Related
So after being active in the forums around when ICS was released then staying idle for a month or two, all I come back to is tons of threads with people asking how to downgrade. So my question is, does anyone actually enjoy this tablet? Does anyone open it up or power it on, on a daily basis and enjoy using it?
This is kind of a joke thread but sadly also kind of a serious thread. I personally love this tablet. I get one or two SOD's a day (On a bad day) but everything else is smooth and works well, especially for a year old tablet.
very happy. if xda didn't exist...i think i'd be all sorts of miserable...but since it does exist...found me a custom kernel (the "test" series by guevor) and done. most problems are gone.
i say most because the screen tearing happens every so often...but nothing i can't simply ignore.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
miketoasty said:
So after being active in the forums around when ICS was released then staying idle for a month or two, all I come back to is tons of threads with people asking how to downgrade. So my question is, does anyone actually enjoy this tablet? Does anyone open it up or power it on, on a daily basis and enjoy using it?
This is kind of a joke thread but sadly also kind of a serious thread. I personally love this tablet. I get one or two SOD's a day (On a bad day) but everything else is smooth and works well, especially for a year old tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this is no joke. I have two 101s, B50 and B70, both 32g and both rooted after the .21 update. Very minor issues like apps need to be re-installed, but none of the major problems associated with custom kernels and roms. Excellent multimedia device, USB adapter connects to external storage including hds, wifi gps and bt are functioning better than the Prime, that's for sure. As compared to the TF300, the only difference is a faster SOC but then again there's no boatload of games that should have been released with the Prime so majority of the apps out there were designed for the Tegra 2.
I will be keeping my 101s for quite a while until the 700 and I expect a major leap in performance and looks, USB 3.0 for one and e-sata without the dock!
I'm happy for the most part. I use my TF101 for several hours each day, and don't have any of the major issues with ICS that some others do. It has never, ever randomly rebooted while I was using it, or locked up, etc. It would sometimes reboot itself during sleep, but this wasn't a major issue for me. It hasn't even done that since the latest update, but I turn it off more often now instead of putting it to sleep. I don't have the dock, so none of those issues apply to mine either.
I am happy with ICS. I was pretty disappointed with the release state of the transformer. MKV playback, battery/dock problems, Android HC software not that great, and all kinds of other little problems. However between ICS upgrade and Asus support, I'm 97% satisfied with my tablet, however HD video playback, web browsing, word processing, and a few other small things could use some work.
Sadly I can't/won't use custom roms as every one I've tried either has minor stability problems or app incompatibility problems. So rooted stock with a custom kernel for me it is.
I'll hold on to the tf101 until Asus releases something with a screen that can rival the Ipad 3. The prime and 700 aren't a large enough increase in specs to warrant an upgrade at full cost.
Ran stock for quite awhile and just downgraded today so that I could root, install CWM, and put on a ROM. Trying Android Revolution right now. I've been very impressed with this tablet. My friends who have iPads are always asking to play with my tablet.
-Daryel
I'm pretty happy- I've gotten a few reboots, but they are relatively infrequent. I am really not a power user, so my tablet isn't on for 8 hours a day.
What I have really enjoyed is the unlocked bootloader and the frequent updates that ASUS puts out- I've really learned a lot about modding and deodexing roms, and generally, how Android is put together. In that sense, it has been a fun device.
in the last month and a half Ive gone through 3 tablets
at first I went cheap with a viewsonic Gtablet that had a screen issue I fixed.
Loved all the ports & price. didnt like the screen.
then i came across a great deal on a galaxy tab 10.1. which I loved. Great screen, super light and an amazing speaker.
for the last week and a half Ive had my 32GB TF101 B70. and as of Friday sold the other tablets.
I got a good deal with keyboard dock and love it so far, though I wish the screen and speakers were as nice as the Samsung, especially the speakers. that little thing could fill a small room with sound.
I made the mistake of updating to the new fimrware on My B70 and ran into issues trying to downgrade but the previous firmware and current have been stable for me with heavy nightly use since I got it.
lots of streaming ect and splashtop HD is great with the touchpad & dock
---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:23 PM ----------
Just remembered, the only random issue I seem to have is once in a while it seems there is a diagonal split with the screen showing some other image. its not common and goes away in a second or 2 though
I have no real issues with the Transformer or ICS as a whole. Wiping my device before updating to ICS fixed my deep sleep issue & battery drain issue. However I have been experiencing some problems with Opera since the update.
Well I guess talking about it jinxed me. left the room to get a drink, came back and was on the asus booting screen with the circle of dots stuck. had to hold the power button to reboot. never happened before, hope it doesn't become a habit
I use mine all day everyday. Its replaced my laptop as far as Surfing and socializing..I dont have the errors tho.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has had a near perfect experience with this great device.
People asking how to downgrade is a little more noticeable that people doing nothing and sticking with ASUS stock ICS. For me ICS is clearly better than Honeycomb and the odd reboot issue doesn't change that. I use my Transformer daily but still use my Macbook,PC and phone daily too so nothing has really been replaced.
I posted a poll about people favourite Android version and ICS won easily.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1601556
Supremely happy with my TF made my laptop nearly obsolete . Little to no issues occasional S.O.D.'s but its nothing to deter me from using it. These tabs are so versatile I watch movies, play games, hook it up to my TV, get on that fancy inter net thingy, oh and it destroys the battery life compared to my laptop by 1 day lol
I love all three of my tablets, they all run damn near perfect, all rooted running revolver ics.
Honestly,I have read most of the issue/complaint threads and to me it seems like most of these threads are the same people discussing the same issues... Making it appear as though more people are having issues... This is just my observations... I know several people with transformers... None of them have issues, however I personally rooted and flashed custom roms for about half of them... The rest know what they are doing.
I have had my hands hand on dozens of tfs all ran ics fine... Some had bad flashes that need to be redone... All in all it's hard for me to believe that so many are having so many issues. Like with most consumer products, the happy people tend to be less vocal while the unhappy are not... This phenomenon definitely has an effect on the perception of the size of issues. Not to deny there is a potential issue, but so many including myself have managed to make our devices and others very stable.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA App
I'm satisfied with mine. I bought it back in September as my own birthday present. In hindsight, I guess I could have waited for the Prime, but I had been on the fence about buying a tab for months and I didn't want to end up constantly waiting for something better to come out, all the while not enjoying having a tablet.
I didn't buy it for any specific reason. I just wanted something that I would keep around the house. Something to look something up real quick while watching tv. Or read something out in the yard. Or play a quick game. Etc. Just basica stuff you would want to do but not want to lug around a laptop for.
Stock it did everything I needed it to. I did root and overclock. After a while I began to get mad at the amount of apps that didn't work or didn't work right with honeycomb though.
I just flashed ICS the other night. Haven't had any serious issues and I think now the tablet finally performs as it should. Everything is much more fluid and polished and hopefully now there will be greater compatibility with apps. Some things still annoy me that are no fault of the tab...like the lack of availibility of apps like hbo go. It really grinds my gears. I mean really...who the hell still uses android 2.1?
But yes, overall I am very happy with it. Aside from doin what I originally wanted it to do, i've obtained some useful apps that can help me with my work when i'm at home. It's a device I would feel naked without at this point. It's really always with me.
had mine since release. currently on team EOS rom and it's significantly faster than stock ICS, most notably while browsing. i love being able to scroll down a big webpage at full speed and see no lag at all, which stock never came close to doing! aside from the black screen on rotation, i have had no problems.
it saddens me to see so many people having trouble. mine has never rebooted or anything like that, literally everything has worked perfectly. i feel like my transformer will last awhile, it's been a great laptop replacement thus far.
i just wish hulu plus worked on aosp ICS roms. is there a way?
Had mine for over a year already. Still running fine.
Currently running Megatron ROM with guevor's kernel.
No sods and no rr's at all for me
CM9 and Test 17 1.5ghz o/c
My tablet has only ever been off when I have been out for a weekend the rest of the time it is never turned off so it has probably gone without rest for a year all up
Very happy with my tf and it is used everyday in fact i had a accident recently and have had to take time off work so there has been a couple times i have used it all day non stop
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium HD app
I'm quite happy with my TF101 running stock ICS.
At first I had quite a lot of unexplained reboots but that seems to have stopped.
I use my TF101 daily for IM and web browsing which is exactly what I got it for.
Ive ran a benchmark to see where it sits and it seems to sit right above the prime. this tab has been quite choppy and laggy on apps that i feel should be handled smoothly by the tegra 3. my galaxy s3 performs significantly better than this and its only got the s4 chip. im tryingto figure out if i just have a bad tab off the press and this is not what i should be experiencing.
does anyone know of any tools to do any kind of hardware tests or other tests to determine whether or not this is internally broken or im just expecting more from this tab.
examples of lags: games that should smooth with a consistent frame rate are choppy and frame rate is low, typing on office pro is terribly lagged and have to wait to make sure i spelled things out correctly. i really just hope this is a bad tab so i can just switch it out.
any input relevant to figuring this problem out is appreciated.
thank.s
vegandroid said:
Ive ran a benchmark to see where it sits and it seems to sit right above the prime. this tab has been quite choppy and laggy on apps that i feel should be handled smoothly by the tegra 3. my galaxy s3 performs significantly better than this and its only got the s4 chip. im tryingto figure out if i just have a bad tab off the press and this is not what i should be experiencing.
does anyone know of any tools to do any kind of hardware tests or other tests to determine whether or not this is internally broken or im just expecting more from this tab.
examples of lags: games that should smooth with a consistent frame rate are choppy and frame rate is low, typing on office pro is terribly lagged and have to wait to make sure i spelled things out correctly. i really just hope this is a bad tab so i can just switch it out.
any input relevant to figuring this problem out is appreciated.
thank.s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something you might want to try is in Developer Options, eith turn off animation or reset all animation settings to .5 (default is 1.0). This seems to help with lag. There are some other tweaks you can do, especially if you root. Rooting is reversable. Just unlocking bootloader isn't so make sure you really want to keep your TF700 before you unlock. Read up on what's possible...there are quite a few stickied threads relating to your question.
i have it rooted and ive already changed the transitioning to .5 and ive even toggled 2d rendering from the gpu. im very familiar with android so if you have any other tips that involve a rooted device would help.
thanks
vegandroid said:
i have it rooted and ive already changed the transitioning to .5 and ive even toggled 2d rendering from the gpu. im very familiar with android so if you have any other tips that involve a rooted device would help.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may not want to force gpu rendering all the time, just for some things--like it does help with scrolling through Netflicks--but I think it's a drag on performance in other ways. Just experiment and see what works. If you go into the Development section, there are quite a few tweaks to try out. I really think that our best bet is either through custom roms and the tweaks they contain, or with updated (read Jelly Bean) firmware. I also scrupulously clear out my recent apps, unless I need to go back and forth between apps (multitasking, android style). That frees up a lot of ram.
Hi all,
there seem to me many threads on JB update coming / not coming ; how to...
but nothing on feedbacks once updated.
PLEASE POST HERE YOUR FEEDBACKS ONLY ONCE YOU ARE RUNNING JB ON A700.
I will do it myself here as soon as I have updated. Meanwhile, lets hear the lucky few...
Major if not only downsides of the A700 reported by many of us being the following :
- heat issue
- responsiveness of touchscreen
- some minor lag.
Lets here if it has been fixed
Running Jelly Bean
So far, the changes aren't huge. The UI is smoother, the touch screen works great for me though I never had a problem. I'll have more answers once I root this and I'd be happy to try to answer any questions.
Performance much better and touch responsiveness also increased.
After the update total happy with the tablet which was before not 100% the case...
Just got the Jelly Bean update. I was VERY skeptical about this update changing much on my tablet but I have to admit it actually feels smoother, and to top that off I'm noticing a lot better frame rates in the games I play. Here's a rundown of everything I tested and my feelings about each: Rayman Jungle Run which ran like crap before is now playable, Beach Buggy Blitz is super smooth now, JetPack Joyride is smoother but still slower than iPad version, Pinball Arcade is same as before which is pretty smooth except during multiball, Splashtop 2 HD seems a bit slower but it might be my work network will have to test at home later, HD video playback was smooth before and still is now, Swiping home screens is MUCH smoother, and lastly app loading seems to be smoother and with a different animation like a zoom in transition (I don't know what you'd call it but it's cool looking). Oh and browsing is the same to me on the default browser, haven't tried Opera or Firefox yet.
OK, I try to summarize my impressions.
Touch sensitivity:
Sensitivity is better then before, but not that good I had at the delivery status. Since I got my A700, the JB update is my 3rd one. Touch sensitivity was best after delivery and got worse after any update. The JB update is the 1st one with having improvements. Typing text now is nearly it was at the beginning.
Heat issue:
Now this is better it was ever, which means the A700 is now getting really warm and not hot any more. I don't really play that often, but the most heat I had when playing Dark Meadow. After the first 2 updates I had a crash of Dark Meadow after a few minutes. With JB I don't have that crashes and the A700 is not hot.
General:
I'm really happy having JB now It's really good that Acer provided that; you can't expect that in those days. It's awful that other companies want us to buy new tablets and phones every few months. Other promise to provide updates, but they don't. Thank you Acer for giving us JB!
The A700 isn't really good to test all possibilities of Google now. I'm still playing around with that. Maybe somebody having a A701 can tell us more. The other JB changes are more or less minor changes for me. I didn't find that big difference, but the update was from 4.0.x to 4.1.1
The major changes were giving back the touch sensitivity and reducing the heat, that happened.
Sent from my A700 using xda app-developers app
Check your setting, the updates set it back to medium sensitivity
Sent from my A700 using xda app-developers app
Pros
Heat is reduced
Games are much smoother. Played Horn for half an hour with no noticeable lag.
Nova Launcher is perfect.
Screen is much more responsive...Corners register on first touch instead of third or tenth...
My wifi is working wonderfully now. Previously I was unable to watch Netflix or Crackle in the bedroom, but was able to watch my first Crackle movie in bed last night. Speeds are MUCH faster.
Cons
Basic launcher still laggy.
Chrome is laggy and buggy.
Bundled ACER Bloatware eats up much more memory on JB than ICS
I'm pleased, overall. Would never go back to ICS. This is what the tablet should have been three months ago.
ExtremeRyno said:
Bundled ACER Bloatware eats up much more memory on JB than ICS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just disable it, if you don't like it. No root needed. No more whining.
.....Obviously.
Still needed to be stated, and it is a fact. Bloatware became more intrusive with the update. I plan to root soon enough and just remove it from the system altogether. And yes, I know I can disable it...I'd rather have the space back.
I got the OTA a few days ago. My first impressions are as follow:
- heat issue: seem to have improved but not a big gamer so not relevant to me
- responsiveness of touchscreen: big improvement for me. Keybord is now as responsive as expected with normal setting.
- some minor lag: NOT improved, seem worse. It feels like the overall OS is not as smooth as before. Will have to look into this.
After update to JB. The overall smoother than before.
But make sure that you need to factory reset your devices after the update.
casper326 said:
After update to JB. The overall smoother than before.
But make sure that you need to factory reset your devices after the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't do a factory reset after the update. What would be the reason? Just curious....
---------- Post added at 07:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------
I received the JB update today after getting two ICS updates.
On my A700, System Tuner Pro reports ~ 20 deg F lower cpu temps - sometimes more - depending on the task(s) performed. While the back still gets warm to the touch, it has made a big positive impact IMHO.
Touch response is improved and the tab seems overall more "snappy".
Didn't do a factory reset either - is it necessary?
I'll report back more impressions of the update after I've used it for a few days.
Jelly Bean feedback
I am not a gamer, but I use my tablet quite a bit throughout the day for e-mail, documents, browsing, etc. So my feedback is based on my actual user experience.
1. NOTICEABLE difference in touch sensitivity!- I have my setting on "High" and it works like a charm! works well on "Medium" too.
2. Heat issue definitely better. Before JB, the tab would get HOT, but now, only slightly warm. BIG difference!
3. I turned the Acer Ring off in ICS because having it active did seem to cause some lag in performance and screen speed. I turned it on in JB and the issue didn't seem to manifest itself. However, since I had gotten use to NOT using the Ring, I turned it back off.
4. I noticed the added Acer bloatware and am well aware that I can turn it off. It seems like the Acer Cloud platform is simply Acer's method of doing something like Dropbox or Box, or any other type of service like that. I may give it a whirl to see how it does. Since I store most of my "stuff" on my 32 GB external SD card, the added space the bloatware takes up isn't an issue right now. If I don't like the way Acer Cloud works, I will disable the bloatware.
Overall, I think JB is a big improvement over ICS and the tab is finally doing what I thought it should be doing all along!
Again, this is just my opinion!
It's because some of apps is for ICS(you download it from Play Store when you are in ICS).
So those apps will affect the performance.
Remember that after a update, if you want the best performance, please do a factory reset...
---------- Post added at 11:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 AM ----------
[/COLOR]
casper326 said:
It's because some of apps is for ICS(you download it from Play Store when you are in ICS).
So those apps will affect the performance.
Remember that after a update, if you want the best performance, please do a factory reset...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it safe to do a restore of the apps from My Backup Pro? I don't want to completely rebuild my tablet if possible..thanks
It's save... but can't get the real performace.
At the other post, one of the member also get a real performance after do a factory reset....
The A700 JB rom is 100% confirmed smoother than the ICS. If you feel worst than before, you really need a factory reset...
Thanks
casper326 said:
It's save... but can't get the real performace.
At the other post, one of the member also get a real performance after do a factory reset....
The A700 JB rom is 100% confirmed smoother than the ICS. If you feel worst than before, you really need a factory reset...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. I understand. Since I am not having a performance issue, I may leave it at is. I don't want to have to rebuild my tablet like it was straight out of the box. I am running multiple e-mail accounts and some Exchange apps as well. AGain...thanks!
Tab2:
Pros:
Better Screen
Better Battery Life
Better Speakers
Better web performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk_fePknM2U
TF300
Better general performance (in theory) (but reports of I/O lag)
Runs Tegra games
Better camera
Am I in the ball park here?
This tablet will be mostly used for web browsing, document editing/viewing and Youtube watching.
I'm not very interested in applying any Frankenstein solutions (ie: data2sd, browser2ram). In principle, for a fair comparison, a system should work well in stock minus the bloatware.
How do you feel about the I/O lag and performance in general?
Which one would you choose? Tab 2 or TF300?
i looked at both and chose the tf300
there's no slot for microsd card
and last the price
look at the tf700 (without dock to reduce price)
Tab 2 has microSD.
and they are the same price
Now that everyone is back from work, any ideas?
Not trying to start a flame war or anything.
A friend of mine owns a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and I own the TF300 and from experience my TF300 runs circles around his tablet. The screen and speaker placement is better on the Galaxy tab ill give it that but the performance is lacking. It can get very choppy just flicking through home screens. After installing a custom rom on his tablet it did improve a bit but the TF300 was still the better performer.
Edit: For Web Browsing I use Boat Browser and it runs super smooth. you should test it out.
HorsexD said:
A friend of mine owns a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and I own the TF300 and from experience my TF300 runs circles around his tablet. The screen and speaker placement is better on the Galaxy tab ill give it that but the performance is lacking. It can get very choppy just flicking through home screens. After installing a custom rom his tablet did improve a bit but the TF300 was still the better performer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is your web performance? I am very interested in that since it's the major use case.
is yours stock or custom rom with stuff like browser2ram?
klau1 said:
How is your web performance? I am very interested in that since it's the major use case.
is yours stock or custom rom with stuff like browser2ram?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is rooted but stock was still smoother then the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 with a Custom Rom. To have a general comparison I would go to your local best buy and check out the display models. The choppiness of the Galaxy tab 2 can get annoying. Also I dont think browser2Ram works on Boat browser and it was still out performing the stock browser.
Tf300 is a better choice. The keyboard dock made the difference. I owned the tab before and return it to purchase the tf300.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
seeing as your asking this on a tf300 forum ,you would have had to of had a very bad time with the tf300 to say get anything else i had the tf101 before and before that the acer a500 and this just tops the lot , the tegra 3 chip and ddr3 help screen is a bit poor compared to others but its a tablet and i let screen clarity go for the cost otherwise i would of had the infinity tab but all it offered was not worth the extra :laugh:
IO lags in browser are very annoying. I have tried several browsers - Stock, Chrome, Dolphin with Jetpack, Firefox, Boat and ALL of them are lagging. I have compared browsing experience with iPad2 and IO lags are very evident. Apart from this TF300 is not so bad.
As a previous user of the TF101, I noticed the variability of device quality in both Hardware and Software performance.
What I'm hearing here is that everyone seems to agree I/O problems persist, but some are claiming better performance than others.
This is a similar story to the TF101. The one I got was perfect, even faster when compared to the Prime. All the while, others I know in person had to return theirs due to unacceptable performance.
At least with the TF101, I can verify that it's not just perception. My friends who had to return their TF101, personally found mine faster. In fact, it was because of mine that they bought theirs assuming all the units would perform identically.
My friend who bought his TF201, also bought it because of how impressive he found my TF101. But again, it was to his disappointment that his did not perform nearly as well.
Sounds like the same old story of Asus is replaying itself every product revision thanks to their poor QA.
I would rather get something I'm sure will perform satisfactorily over something that might be VERY fast, or VERY slow. (especially since it's from a store that charges 15% restocking fee on non-defective items, and they will argue "slow" is an opinion)
I only tried Stock on the GAlaxy Tab 2 10.1, but it was veeeeeeeeery, veeeeeeeeery laaggy for me... - so I took TF300T, but only problem were this f*ckin' I/O laags on stock, so I unlocked bootloader, used many custom ROMs and now I'm back on stock and untermensch's kernel - a choice of my dreams, working like a charm! (GPU OC as in kernel, plus CPU OC to max. 1.5 ghz) so only thing is if you need the Pad for gaming, you should use a custom kernel to get more performance...
-angel* said:
I only tried Stock on the GAlaxy Tab 2 10.1, but it was veeeeeeeeery, veeeeeeeeery laaggy for me... - so I took TF300T, but only problem were this f*ckin' I/O laags on stock, so I unlocked bootloader, used many custom ROMs and now I'm back on stock and untermensch's kernel - a choice of my dreams, working like a charm! (GPU OC as in kernel, plus CPU OC to max. 1.5 ghz) so only thing is if you need the Pad for gaming, you should use a custom kernel to get more performance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you use to improve browser performance?
For one I noticed there is: data2sd in untermensch's kernel.
klau1 said:
What do you use to improve browser performance?
For one I noticed there is: data2sd in untermensch's kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nothing more than unter's kernel and Chrome (is really fast for me )
-angel* said:
I only tried Stock on the GAlaxy Tab 2 10.1, but it was veeeeeeeeery, veeeeeeeeery laaggy for me... - so I took TF300T, but only problem were this f*ckin' I/O laags on stock, so I unlocked bootloader, used many custom ROMs and now I'm back on stock and untermensch's kernel - a choice of my dreams, working like a charm! (GPU OC as in kernel, plus CPU OC to max. 1.5 ghz) so only thing is if you need the Pad for gaming, you should use a custom kernel to get more performance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the I/O issue fixed by a different ROM? If so, it means it's not a hardware issue and I can be hopeful for an official fix.
Also, do these custom ROMs significantly improve overall speed without the overclocking? I care deeply about the battery life!
Thanks!
Evan_ said:
Is the I/O issue fixed by a different ROM? If so, it means it's not a hardware issue and I can be hopeful for an official fix.
Also, do these custom ROMs significantly improve overall speed without the overclocking? I care deeply about the battery life!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my understanding, after reading many threads and discussions from the knowledgeable people here at xda and other forums, the custom ROMs provide a WORKAROUND not a FIX.
Basically, these units all have extremely slow internal Flash storage. So the solution (in custom ROMs) is to bypass the internal storage and put everything it can into the external SD. (Data2SD) Which basically makes the internal Flash useless.
Imagine buying a Laptop with a broken Harddrive so you are forced to use the CD-ROM drive instead.
Secondly, the custom ROMs loads the Internet Browser into the RAM (Browser2Ram), wasting a portion of the 1GB of RAM especially precious if you multitask.
This pretty much means you no longer have the flexibility of swapping out the SD Card whenever you want, since most programs will require it to run and have less free RAM for loading programs.
Of course to top it off, the price of admission is voiding the warranty since the bootloader must be unlocked before any custom ROMs can be loaded.
I was using Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 with 3g for over three months, now I have TF101G to be honest two of them. And both of transformers are much faster than SGT2. ASUS has a problem with SoD and RR ( no matter what soft or even kernel) , but I rather have reboot and 1 minute break once or twice a day than a so laggy system such as in SGT2. I don't know the problem of I/O in TF300 but I think that overall satisfaction would be still better on ASUS, now I'm thinking on TF300TG and I'm here because I want to be prepared for such problems. Are there any others problems with TF300TG I should knew?
Thanks
p3v4x
klau1 said:
From my understanding, after reading many threads and discussions from the knowledgeable people here at xda and other forums, the custom ROMs provide a WORKAROUND not a FIX.
Basically, these units all have extremely slow internal Flash storage. So the solution (in custom ROMs) is to bypass the internal storage and put everything it can into the external SD. (Data2SD) Which basically makes the internal Flash useless.
Imagine buying a Laptop with a broken Harddrive so you are forced to use the CD-ROM drive instead.
Secondly, the custom ROMs loads the Internet Browser into the RAM (Browser2Ram), wasting a portion of the 1GB of RAM especially precious if you multitask.
This pretty much means you no longer have the flexibility of swapping out the SD Card whenever you want, since most programs will require it to run and have less free RAM for loading programs.
Of course to top it off, the price of admission is voiding the warranty since the bootloader must be unlocked before any custom ROMs can be loaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really - on stock kernel I got ~1000 I/O in Quadrant, on untermensch based kernel (it is my own with some extras - will by posted when it will be ready) I got 7300 I/O without OC:fingers-crossed: without using data2sd.
I'd say that running a custom rom noticeably improves browser performance. I watched the video in the original post and did my own identical tests with my TF300t. Note that the video was posted in May, so there has been an OS update since then.
I loaded up both the stock browser and then Boat browser, and even used the same website (phonearena.com). My tablet didn't exhibit any of the choppyness shown in the video. Pinch zooming was smooth and fast, and never once skipped when zooming in and out. It basically looked just like the Galaxy Tab 2 in that video. loading on Boat browser was maybe a tad quicker, but zooming and scrolling was nearly the same.
My tf300 is unlocked, and I'm running cleanROM with a STOCK tf300 kernel in "balanced" mode.
I also have an ipad mini (which is basically ipad2 hardware), and did the same test on the same website just for kicks. Once the page completely loaded (and I think it took a bit longer than the asus tab), scrolling and zooming on the ipad mini is indeed crisper than the asus.
The screen movement/animations seem to follow your finger's position better than the android tabs I've used. I don't think it's actually smoother per se, but when you move your finger up and down quickly on android tabs, the animation is always a spit second behind where your finger is, even though it's smooth. On the ipad, the animation is noticeably closer to where your fingers are moving.
Hey guys, I just received my Pipo M6 today so I thought I'd offer my experience so far. Keep in mind that I am coming from an iPad mini and my daily driver is a HTC One X running Cyanogenmod 10.1.
Build Quality:
TBH, I was hoping for something a little better after reading some user reviews. It's still quite good overall but there's just a few too many seams and the edges are a little rough at certain points. Nothing major but it just feels like a made and designed in China product. It doesn't bother me so much though since I won't notice it after putting it in a case.
I was glad to find that underneath the temporary screen protector which comes with all new products these days, there was another one underneath it which means you won't need to bother with putting on one yourself.
Screen:
VERY pretty. Viewing angles are good and colours really pop. Brightness level is amazing and will surely be sufficient even if you are in the dessert. In terms of resolution, you can set it to HD mode or Normal which requires a restart. I couldn't really notice any differences although I might if I had another one sitting side by side. Only thing is, I used both AnTuTu and Android System Info to find out the resolution and there seem to be some discrepancies.
Under HD Mode, both apps reported a resolution of 1536x1952 with 320dpi. Now that's still within Retina level territory but they were advertising 2048x1536. Not a huge difference I know but still a little annoying.
At Normal Mode, AnTuTu reported 1600x1128 and Android System info reported 1200x1528. Not sure why the two differed but the difference is negligible when you do the math.
User Interface:
As you may know, you have the choice of using the standard Jelly Bean interface or the special Pipo interface which makes everything look a bit like Windows 8. I chose to go with the latter. Everything is quite smooth although perhaps not quite as flawless as my iPad mini but with Android devices, I've come to accept that.
I really like where they're going with this interface although there are some definite rough edges. It comes preloaded with 5 home screens labeled: Home, Media, Apps, Office and Web. These can not be removed. Within each, there are some widgets which corresponds to their respective headings. These widgets cannot be changed or removed. The other objects that cannot be changed or removed are the boxes ala Windows 8 which are predetermined to be either editable shortcuts or folders. I find this a bit annoying because sometimes I don't need so many folders and would prefer to just launch an app immediately when I tap it. You can add more homescreens and name them how you like but you can't change their colour or the types of boxes they contain. Overall, it all looks very nice but needs to be more customisable.
Performance:
I haven't had a chance to install any games yet but so far the "feel" of the device seems very solid. I do have a problem when trying to install N.O.V.A. 3, i can't even find it in the Google Play Store. After finding it through Google, it says that my device cannot support it. I don't get it. My One X can install this game and it's far below the specs of the M6. If anyone can let me know why this is, I can install it and let you know how it performs.
Battery Life:
When I opened the box, it was already switched on and showed that it had been running on battery for about 28 hours (so it was probably opened by customs since it was posted out a week ago). Since then I've had the screen almost constantly on doing various things for the last 5 hours and it still has 40% juice left. Pretty good then!
Conclusion:
Overall, I'm quite happy. It has some small niggles but then it was pretty cheap. For the people who are worried that the RK3188 can't handle a retina display, I think you can relax. Everything runs smoothly enough. Plus, if you really prefer a lower resolution, you can change it in the settings to conserve battery life and increase performance. It beats having an M7, M8 or M9 purely because they have much smaller batteries. The 2x5000 mAh battery in the M6 was designed for the retina screen so if you use the normal resolution, it would wipe the competition clean.
MarcusJKX said:
Only thing is, I used both AnTuTu and Android System Info to find out the resolution and there seem to be some discrepancies.
Under HD Mode, both apps reported a resolution of 1536x1952 with 320dpi. Now that's still within Retina level territory but they were advertising 2048x1536. Not a huge difference I know but still a little annoying.
At Normal Mode, AnTuTu reported 1600x1128 and Android System info reported 1200x1528. Not sure why the two differed but the difference is negligible when you do the math.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is normal. Physically, the screen resolution is 2048x1536. The bottom of the screen is allocated for soft buttons, hence you get smaller vertical resolution available to apps.
Do a test - change the tablet orientation, and check the resolution again.
Thank you for this comprehensive review. I myself also own a M6 3g and can mostly agree with your points. I myself think the build quality is quite good. No gaps or loose buttons.
Sent from my JB 4.2.2 powered HTC Desire using Tapatalk
pulsar124 said:
This is normal. Physically, the screen resolution is 2048x1536. The bottom of the screen is allocated for soft buttons, hence you get smaller vertical resolution available to apps.
Do a test - change the tablet orientation, and check the resolution again.
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Click to collapse
Ahh i see, that makes sense. I never owned a device without physical or capacitive buttons so it didn't occur to me.
andbroe said:
Thank you for this comprehensive review. I myself also own a M6 3g and can mostly agree with your points. I myself think the build quality is quite good. No gaps or loose buttons.
Sent from my JB 4.2.2 powered HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think it's also not bad. I wouldn't really call them gaps, but the seam that runs around the edge of the device definitely doesn't look consistent on my machine; some parts look a tiny fraction wider than the rest. Maybe you had better luck. bBy the way, do you have any idea why the Google Play Store won't let me download N.O.V.A. 3? I'm sure the specs are enough since even my HTC One X running a Tegra 3 can download it. Only thing I can think off is that the internal storage doesn't have enough space but then shouldn't it download into the NAND Flash? I have plenty of space there.
UPDATE: Been spending some more time with it. I am liking it less now that it's frozen up twice (both times requiring a hard reset by sticking a little needle in the small hole next to the back camera - didn't lose anything though). Also, I have a few apps that force the tablet into a vertical orientation and every time, they would force it into an upside down position (where the power button would be on the bottom as well as the front camera). I guess this indicates that the tablet's natural position is contrary to its physical design. I find this quite annoying to be honest and should hopefully be easily fixable with a firmware update. I hope they get on it! God I wish I can install Cyanogenmod on this.
MarcusJKX said:
God I wish I can install Cyanogenmod on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
About the freezing. It happened also to me. Once even during a cold boot! But I am confident it is only a software problem. Maybe one day, when some of the excellent developers of XDA - developer take care of this baby we will get Cyanogenmod.
For the meantime I run RileyROM 1.2 (rooted and cleaned up, based on latest ROM from Pipo) and that works quite good.
See you
andbroe said:
+1
About the freezing. It happened also to me. Once even during a cold boot! But I am confident it is only a software problem. Maybe one day, when some of the excellent developers of XDA - developer take care of this baby we will get Cyanogenmod.
For the meantime I run RileyROM 1.2 (rooted and cleaned up, based on latest ROM from Pipo) and that works quite good.
See you
Click to expand...
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Thanks for the tip! So you didn't encounter any more problems after installing this rom?
MarcusJKX said:
Thanks for the tip! So you didn't encounter any more problems after installing this rom?
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Click to collapse
Another m6 user here also with a one x...
I also had the few freezes but since stopping using chrome, which runs like a dog anyway on this, it hasn't done it. Mines rooted and using the late June firmware. Only issue I've had other than that is a battery hiccup where it went from 65% to 13% in minutes and then back to 65% when the charger was plugged in. I have since ran it dead charged to 100% and calibrated the battery. The battery also doesn't have the correct MV reported
Other than that fast smooth even in retina mode and decent build. Can't find a hw 4k player yet tho like the a31
Steve
5teve said:
Another m6 user here also with a one x...
I also had the few freezes but since stopping using chrome, which runs like a dog anyway on this, it hasn't done it. Mines rooted and using the late June firmware. Only issue I've had other than that is a battery hiccup where it went from 65% to 13% in minutes and then back to 65% when the charger was plugged in. I have since ran it dead charged to 100% and calibrated the battery. The battery also doesn't have the correct MV reported
Other than that fast smooth even in retina mode and decent build. Can't find a hw 4k player yet tho like the a31
Steve
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Click to collapse
Yeah the first time it froze on me, I was also using Chrome. Can't remember what I was doing the second time. Anyways, I'm using the default browser now which suits me fine. Whats the difference between that and chrome anyway? i dont think ive had any issues with the battery although it did go from 14% to 4% awfully quick earlier. What do you mean the battery doesnt have the correct MV? Do you mean its not 10,000 mAh as advertised? How do you check that by the way?
I've been testing the more recent chinese builds (#17 is the latest one I've used) and have had no issues with Chrome or games. They apparently use the new Rockchip SDK 2.0, but I'm hoping we'll see these integrate the latest Mali drivers in the future. You can find the latest releases (currently #20) here http://pan.baidu.com/share/home?uk=1946954351 and if you don't want it in chinese, you should use the Rockchipfirmware kitchen to debloat and modify it. There are no changelogs included with these ROMs though, so you'll be flying blind.
MarcusJKX said:
Yeah the first time it froze on me, I was also using Chrome. Can't remember what I was doing the second time. Anyways, I'm using the default browser now which suits me fine. Whats the difference between that and chrome anyway? i dont think ive had any issues with the battery although it did go from 14% to 4% awfully quick earlier. What do you mean the battery doesnt have the correct MV? Do you mean its not 10,000 mAh as advertised? How do you check that by the way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On mine which is on the SDK2 firmware - there is a big difference with chrome and the stock browsers - chrome is massively laggy, freezes, stutters and is generally rubbish. Stock browser is fast and smooth. The only issue I have is not being able to scroll down on translated pages (htcmania) but change of orientation solves that..
regarding the mV issue, I am using GSam battery monitor and it reports the voltage as being 7mV
Steve
matnl said:
I've been testing the more recent chinese builds (#17 is the latest one I've used) and have had no issues with Chrome or games. They apparently use the new Rockchip SDK 2.0, but I'm hoping we'll see these integrate the latest Mali drivers in the future. You can find the latest releases (currently #20) here http://pan.baidu.com/share/home?uk=1946954351 and if you don't want it in chinese, you should use the Rockchipfirmware kitchen to debloat and modify it. There are no changelogs included with these ROMs though, so you'll be flying blind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm that all sounds a bit too complicated for me. I went through quite a bit of trouble trying to put Cyanogenmod on my One X even with so many instructions available out there. Dont know if I can handle installing a ROM on a device that's not so commonly supported.
5teve said:
regarding the mV issue, I am using GSam battery monitor and it reports the voltage as being 7mV
Steve
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm well when I use Android System Info, it says my battery is 8mV. Does that mean its 8000mAh? If so then I'm gonna be a bitnpissed coz the whole reason chose the M6 over the M7 was because the battery. I actually prefer a slightly smaller tablet.
MarcusJKX said:
Hmm that all sounds a bit too complicated for me. I went through quite a bit of trouble trying to put Cyanogenmod on my One X even with so many instructions available out there. Dont know if I can handle installing a ROM on a device that's not so commonly supported.
Hmm well when I use Android System Info, it says my battery is 8mV. Does that mean its 8000mAh? If so then I'm gonna be a bitnpissed coz the whole reason chose the M6 over the M7 was because the battery. I actually prefer a slightly smaller tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No voltage and current are different. eg a USB port outputs 5v (5000mV) at 500mA (or 0.5A)
Updating firmware on this is easy.. you use software on the PC to upload and flash.. the only panic I had was a very very long boot time the first time while it updates, I thought I had broken it. I was surprised how painless it was.
Thanks
Steve
5teve said:
No voltage and current are different. eg a USB port outputs 5v (5000mV) at 500mA (or 0.5A)
Updating firmware on this is easy.. you use software on the PC to upload and flash.. the only panic I had was a very very long boot time the first time while it updates, I thought I had broken it. I was surprised how painless it was.
Thanks
Steve
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Click to collapse
Well I think I can flash it since they provided the instructions themselves and I found some other instructions online but when matnl mentioned debloating and modifying the ROM to make it English, that worried me. Do you think it's really worth it? Did u notice a big performance increase?
MarcusJKX said:
Well I think I can flash it since they provided the instructions themselves and I found some other instructions online but when matnl mentioned debloating and modifying the ROM to make it English, that worried me. Do you think it's really worth it? Did u notice a big performance increase?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was supplied with the pre SDK2 firmware, and it was a big difference going to the SDK2.0 firmware. I didnt debloat at all, I installed the one that said english, it booted in chinese, so i had to work my way through to changing the language to english. On first boot i opted for standard jellybean launcher and then installed apex for a bit of customisability. there didnt look like too much in the way of chinese apps and bloat?
Rooting was easy as there is a batch file on Htcmania that does it for you.
Steve
5teve said:
Mine was supplied with the pre SDK2 firmware, and it was a big difference going to the SDK2.0 firmware. I didnt debloat at all, I installed the one that said english, it booted in chinese, so i had to work my way through to changing the language to english. On first boot i opted for standard jellybean launcher and then installed apex for a bit of customisability. there didnt look like too much in the way of chinese apps and bloat?
Rooting was easy as there is a batch file on Htcmania that does it for you.
Steve
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did the debloat bit because otherwise you're stuck with apps in chinese which are difficult to remove. But as Steve said, it's fairly simple to figure out how to switch the UI to english or anything you like once you've installed the ROM. Like Steve, I also use Apex Launcher rather than the Pipo one.
Another thing I did was use a different parameter file so that I have 4GB of user space rather than the standard 2GB. But this probably is beyond the scope of this thread.
matnl said:
I just did the debloat bit because otherwise you're stuck with apps in chinese which are difficult to remove. But as Steve said, it's fairly simple to figure out how to switch the UI to english or anything you like once you've installed the ROM. Like Steve, I also use Apex Launcher rather than the Pipo one.
Another thing I did was use a different parameter file so that I have 4GB of user space rather than the standard 2GB. But this probably is beyond the scope of this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, my M6 froze again today whilst using Pulse so I think I've had enough. I'm gonna try to flash it with a rom. A couple of questions first. How can I check which SDK I'm on? It says my Kernel version is 3.0.36+ from June 25th. Does that mean I'm on SDK2.0 already since it's the latest?
Anyways, I don't wanna bother anyone here with writing out a full instructional so can someone please just confirm that all I need to do is follow this guide: http://www.freak-tab.de/rrileypm/First Time User Guide_pr0_rev5.pdf Of course, instead of using the RileyROM 1.2, I will use the M6 4.2.2 #20 from http://pan.baidu.com/share/home?uk=1946954351 . Also, why are there two files with the same name there? One uploaded on the 13th and one on the 15th of July? Thanks alot guys!
i already posted this to other threads
i bought my pipo m6 a week ago.. so far so bad!.. first off, i got a dirt INSIDE the screen, i was forced to remove the screen guard to see if its not a dirt in between the screen and the screen guard. unfortunately its inside the screen so there's no way of removing it without opening the whole system.. 2nd, im experiencing lags and forced close, QUAD CORE? 2GB RAM? what the!! my friends dual core phone is much better! mine doesnt even have to many apps yet. 3rd, i tried to play 1080 movies, mp4, it lags and crashes at me. aside from all this disappointing experience PIPO luncher form time to time force closes. another worse experience is that i experience FREEZE UP. the whole system froze while browsing facebook, for 20 minutes, all hardware buttons, touchscreen are not responding. i was forced to reset it via the little whole at the back of the device....i already updated to the 6/26 firmware release... but still getting the same issues. battery was good YES. but performance was disappointing. NOT TO MENTION the other users who comment about the SPEAKER! GOD! speaker sucks! based on a video i watched it was loud! but my SONY NEO V is way better! i hope that there is a FIRMWARE FIX to all this! except ofcourse about the screen dirt.. i was expecting to much about the new processor (QUAD CORE, better the DUAL CORE, RIGHT???), the ram but was getting to much frustration. the only GREAT thing about this device is the RETINA SCREEN, not including the DIRT of course, the the BATTERY!
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SquallDNA said:
i already posted this to other threads
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I can understand your frustration. I've experienced everything you mentioned except for the dirt (although I do have a small black smudge underneath the glass near the right speaker). I'm really starting to regret getting this thing (especially with news of the Nexus 2 7" coming out soon at a possibly cheaper price point). I'm really hoping installing something like the RileyROM 1.2 will help fix these issues.
MarcusJKX said:
I can understand your frustration. I've experienced everything you mentioned except for the dirt (although I do have a small black smudge underneath the glass near the right speaker). I'm really starting to regret getting this thing (especially with news of the Nexus 2 7" coming out soon at a possibly cheaper price point). I'm really hoping installing something like the RileyROM 1.2 will help fix these issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i hope so too. thanks
SquallDNA said:
i hope so too. thanks
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I just flashed the RileyROM 1.2. They were right, it really was very easy. I'm in the process of restoring everything. I'll report back with my impressions on the performance later.