Asus drops GPS from tablet spec after issues emerge Asus has dropped the word 'GPS' from its Eee Pad Transformer Prime spec sheet after early adopters of the 10in Android tablet found the gadget's satnav tech doesn't work too well. Forum postings between Christmas and the New Year show a number of Prime owners peeved by the tablet's apparently poor ability to pick up a GPS …
...GPS stood for Global Positioning System? It actually means General Purpose (computer) System.
We only removed it after we locked the bootloader. We figured that meant it wasn't general purpose anymore."
Joking aside, I always though Asus was one of the few Android OEMs with a clue after seeing the original Transformer's decent build quality and very timely updates to the latest version of Android. Seems I was wrong.
The original transormer had one from release.. it's just that the key was leaked soon after they changed it someone had worked out another way to root (Razorclaw).
That's now been plugged, so you can't root the latest firmware.. and it's the reason I won't buy another Asus tablet. On the original TF, for example, you have to root it to enable wifi channel 12, which just happens to be where the office wifi is, making the stock TF unusable for me. That and proprietary cables, inability to charge off USB (so can't be charged in the car), etc.
From this & TonyHoyle's report, I can't see any point in buying one. If I wanted something locked-down then there is Apple, at least with a neat & tidy garden to be locked in.
But what is the point in locking one of these? Do Asus think they can get a cut of money from stuff sold for the platform? I doubt it, though please politely explain to me if this is wrong.
If I was in the market for a tablet, my first thought would be as a pretty plaything, in which case Apple are fine. If I wanted to make use of it more seriously, I would expect standard cables and USB support, along with the freedom to load what *I* want on it, just like a real computer but in a small form-factor.
So why should I even consider Asus?
Usually the excuse for locked bootloaders is bending over for the operators subsiding 3d phones and tablets. And for most it is an ok trade-off since you'll get the device cheaper than you would get it else.
But for a wifi-only tablet? Why not start locking asus zenbooks while at it.
This is on the road to be an major PR disaster.
I purchased a G73JW-A1. A supposedly top of the range gaming rig.
From the get-go it was utter crap.
It died within 3 hours of delivery and because Asus claimed it would only take 5 working days to repair I trusted them and allowed them to pick it up.
8 weeks it took to turn around.
The trackpad never worked properly - it would either slowly degrade to the point of not recognising it was being touched or would become so hypersensitive it would react to a finger 10mm above it.
The GPU had to be replaced. Twice.
It would BSoD several times a day. Mostly during low-end tasks such as typing a document.
The keyboard would miss keystrokes if you went faster than a one-handed dyslexic.
There were umpteen "fixes"
Asus didn't give a flying crap - their responses were singularly two fingers to the customers who bought their supposedly premium model.
In isolation, you would think it was just bad luck but a quick scour of the forums showed it to be all too common.
Shoddy design. Shoddy build quality. Utterly disinterested support staff and a customer services attitude that would make most tinpot dictators proud.
I would rather cut my balls off with a blunt, rusty spoon, than ever purchase another Asus device - in the long term, it'd be more pleasurable and less painful.
Anonymous because I wouldn't put it past them to hunt me down and try to sue me.
Yes, Gordon, I know full well the sale of goods act. Asus simply couldn't give a shit even threatened with legal redress, they're response was a "meh - so what?".
They won't escalate complaints. They insist you write, not email, a complaints department who don't even have the decency to acknowledge receipt of a recorded delivery and then deny you sent anything.
In the end, I gave the unit away rather than waste any more of my life pursuing it.
I reiterate - shit products, shit support, shit customer services attitude, shit company.
Then you won't be disappointed.
Ths isn't just Asus, then again maybe it was, I don't remember - they promise a TV tuner model of the PC, they promise a 3G modem version, they promise an SSD alternative... forget it. These will PROBABLY not happen, if they do, HUGE bonus. Don't buy vapourware.
It's a bit different this time if the thing IS on sale and THEN you find that parts of it don't work as advertised, but it's not HUGELY different.
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