Still worth it for $250? - HTC Jetstream

I'll be looking for something to bridge the gap between my phone and desktop when I sell my laptop for about $550, and I see them going for that much brand new and unlocked on Amazon. Don't want to spend more than $300, otherwise I feel I might as well keep my laptop and save myself the hassle. The exception would be the upcoming Acer 8" Windows tablet because it'd be a full version of Windows that's very portable and with good battery life for about $400.
Anyway, hardware-wise it looks spectacular - rear camera that's actually worthwhile, great speakers (including a subwoofer), feels good to hold, has accurate pen input available, includes data capabilities (which I believe would also work on T-Mobile LTE), etc. Only thing that sucks is that it's stuck on Honeycomb, at least for now. Which, honestly, I don't really mind it being stuck on Honeycomb, if it works and is good hardware-wise - I'm kinda past the mentality of "needing" the newest version of Android on my device.
Is there anything wrong with it, or anything to consider when buying it? I know there's also the Asus Memo Pad 10" for only $30 more with newest Android and a faster processor, but I'm wondering specifically about the Jetstream for Sense, the build quality, and data capabilities.

its great for the first 5 minutes.
then the lag begins..honeycomb is slowing this thing alot.
if can wait, do so. there's a developer working on a better kernel, one that should put all those issues away. can't tell how long it'll take, because its already been around 3 months. wait a month more and see if something changed..

guru_shastri said:
its great for the first 5 minutes.
then the lag begins..honeycomb is slowing this thing alot.
if can wait, do so. there's a developer working on a better kernel, one that should put all those issues away. can't tell how long it'll take, because its already been around 3 months. wait a month more and see if something changed..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do none of the current ROMs alleviate these lag issues? Just wondering.

Hardly.
Honeycomb isn't fit to work with dual core, only with a proper kernel the device will work properly
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Oh yeah !!!! worth every penny of it, my other friend is thinking hard how to get rid of his NEW Tab_2 10.1" to get this one, Sense is so much better Touchwiz.
I have given mine to my sis, without a Jetstream now, ohhhhh it's so hard without it now..... today went to another shop to buy it, but new stock was late arriving, I left. May be go again tomorrow or Friday.

So I bit the bullet and bought one last night...I don't know if I was extremely unlucky, but the one I bought labeled as new was clearly not:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009HNVPUK/
I bought it from Masterdeals with express shipping, got it today...right off the bat, the seal was clearly broken and covered with another smaller seal. I didn't get a startup/tutorial screen on boot, or even the default homescreen layout, and I'm 100% sure I've never seen an Android device that had the "Unknown Sources" checkbox ticked by default. And to make matters worse, it came preloaded with what I'm pretty sure are two adware/spam/etc. apps installed to system (AIRPUSH EULA and FREE APPS - the former of which doesn't even appear in the app drawer and starts itself in the background).
Thankfully I'm able to get a refund for the shipping too, but it looks like I'm going to have to restrict myself to buying a legitimately used one off eBay if I want one.

I see, take it easy, you'll get what you want next round.

Related

Should I keep it?

Hi,
Im new to this forum but I thought I would get everybodys opinion. Im on my 3rd Prime and by far the best sample out of 3 that I have had. My return window closes on Wednesday. My first two were unacceptable with several dead pixels and light bleed. This 3rd one has almost no light bleed, no dead pixels, and works great besides the software hiccups with all of them. But my almost the whole bottom half maybe a 3rd of the way up has a slight yellow tinge to it. Its not noticable unless you are really comparing top to bottom but once you do notice its apparent. Does anybody know if this is a adhesive drying issue? If not should I deal with it and keep or save my $500 for something better down the road?
It really up to you, can you live with it? Or is it one of those things that since youve noticed it, its the only thing you see? And how confident and patient are you with the software hiccups?
For me I went throught 3 primes... actually almost 4 but I canceled the last shipment to get my money back. I didnt want to kick myself in the ass if I settled for a tablet with so many issues. I really expected to buy a tablet that I dont have to worry about. The TF201 looked very good on the prerelease, but when made available to the public it had so many ranges in performance (The good, the bad, and the ugly). You may have a decent working tablet but with the firmware upgrades you dont know if its gonna help or do nothing or even make it worse. Then we have 2 other primes coming out (TF300 and TF700) and probably other brands with comparable specs. I chose to saving my 500 for something I can be satisfied with. I tasted the TF201 and I think I can wait for to spend my money on a diff. tablet.
I'd say go for another exchange. I wouldn't accept a yellow tint to bottom half of screen. Even if everything else works fine. By the way, what's the first 3 numbers of the serial? To see if this is from the newer batch or older ones. They are good ones out there, like mines which I got way back 12/22 from an early batch.
I kind of feel the same why. I love the thing but we have an iPad 2 i can't help but to compare it to. I'm an android guy and my wife is Apple but in the tablet case android is looking to be a hard sell. What do you think about the gaming? That's my biggest worry, i feel like the next gen tegras will be out before they come out with more than a handful of games.
I have a bco serial number. This is the third one and it was from a fresh shipment on Jan 30th to best buy. Also the only bad thing about an exchange is once again they are out of stock everywhere and if i got one that was in the last bit inferior to the one I have I think that would be the last straw for me.
We have an ipad2 that my 2 yr old daughter uses. I think the tegra 3 is great for the gaming aspect, I gonna stick with android but I am gonna wait till other tegra 3 tablets come out with less problems.
Keep trying. It took me 4 tries and finally found one with ZERO issues. Your more then likely to get the newest batch now. Received mine 2 days ago. imo its worth it. It's a hassle but thats what we get for being early adopters.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
You don't think any of the future tablets would be worth waiting a couple of months
Just wait.. you have the ipad2 to keep you occupied for the meantime.
Well the only bad thing is my wife hogs the iPad and I've gotten used to having my own tablet lol
Hey mxracer327, can you tell me if your gps works? I have a bco serial number too. My wifi seems to be on par with my phone (motorola atrix) however my gps gets 0 satalites inside (havnt tested outside however my phone gets about 5-6 from the same area of the house.
Return it. Whatever returns the original place you bought it from receives they ship it back to Asus as defective. We can't just sit back and accept the imperfections they've been sending these tf201's out with. Send Asus a message that they really need to up their quality control if they are going to keep us as consumers!
Lhoki i tried gps indoors or doesn't seem to pick up any sattelites but i do nothave a need for a gps on my tablet but that doesn't mean it still shouldn't work. Caaz, im thinking I will probably return it and give up on the prime
i feel the same mxracer, i have no use for gps but yeah it should still work as iv paid full price for a product, its not that id ever use gps, and if i did id just use my phone instead, its more the principal

[Q] My Prime, should I keep it?

Ok, so I bought my Prime on 2/27 from Best Buy. I was very lucky because you can't find these things anywhere where I live and they seem to be sold out online in a lot of places as well. I got even more lucky because it was the only one in stock and was an open box item, so I got it for $50 bucks less.
Issues:
Of course the WiFi seems pretty crap weak, but it works good enough in my house.
I have 1 dead pixel, not really noticeable but still bugs me because I know its there.
Slight bit of screen bleed, but this might be impossible to get away from...
I have until Monday (14 days) to decide if I want to return it or not. I really do like it a lot. I am just questioning whether the Tegra 3 will be strong enough for the long haul and if there will be a fix for the WiFi anytime soon.
What would you do? Hold onto it, because it is a pretty great tablet? Or return it and hold out for a little bit for something better around the corner?
Thanks!
There is always something better round the corner, so if you are not happy with it send it back
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
First post nailed it
andyiacovou said:
There is always something better round the corner, so if you are not happy with it send it back
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah good point. I am just wondering if I bought at the point that the price might drop in a few weeks anyway because something better is coming.
Also, since the screen has just ONE bad pixel, I can't imagine that in the future, if I send it in for a WiFi fix that they would do anything about the screen would they?
mine has 6 bright pixels
the pixels developed lately, and would not go away with pixel fixer either. i am past return date now.
u should try pixel fixer though, to see if it works for u
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Same applies to the Wife...no 14 days policy thougth....
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
nunosm said:
Same applies to the Wife...no 14 days policy thougth....
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my wife didn't have return window too. Neither I can send her anywhere for warranty repair.
Sent throught the wormhole from my CoinInserted Sensation OG.
In my experience with several primes that the wifi thing is not on all of them. I've had a unit with a weaker wifi than another. My current one is good. I've also seen some with semi working gps (still doesnt work when driving). Also seen some with different variation in screen (warmer vs cooler). Also seen some with more light bleed than others. So if you really like the prime I'd say return it and get another one if you can find one somewhere else.
aznmode said:
In my experience with several primes that the wifi thing is not on all of them. I've had a unit with a weaker wifi than another. My current one is good. I've also seen some with semi working gps (still doesnt work when driving). Also seen some with different variation in screen (warmer vs cooler). Also seen some with more light bleed than others. So if you really like the prime I'd say return it and get another one if you can find one somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah my WiFi definitely doesn't seem as bad as some people are complaining about. And my GPS can actually give my location when I am inside the house, so that is good too. I honestly don't care about the GPS. I will never need it for Navigation or anything, my phone does that just fine. I am mostly concerned about the WiFi (which apparently isn't that bad) and the screen. It seems like Asus has some pretty excellent support after reading some of Gary Key's posts, they should have a WiFi fix in soon and if I voice my concern I am sure that they will help me out. I am really leaning towards keeping it now...
alias747 said:
Yeah good point. I am just wondering if I bought at the point that the price might drop in a few weeks anyway because something better is coming.
Also, since the screen has just ONE bad pixel, I can't imagine that in the future, if I send it in for a WiFi fix that they would do anything about the screen would they?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would not expect the prime to drop price anytime in 2012 personally. Asus has already divulged their pricing scheme for the tf300 and infinity and the prime has its correct spot right in the middle. Current prices will hold through holiday 2012 mark my words.
If you like it keep it, if not return and wait for the next thing. There will always be something better coming with tech products. Only way to enjoy them is to choose what you want and jump in on that device and enjoy it unethical until it can no longer do what you obtained it for.
Personally I love my prime and nothing I see coming in 2012 entices me enough to even entertain the thought of selling or replacing it. I am confident it will be more than enough for me for at least a full year and probably 2.
alias747 said:
Ok, so I bought my Prime on 2/27 from Best Buy. I was very lucky because you can't find these things anywhere where I live and they seem to be sold out online in a lot of places as well. I got even more lucky because it was the only one in stock and was an open box item, so I got it for $50 bucks less.
Issues:
Of course the WiFi seems pretty crap weak, but it works good enough in my house.
I have 1 dead pixel, not really noticeable but still bugs me because I know its there.
Slight bit of screen bleed, but this might be impossible to get away from...
I have until Monday (14 days) to decide if I want to return it or not. I really do like it a lot. I am just questioning whether the Tegra 3 will be strong enough for the long haul and if there will be a fix for the WiFi anytime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With regard to dead pixels, I dunno why it bugs the hell outta some people. Mine has 2 bright pixels at the middle of the screen. But unless the screen is totally dark and the brightness is set to maximum, you cannot see them. In auto brightness mode, you can't see them at all, even on a black screen. Unless you are anal about this or use your prime at a distance of 1 centimeter, it shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps my bright pixel is not as bright as others. I dunno.
As far as WiFi is concerned, I don't care. Yes, speed tests reveal that my WiFi is slower than my phone's or laptop's. But I can download any file just as fast as on my phone/laptop. It is because not all sites offer you blazing fast download speeds. I can download stuff at a steady 1-1.3 MBps speed. Finally, with regard to screen bleed, I probably don't have it.
All in all, it is a very fast tablet. It is very capable and may be faster than iPad 3 (a.k.a. "The New iPad"). Though the new iPad has a quad core GPU, it has a dual core CPU and CPU is what matters on a daily basis... Anyway, I think i went off topic a little here.
Long story short, I don't think you really need to return the tablet. It is a very capable device. Hopefully "Ubuntu for Android" gets released soon on this!
alias747 said:
What would you do? Hold onto it, because it is a pretty great tablet? Or return it and hold out for a little bit for something better around the corner?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do that, you'll have to wait indefinitely. Because, everytime a great tablet (or phone) comes out, there is always a better one coming round the corner...
tegra3 more than strong enough. new Ipad A5x chip is hype n uses exact same CPU as in ipad2. check out other thread for proof. tegra3 CPU is alot more powerful than either ipad2 A5 or ipad2 A5x chip(which only includes a slight Gpu performance increase which is needed for their new display).
I'd say keep it if you satisfied with it. if not, just exchange it.
litetaker said:
With regard to dead pixels, I dunno why it bugs the hell outta some people. Mine has 2 bright pixels at the middle of the screen. But unless the screen is totally dark and the brightness is set to maximum, you cannot see them. In auto brightness mode, you can't see them at all, even on a black screen. Unless you are anal about this or use your prime at a distance of 1 centimeter, it shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps my bright pixel is not as bright as others. I dunno.
As far as WiFi is concerned, I don't care. Yes, speed tests reveal that my WiFi is slower than my phone's or laptop's. But I can download any file just as fast as on my phone/laptop. It is because not all sites offer you blazing fast download speeds. I can download stuff at a steady 1-1.3 MBps speed. Finally, with regard to screen bleed, I probably don't have it.
All in all, it is a very fast tablet. It is very capable and may be faster than iPad 3 (a.k.a. "The New iPad"). Though the new iPad has a quad core GPU, it has a dual core CPU and CPU is what matters on a daily basis... Anyway, I think i went off topic a little here.
Long story short, I don't think you really need to return the tablet. It is a very capable device. Hopefully "Ubuntu for Android" gets released soon on this!
If you do that, you'll have to wait indefinitely. Because, everytime a great tablet (or phone) comes out, there is always a better one coming round the corner...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I think that I am really anal then, because yeah, it does bug me unfortunately. I really do need to get over it because like you said, I know that if I were to show my tablet to 100 people, 99 of them wouldn't even be able to notice it. Mine isn't "bright" as you describe it, its just DEAD. So on an all white screen it stays black. Same with just about every other color. No Pixel fixer applications do anything to help either. As for the screen bleed, it is only mostly visible with a black screen. Its on the right side of the screen and when I push on it a little bit it changes a little. I really wonder what causes that...
Anyway, I have made up my mind that I am going to keep my Prime. I love it and there is no major reason why I should dump it at this point. Glad you all talked me out of it. By the way, I noticed that you are from the X2 forums with the Melvin signature... haha too bad we are stuck that turd of a phone... We had to buy a Transformer to get our fill of ICS! lol
Sort of off topic but not really: Since I did buy this Prime as an open box I just thought about the possibility that someone could have bought this before me, locked the bootloader and then returned it... I REALLY don't want that since I really want my 1 year warranty... Is there a way for me to easily tell if my Prime has been unlocked? Thanks!
alias747 said:
Well I think that I am really anal then, because yeah, it does bug me unfortunately. I really do need to get over it because like you said, I know that if I were to show my tablet to 100 people, 99 of them wouldn't even be able to notice it. Mine isn't "bright" as you describe it, its just DEAD. So on an all white screen it stays black. Same with just about every other color. No Pixel fixer applications do anything to help either. As for the screen bleed, it is only mostly visible with a black screen. Its on the right side of the screen and when I push on it a little bit it changes a little. I really wonder what causes that...
Anyway, I have made up my mind that I am going to keep my Prime. I love it and there is no major reason why I should dump it at this point. Glad you all talked me out of it. By the way, I noticed that you are from the X2 forums with the Melvin signature... haha too bad we are stuck that turd of a phone... We had to buy a Transformer to get our fill of ICS! lol
Sort of off topic but not really: Since I did buy this Prime as an open box I just thought about the possibility that someone could have bought this before me, locked the bootloader and then returned it... I REALLY don't want that since I really want my 1 year warranty... Is there a way for me to easily tell if my Prime has been unlocked? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use the Asus bootloader, then it's unlocked, or you can try calling Asus, and giving your Serial number and see if it's in there.
If you have big problem with it, just try to exchange it from where you bought it, or a brick and morter store.
alias747 said:
Well I think that I am really anal then, because yeah, it does bug me unfortunately. I really do need to get over it because like you said, I know that if I were to show my tablet to 100 people, 99 of them wouldn't even be able to notice it. Mine isn't "bright" as you describe it, its just DEAD. So on an all white screen it stays black. Same with just about every other color. No Pixel fixer applications do anything to help either. As for the screen bleed, it is only mostly visible with a black screen. Its on the right side of the screen and when I push on it a little bit it changes a little. I really wonder what causes that...
Anyway, I have made up my mind that I am going to keep my Prime. I love it and there is no major reason why I should dump it at this point. Glad you all talked me out of it. By the way, I noticed that you are from the X2 forums with the Melvin signature... haha too bad we are stuck that turd of a phone... We had to buy a Transformer to get our fill of ICS! lol
Sort of off topic but not really: Since I did buy this Prime as an open box I just thought about the possibility that someone could have bought this before me, locked the bootloader and then returned it... I REALLY don't want that since I really want my 1 year warranty... Is there a way for me to easily tell if my Prime has been unlocked? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you can't re-lock it once it is unlocked. And I believe you can't return it on warranty claims once it is unlocked, unless may be you are lucky. What you can do is return it and buy it at bestbuy and ask for a price match with Micro center's price. I got $53 off my Prime! Bestbuy is rad, and I love the price match thingy.
And yeah, I am from the Droid X2 forums! I didn't buy this for filling the ICS void per se but it is sweet that this has ICS! It is super smooth, though I didn't have much experience with Honeycomb to tell if it is any better than it. Still very sexy stuff!!!
litetaker said:
I believe you can't re-lock it once it is unlocked. And I believe you can't return it on warranty claims once it is unlocked, unless may be you are lucky. What you can do is return it and buy it at bestbuy and ask for a price match with Micro center's price. I got $53 off my Prime! Bestbuy is rad, and I love the price match thingy.
And yeah, I am from the Droid X2 forums! I didn't buy this for filling the ICS void per se but it is sweet that this has ICS! It is super smooth, though I didn't have much experience with Honeycomb to tell if it is any better than it. Still very sexy stuff!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To add on to the BestBuy thing, technically they require a microcenter store within 25 mile of where you live, but some agent doesn't know that.
I saw a pretty decent article the other day about upgrading the iPad but it seemed to apply well to other tablets, etc. it said to upgrade if you found yourself using it at least 10 hrs a week. it's wholly arbitrary, but the idea being, if you're going to spend 10+ hours a week with the Transformer it's worth keeping as your daily driver. It's a piece of tech that has become a part of your daily life.
There will always be something better within about 3 months in the Android tablet space. What I disagree with is that specs mean much outside Tegra 3s better video decoding and screen resolution that is probably going to get a lot better very soon.

G Key let us keep warranty unlocked look @Acer

TITLE SAYS IT ALL
let us keep warranty and unlock the prime with flash recovery such as NVFlash to repair to stock, look @Acer they are doing that for their customers out of the box with a510. Why can't we get same sevices after all we have been through. It would be a nice gesture.
Thanks for dongle but really doesn't make up for built in gps, the slick looking Prime aint so slick when someone asks " whats that thing on your tablet".
PLUS FIX BROWSER WOULD BE NICE, and in my situation after .21 WiFi is killing my battery, dont know why. My settings are the same as before update.
AN UPGRADE PATH TO THE 700 WOULD BE NICE. Considering people are getting pretty much the same device we have with the (300 Pad) and for much less. Most Primes dont even operate as they are suppose to yet, there are still some issues, and Asus releases a lower end tablet that so far has had nothing but good feedback with no issues. Take care of the ORIGINAL PRIME OWNERS.
TF300t
"AN UPGRADE PATH TO THE 700 WOULD BE NICE. Considering people are getting pretty much the same device we have with the (300 Pad) and for much less. Most Primes dont even operate as they are suppose to yet, there are still some issues, and Asus releases a lower end tablet that so far has had nothing but good feedback with no issues. Take care of the ORIGINAL PRIME OWNERS".[/QUOTE]
That is Correct. I just picked up a tf300t lastnight at best buy. I was originally going to the store to get the tf201 but to my surprise they handed me a tf300t. I said wtf?... this is not a PRIME. He said it's the latest and greatest. Well after getting home and setting it up with (NO PROBLEMS) at all it ran pretty nice and smooth. The gps took about 2-3 to get it's first fix "indoors" I should add but it went well. The next test was wifi and it to was no problem. pretty soon after came an ota update but no problems. I went outside to test wifi and video streaming 100+ feet from wifi source "deep in my brick house" kept up nicely. a few gliches with video pausing but I fixed that with a mobo video player from the Market... errrr Play Store. Battery doest last 10 hours either... maybe 7 hours after 2 full charges of 3-4= hours each. I only had this 24 hours roughly and am somewhat impressed... <--Hard to Impress. Other than the slightly lower spec's than the tf201 it's solid so far with no lock up's. Am dieing to test the TF700 thou with really, really really impressive... OK I'm Impressed nice spec's.
P.S. One problem. A video glitch running Battery Snap, the video started stuttering and hard to back out. eventually did and a reboot fixed that.
As if ASUS would actually listen to you.
"Insignificant worms, I've already got your money. Scurry away out of my sight"
-ASUS
jdeoxys said:
As if ASUS would actually listen to you.
"Insignificant worms, I've already got your money. Scurry away out of my sight"
-ASUS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, thats why I will be making a better decision next time. I really like the prime when it runs like it is suppose to.
I wont be buying the 700, why really its a tegra3 device, I already have a tegra3 now. My decision will be when next years Asus comes out. It will be hard to give them my money again. If they dont do right I will Probably be going back to Sammy tabs, yeah they dont update as much but they dont have to, my Samsung GTab 10.1 ran flawless for 9 months. It just got outdated when tegra3 came out.
+1. i will never buy any Asus device ever again. From them sweeping the GPS under the rug and giving us a half ass dongle that wont work with the keyboard dock... Dont get me started on the poor wifi... I travel a lot and i can never get any reception on this Prime...but i also travel with an iPad and that has no issue connecting to those same networks. I love andriod but some of these manufactures need to do better QC'ing before they release to the public.
+1 to the better unlocking and nvflash
i would love to unlock my device, but don't want to loose ALL warranty.. especially with no nvflash
wifi, i have managed to live with after going out and purchasing 2 new routers to give decent wifi signal all around the house
it was a little disappointing though, as my old and very cheap advent vega tablet was able to stream videos anywhere in the house without issue when i only had a single router
Having our device fully unlocked would be a cool thing.
But first they should get all the software issues straightened out. I thought asus is good with updates and so far there were quite a few updates but they didnt fix the issues or fixed one but introduced another.
I'm perfectly happy with my prime its all about software now and if they chose not to make it fully unlockable i expect PERFECT software. The easier way of course would be to let the community make the perfect roms by just open everything up...
Unlocked boot loader would be a great way of doing justice to their buyers, the reason we choose android is freedom, it sucks when it is taken away.
grant us nvflash and warranty and im a happy little boy
never going to happen. ill choose wiser next time i spend $650.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Sort out these thread titles. This is nothing of value to us who have the transformer prime, it is just the opinion of another member.
MOD EDIT: Don't flame other users please!
benefit14snake said:
never going to happen. ill choose wiser next time i spend $650.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my DROIDX using xda premium
trebuchet76 said:
+1
Sent from my DROIDX using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and same here.
Asus, my nuts. Do the math.
i will never buy an asus product again if things dont get worked out soon.
Totally agree. In had the tf101 and LOVED IT. I upgraded to the prime and still love it. But Asus, you need to clean up your act. Take note from manufactures like HTC. They fully unlock boot loaders and only partially void your warranty. After all the issues your "RIGOROUS" tests failed to catch, at least give us a fully unlocked boot loader with nv flash. That is not too much to ask, especially since you already voided are warranties.
I already decided to move on and away from Asus products. I have my Acer A510 that was cheaper and everything works on it flawlessly, and I had it rooted on the day it arrived from Amazon. My Prime now just sits around collecting dust till one of my kids decides to pick it up to play some of the Nintendo games on it, cause it's mainly used by my kids to play games on it now.
I'm just trying to look out for the Prime owners here I think we all deserve at least to be able to customize our device without losing our warranty. I don't think the original post was out of line, to be honest. We have been through the mud with this unit. Some people are happy they have Primes but they probably don't have any issues with it. I can see why they are happy on the other hand some of us have had issue from day one, and still have issues that aren't fixed, such as the ones stated in original post. I can say Mine isn't as bad as some on here its probably 90% operational but after giving you, Asus $650 of my money it should be 100% operational after 5 or 6 months IMO.
Thats All.
I already decided to move on and away from Asus products. I have my Acer A510 that was cheaper and everything works on it flawlessly, and I had it rooted on the day it arrived from Amazon. My Prime now just sits around collecting dust till one of my kids decides to pick it up to play some of the Nintendo games on it, cause it's mainly used by my kids to play games on it now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about it but don't see a reason to buy 2 Tegra3 tablets, my decision will be different when Tegra4 or the next Mali from Sammy comes out. I like the Prime if they would just get it together, damn its been what 5 or 6 months. Give us something to show you understand the pains we went through with this unit. The GPS was a good gesture but it just doesn't fix all the wrongs and everything that we have had to deal with for a half year now.
Did someone even PM the man about this thread?
I would also like a fully unlocked bootloader, nvflash (which is getting near, it seems process of releasing nvflash is getting into negotiations, check one of the official asus threads by him), and access to hardware warranty. If nvflash is given to us with full permissions, and our bootloader is fully unlocked, i would definately feel obliged to congratulate asus despite being a company that puts us all through with a device that works fully for some, while others taste bad rma service and faulty design related issues (noticed a few days that my tablet is becoming bent from being connected to the dock, the aluminium back cover which is pretty but it seems that wifi is weaker because of that as well...) - i would enjoy my device much more.
i would even be fine if they removed tablets back cover and replaced it with other material, painted in the same color than the rest, to have stronger wifi. my tfp doesn't have "gps" written on the case, so i couldn't complain about that, even though i read in the device's spec sheet that it had gps when i searched about it. i almost don't use it, i'm pretty much about 2 locations right now: work/home.
i could go out, have this one rma'ed, buy another tablet like acer latest, once this one comes back evaluate if i should sell it, depending on factors described above. but i don't want to. i want to keep this, as it is a good machine, and with bootloader fully unlocked+nvflash+dualboot native linux/android, it would be sweet to have powerful wifi.
edit: and.. one other thing: no software is perfect, i'm afraid to disapoint you. it can always be improved.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201

The sad truth..

This is, without doubt, the most failed product I've ever bought. I have bought many unnecessary and failed products, and painfully regretted them all, but none as much as the Prime. I bought it because all the hype around it lead me to believe it would be a good tablet. How deceived I was. Poor wifi connection, no working gps without external dongle, slowdown to almost freeze when installing something from Google Play, etc.
Many times have I wanted to throw it in a brick wall, but it cost 750 dollars and it would pain me even more to lose all that instantly. I can't sell it because no one wants it now when the bootloader's unlocked (meaning no support etc, from already useless Asus) and I don't live in the US so I can't ebay it. I should have just waited until the 32GB 3G Nexus 7, or a Nexus 10, but instead I foolishly bought this sad piece of metal. I have to admit I found a lot more usability in it after upgrading to JB and I was ecstatic for a moment, well, until I installed an app from the Play Store..
So that's it, basically. I'm stuck with a pathetic piece of metal and it's no value in selling it and not worth the energy. I smacked Hairy Bean in it but it's just polishing a turd, really..
Theshawty said:
This is, without doubt, the most failed product I've ever bought. I have bought many unnecessary and failed products, and painfully regretted them all, but none as much as the Prime. I bought it because all the hype around it lead me to believe it would be a good tablet. How deceived I was. Poor wifi connection, no working gps without external dongle, slowdown to almost freeze when installing something from Google Play, etc.
Many times have I wanted to throw it in a brick wall, but it cost 750 dollars and it would pain me even more to lose all that instantly. I can't sell it because no one wants it now when the bootloader's unlocked (meaning no support etc, from already useless Asus) and I don't live in the US so I can't ebay it. I should have just waited until the 32GB 3G Nexus 7, or a Nexus 10, but instead I foolishly bought this sad piece of metal. I have to admit I found a lot more usability in it after upgrading to JB and I was ecstatic for a moment, well, until I installed an app from the Play Store..
So that's it, basically. I'm stuck with a pathetic piece of metal and it's no value in selling it and not worth the energy. I smacked Hairy Bean in it but it's just polishing a turd, really..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are using hb1.51 with a clemsyn overclocked kernel and still have play store lag?
agreed. Owell, you live and you learn, screw asus.
Yes, I have lag everywhere. When browsing Play, when installing apps, etc. The ONLY reason (read: ONLY) I'm keeping this disgraceful excuse of a tablet is because it would pain me even more to lose all that money.
Theshawty said:
Yes, I have lag everywhere. When browsing Play, when installing apps, etc. The ONLY reason (read: ONLY) I'm keeping this disgraceful excuse of a tablet is because it would pain me even more to lose all that money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am only asking based on an honest interest in the problem. There should be no lag in any of those areas using the rom kernel combination I mentioned earlier. Your post otherwise should have come at the end of one of the many complaint threads.
Theshawty said:
This is, without doubt, the most failed product I've ever bought. I have bought many unnecessary and failed products, and painfully regretted them all, but none as much as the Prime. I bought it because all the hype around it lead me to believe it would be a good tablet. How deceived I was. Poor wifi connection, no working gps without external dongle, slowdown to almost freeze when installing something from Google Play, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And... what exactly do you expect to accomplish by complaining about it here? Should we all pass the hat so that we can fund a replacement for you?
With all of its warts, why on earth didn't you return it when you had the chance? All of your gripes are problems that you should have seen from the start. Why did you hang on to it? Did you think it'd get better.
Look, Asus has horrible post-sale support. For that reason alone, I'll never buy another Asus product.
Pretty sure you can still sell it. Part out the dock and you might get $250-300 for both. Which would put you almost $100 within a Nexus10.
Seeing these woot offs and deals for this tablet fly at $200-250 means a lot of people understand the value of a $200 10" tablet. Most of them are probably like me looking to unlock and load up a different ROM anyway. Give it a shot on ebay or CList and get something you really want.
Androwook 1.51 absolutely flies with this thing on mine, sorry to hear you have issues. Got a 32GB preowned one for $200 few weeks ago and besides the wifi drain it's what I expected out of $200. Definitely not $500+ tablet though
whycali said:
I am only asking based on an honest interest in the problem. There should be no lag in any of those areas using the rom kernel combination I mentioned earlier. Your post otherwise should have come at the end of one of the many complaint threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pfft.. Like a kernel can magically solve a ****ty io performance because of crappy nand memory.
Jgrimoldy said:
And... what exactly do you expect to accomplish by complaining about it here? Should we all pass the hat so that we can fund a replacement for you?
With all of its warts, why on earth didn't you return it when you had the chance? All of your gripes are problems that you should have seen from the start. Why did you hang on to it? Did you think it'd get better.
Look, Asus has horrible post-sale support. For that reason alone, I'll never buy another Asus product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because when I first got it I foolishly thought it was a software issue hence why I unlocked the bootloader and flashed another rom.
Mikey-Z said:
Pretty sure you can still sell it. Part out the dock and you might get $250-300 for both. Which would put you almost $100 within a Nexus10.
Seeing these woot offs and deals for this tablet fly at $200-250 means a lot of people understand the value of a $200 10" tablet. Most of them are probably like me looking to unlock and load up a different ROM anyway. Give it a shot on ebay or CList and get something you really want.
Androwook 1.51 absolutely flies with this thing on mine, sorry to hear you have issues. Got a 32GB preowned one for $200 few weeks ago and besides the wifi drain it's what I expected out of $200. Definitely not $500+ tablet though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only have the tab and not the dock. Who the hell wants it now? I tried selling it but since the b/l is unlocked not a single soul was interested. That, or the fact that the prime is goddamn useless.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Theshawty said:
This is, without doubt, the most failed product I've ever bought. I have bought many unnecessary and failed products, and painfully regretted them all, but none as much as the Prime. I bought it because all the hype around it lead me to believe it would be a good tablet. How deceived I was. Poor wifi connection, no working gps without external dongle, slowdown to almost freeze when installing something from Google Play, etc.
Many times have I wanted to throw it in a brick wall, but it cost 750 dollars and it would pain me even more to lose all that instantly. I can't sell it because no one wants it now when the bootloader's unlocked (meaning no support etc, from already useless Asus) and I don't live in the US so I can't ebay it. I should have just waited until the 32GB 3G Nexus 7, or a Nexus 10, but instead I foolishly bought this sad piece of metal. I have to admit I found a lot more usability in it after upgrading to JB and I was ecstatic for a moment, well, until I installed an app from the Play Store..
So that's it, basically. I'm stuck with a pathetic piece of metal and it's no value in selling it and not worth the energy. I smacked Hairy Bean in it but it's just polishing a turd, really..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel your pain. Here's my story to add to the mix:
My daughter got a TF201 for Christmas last year.. but it didn't arrive until sometime in January 2012 due to availability. We've had a long, hard journey with Asus over the past 11 months and it has apparently come to the point where Asus is saying it is what it is and I'm saying it's a defective product.
Apparently, my only recourse is to take Asus to small claims court.. and I have no idea if that would be productive or not.
The original TF201 with keyboard was received in Jan. 2012... it was updated to ICS and the audio quit working. No sound, no mic, no nothing. Dear Daughter doesn't want to give up her new device so it takes a month or so before she'll save everything and let me return it for repair. Also, at some point we realize the GPS is not working so we get the dongle (which never worked or fixed the GPS problem).
The repair takes care of the audio problem (new motherboard). However, less than 90 days later we get the rear camera green line issue. Again, DD doesn't want to let it go right away, but eventually saves her stuff and off it goes. The camera issue is resolved and we get it back in a reasonable time frame.. 2 or 3 weeks.
Less than 90 days later, the rear camera craps out again. This time I tell Asus it's time to pony up to the plate and just get us a new unit off the line, and not some refurb. We send in the original unit and this time get back a different unit... a refurb.
Right off the bat, it randomly reboots and does weird stuff. Plus, the wifi range is much shorter than the original unit. Asus has us do a factory data reset (which takes time since DD has again loaded her pics and music... so it has to be saved off again). Eventually, we do the FDR and the reboots dramatically improve, but are not completely eliminated. However, wifi range still sucks and of course, the GPS doesn't work.
Now Asus tells us the wifi and GPS fix is to use the dongle (which we can't even find now). But you can't use the dongle when the keyboard is docked... which is how the TF201 is used 99% of the time. So how it that a fix? And I'm being told by Asus CS that the reboot may be when the device needs to update itself. Really? Without asking first? I don't think so.
Asus refuses to step up to the plate and do the right thing. Personally? I'm done with Asus. I've been buying their motherboards, media drives, and laptops for years. But they have found a way to royally pi$$ off a (former) loyal customer.
I'm considering my options at this point.
I hope you guys have better luck with your Asus devices than we have had. DD wishes now she'd gone with the iPad instead. I have to agree.
This story (like all the others before) has touched my heart and I fully sympathize. I am so inconceivably sorry you bought this tablet. I wish there was something I could personally do for you. If there's anything, and I mean anything I can do to ease your pain, please just say.
David
roccodaone said:
This story (like all the others before) has touched my heart and I fully sympathize. I am so inconceivably sorry you bought this tablet. I wish there was something I could personally do for you. If there's anything, and I mean anything I can do to ease your pain, please just say.
David
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah David. You are too kind. No, really.
If I possessed the slightest knowledge and interest of messing with the insides of electrical hardware, I would open this tab and de-solder the nand chip and solder on a fully working one that would play nicely with the rest of the internals, and I would change the metal backing for a better one that doesn't kill off the wifi and gps signals.
But, it would probably be more worth it to buy a nexus 7 3GB 3G (although, made by ASUS :/), but there's one slight issue. Money.
At least your Prime could be unlocked. I might be stuck with lack of root forever.
..
I dont know I still love my prime+dock. It does all i need it to. Yeah there is the occasional stutter when i update an app - but this is certainly not the end of the world for me^^ The screen is awesome and there is nothing better for pdf viewing/annotation and note taking at university... Still makes every ipad/laptop user jaelous.
SD card takes all the series/movies it needs to and battery life is very good. Since JB i'm fully satisfied with what i expect from a tablet. Still got my root without that it would look different i guess. Of course this is a personal view but for me - this tablet is completely fine and worth the money i spent on it.
We got enough whining threads...
Closed.

My first impressions after 3 hours owning it

So far I love it. One of the first things I did was download Google Now launcher, as I was coming from a Nexus 6 and had the Nexus 5 before that, and the Nexus 4 before that. So yeah, I was really used to stock(ish) Android. I can deal with most of the software changes I'm dealt with, it's no big deal to change the way I used to do things. Sometimes I think purist Android users can be over the top, but that's like anything else in life.
It's fast as hell once I turned off animations like I always do. WIFI reception seems average, and so does the network. I love the thinness of it. (remember I came from a Nexus 6 which is wide as %$#@) It feels like it was made for my hand.
I'm obviously not going in order here, but even the unboxing experience was very nice. Very neatly packaged in a slick white box that screamed quality. And they included all of the necessary accessories to have a nice first impression. They included a USB-C to Micro USB converter for those that need it, a plastic screen protector, a clear case, a quick charge wall unit, and an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain. Nice. Sometimes it's the little things that really matter, and you can tell a company actually cares about its customers. Anker is one of the best when it comes to customer relations. Keep that in mind when buying cables or chargers.
After watching some of the Youtube reviews of this phone, (after I bought it) I was a little worried if I had made a mistake. After getting it and using it for a while, all of those concerns are negated. It's just fine, and a hell of a deal (I got it for $329 from Newegg). Even me being a long time Rommer and rooter, I don't feel the need to Rom. (that may change) Google Launcher works great, so I'm happy.
There's a bunch of tweaks I have to do yet, but so far it's been nice. I have no issues whatsoever. It's just a good solid phone for what you pay. $329 is actually a good price at this point. And even cheaper if you don't mind gently used. Thumbs up on this phone.
Thank you for your review. In particular I did not realize that in the box there is "an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain" until reading your review! . I would miss this practical tool, thinking that it was an useless piece of rubber.
dnlilas said:
Thank you for your review. In particular I did not realize that in the box there is "an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain" until reading your review! . I would miss this practical tool, thinking that it was an useless piece of rubber.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying to be semi-sarcastic.
I had much the same experience with mine, loving it at first, and also coming from a Nexus 6. I'm planning on selling mine now though as I've been unable to unlock the bootloader to get root and custom recovery. The stock software isn't bad compared to some, but compared to the freedom you have with the Nexus 6, being stuck on stock unrooted kinda sucks.
It's been kind of a pain trying to sell it again not at a significant loss though, so I'm thinking about trying to give it another go and unlock the bootloader. I was running into the problem of not being able to mount the SD Card in recovery to flash the B20 firmare.
It really is a great phone hardware wise. I absolutely love the bright, vibrant screen and the speakers are great. Plus I like the look of the phone overall. If I could just get the software I wanted on it I could live happily ever after, lol.
wolfen69 said:
So far I love it. One of the first things I did was download Google Now launcher, as I was coming from a Nexus 6 and had the Nexus 5 before that, and the Nexus 4 before that. So yeah, I was really used to stock(ish) Android. I can deal with most of the software changes I'm dealt with, it's no big deal to change the way I used to do things. Sometimes I think purist Android users can be over the top, but that's like anything else in life.
It's fast as hell once I turned off animations like I always do. WIFI reception seems average, and so does the network. I love the thinness of it. (remember I came from a Nexus 6 which is wide as %$#@) It feels like it was made for my hand.
I'm obviously not going in order here, but even the unboxing experience was very nice. Very neatly packaged in a slick white box that screamed quality. And they included all of the necessary accessories to have a nice first impression. They included a USB-C to Micro USB converter for those that need it, a plastic screen protector, a clear case, a quick charge wall unit, and an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain. Nice. Sometimes it's the little things that really matter, and you can tell a company actually cares about its customers. Anker is one of the best when it comes to customer relations. Keep that in mind when buying cables or chargers.
After watching some of the Youtube reviews of this phone, (after I bought it) I was a little worried if I had made a mistake. After getting it and using it for a while, all of those concerns are negated. It's just fine, and a hell of a deal (I got it for $329 from Newegg). Even me being a long time Rommer and rooter, I don't feel the need to Rom. (that may change) Google Launcher works great, so I'm happy.
There's a bunch of tweaks I have to do yet, but so far it's been nice. I have no issues whatsoever. It's just a good solid phone for what you pay. $329 is actually a good price at this point. And even cheaper if you don't mind gently used. Thumbs up on this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to go on the write up here. I went with a used one via Swappa, waiting for it to come in and I checked around with some XDA knowledge before hand. And they said it was a good device. I look forward to getting, although these days I dont have much time in "mod'ing / flashing" but I also had a N6P, which sold that via Swappa.
Thanks again for your thoughts here. :good:
Prozart said:
I was running into the problem of not being able to mount the SD Card in recovery to flash the B20 firmare.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for totally off-topic, but I have no idea what you mean with flashing the B20 firmware. If it's the same process as the A2017G just using axon7tool (axon7toolkit might do it too, and probably easier) works. After you have TWRP you can spam the SD card option under Mount and it'll mount itself eventually. Or use the USB cable via MTP on TWRP. but again, what B20 firmware?
I don't know if I'll be able to help you, I just read most guides for the A2017G. Try axon7toolkit since it supposedly works for all 3 versions and can unlock your BL.
And the review, I honestly don't know what kind of mind control ZTE uses on the stock ROM, but I'm constantly going back to it after trying other ROMs. It works nicely if you don't count the things they break on every update, but hey, it gives a little of thrill to the whole situation (Will they fix Google Play? Will they even bother to fix exFAT? What about mobile data?)
What about the SIM tool? It is pretty awesome xd
Exfat is fixed in the new update b04 now u can use SD card upto 256gb.

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