked.... Asus does not support unlocking.
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Click to collapse
No, I had problem unlocking it, and gave it to the local Asus refurb place, and had them unlock it for me, took them a week to finally unlock it though.

bluewr said:
No, you click the button, it either works, and your warrent is voided, or it doesn't work.
Or another option is to contact Asus, and ship it to them, and have them unlock it for you.
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Click to collapse
thanks for posting that. I'll probably wait a week or so then give it a try.
overall, I’m pretty happy with it so far. There is some lag – noticeable in Chrome – but definitely useable. Hopefully, I can get a custom/optimized rom running on this shortly.
Really liking the display so far. Native blu-ray files look great.