yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] FtL1776:
What is with this whining? You need a phone with a hot spot even to get GPS to work. Then you can just use your phone as the GPS and pair it to the Prime and the Prime can use your phones GPS.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] flight777:
So you are content with that you don't get what you paid for? I wish I had you as my customer, would be really easy :)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BixBix78:
I'll just say that the statement below regarding needing a hotspot or any data connection whatsoever for gps location offline navigation is 100% false
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] tylermaciaszek:
I'm happy with what I got and I'm not complaining best purchase I've made
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] flight777:
hmmmm some good news. Look at this thread, some are reporting working GPS and WiFi (one made a picture as proof! :D)

Maybe they fixed the issues in the new batch?

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=20855840&postcount=25

Yes I agree that it is a personal thing. But some people are calling those who are not happy with it and complaining, "whiners" which I don't find fair. I mean, they paid for it so they should get what is promised and otherwise have the right to complain about it.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] kennyog:
Thanks man, you can't argue with that.

Also I feel like a total idiot, because while it seemed to get my location correctly on google maps, I guess it was just very accurately getting it from my wifi, I went back and checked and sure enough, my compass works, but no lat/long where my phone gets it perfectly =/
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] smrsxn:
actually gps on my tp works fine. its just not as precise as garmin. went outside my house and locked in satellites from gps status app, then came back inside and downloaded offline map cache from google maps. took my tp out for a drive, and it showed me where i was driving accurately enough. it did lose fix sometimes, but it was also able to reconnect.

i will not depend upon my tp for navigation, as i have a garmin with good battery. but tp can be used in case required.

i am sure other devices that use wifi or cell signals will be more accurate. but gps does work on my tp.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] fuzzer:
Here Here....Some people make it seem like those of us not happy with non-working GPS are in the wrong...why is it too much to ask that a product I purchase work as advertised?

I am golad that so many people can be happy with their prime, as is...I for one am not happy with the idea of spending that much money on something that is not 100%...We are only seeking resolution, if possible, so we don't have to give up on this otherwise excellent tablet....
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
Based on Asus pulling the feature off their site the debate's over. They also didn't refute or even comment on the couple of online stories discussing the issue. The only thing left really is some type of formal communication. Now that it's being disussed in the theatre of public debate it won't go away and the lack of comment from Asus will only stir the pot more until they're forced to take a position.

It really comes down to whether this an important feature for some people. If it's not, that's cool. But people that are trying to make it a non-issue it's time to surrender. Asus and Nvidia have been hyping the Prime since May and it has, without question, the worst GPS capabilities of any tablet currently on the market. While it may not bother you personally, nothing anyone says will change that.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] xAnimal5:
Couldn't have put it better myself.

I have a theory on why some people are not getting any satelites. I live on an elevated part of my town, and I receive 8 or 9 satelites at my house. When I was driving downhill to my buddy`s house, I got 10 or 11 satelites. At his house, I had 0 satelites. Very strange how variaby the gps picks up satelites.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] don_cheadle:
While I agree with you, and also think that this is most likely the reality of the situation, I really hope ASUS changes their tune. A lot of people, and me personally, were hoping the Prime would be able to deliver merely what it promised. What they offered sounded extremely good and enticing. All I want ASUS to do is to stick to their original plan and follow through. If they decide to take the easy way out and bait & switch their customers. That's fine, and they'll probably suffer greatly from it. But I hope ASUS sticks to the model that made them a top tier hardware manufacturer, having integrity and sticking to top quality parts even if it entails a higher price.

If they decided jump the price $20 or $30 on the Prime just so everything works, I'd be willing to pay that. But I won't drop $499 on an empty promise.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] tbns:
Practically, it's not really an important feature for me (at least at this point in time). But on principle, it's really upsetting. If they really are intending to 'do away' with the GPS feature, I don't see how they expect to do it silently and without repercussion. It's entirely possible that something like this could cause more bad publicity than just shipping all the units with broken GPS, still advertise it, and find a fix..

---------- Post added at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:25 AM ----------

It works without WiFi being on? I tried my GPS today without being connected to WiFi, and it couldn't lock within 2 minutes (got tired of waiting).
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] xxgmon3yxx:
Just tested my GPS and no luck, I'm disappointed. What else is next? Delay ics? Time to spam their Facebook page for answers.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] xAnimal5:
Go outside and give it a few minutes for its first lock. The GPS isn't a Garmin killer, but it works.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Norcalz71:
so is the understanding correct that the consensus is that from here on out, the Prime will not ship with GPS capability? So anything manufactured after now, but anything already in stores would still have it?

I am one that would want gps.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] zoro25:
The one thing I notice from the youtube videos is that people are testing GPS indoors.

FAIL -

yes it should work by a window however you never test it in the house.

You also should not try and get the initial fix in the house.

Go outside and test it. :-)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Magnesus:
Keep in mind that it's the end of the year. In my country most people are on holiday breaks, isn't it the same in USA? I'd wait until at least Monday until doing sth about it. Removing GPS from the spec sheets may be a mistake by someone who wanted to postpone having to deal with the problem until people get back from holidays.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] markimar:
next thing you'll see is the camera disappear..... but in all seriousness they do state at the bottom of their pages that specs and software can change at any minute and at their discretion! They have themselves covered.

I just once wanted to say I had the best on the market. Now it seems like a bg joke.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
As you've probably figured out I've done complex product management in former jobs. Part of my interest in this is to see how Asus responds. To de-content (Asus pulling it from their website) a product two weeks after it's introduced is the nuclear option. And for them to make that decision so quickly means this probably wasn't a surpise to them. It would be great if they come up with a fix but in all my experience so visibly de-contenting a product has always been a one way street. Not trying to be a buzz kill, just sharing some experience.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] tbns:
So, here's the million dollar question. If they do indeed remove GPS as a feature of the tablet, are we on fair grounds to expect a refund from whatever outlet we ordered the tablet from, outside of the return window? A refund directly from ASUS? Credit card company?

Not saying I'm going to return the tablet, that would be jumping to conclusions. If ASUS says something official about it at a later date, it would be nice to have the option of arguing the product was not delivered as advertised.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lorthirk:
I see many people talking about GPS feature being removed from the page, but... are we really sure that it was there in the first place? Couldn't it be just a mistake? Like someone said, such a move would be a nuke bomb...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] lancer3397:
I suppose that would depend on which country you are in.

what I would say is print off whatever proof there is now, citing that the product has GPS capability before it gets pulled.

THEN you can cite disablement of GPS in future software upgrades (if that happens) by providing proof that it originally shipped with it. then, particularly in the UK you could cite trading standards legislation 'not fit for purpose' ie, I bought it because it was GPS capable and the manufacturer has disabled it.

I'm not so sure how it would play out in the USA.

---------- Post added at 02:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 AM ----------

I would think it likely that with the XDA community, even if GPS is turned off, custom roms would restore functionality. of course that is not the issue, its the fact Asus are so blatantly trying to bury something that should be working.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
Every company handles stuff like this differently and some better than others. The rule in PR is when the villagers are storming the castle with pitchforks and torches, get out in front of it and call it a parade. Here's couple of ways they could handle it:

1) The classic "mea culpa." This is what VZW's recently done with their LTE outage(s). Say to customers "look, it was important for us to differentiate the Prime and that's why we made the design choices we did. Our testing didn't indicate that real-life performance would be at the level our customers are reporting. For 90% of our customer's needs, we feel the Prime provides excellent geo-location assistance. We've changed our marketing materials to reflect this." They shoud then reach out to existing customers and offer to assist in the return of their Prime's or provide some type of compensation. Someone mentioned giving away a dock which I'm imagining costs them $45 to produce. If it were me, that's what I'd offer. Anything less that $50 in cash or $100 in accessories wouldn't be seen as a true acceptance of responsibility.

2) Classic "if I ignore it, it will go away." Asian companies usually suck at PR because of their concern about saving face. Look at what's going on with Olympus and their cooked books scandal. They clearly knew they were wrong but instead of coming clean, slowly leaked out the truth and made it worse. Based on the way Asus handled the delay communication I'm afraid this is the route they'll take. Eventually, when dragged to to it, they'll communicate and do the right thing. Typically compensation's lower and options fewer because they will have already created a PR nightmare and have less to loss by not being generous.

So it'll be intersting to see what path they choose...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] GordonTGopher:
Screen shot taken yesterday; http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=20841200&postcount=574

Gordon
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
There's screen shots in the other GPS thread showing it there and then gone. It was removed from local sites in Taiwan and Germany also. It jives with the CSR's now telling people that it's the metal back that requires Wi-Fi to be on in order to use GPS.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] theoner1:
Go for a drive, at first i said the same with the two Prime I have.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] xAnimal5:
I wouldn't mind if they gave us a dock or two haha
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Itaintrite:
I don't really need GPS since I always have my smartphone with me. But this is just ridiculous (if really true and they're doing the bait and switch). I'll return my TF Prime and wait for the A700 with its 1080p screen instead ;P
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lock-N-Load:
I can do the same thing - and posted screenshot here to prove it.. notice his WiFi is on so it is using WiFi to get the AGS data

the REAL trick is to get that exact same screen with no WiFi on :eek:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] justwonder:
No Wifi on my desk.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] thomslik:
It's amazing how quickly I have gone from being a happy owner, just in time for Christmas, of the latest and best android tablet available, to someone who has been deceived and defrauded.

I'm sick of the whole mess. Asus can have it. I'll never buy anything they make again.

May they rot in hell!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
There are two ways to test the functionality of the GPS chip operating alone.

1) Turn on airlplane mode, cold boot, run GPS test.

2) With Wi-Fi off, move the device a considerable distance.

Once it locks, with or without Wi-Fi, it memorizes the position of the satellites. It'll seem fine until it needs to reacquire the satellites (without the aid of Wi-Fi). That's why it consistently fails the driving test.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] senatorxmg:
What will be interesting to see is if there's a pending update that removes the gps funtionality from everyone...regardless of if it's working or not for some.

Man...am I ever glad about the Best Buy screw up here in Canada. Saved me $500. I just cancelled my 11/22 preorder yesterday. Phew! that was close as it was scheduled to be released today! (I really, really wanted this, too)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Evo_Shift:
Glad I didn't buy one thinking I would mount it in my car. GPS doesn't mater to me in a tablet but to some it probably is a huge deal and may be hard to return it outside the return window.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] adiliyo:
i would take a free dock in exchange for a wifi assisted only gps.

but it's pretty irritating for them (if this is the case) to basically run away and try to sweep the problem under the rug with no real communication and if that's what ends up happening, it will tarnish the companies reputation in my eyes (and wallet) for the considerable future.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] slayer69:
Look at the screen shot its the www site....they have a USA site address as well which he put in the link.

GPS Not listed

http://usa.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201/#specifications

GPS Listed

http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201/#specifications

:rolleyes:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] RiPPn:
^^this

Thanks to the best buy no hassle returns til jan 24th I can return it no questions asked, and return it I will. I will also not purchase another motherboard or any other product for that matter from this slimy company. And the people making excuses to make themselves feel good about keeping this tablet, shame on you for letting Asus get away with this, you are part of the problem.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] thetruth1983:
Wow and these guys are trying to compete with Apple? If Apple tried to pull something like this, I'm sure someone would probably be hung.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] NoTrix:
I'm typing this on a flawless Asus laptop, connected to an Asus WIFI router. I am extremely satisfied with both products. I've preordered, reordered, and cancelled the Prime, only to reorder again. It seems like every week since its release (WIFI issue happened pre-release ) there has been one problem or another with this device. The pragmatist in me has taken over and I think I'm gonna sit on the sidelines and see how Asus responds, or examine other alternatives...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
Truthfully, I kind of feel for Asus. I don’t think anything they did with the launch, design, or build of the Prime was done with any malice. They have a good track record (not necessarily with product launches) and generally seem to put the customer first. There are consistent compliments about their h/w repair and system updates and the TF1 was an excellent value.

This is just one that got away from them. There's an adage used in consulting, product development, and the like. "You can have it good, cheap or fast - pick two." To hit a $499 price point for a 32GB high-end tablet they had to have picked "cheap." I think with the Teg3 delay and their deadline (self-imposed) to get the Prime out by the end of the year "fast" won out over "good." It's still not too late for them to recover. I hope they do.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] GCurry:
I feel for them also, but if they are to learn, they need to realize that "good" needs to be one of the two. Apple is user-centric, which is part of the cult. That's "good". This last Asus move (removing gps from the specs list) is not "good" IMHO. To teach Asus, make them choose again. Good and cheap, or good and fast, but not cheap and fast, with no good.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] thetruth1983:
I'm actually not upset that so many users are having issues. I'm just upset that they seem to be avoiding the issue altogether. When Apple had their "antenna gate" with the Iphone, at least they acknowledged the issue and offered free bumpers (even though that solution was pretty lame IMO). All Asus has done is have phone support deny that the issue exists and also remove GPS from the website. I'm guess they don't want too many people to cancel preorders so they will probably wait until February to say something.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] arrrgh:
Or they would just tell people that they are "holding it wrong"

oh wait!

...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] HuskerWebhead:
LOL. Well, eventually Apple acknowledged the problem. Lets not forget Steve Jobs's infamous "You're holding it wrong" response to the antenna problem. It took them awhile to finally cave and send out bumpers.....and that in itself was a lame "solution."
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dandrep:
I had zero success with GPS until I left if outside, in the dock for about 15 minutes. Then sats started popping up in GPS Essentials. I was able to drive from Golden Gardens to Woodinville without losing GPS lock. Was worried... now happy. May not be the best GPS, but it worked.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Underwater Mike:
Absolutely. I guess this is one case in which being painfully backordered will be a positive for me. I won't buy one until gps if functioning properly, as it's an essential for me.

You'd think that Asus would've learned its lesson after all the issues with last spring's launch. I have to wonder how many MBAs were in on this decision? :rolleyes:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] thetruth1983:
Lol I forgot all about that.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] agtitan:
I will probably return mine to amazon on Jan 29 and then wait for the ipad3. I really think ill enjoy the thousands of load apps more than the android tablet apps. ill still have my android phones though.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] GCurry:
I will likely RMA mine, for refund or exchange. But I'd not sub ipad for Android, on principle. Open > proprietary, IMHO.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] MrBigKid:
I was waiting for Best Buy to get them, and had every intention of upgrading to the Prime. Now with this GPS issue it's no deal. GPS is important to me. Unassisted GPS that is. I am not interested in tricks and workarounds.

Guess I will live with my original transformer until another company can fulfill my needs.

MBK
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] opentoe:
My GPS locked inside my house within about a minute and indicated my location. I just received my Prime from BestBuy yesterday.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] slugbug2010:
A few things come to mind:

*I purchased a tablet that was released less than 2 weeks ago. The gps doesnt work. Im willing to give Asus some time to fix this. I dont really care if its a bandaid temp fix as long as they acknowledge my unit did not come as described.

*My gps did work before I did the firware update,now it doesnt. Why is that?

*Speaking of which.....how the hell did this get past allllll the device testers? Im not talking QA,I mean the real experts, the geeks lime us they send these things to and we watched video after video and read article after article of reviews. How did none of those guys have this problem?

*I think some people here may not realize how important tablets are for businesses now. Not having a reliable working gps could be a big blow - maybe not to some here who can use their phones or garmins, but Asus could miss out on some business sectors if they dont get ghis fixed.

*I am enjoyinvgmy Prime and do not intend on returning it. If a 3rd party app will essentially "fix" my problem, that is good enough for me for now. This is no small issue and i cant imagine a scenario where Asus doesnt provide a solution to this.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] neo1738:
Using GPS fix after reboot allows the GPS to work well with wifi off...GPS works but initial lock is Dec slow. I imagine a software/firmware update will fix this
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Magnesus:
In my experience - if sth doesn't work out of the box it never will. But never say never, right? ;)

edit: and there are exceptions to this rule when people make custom ROMs!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] don_cheadle:
That's what bothers me. I watched easily 5 reviews on this thing before making a decision on whether to buy it or not. In every review, there was relatively no mention of any GPS or WiFi strength issues. They willfully and completely skirted around the issue. I honestly don't trust any of these reviewers. I only watched 1 review where there was any mention of the WiFi strength not being as good as the TF101, but it wasn't investigated.. it just received a notable mention.

However NO ONE (not a single ****ing person) reviewing the Prime investigated the faulty GPS.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jzen:
Thats because the only places reviewing this device back then were in bed with Asus and Nvidia.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Col.Kernel:
Because it smacks of dishonesty.

If Asus wants trust they've got to earn it. And you earn it by being transparent with your clients. Any consultant knows this, you'd think a big company would too. But no, the assholes are only concerned with marketing and PR.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] nukeruss:
Mine locked in on a signal in my house. I later took it on the road and it worked as expected. It took a while to lock in while sitting on my lap but did work. I then pulled out my wife's droid x and it behaved the same while in my lap but worked much better when docked in the window. We just need a window dock for the prime and all will be fixed. There are some funny posts in this thread. I personally don't care how well it receives gps though. I use my phone for navigation.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] don_cheadle:
It's clear ASUS (tablet) doesn't know what they're doing. They're definitely scared & confused. I think they made this decision based on finances, unsure how corporate might take it if they dumped more money into the venture. Hopefully senior execs or ASUS's more well-managed divisions will take the reigns and let whoever's the little **** that's been calling the shots thus far, go.

From what I've heard, they screwed up the TF101 launch as well, and keeping in predictable fashion they screwed up the TF201's launch even harder. Heads should be rolling for this.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jzen:
The point is that people want GPS to work if they are paying $500 (after all, it is included in the price).

Would you buy a new bike with a chain that didn't work? Then justify it by saying something like... "I ride it mostly down hill so it doesn't matter to me, i love it still..."

I think not.