Buy now or wait for Prime 700T?

[siggy1964]

I contacted Asus and they told me the Prime is not a professional gps model and needs a wi fi hook up to work. Well, I was using my phones hotspot which is wi fi and the gps does not work. This may be a small issue since I dont travel much but if it has gps capability it should work imo. He went on to tell me that if I'm not satisfied I should return it to the place of purchase for a refund; which is what I plan to do. Now, if there wasn't a new one coming out I would NOT return it. I checked out my friends ipad2 and, IMO, it sucks compared to the Prime.

 

[siggy1964]

After upgrade wifi NO ISSUES AT ALL.

They gps works very well. I don't see how u use a tablet to navigate while driving anyway.

Im super happy with this buy and recommend it!
The only issue i might have is coming from the fact im totally new to android and struggle with going getting over from the dark side (ms) habitslike mail etc... oh and the fact i write a lot (hence this purchase) and i still have not figured out how to solve the spelling issue.

Buy it you'll like it.

I was a passenger and it would have been nice to use my tablet instead of my phone for navigation.

 

[rgiskard]

Third day with the Prime.

So far so good. It is my first tablet, so spending some time learning (easy) and getting it all setup how I like it.

I have noticed the wifi does not pickup signals like other devices. In the same room as my main router, it rocks. In any other room the signal indicator drops. The first night I was streaming a show to it, and it did pause a few times. This is in the adjacent room to my main router, where there is a wireless bridge as well. It was an 366Mb avi file (rip of an HD TV show) on my Ready NAS NV I was streaming through ES File Explorer playing in the default Video Player.

So, I am upping the transmit power on my routers, it was 17, put to 25mw, and tried better positioning them...though they were not in bad position before. Will see how this works. I installed the wifi analyzer to do some testing, and considering going back to G instead of N. With that said, I was able to browse pretty normally in a room that is much further from the routers, and also apparently stream another show with little issue.

Overall though it is working fine. But, wifi is a but of a disappointment. With that said, it works, and I need to confirm that the signal indicator on the Prime is or is not really a reliable indicator. ie, even with only 2 bars is it still working and doing everything I need it to.

Question: is there another video player that is better for streaming? ie, VLC or something maybe that does some caching/buffering?

 

[Thetate]

If you can wait then wait, otherwise do it now. I have mine and absolutely adore it. No bt or wifi issues. I use it for retro gaming, comic book reading, Internet browsing, and other video games. The battery life makes me wanna rub my body with warm honey

 

[jimmydee62]

According to the research I've read the GPS problem is a hardware issue. The case being metal interferes with the GPS signal. Had ASUS placed the GPS reciever under the volume grill then it would work fine but they didn't so poor signal reception. ASUS also stated that it is and will be a problem so not a selling point for the prime.

 

[rgiskard]

So...impressions after not quite a week...

Prime is very cool. However, I am experiencing wifi issues. They are not to the point where, depending on your use of the tablet, they make it unusable. But they make you have to think a little about placement of your routers, configuration, etc., more than you might want to. Comparisons also come up lacking.

IE, I just tested with a colleague in the office how browsers speeds were in different locations. He has an iPad2. When we were in areas where there were open line of sight to the antenna, the Prime and iPad 2 were on par with each other. However, when we moved to areas around a corner, while he could still browse relatively quickly, I could not even browse (in Dolphin or Chrome). As soon as I walked around the corner, sites came up quickly.

Interestingly in my house I was able to connect/browse/and stream video to some level upstairs (router & AP is downstairs). So not sure if something else is at play...

However, it does not look to have the same reception as the iPad2 at least.

I plan on keeping it, aside from this, I love it...but I might contact Asus to see what can be done.

UPDATE:
So, I rebooted it, guess I could have just cycled the wifi (though I have done that a few times today just testing things), and my wifi was up to 3 bars. After walking to the exact same spot it all worked no problem.

I think one of the things going on is that it doesn't automatically switch APs based on whichever is the strongest. And perhaps I was connected for some reason to one that didn't reach that location.

 

[rushmore]

If the GPS or wifi on the Prime is not an issue for you, Prime is nice. Looks like summer before the 700 is released in mass, so longish wait for that model.

The wifi on the Prime seems the same as the Acer A500 (weaker than other options), but plenty of people liked the A500. All depends on your access to good wifi signal.

 

[rushmore]

If you can wait then wait, otherwise do it now. I have mine and absolutely adore it. No bt or wifi issues. I use it for retro gaming, comic book reading, Internet browsing, and other video games. The battery life makes me wanna rub my body with warm honey

Retro gaming on Android in general rocks hard Even nicer on the Tegra 3 for PS1 and N64.

 

[MNDaveC]

I am thinking the tf300 looks like a pretty good value proposition and should be out in April.

 

[jericko]

I am thinking the tf300 looks like a pretty good value proposition and should be out in April.

I agree with you 100%. Both my wife and I have HP Touchpads running CM9 and we both want a more polished product, but neither of us need a high end tablet. I mostly use mine as a e-reader for Comics and Mags while in bed. My wife just uses her for Facebook, Mags, and something called pintrest. So neither of us need a uber-high end machine, just something that meets our needs. If the TF300 comes out around $300, I will buy 2 the day they come out.

 

[breadnatty08]

I agree with you 100%. Both my wife and I have HP Touchpads running CM9 and we both want a more polished product, but neither of us need a high end tablet. I mostly use mine as a e-reader for Comics and Mags while in bed. My wife just uses her for Facebook, Mags, and something called pintrest. So neither of us need a uber-high end machine, just something that meets our needs. If the TF300 comes out around $300, I will buy 2 the day they come out.

Haha, something called pinterest! I still don't know what the hell it is but apparently the bees knees among women.

 

[siggy1964]

So have any of you adventurous types cut out the aluminum at the gps/bt/wifi antennas and filled it back in with something like epoxy? I wonder if that would work? Just thinking out loud.