In order for me to even consider continuing on w/ the next model...
Better build quality (needs to be on par w/ MS Surface and Apple iPad)
A magnetic snap-on keyboard or (if already patented by MS) a keyboard that requires less effort to connect to the tablet
Front facing speaker(s)
Improved WiFi reception (my HTC Rezound grabs a full signal, but my Infinity does not)
Resolve I/O issues
I think those are my five main wishes for the next device in the Transformer lineup.
Anyone else care to chime in?
I'd also like to add that I love my TF700T and that this is not a complaint thread. ASUS is so close to hitting the sweet spot.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
Joeful said:
A magnetic snap-on keyboard or (if already patented by MS) a keyboard that requires less effort to connect to the tablet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't want the Surface's keyboard, because of one simple reason: It doesn't hold the tablet. For the Surface to stand up with the keyboard docked, you have to flip out a stand on it.
The Transformer keyboard is more robust since it acts as the stand itself. That way, it can stand up in any angle.
Joeful said:
In order for me to even consider continuing on w/ the next model...
Better build quality (needs to be on par w/ MS Surface and Apple iPad) - I think it's good enough and don't want it to be more expensive
A magnetic snap-on keyboard or (if already patented by MS) a keyboard that requires less effort to connect to the tablet - No... definitely not.
Front facing speaker(s) - Yes!
Improved WiFi reception (my HTC Rezound grabs a full signal, but my Infinity does not) - 5Ghz wifi please, I was a little shocked to find out it doesn't have this
Resolve I/O issues - Yeah.... data2sd in the mean time
I think those are my five main wishes for the next device in the Transformer lineup.
Anyone else care to chime in?
I'd also like to add that I love my TF700T and that this is not a complaint thread. ASUS is so close to hitting the sweet spot.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Otherwise: An possiblity to fully unlock the bootloader (like it was) so I can dual boot Android and Ubuntu without having to reinstall stuff from the recovery
And... errr, yeah that's it.
For me i agree with :
- resolve io issue
I would had :
- better browsing experience (it has improved a lot since july and now it's usable but it's still lacking speed and responsiveness (any browser i tested)
- prepare me a coffee when i go back home after work
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
firetech said:
I wouldn't want the Surface's keyboard, because of one simple reason: It doesn't hold the tablet. For the Surface to stand up with the keyboard docked, you have to flip out a stand on it.
The Transformer keyboard is more robust since it acts as the stand itself. That way, it can stand up in any angle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True but they could still manufacture a megnetic keyboard that still has a strong hinge to be able to hold the tablet in place at almost all angles. Have you seen how strong the bond between the Surface keyboard and the tablet is?
Sent from my HTC Rezound
It would be nice if the manufactures could standardized one type of power plug. This feels like the days of cell phones having different plugs for different handsets, even among the same manufacture. They can still manufacture it in a way that the dock would only work with the Transformer line. It would have to be a thickens to fit in the dock slot or a separate part next to the plug that does the data transfer between the two. But it would be fantastic to walk into Best Buy and get a general plug that would charge multiple tablets.
Then front speakers.
Joeful said:
True but they could still manufacture a megnetic keyboard that still has a strong hinge to be able to hold the tablet in place at almost all angles. Have you seen how strong the bond between the Surface keyboard and the tablet is?
Sent from my HTC Rezound
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The magnetic connection between the Surface keyboard and tablet is indeed strong, but it does not hold the tablet at any angle with only the magnetic bond. Consumer magnets are not strong enough for that.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Better build quality (needs to be on par w/ MS Surface and Apple iPad) : You mean like the Surface keyboards that are coming apart just weeks after shipping? TF Build quality is fine. Every tablet has bad units.
A magnetic snap-on keyboard or (if already patented by MS) a keyboard that requires less effort to connect to the tablet :No Thanks as mentioned already I prefer the keyboard hold the tablet up. I do not like the surface keyboard at all.
Front facing speaker(s) :AGREED, but hardly a reason worth choosing a table on IMO.
Improved WiFi reception (my HTC Rezound grabs a full signal, but my Infinity does not) : My TF700 gets wifi considerably better than my Rezound. Neither has great bandwidth, but reception is perfectly acceptable.
Resolve I/O issues: This one I have to agree is unacceptable cheapness on ASUS' part.
gottahavit said:
Better build quality (needs to be on par w/ MS Surface and Apple iPad) : You mean like the Surface keyboards that are coming apart just weeks after shipping? TF Build quality is fine. Every tablet has bad units.
A magnetic snap-on keyboard or (if already patented by MS) a keyboard that requires less effort to connect to the tablet :No Thanks as mentioned already I prefer the keyboard hold the tablet up. I do not like the surface keyboard at all.
Front facing speaker(s) :AGREED, but hardly a reason worth choosing a table on IMO.
Improved WiFi reception (my HTC Rezound grabs a full signal, but my Infinity does not) : My TF700 gets wifi considerably better than my Rezound. Neither has great bandwidth, but reception is perfectly acceptable.
Resolve I/O issues: This one I have to agree is unacceptable cheapness on ASUS' part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By build quality, I mean the tablet itself. The brushed aluminum they use is horribely scratch prone and feels a little cheap. Although, my TF is covered by a carbon fiber decal from Skinomi.
Front facing speakers are and should be common sense.
The WiFi reception is absolutely not acceptable for the price of the tablet. I can pay 300 dollars for a crappy laptop with better reception than my 600 dollar TF.
Like I said, they've almost hit the sweet spot. I think their next model (if they don't drop Android entirely) will be much better than the TF700. They will end up pulling and using ideas from the Nexus and Surface tablets. I would gladly pay an 100 dollars or more for a model that included everything I've mentioned.
I think that with the tablet market being young still, consumers need to be as vocal as they can about issues they find with their devices. Consumers really don't realize how much power they have in numbers.
With all that being said, I am still glad that this was my first tablet and I've learned a lot from it. I know what I want in a tablet now and it will be much easier for me to choose my next tablet.
Sent from my HTC Rezound
oops
Apart from the IO problem, I cannot really agree with what you have stated in your OP. If brushed aluminium is seen as cheap in your opinion, I suspect gold is the only thing that can satisfy your material requirement of not being cheap. The iPad is equally scratch prone, if not more (take a look at the iPad Mini and you can see what I mean). Frankly, I have never encountered any Wifi reception problem, and I cannot notice any difference between the tf700 and my Sensation in terms of wifi performance. Magnetic connection in the Surface cannot hold the tablet without the kickstand, so it is quite useless for most people who want a full-blown keyboard.
If ASUS needs to improve th tf700, my wish list would include mainly hardware components:
1. A much better SoC, Tegra 3 is terrible at full HD, games lag miserably. What I need is Exynos 5, Snapdragon S4 Pro, and something like Apple A6X. Much as I hate it, Apple A6X is the most powerful SoC in the market right now. Maybe Kepler-based Tegra 4 will change things a bit, but I seriously doubt it.
2. Dual-band wifi => industry standard.
androidxen said:
The magnetic connection between the Surface keyboard and tablet is indeed strong, but it does not hold the tablet at any angle with only the magnetic bond. Consumer magnets are not strong enough for that.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Proof?
To clarify, there would be a snap or cog based hinge between the magnets and keyboard. I don't think you understand what I'm getting at.
huy_lonewolf said:
Apart from the IO problem, I cannot really agree with what you have stated in your OP. If brushed aluminium is seen as cheap in your opinion, I suspect gold is the only thing that can satisfy your material requirement of not being cheap. The iPad is equally scratch prone, if not more (take a look at the iPad Mini and you can see what I mean). Frankly, I have never encountered any Wifi reception problem, and I cannot notice any difference between the tf700 and my Sensation in terms of wifi performance. Magnetic connection in the Surface cannot hold the tablet without the kickstand, so it is quite useless for most people who want a full-blown keyboard.
If ASUS needs to improve th tf700, my wish list would include mainly hardware components:
1. A much better SoC, Tegra 3 is terrible at full HD, games lag miserably. What I need is Exynos 5, Snapdragon S4 Pro, and something like Apple A6X. Much as I hate it, Apple A6X is the most powerful SoC in the market right now. Maybe Kepler-based Tegra 4 will change things a bit, but I seriously doubt it.
2. Dual-band wifi => industry standard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brushed aluminum IS cheap and scratch prone. I think you may have misunderstood my idea of a sturdy magnetic keyboard. I am not asking for a clone of the TOUCH COVER, but a refined TF700T dock that utilizes magnets. I do agree that with you in terms of SoC, though. I am not a fan of Apple and I'd rather see MS and or Google with superior hardware.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
Joeful said:
True but they could still manufacture a megnetic keyboard that still has a strong hinge to be able to hold the tablet in place at almost all angles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Knowing my physics, that would probably require a magnet so strong that it would wipe your hard drives and credit card by being near them. Not going to happen. You need some kind of support other than magnets to hold a tablet by its base at an angle...
The biggest thing for me is the io. If they fixed that it would be the perfect tablet IMO. Its still a great tablet.
But a few tweaks here and there it would be the best. The next one does need a new soc as the tegra 3 is starting to show its age
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
How about faster updates? I would like that. Oh, and make it so unlocking the boot loader doesn't void your warranty. Last but not least, NvFlash support.
add support for Dual Band wireless 2.4/5GHz.
Come on even the Kindle Fire HD supports Dual Band wifi.
---------- Post added at 09:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------
Even my Blackberry Playbook supports the 5GHz band.
the_game_master said:
add support for Dual Band wireless 2.4/5GHz.
Come on even the Kindle Fire HD supports Dual Band wifi.
---------- Post added at 09:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------
Even my Blackberry Playbook supports the 5GHz band.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even the new iPod Touch has dual band 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0 too.
ostar2 said:
How about faster updates? I would like that. Oh, and make it so unlocking the boot loader doesn't void your warranty. Last but not least, NvFlash support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ASUS is very at getting updates out quickly. Although, faster wouldn't hurt.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
I agree with much that has been stated already. I would also like to see the USB host jack moved to the tablet itself....along with the SDCard slot. I know that it would turn the kb dock into a battery/kb device only, but I'm fine with that. It may also necessitate making the device a bit thicker. I don't see this as a problem either, as it is so thin now, they can't keep the glass connected to the thing all the way around the edge. It may eliminate that issue with build quality. It may also lower the price of the dock.
SoC...which may fix the awful I/O.
Move USB and SDCard slot to the tablet.
NVFlash...(no encryption)
Generally improve build quality. This could apply to most manufacturer's but more so with Asus from what I have seen.
My 2 cents worth....
Brad
Related
As a future buyer I would like to know why you all are favoring the Transformer over the Acer Iconia tablet? (other than the $50 price diff.) when the Acer is widely available?
They both run the same software, and you could plug the Acer into a cheap USB keyboard if that what you want. It has a Full size USB port.
Not hassling you, trying to decide myself.
Thanks
Secular
Well, it's actually much larger than a $50 price difference. The A500 is only being sold by Best Buy and you will always get charged tax. Price for an A500 for me is around $500 when I can buy a Transformer from Newegg or Amazon and get it for $399.99 no tax. Also the IPS display is nice.
The only real advantage the Iconia has is the USB port. Well that and you can walk into Best Buy and grab one. Not sure if the aluminum enclosure is an advantage or just a preference -- makes the A500 feel a little more classy, but doesn't really add much to the equation.
If you have to have it now, get the Acer. If you can wait a while, you'll save some money and have a tablet that's just a good, but with a better screen. If I hadn't gotten a Transformer this week, I probably would've just gone with the A500.
The plastic enclosure on the Asus is surprisingly good feel in hand. There is a thread discussing this already.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
They are both nice. I was lucky to get the Transformer on launch day so I have it. But I also played with Acer at BB few times and compared it to Xoom. I liked Acer and it has a few pros comparing to Transformer - such as LED flash on the back, USB ports, and hardware screen lock switch that I like. I am also pretty sure that they will make some kind of a dock for it at some point since they have one for windows tablet they made. The screen on Transformer is suppose to be better because it is IPS but honestly I thought Acer's creen was great, definitely better then Xoom that was next to it; at least to my eyes. The build quality was pretty solid with no creaking or misalligned edges. Screen rotated much faster then Xoom as well, just like Asus. If I would have to wait for another month or two for Asus I would definitely go for Acer instead.
The differences that I can notice are (in favor to Transformer):
1. $50 difference
2. IPS Display
3. Better battery duration (without dock) between 9-10 hours (non-stop WiFi + Browsing) similar to iPad 2, the Iconia A500 have like 7 hours while doing the same, more info HERE
4. Lighter than Iconia A500, comparable to iPad 1, a little heavier than iPad 2.
5. Docking capability with double battery life, USBs and more flash cards.
Differences in favor to Iconia A500:
1. The back camera has LED flash
2. While both have great built quality, some owners reports that Iconia appear to be a little better here.
3. Built-in full USB port.
4. Thinner bezel (maybe it's not that important?)
yes it's true you can hook up the Acer to a USB keyboard,
but the transformer can turn into an actual laptop which is why i wanted it, to replace my windows laptop and it's incredibly bad 3 hour max wifi battery life.
but netbooks are laggy useless pieces of crap. So with the transformer i can get the form of a netbook with amazing performance and i can quickly turn it into a tablet as well.
* IPS display
* lighter weight
* keyboard dock
No offense, but I really have a hard time believing that a weight difference that is under 1 lb really makes that much of a difference.
I actually want to feel my device, not forget it's there.
From the reviews I read, I expected the Transformer to feel like a gold brick in my hand But it's lighter and thinner than people made it out to be, but still feels substantial.
My reason:
Asus got my full support when two devs from Asus tried helping people who got botched updates on their transformers, that impresses me, it shows that they do pay attention the the community
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13309702&postcount=186
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13289010&postcount=89
EtherBoo said:
No offense, but I really have a hard time believing that a weight difference that is under 1 lb really makes that much of a difference.
I actually want to feel my device, not forget it's there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally understand why you would think that. Sounds like such a small weight difference.
But I've spent time with a Xoom (slightly lighter than the A500) and a Transformer and I can tell you it's a very noticeable difference.
And believe me, you don't really want to feel it that much.
I think the Transformer is little longer than the Xoom, so that weight is spread out a little more and the difference is probably noticeable, but also probably not drastic.
Either device will make folks happy.
Both have great displays.
If you want USB host on the tablet and do not want a keyboard attachment, plus save $100 net- get the A500.
If you could care less about USB host or a keyboard, save $50 and get the Asus.
If you want the keyboard and would like a netbook-like device without Windows- get the Asus.
I have the Acer, but can see why others would want the Asus. Still, people concerned about a one ounce difference (especially since the Acer has USB host and micro usb built-in) must lead very sheltered lives
added:
In regards to the weight and joking aside, to get the same host function on the Asus adds a pound and more size compared to the Acer, so seems the one ounce is not so bad.
Main difference to me above all the aforementioned ones in this thread is:
Asus = Reputable, reliable, beautiful devices.
Acer = I'm surprised they're not bankrupt already. They produce utter crap!
Done!
rushless said:
In regards to the weight and joking aside, to get the same host function on the Asus adds a pound and more size compared to the Acer, so seems the one ounce is not so bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not quite
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=13324783#post13324783
Ravynmagi said:
I totally understand why you would think that. Sounds like such a small weight difference.
But I've spent time with a Xoom (slightly lighter than the A500) and a Transformer and I can tell you it's a very noticeable difference.
And believe me, you don't really want to feel it that much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I am certain that the weight difference between the Xoom and the Transformer is enough to be noticeable, especially holding the device single-handed for longer periods of time. It is definitely nicer having a lighter tablet. (Transformer)
seshmaru said:
Not quite
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=13324783#post13324783
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair way to word it since the Asus appears to have the same voltage "issue" as the Xoom (makes sense, since no host port- why would it have the needed power?). You need the keyboard to get the needed power to sustain most keyboards and especially drives (since the host is on the keyboard). No way a hard drive will work and will be hit & miss for thumbdrives (maybe 8g and some 16gb might work). Same situation as the Zoom since the needed bridge circuit for the port is not there (a proprietary through-port is there).
added:
BTW, be careful, since you can actually cause problems if the needed power is not there to support it.
Ravynmagi said:
And believe me, you don't really want to feel it that much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I told my urologist!
But seriously, I have pretty big hands and fingers (size 13 ring), so I rarely have an issue with things that are slightly heavier.
rushless said:
BTW, be careful, since you can actually cause problems if the needed power is not there to support it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lack of power has very little chance of messing anything up, even harddrives.
Just a quick overview: I was in Best Buy the other night, and fortunately, they had all 3 machines not only powered on, but also on WiFi. I couldn't resist this, since I'm beginning to seriously look at a 10" tab to replace my oft maligned (And rightly so) Gentough78. (Yeah, yeah.. I know) Anyway, having all 3 side by side was nice. Here's my thoughts:
Screen: The winner was the Thrive. It had very good contrast. The other 2 were completely acceptable though.
Case: I like the rubberized backing of the Thrive a LOT. That being said, it was a close 2nd place to the Xformer (Heretofore called the XF). Didn't care for the clunkiness of the Iconia.
WiFi performance: The Iconia stuttered a lot on the youtube video I was playing. The other 2 seemed to handle this just fine.
WiFi Tethering: The XF was the only one of the 3 that saw my hotspot on my Epic. This is a pretty big deal.
Snappiness: Hard to tell the diff between the 3, honestly. They were all nice.
Dock: Obviously this is an awesome on the XF
So... overall, as it stands, I'm seriously looking at the XF as my tab of choice. Just thought I'd share my thoughts here. How's the tun.ko working out on IPSEC VPN???
Fellow epic user! I was faced with the same decision and got the TF because of the hotspot issue. I have no regrets and i dont even have the dock. I use my stylus for most everything. I also like how the OS has no annoying UI over top.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
i currently have both the thrive and transformer and i have to say you are wrong, the IPS display on the transformer is noticeably better. It's richer in color and has better viewing angles. I am returning the thrive because its just too fat!
Either way, they are good choices. I really don't need the ports on the Thrive, and I really like the TF's weight and thinness compared to the Thrive since I usually throw it in my bag, or walk around carrying it in my hand when I'm using it as a Mp3 player (which is all the time). Since the Thrive has a LED screen, blacks are probably darker than on the TF but I haven't tested.
shubonker said:
i currently have both the thrive and transformer and i have to say you are wrong, the IPS display on the transformer is noticeably better. It's richer in color and has better viewing angles. I am returning the thrive because its just too fat!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I found the TF screen to be superior. The only other andriod tablet I thought had a display that could compete with the TF was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Did you check to see if the brightness setting where set to the same approximate
brightness.
You can't test anything in 20 minutes at best buy. They all are a tie because ech line has a feature specific to its self. I think it comes down to personal preference and how will it be used. I chose the Asus because of the free software Splashtop and Polaris, but do wn a Acer too. The Acer states hooked up to my TV with wireless keyboard and mouse to stream movies or surf the web.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
I made this thread to help kinda sort what each tablet has (most of them out there), might help you pinpoint.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AnAJoa0-ynONdE1TT1RSdTcxbmRFeE5mdl9jdzZDb3c&output=html
RojasTKD said:
Did you check to see if the brightness setting where set to the same approximate
brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope... should have. In all fairness, the screens were in pretty mucky shape too. They all had streaks and smudges from all of the dirty fingers of the crumb crunchers who had played with them. The 2 Xooms wouldn't even come on, so I didn't check them out (Although in all fairness, the $100 extra kind of excluded them anyway)
When I get a little closer to being actually able to afford one (I'm just over 1/2 way there now), I'll go give them a lot closer look, and I'll probably bring a microfibre cloth. I'd never let any of my screens get that nasty.
And I'll pay extra close attention to the viewing angles. That's something I hadn't thought of.
Robbzilla said:
Nope... should have. In all fairness, the screens were in pretty mucky shape too. They all had streaks and smudges from all of the dirty fingers of the crumb crunchers who had played with them. The 2 Xooms wouldn't even come on, so I didn't check them out (Although in all fairness, the $100 extra kind of excluded them anyway)
When I get a little closer to being actually able to afford one (I'm just over 1/2 way there now), I'll go give them a lot closer look, and I'll probably bring a microfibre cloth. I'd never let any of my screens get that nasty.
And I'll pay extra close attention to the viewing angles. That's something I hadn't thought of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xoom, the screen isn't as good as the others. The color temp and viewing angle are inferior.
http://dustinwilkins.com/2011/05/03/it-is-all-about-the-screen-transformer-vs-xoom/
http://androidforums.com/asus-eee-pad-transformer/327231-transformer-vs-xoom-screen.html
http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/17404-screen-comparison-versus-a-xoom-with-pics/
I bought the Iconia and returned it. I just thought the plastic port area on the sites ruined the high-end feel of the brushed metal. And it was too heavy to comfortably hold while reading. I love the ports though. The Toshiba tablet was just too huge. My TF is great. But build quality is so-so; I got a squeeky area around the power button. No big deal though.
Asus TF has the best screen and the value-for-money dock
Iconia has the full size usb port
Thrive has the full size usb port and hdmi port but loses out on weight and bulkiness.
and all three devices uses the same SoC, the Tegra2 so i wouldn't compare performance.
and there are other scientific ways to test the WiFi performance than testing with a youtube video
jananan said:
Asus TF has the best screen and the value-for-money dock
Iconia has the full size usb port
Thrive has the full size usb port and hdmi port but loses out on weight and bulkiness.
and all three devices uses the same SoC, the Tegra2 so i wouldn't compare performance.
and there are other scientific ways to test the WiFi performance than testing with a youtube video
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, but with a locked down market and running fast through the testing since other people were looking, it was the 1st thing that came to mind. I'm not a professional reviewer, I just play one on TV...
dude2k5 said:
I made this thread to help kinda sort what each tablet has (most of them out there), might help you pinpoint.
(Google Docs link in original post)
Hey Dude; terrific work.
Saved me the hassle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd get the transformer. If you're referencing the BF deal then the Asus has 16gb for $250 while the Thrive is 8gb for $275. To me, that's no contest.
Here is a comparison chart for three RT tablets (not the full windows version).
Some info is still missing either because the information has not been released publicly yet or I cannot find the info. If anyone knows the missing info let me know.
Anyway, from doing this chart it seems that the Asus Vivo RT Tab could be the best. Reasons being is that it is thinner, lighter, faster CPU, better camera, better screen technology etc. To me, these are all positives.
What do you guys think?
The information may be mismatch because there are not fully details about the Microsoft Surface. Correct me if I am wrong.
All RT tabs will be 1366x768 or better, since that's the minimum res for using Metro. In the same vein, I doubt if any RT tab will pack less than 2GB RAM, and they'll all have BT/etc.
The main attraction of Surface RT is its innovative Touch/Type Cover. That allows the device to maintain a tablet's portability, but with a laptop's functionality. Note that the Touch/Type Cover is unique in that it has a built-in trackpad. No other "keyboard cover" has that.
I also like the fact that MS prominently played up the 2x2 MIMO wifi antenna. Wifi performance is the main bottleneck for all mobile devices, as most tablets have abysmal antenna design. People obsess over trivial things like how many MP the cam has, or the stupid Quadrant bench, but they ignore the factors that really matter.
All these are academic, however, since the clinching factor, PRICE, isn't known yet for any of these.
And lastly, none of these will sell well, regardless of what specs they have (not unless MS decides to do the $199 deal). Windows RT for this iteration isn't ready for consumers--no apps, and Office is still in Preview. It's strictly a tinkerer/early adopter's province.
e.mote said:
All RT tabs will be 1366x768 or better, since that's the minimum res for using Metro. In the same vein, I doubt if any RT tab will pack less than 2GB RAM, and they'll all have BT/etc.
The main attraction of Surface RT is its innovative Touch/Type Cover. That allows the device to maintain a tablet's portability, but with a laptop's functionality. Note that the Touch/Type Cover is unique in that it has a built-in trackpad. No other "keyboard cover" has that.
I also like the fact that MS prominently played up the 2x2 MIMO wifi antenna. Wifi performance is the main bottleneck for all mobile devices, as most tablets have abysmal antenna design. People obsess over trivial things like how many MP the cam has, or the stupid Quadrant bench, but they ignore the factors that really matter.
All these are academic, however, since the clinching factor, PRICE, isn't known yet for any of these.
And lastly, none of these will sell well, regardless of what specs they have (not unless MS decides to do the $199 deal). Windows RT for this iteration isn't ready for consumers--no apps, and Office is still in Preview. It's strictly a tinkerer/early adopter's province.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the information, anyways I think it's better to rely on Microsoft Surface since it will have better support than other companies I know...... (long story)
TravisAntonio said:
Thanks for the information, anyways I think it's better to rely on Microsoft Surface since it will have better support than other companies I know...... (long story)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do you mean by support?
Read up on the Asus Prime and Asus Infinity boards and you will see some of their quality issues. You will have a hard time finding that from Samsung and Microsoft has a lot at stake to make this great.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Asus has serious QC issues with all their tablets, as others have indicated. I also think there's something to be said about the hardware manufacturer and software manufacturer relationship. Microsoft will spec everything to make sure it matches perfectly, just like Apple and Google(The Asus Nexus 7). There are boatloads of android tablets out there that don't run Android very well (Asus being one on their privately branded tablets).
I'm sure if anyone would be able to answer this however, on air planes they have USB ports, if you plug in your tablet, will it draw enough power to charge your tablet?
thanks
jiffy1080 said:
Read up on the Asus Prime and Asus Infinity boards and you will see some of their quality issues. You will have a hard time finding that from Samsung and Microsoft has a lot at stake to make this great.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
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I guess you were answering me...
OK, hardware support. yes, its a much more expensive type of support than software. I've seen xbox returned for issues, Microsoft mice, keyboards, iLads, iPhones, radios, every type of consumer electronics made.
if you are suggesting there will be no defects or failures, hmmm, that's an interesting line of thinking.
ohgood said:
I guess you were answering me...
OK, hardware support. yes, its a much more expensive type of support than software. I've seen xbox returned for issues, Microsoft mice, keyboards, iLads, iPhones, radios, every type of consumer electronics made.
if you are suggesting there will be no defects or failures, hmmm, that's an interesting line of thinking.
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Asus tablets have been plagued with issues to the point where Amazon UK pulled their flagship infinity from its stores! Light bleed, and screen separation issues on a 500 quid tablet is a joke.
Also cheap wifi chips meaning no Dual band and cheap flash memory meaning IO issues. You won't get these problems from companies like Samsung due to their already strong relationships with chip makers such as Broadcom for wifi ect..
I will stick with a Samsung Tab tbh. I really wanted to buy the transformer infinity recently but all the issues put me off, so I am holding out for an ATIV SmartPC or SmartPC Pro
yeah im with the above now. I didn't want an infinity because of all the probs I've been reading so I was going to wait for the vivo.
now i have to research a bit more for a new win 8 tab
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Whoah! Apparently Surface does not have NFC according to the official specs http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/productID.257929400#tab5
tboy2000 said:
Whoah! Apparently Surface does not have NFC according to the official specs http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/productID.257929400#tab5
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So what, it's not a selling point anyway...to me at least.
tboy2000 said:
Whoah! Apparently Surface does not have NFC according to the official specs http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/productID.257929400#tab5
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Doesn't have GPS either.
MOFO-Bro said:
So what, it's not a selling point anyway...to me at least.
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I am happy for you
godofwar424 said:
Asus tablets have been plagued with issues to the point where Amazon UK pulled their flagship infinity from its stores! Light bleed, and screen separation issues on a 500 quid tablet is a joke.
Also cheap wifi chips meaning no Dual band and cheap flash memory meaning IO issues. You won't get these problems from companies like Samsung due to their already strong relationships with chip makers such as Broadcom for wifi ect..
I will stick with a Samsung Tab tbh. I really wanted to buy the transformer infinity recently but all the issues put me off, so I am holding out for an ATIV SmartPC or SmartPC Pro
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No GPS? What are they thinking. How does the mapping work then if not on wi-fi?
Please tell me this has been updated
No Gps, No Nfc, 5pt Multitouch...OMG!!! Why Microsoft!
If you live near micro center they have pre order up for Asus vivo tab rt for 499 which is cheaper than other retailers from what I know.
will25u said:
If you live near micro center they have pre order up for Asus vivo tab rt for 499 which is cheaper than other retailers from what I know.
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yep looks like they just dropped the price. Im sure other retailers will be doing the same.
TBH, this is tablet, why on earth would you need more then 5pt multitouch??
Also why would you need GPS? Most people getting these tablets have smartphones which do gps, who wants to hold up a tablet and walk around using navigation software?? Maps will allow you to check a route and find your way even without GPS
I have both devices and would like to help people who have questions on the devices. So fire away.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
AKleetness said:
I have both devices and would like to help people who have questions on the devices. So fire away.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
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That's great Well, I'm buying my first tablet and I've read many reviews and many comparisons between those 2 tablets, and I know almost everything about them. The only thing left is something that can't be written down or recorded Just out of those 2, which one is faster I know it seems like a general question but I'm talking about raw performance. As in, which one will open applications a lot faster and load them a lot faster. You know, browsers and so on.
I'd appreciate it, thanks
Im going to have to give the edge to the note. The combination of lower resolution and 2gigs of ram make it super fast. When i open an app on both devices at the same time i will say the note wins a majority of the time. When it comes to web browsing the note is a clear cut winner when scrolling through pages very little hangups. The infinity isnt far behind though and i am not a fanboy for either device i think they are both great but raw performance goes to the note.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
I spend a hour testing a Galaxy Note at a local store. Because my first TF700T was broken and I decided to test the Samsung to be sure that I pick the right one again.
Yes it's fast, but fast is not everything. Haptics, design and ergonomics goes pretty clear to ASUS.
That the ASUS is slower is just a matter of the Screen Resolution. Android is not optimized for this screen size now.
So if you have a Samsung device with the same stunning display you will see that it doesn't matters wich Company you choose if the OS isn't made for it.
Plastics against metal is a unfair war but ASUS feels a lot better to hold in hand. I don't understand why Samsung still uses this cheap plastics, ok they say it is for the wight but ASUS is lighter and thinner even in Metal Case..
Over all display res is ergonomics and ergonomics are pretty much the most important part in a held-in-hands device.
Samsung can't take any competition agains the TF700T in this point. Samsung put the same Resolution as they had on the first Galaxy Note to a double as big screen. Thats just a joke for a device calles it self highend.
Only points left for samsung, if you need it, is 3G and the stylus.
The Stylus is a pretty little toy, but at all I don't know where to use it in productivity.
So my choice again was clear, ASUS will become a lot faster with 4.1 and the screen is still amazing.
kabauterman said:
I spend a hour testing a Galaxy Note at a local store. Because my first TF700T was broken and I decided to test the Samsung to be sure that I pick the right one again.
Yes it's fast, but fast is not everything. Haptics, design and ergonomics goes pretty clear to ASUS.
That the ASUS is slower is just a matter of the Screen Resolution. Android is not optimized for this screen size now.
So if you have a Samsung device with the same stunning display you will see that it doesn't matters wich Company you choose if the OS isn't made for it.
Plastics against metal is a unfair war but ASUS feels a lot better to hold in hand. I don't understand why Samsung still uses this cheap plastics, ok they say it is for the wight but ASUS is lighter and thinner even in Metal Case..
Over all display res is ergonomics and ergonomics are pretty much the most important part in a held-in-hands device.
Samsung can't take any competition agains the TF700T in this point. Samsung put the same Resolution as they had on the first Galaxy Note to a double as big screen. Thats just a joke for a device calles it self highend.
Only points left for samsung, if you need it, is 3G and the stylus.
The Stylus is a pretty little toy, but at all I don't know where to use it in productivity.
So my choice again was clear, ASUS will become a lot faster with 4.1 and the screen is still amazing.
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This is the dumbest argument. First its not cheap plastic. Do some research.
Second the infinity problem is more then just screen resolution. Asus used cheap parts in the building. Thats why you have i/o issues.
Design and ergonomics is subjective. What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander.
And I have no clue what you're talking about with haptic. As far as I know it works fine on the Note. At least on mine.
The ONLY advantage you could quantitatively give Asus over Samsung is the screen resolution.
Aside from screen resolution, which ultimately each individual will have to decide which one he or she wants, both tablets have advantages over the other based on how you want to use it.
The Stylus is anything but a toy. I use it exclusively with S-Note for class and at work. Plus if you have any desire to do drawing/sketching on your tablet the Note is really the only choice. The infinity is horrible at stylus work. No matter how awesome your touchscreen tune is configured.
With that said the Infinity does offer a base with extended battery, sd card and a usb connection so if those matter then take that in to account. I found I didn't use the base very much. And when trying to take notes with the "office" apps I typed way to fast and there was serious delay.
As far as mirroring Infinity has hdmi out and Note has an allshare cast dongle (I believe this works with the note). Again subjective if you will use either.
I find the note better then then infinity. But that's just opinion and the way I use a tablet.
Oh and btw. Note warranty isn't voided when you root. Or at least you can get back to complete stock.
Nefariouss said:
This is the dumbest argument. First its not cheap plastic. Do some research.
Second the infinity problem is more then just screen resolution. Asus used cheap parts in the building. Thats why you have i/o issues.
Design and ergonomics is subjective. What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander.
And I have no clue what you're talking about with haptic. As far as I know it works fine on the Note. At least on mine.
The ONLY advantage you could quantitatively give Asus over Samsung is the screen resolution.
Aside from screen resolution, which ultimately each individual will have to decide which one he or she wants, both tablets have advantages over the other based on how you want to use it.
The Stylus is anything but a toy. I use it exclusively with S-Note for class and at work. Plus if you have any desire to do drawing/sketching on your tablet the Note is really the only choice. The infinity is horrible at stylus work. No matter how awesome your touchscreen tune is configured.
With that said the Infinity does offer a base with extended battery, sd card and a usb connection so if those matter then take that in to account. I found I didn't use the base very much. And when trying to take notes with the "office" apps I typed way to fast and there was serious delay.
As far as mirroring Infinity has hdmi out and Note has an allshare cast dongle (I believe this works with the note). Again subjective if you will use either.
I find the note better then then infinity. But that's just opinion and the way I use a tablet.
Oh and btw. Note warranty isn't voided when you root. Or at least you can get back to complete stock.
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for me plastic is cheap, no matter what kind u use, and if you use shiny plastics thats less cheaper haptics than ASUS.
Have you tried TF700T with 4.1 JB ROM? It is a lot more responsive and no more lags at all. More Resolution means more work for the Memory even on the UI, if it isn't optimized for this it would lag. Or did you have seen a more resoponsive Full HD Tablet now?! The I/O Troubles from cheap chips? Hynix 64GB NAND chip in 2X nm technology? Not the main problem about the I/O troubles more kernel side I think.
Yes Design is subjective. But please tell me that you better choose the Note Design over the Apple iPad's or ASUS TF700's. That should be a joke. Every review out there calls the plastic cheap.. and what feels cheap has a bad haptic in my understanding.
Stylus is a pretty nice feature for sure, but to be clear if you have the choice between Full HD and Stylus I choose Full HD because more density is just more.. more website, more picture, more from everything. If you want to draw on your tablet or you take handwritten notes often the stylus is yours. But why no full hd with stylus? the Display is just cheap and the display is one of the most important parts of a tablet.
I never had any real delay on my TF700T just little lags like on the most 4.0 Devices but from what you say delay in office I've never seen anything.
Tell me you would not prefer a Galaxy Note 10.1 and ASUS TF700T combination. The best of both worlds. ASUS Metal Body, Display, Dock, Camera, DDR3 and maybe Samsungs Stylus, 2GB Dualchannel Memory, IR-remote.
And as long as this perfect tablet doesn't exists everyone have to choose wich points he gives more wight.
And WHAT?! Rooting don't viod ASUS Warranty. Even unlocked ASUS still is cool with hardware defects.
Samsung also have a way to see what you have installed on your tablet and will don't give you warranty if you do great ****. Ever heard about Binary Counter?
Ever heard of the app that resets binary counter? Not like Asus which logs your s/n and has denied many warranty claims on that fact alone.
Please, your still spewing opinion as fact.
I guess you could search the infinity forum and the note forum and see which has more complaint threads.
Nefariouss said:
Please, your still spewing opinion as fact.
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you didn't?
I'm not a fanboy or something, yes I have a opinion and I give you a lot of facts for this opinion.
Even you do the same..
Well this got a lil out of hand lol. i was just answering a question that someone asked. He asked what one was faster and i gave him my opinion on it after playing with both side by side. He didn't seem worried about what they were made of, what JB would bring or what rooting/custom roms would do. Im guessing he was talking about sock out of the box devices if im worng then im sorry. I really didnt want this to turn into a flame war thread.
I have a Motorola Droid and an Infinity so if anyone wants to ask questions about that matchup, fire away.
kabauterman said:
you didn't?
I'm not a fanboy or something, yes I have a opinion and I give you a lot of facts for this opinion.
Even you do the same..
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The only thing I stated that was a fact that made one better then the other was screen resolution.
Everything else about the two tablets comes down the subjectivity. I stated features that distinguish each tablet, but those features don't make one better then the other. It's up to each person to decide what features they want in a tablet and can live without from another.
Don't be mad dude.
And straight out of the box my opinion is the note 10.1 holds an edge as the better tablet.
i'm not a fan boy of asus, infact i have GS3. I have tried so hard to like the Galaxy Note 10.1. Bought it and returned it to bestbuy TWICE. trying to like it more than my asus and just can't. First i hate the cheap plastic YES CHEAP PLASTIC. hate it when you are holding the devices it feel SO CHEAP. Second the screen sucks compare to asus, cannot look at such low resolution and salutated colors, third i cannot get use to using a big touchwiz tablet, with all that crap installed. I understand that you can install custom rom, but 90% of the people don't even know about custom rom so they are force to use the tablet just has it is. With the infinity you don't have to do any of that. It looks plain ICS just the way i like it. Touchwiz looks to cartoony made for kids. I use my tablet for presentation and HDMI output is a must for me. Hate the way samsung uses HDMI, have to buy a $40 xtra connector plus using MHL hdmi requires Xtra power connector to an outlet for it to work. Asus tf700 run a microHDMI from tablet to HDMI TV and done.
OP - Since you have both tablets it would be benificial for everyone to see some comparison videos side by side. Only if your up to it. It does become time consuming.
I also have a note 10.1 that i won at work. Its nice, the pen thing is pretty cool but otherwise useless unless i want to draw or be an artsy pantsy dude. I mean using supernote on my infinity and writing with my fingers is as good if not better than the S pen app suite from samsung. The tablet is quite more responsive because lag plaigs the transformer but again, the TF700 has the ressources, just need to work on the software issue. The note is fatter, thicker and chunkier, it feels much cheaper also. The TF700 overall is the better tablet, it feel premium, has a beatiful screen resolution that in certain cases is better. I've compared both tablet side-by-side and played an MKV bluray rip and suprisingly the note has better, brighter colors, the blue is more blue, the greens are more green and in color saturation its considerably nicer. but unless you compare side by side, there is no way to know.
P.S. I can make a side by side video for you guys tonight
Nefariouss said:
The only thing I stated that was a fact that made one better then the other was screen resolution.
Everything else about the two tablets comes down the subjectivity. I stated features that distinguish each tablet, but those features don't make one better then the other. It's up to each person to decide what features they want in a tablet and can live without from another.
Don't be mad dude.
And straight out of the box my opinion is the note 10.1 holds an edge as the better tablet.
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I disagree. Cheap plastic, gimmick pen and horrible update history. TF700 ftw.... Also dude you need to calm down, calling other users argument stupid because they expressed an opinion shows how close minded you are. That kind of attitude is not needed on these forums.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T
Ahhh.
I misunderstood the thread title.
It's about the Infinity and the Note 10.1.
Sorry I'm blind
pierrekid said:
I disagree. Cheap plastic, gimmick pen and horrible update history. TF700 ftw.... Also dude you need to calm down, calling other users argument stupid because they expressed an opinion shows how close minded you are. That kind of attitude is not needed on these forums.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T
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I encourage people to express opinion. But don't express it as fact.
beston94 said:
That's great Well, I'm buying my first tablet and I've read many reviews and many comparisons between those 2 tablets, and I know almost everything about them. The only thing left is something that can't be written down or recorded Just out of those 2, which one is faster I know it seems like a general question but I'm talking about raw performance. As in, which one will open applications a lot faster and load them a lot faster. You know, browsers and so on.
I'd appreciate it, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had Galaxy Note 10.1 for 3 weeks before returning. Prior to which I had Transformer Infinity for almost 4 weeks. So what I have now? I am back to Infinity and plan to keep it.
Galaxy Note 10.1 essentially superior to Infinity every aspect except screen i.e. smoother, more stable, faster (especially browser), longer tablet standalone battery life. This is a fact. You put things side by side and ran same applications, it is easy to see without even running benchmark tests.
So why I chose Infinity? Because the difference in aforementioned areas are to me not significant enough to the difference in screen resolution.
Full HD is (to me) noticeble every seconds I use the tablet. Slightly less stability i.e. random crash every other day or so (which for some reason seemed to have improved) vs. once every week is manageable. Loading web page is slower but that is like 10 seconds on really flash heavy site that I visit so I am losing probably 5-10 minutes every day at most because of the difference in page loading time.
jjdevega said:
OP - Since you have both tablets it would be benificial for everyone to see some comparison videos side by side. Only if your up to it. It does become time consuming.
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I prolly wont do any vids there are quite a few on youtube.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
Thats OK said:
Ahhh.
I misunderstood the thread title.
It's about the Infinity and the Note 10.1.
Sorry I'm blind
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Yeah little typo, it doesnt seem that i proofread. Sorry about that.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
I have been considering posting this for some time, and a couple of posts I saw in the past few days convinced me it's time. After seeing Asus CEO Jonny Shih showing off a "Pre-Production" Transformer Prime to Walt Mossberg last fall, I was one of the customers... scratch that... "suckers" who sold my Asus Transformer - the original, and waited patiently for the Prime. After the horrendous "roll out" wherein Best Buy oversold their pre-orders, Amazon dropped pre-orders and canceled hundreds more, I finally got my Prime. You know the rest, so I won't go into what a huge disappointment and letdown that became, but the worst part? Asus showing off the "fixed" product 3 weeks later, in the form of the Infinity. Then lying and claiming it was NOT the replacement for the Prime, but another BETTER Flagship. I challenge ANYONE to show me where I can still order or by a Prime in the US. (and don't bother showing me URL's with old stock for sale.)
Fast forward almost 1 year from when I sold my TF101, 8 months from the arrival of my sub-Prime and now I actually HAVE an Infinity (some of us are just gluttons for punishment, it seems) Anyway, I FINALLY found out what is at the root of the issues with this polarizing piece of hardware. How is it that something can have such an aura and presence and "quality" in terms of materials, and yet have defects, (light bleed, screen creak & separation etc. ) performance issues (I/O)
If you got to Asus Web Site and visit the section dedicated to the Transformer Pad Infinity. there are a couple of stylistic videos along the lines of "The making of the Transformer Infinity" showing some of the concepts, and engineering that contributed to the design. First, here is the "shpeel"
"While the specs of the tablet are hardly a surprise, it is the level of craftsmanship which impresses. An aluminum forging process, normally found in the aviation industry has been used to compress the metal of the tablet. A molding of the plastic parts with the metal at nano level has lead to the lack of any screws on the slate’s body. And of course, Corning Gorilla Glass 2 is protecting that precious screen at the device’s front."
In the second of two videos on this page: http://eee.asus.com/en/eeepad/transformer-infinity/features/
Titled: "The Next Transformation", one of the engineers says Asus CEO Jonny came up with the concept of "The Hard Way" - THIS is the root of the evil that inflicts ASUS tablets. The concept is to "come up with something that is worth doing, but challenging to accomplish, instead of choosing the easy path to success"
As noble as that sounds, it's plain stupid. WHY would atech company want to do things, build things, design things "The hard way" The build quality of the Infinity is the number one example of how this concept just DOES NOT WORK. The design is too difficult to build consistently. Sure they look awesome, feel solid, and are thin as insert your favorite anorexic chick here, but witness the defect rate. Oh wait... we don't KNOW what the defect rate is. Guess what? I believe It's pretty high. Samsung, with all their plasticiky products, that often look and feel cheap at least has a very good record of build consistency and few defective units.
Witness, I exchanged my Infinity 8 times. Yes, I know that's a ridiculous number, and I know you are thinking: this guy is all OCD, and picking on every tiny little quirk or issue. Maybe. I will grant that I am somewhat OCD, a bit of a perfectionist, but I still consider myself a reasonable person, and not over the top insanely picky. Here's why I returned 7 tablets, so you can decide for yourself:
First, every single one had a defect of some type, some minor, some cosmetic, but NOT ONE was defect free. At first I thought it was bad luck, but by exchange number 4 I KNEW there was some underlying issue; based on serial #'s it was NOTa particular "run" - In fact, I am now100% convinced that these are so difficult to build, that Asus is basically INCAPABLE of building even ONE without some issue. Over the 8 Tablets, I saw (sometime in combinations, but usually one issue per tablet. Ultimately, I ended up keeping one that had an "acceptable level" of issues. You know, like the Dead Pixel" policies companies use? This was "defect issues that are acceptable.
* Screen Back-light Bleed 6 of 8 tablets had noticeable and significant Light-bleed.
* Scratches, dents etc. Only 2 affected, one VERY minor (I almost kept it, until I saw the screen was also coming out of the frame mid-way across the top in landscape orientation) It had a tiny dent, and a tiny "shiny spot" where the anodized gray coating was missing- about the size of a pin head. The other one had a noticeable scratch from the plastic strip on a diagonal, about 1.5 inches long, and had chips out of the plastic strip where it joins to the metal back. Asus claims to us some type of Nano-molding technology to bind plastic and metal. I guess it failed on that one.
* Glass seperating or "Coming out" of the frame. This took the form of the glass being extremely warped, so much so, that I was concerned it would ultimately crack or shatter, as Gorilla Glass 2 is suppossedly thinner than the original, and just as strong, but under a constant stress, and temperature changes? I suspect that is how the "mystery screen breakage" occurs, when people have them docked, then open the tablet to see a broken screen. (Prime had a bunch of these stories, i have only seen a couple on the Infinity, but I suspect it could be worse, as there is no bonded strip around the outside, just a metal back with bent edges to hold the screen, and Lots of reports of screen separation.
TWICE along the way, I though I was all set. The first time, it was the screen warped and coming out of the fram I described above. Even though it worked perfectly, I was seriously afraid it would get worse, or shatter. If it got worse, i would have to shudder RMA the tablet. I went through that once. Never again, is all i can say on the subject. The other one was also really good... cosmetically very nice (by the way, the brushed circular pattern they apply to these is VERY inconsistent. I have seen huge variation on this, with some looking really nice, and some having inconsistent (there's that WORD AGAIN!) finishes, with deeper brush marks in "stripes" across the back, and others being smooth and super shiny.
The LOGO Cut - Done with a Laser? That's the only way I could conceive that they could precisely cut the back in a pattern to fit the Asus logo and have it inset into the aluminum. 2 of my exchanges had a ridiculously mis-cut back, and the logo was coming up, and the cut out was so sharp it would cut your hand easily - my daughter ended up bleeding onto the tablet, so that one went back. They other I was keeping, but failed some other way- I forget how now after all these tablets.
Number 7 was a keeper... I thought. It koooked PERFECT. Beautiful, They pretiest Infinity I ever had. But the Wifi was all over the place, and slow. I was seing 10 Mbit, maybe 12 Mbit speeds. then dropping to 3-5 Mbit. (Others I had would do 20+ Mbit every time, no matter when or how often you tested them. Some hit 30+ Anyway, all of a sudden I remembered the infamous "Pogo Pins" from the Prime, and I sueezed the tablet along the top edge. Not only did it IMEDIATELY shoot straight up to 30 Mbit, but the top left where I squeezed made a super loud creaking, and the screen deviated by a whole lot. You could SEE it moving in relation to the frame, with a loud creak and a clicking sound... great... there goes another one! (#7 - the last one I returned. And Best Buy had to pass it around so they could ALL give it a nice squeeze. Thanks Mr. Whipple!
Ripple effect (I would NOT return a tablet for this, but when it is present, but it looks noticeably less quality than ones that do not display this issue. It looks like several dozen tiny ripples running the length of the tablet, and in bright light it is obvious if you have this. Not all do, and some have no ripples at all.
Volume and power buttons are total crap. Some click and have a detent, others just "mush"
I mean, is this the price we must pay for all that sexy aluminum? This kind of "Delorean Motors build quality"? Hey! They DO sort of look like the Delorean, now that I think about it!
So this is my list. Do you have any of these:
1 Dents, divots or chips out of the metal.
2. Chips out of the plactic strip.
3. Spots where the anodized color is missing.
4. Glass that is rising above the frame, is notably warped (hold it level under some light, and look across the top. If it looks like a brezzy day on the lake, I would not feel too good about it.)
5. Poor application of the "Circular" pattern.
6. Poor laser cut of recessed Logo area. (including sharp metal edges)
7. Poor or failing Power buttons and Volume buttons.
8. Scratches of all types (on a factory sealed box)
9. Creeks, squeaks, Clucking, Clunking, Popping sounds when you squeeze the glass at the border.
That's mostly it for the Physical stuff on the tablet... It IS a beautiful tablet. I just think it's too difficult to build consistently well.
One final gripe: The Power Supply, same design since TF101, and really poor.
Poor grounding of power supply - feel that nice "tickle" when you run your fingers along the metal while on the charger? The Prime would only do this when the plug as oriented one way, switch it around and it stopped. The infinity does it on both polarities. How can they sell it like that? By the way, some are worse than others, I know, I have sampled enough. This is unacceptable.
If they could make these consistently well, there is a very short wishlist I would like to see filled:
* Better memory bus design. I am not sure this is entirely Asus fault, or if some falls on Nvidia, with the single channel memory controller, or whatever it is about Asus Tablet memory architecture ALL Asus tablets have some degree of IO issues - I know the Nexus 7 has I/O issues, though not as bad, but there ARE other Tegra 3 designs that are not plagued with this issue.
* Separate Bluetooth / Wifi chips. or at LEAST a 5 Ghz WiFi...Come ON! The iPAD 1 had 5 Ghz, as does EVERY Samsung Tablet.
* Better Buttons
* Micro USB Port on Tablet
* Real Stereo Speakers, preferably pointing at the user, on Keyboard would be the logical place (if that proves difficult, PERFECT: Jonny Shih's people will be ecstatic!)
Finally: STOP saying: "Dock attached: Use Keyboard to type WORDS" What the heck else are you going to use it for, sending morse code?
Poor I/O - Design of memory bus
Combined (cheap) WiFi/Bluetooth chipset - Thus the poor wifi when Bluetooth streaming.
No 5 Ghz Wifi (
Poor fit of the Primes Dock - Oh yeah, Asus has a blurb saying the TF201 dock is incompatible with TF700, but not the opposite. meanwhile, those videos I mentioned on Asus site? One of the goes on about how they spent a lot of time balancing the tablet to "make it work better in the TF201 Dock" Then they go and repackage Prime docks and charge a premium for them.
There... now I got all that off my chest. Can't WAIT for Jelly Bean!
......waaaaaaaaay to long of a post....
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T
A good post. Agree 100% with all of the problems.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
It's okay. I returned my tablet 9 times to Best Buy. The last two times I had my gf do it cause I was tired of getting my ID registered to their 3rd party company (The Retail Equation) who handles returns to find fraud. I finally got a good one. On my fourth exchange, I started opening the box right in their store to make sure nothing was wrong. I think it was about 9 exchanges in a total of 3 days.
the first I had was perfect, then I bricked it...
I got another one and it is also perfect, I can't understand you guys.
I had no light bleeding, no cracking sounds, no scratches on the metal, no seperated screen.
Nothing what you write about, not even a bit.
I got my two tablets from Amazon Germany, maybe WW Build quality is just better than US?
Good post!
Very informative and interesting.
I guess I was lucky, having gotten my mitts on one about two weeks before official retail <gnagna>. I can find no fault externally or with the screen, although I do have the same I/O issues everybody else is having, obviously (that's a clear design error).
Good post, had a good laugh -- I hope that JB will flip the coin for us and makes the 700 perform more like it should have out of the box -- though it remains uncertain at best if we will ever have the performance we paid so dearly for...
SmartAs$Phone said:
One final gripe: The Power Supply, same design since TF101, and really poor.
Poor grounding of power supply - feel that nice "tickle" when you run your fingers along the metal while on the charger? The Prime would only do this when the plug as oriented one way, switch it around and it stopped. The infinity does it on both polarities. How can they sell it like that? By the way, some are worse than others, I know, I have sampled enough. This is unacceptable.
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This is truly unacceptable! And you should also add to your list the power supply noise, it is very annoying sometimes.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
I must be lucky, all i have is a little light bleed. My buttons are good and pretty solid feeling, I have a ipad 2 to compare to and after the update this thing flys.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
I also must be one of the lucky ones.
This thing is perfect in every way.
I loved your post. It is always good to speak your mind.
Agree 100% Exchanged my TF101 7 times, Prime twice and gave up, Tf700 twice (still not happy) and now I'm waiting for the Nexus 10. Done with Asus. And yes, I know Nexuses are built by Asus, but Google holds their feet to fire when it comes to QA.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
So all you guys who have perfect device Asus just put in two antennas for perfect WiFi Bluetooth connection and faster nand chip so no more sloppy io performance? Interesting..
I got ww model and I can't believe why Asus decided to save maybe 10$ there.
Apart from my 3 hot Pixels seems that no problems.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
I'm pretty lucky too compared to some of you. I bought mine off of Amazon and its been absolutely perfect! I also got the dock + splashtop = lots of funny looks when docking and undocking while using window in class
I've only had mine a week now, but agree with others, mine is great! I had my Transformer Prime for 7 months. I never did an RMA or anything. Other than a poorly functioning GPS and a slightly weak WIFI signal, the TPrime was great. I'm expecting the same with the Infinity, and as I said, so far, just great!
Sorry, but I just don't understand returning a product 7 or 9 times. I look at technology this way: there's bound to be a few glitches here and there. I've grown to accept that and live with them. Now, obviously I admit there are certain hardware failures and other issues which shouldn't be accepted in an expensive device. I'm not saying I've never returned anything. I have. It took me two phones to get to a properly functioning Galaxy Nexus phone. Stuff happens, but 9 returns?! I just don't get that.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
SOTK said:
Sorry, but I just don't understand returning a product 7 or 9 times. I look at technology this way: there's bound to be a few glitches here and there. I've grown to accept that and live with them. Now, obviously I admit there are certain hardware failures and other issues which shouldn't be accepted in an expensive device. I'm not saying I've never returned anything. I have. It took me two phones to get to a properly functioning Galaxy Nexus phone. Stuff happens, but 9 returns?! I just don't get that.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
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I bought a keychain camera for about $40 on ebay (look up 808 cam). I researched the tech, i made sure to find a buyer that reportedly sold what he said (a #16 instead of a re-labled #3) and when i got the product i was generally happy with it. It had a few glitches but i got what i paid for.
When i spend $650 for a tablet and dock, especially when there are other similar quality devices for $100 cheaper, i am expecting to get what i pay for. I paid for perfection. I COULD have gone on ebay and bought a bargian basement tablet for, say, $75, and maybe it would do what it claimed!
The reason we are upset is this:
We were sold a quality product
top of the line specs
from a trusted manufacturer with a history of meticulous perfection
Instead what we recieved was a product with many build issues
imperfect construction
sloppy workmanship
poor design
bad internals
and finally, extremely poor customer service.
Asus had been, in my books, one of the top companies. I would never think twice before buying a laptop or computer from them. Now.... I dont know. I had a prime, i should have learned from that. Now i have an infinity. Not perfect but considering (through a series of fortunate events) it cost me about $250 i can live with that.
Usually, if you have something that was mid-tier and doesnt work perfect you could say "should have bought the top end device", or justify those problems with saying you saved because its not the highest end model.
Well this is the highest end model. The galaxy note 10 comes close but unless you want the pen the infinity is the winner by specs. How can we justify poor quality when we pay top dollar? We cant.
What i dont get is how, after 9 returns, did this person not say "maybe i'd be better off with a tab2.0 or a galaxy note". I am at that point, i really, really love the specs for the infinity on paper, and i love the form factor, i love how light it is, how solid it feels (when its not falling apart), how thin it is, i think its awesome. I dont like how they charge $650 for something that should cost half that with the amount of problems it has.
Let me put it this one other way...
If you went to a car dealership and bought a car off the lot, brand new, never been driven before, and one of the tires was flat. Or one of the break rotors was misaligned, or one of the cylindars was misfiring, or the transmission didnt work, or the breaks were spotty, or the headlights didnt work properly.... if you had ANY problems you would say "hey, this isnt right, its brand new give me one thats perfect." Thats what we want from Asus. We want a tablet that is perfect. Yes, android itself has some quirks, and i can deal with software issues, but hardware issues? Not for my money. No sir!
Sorry for the long post but i, like OP and many others, are ready to throw in the towel with this infernal thing. And dont even get me started on the keyboard dock....
My Infinity was also almost perfect right away i opened the box. Except for the little, little light bleed, everything was OK - HW wise.
SW is another story, but not a part of this discussion I think.
Thank, because this is not really a cheap piece of HW, i handled it very gently.
After almost 3 months of using it, I decided to actually use it for what it is meant. It goes with me wherever I go.
I've been on vacations for 10 days, it goes with me to work and back, currently it is with me on a business trip.
Well well well. A lot of people were reporting detachments, screeches an so on. I never had them. Until now.
Left part of the tablet has started to screech few days ago, also i can feel a detachment.
I am right handed, which means i hold tablet with my left hand, on the left side. As the tablet is pretty heavy you have to hold it pretty hard.
Whenever i pick it up it screetches and i can see the screen "waves" on the left side of the screen.
I am afraid it will get worse. It feels like some day everything will just come apart and i get ending with two piecev of tablet.
Hope not.
This is my experience, and i hate to say, but i am slowly starting to regret this investment.
pileot said:
Asus had been, in my books, one of the top companies. I would never think twice before buying a laptop or computer from them. Now.... I dont know. I had a prime, i should have learned from that. Now i have an infinity. Not perfect but considering (through a series of fortunate events) it cost me about $250 i can live with that.
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I feel the same. Previously I have bought two ASUS laptop I have been satisfied with. But after owning a Infinity for less than 3 moths my LCD suddenly cracked without a scratch on Gorilla Glass and poor ASUS costumer service, I will say no more ASUS.
kabauterman said:
the first I had was perfect, then I bricked it...
I got another one and it is also perfect, I can't understand you guys.
I had no light bleeding, no cracking sounds, no scratches on the metal, no seperated screen.
Nothing what you write about, not even a bit.
I got my two tablets from Amazon Germany, maybe WW Build quality is just better than US?
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Mine is a WW and also zero defects. I had 2 units opened at the store here in Bangkok so I could choose the between the champagne and amethyst and both were fine with no issues.
Do we actually know that the I/O issues are hardware related? The reason I ask is I have a HTC One X with Tegra 3 and no matter how hard I try everything keeps flying smoothly. I can start a ten app update while switching between as many apps as I want without it even breaking a sweat. My vote is for ASUS software being sh*t.
maedox said:
Do we actually know that the I/O issues are hardware related? The reason I ask is I have a HTC One X with Tegra 3 and no matter how hard I try everything keeps flying smoothly. I can start a ten app update while switching between as many apps as I want without it even breaking a sweat. My vote is for ASUS software being sh*t.
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Yeah but HTC didn't choose a cheap NAND drive as Asus did. This is not completely tegra related. Just cheap internals which Asus using.
Same goes with the wifi speed dropping when using bluetooth. Those bastards have the same antenna for both wifi and bluetooth and not even supporting 5ghz signal. So lame. I think the price difference for Asus would be something like 10$ but they decided to go cheap on this.
I was seriously considering to opening this up and installing faster NAND and another antenna but unfortunately that would result 100% surely into non working tablet.