yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
When pondering what the fix may or may not do, here's some stuff to consider:

1) When Apple changed the design of the iPad2, and the antennas were no longer behind the plastic logo, they lost 10-15% signal strength. And that's with the new design antennas behind the perforated speaker grate so they could still get some direct signal.

Moral: you can only do so much with a metal back cover.

2) In all other tablets (and possibly the TF300 and TF700) the strongest signal is through the plastic cover on the back of the device. The Prime's antennas are biased to face forward through the glass front panel. Other devices receive signal omni directionally whereas the Prime is designed around a forward facing signal.

Moral: unless they completely reposition the antennas favoring the back of the device (like they may with the TF300/TF700), even a plastic strip or plastic back cover will only do so much.

3) The biggest problem hasn't been the Prime's Wi-Fi, it's been the inconsistency between devices. Looking at the autopsy thread that's probably because of the complex antenna routing to compensate for the metal back cover. So the "fix" should hopefully address that so all Prime's perform the same way.

Moral: today's best performing Prime should probably represent all Prime's going forward. Or, in other words, don't expect the result of the fix to advance much beyond existing Prime’s that seem to work well.

4) GPS signals are inherently weaker than both Wi-Fi and BT and easily affected by RF interference. The fix should probably normalize performance so all Prime's behave the same way.

Moral: the metal back cover is going to limit GPS no matter what they do to stabilize the Prime’s wireless.

All just my

opinions

from weeks of observation. Your mileage (and opinions) may vary. ;)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
very well put buddy. ill own up to what you quoted me for. ill eat half a crow since I was still partially correct. ;)

regardless, lets see what Asus finally has in store. its finally time to let these dead horses R.I.P. once everything settles.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] phree1:
Thanks for posting this in a public forum anyone can read.

---------- Post added at 09:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 PM ----------

Uh, no it most certainly does not.

It does not guarantee you a replacement of the same model, and it definitely does not guarantee you a full refund if you just decide you don't like it.

It does however guarantee that in the event your tablet stops functioning due to a hardware issue (including accidental damage from handling the unit in a way the manufacturer intended), that we will service your unit to bring it back to proper functionality, replace it with a sku of comparable performance (should the Prime be discontinued), or issue a store credit for the current selling price of a comparable sku of the same performance.

It is possible you got the Buy Back plan, which gives you a guaranteed trade in value based on the length of time you keep your device. For instance, if you keep it for 6 months or less, you are guaranteed 50% of the purchase price back or 10% above the current standard trade-in value, whichever is higher.

If you were told differently, then you have my most sincere apologies as a Best Buy employee. I would suggest contacting the store management at your local Best Buy and politely informing them that you believe you were sold a protection plan under false pretenses.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Freestyle72:
Not sure what fairytale land you are from but its goin to cost a hell of a lot more than $500k. Lets say they sold only 1 million primes world wide. An average shipping cost of $5 round trip for RMA puts us at 5 million dollars right away. Then you need to pay a tech for one hour to disassemble and repair the unit. Lets pay him $5 for his hour, that puts us at $10 million. Not to mention all the other associated costs to deal with this, the tech support, the material cost, the extra storage at their facilities, etc. Realistically they would have to shell out a minimum of 30 million dollars which any shareholder would scoff at the idea of.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
When Prime's started coming off the line with huge variances between them that’s when Asus was screwed financially. They could either keep producing them with a high and costly percentage of rejects or redesign them. The former was also costing a fortune in returns, exchanges, and RMAs and testing the patience of both resellers and customers. So a financial hit was inevitable no matter which path they chose. Allowing people to send in their devices to have them updated is going to cost a fortune just as you outlined. But it's the right thing to do and Asus deserves credit for stepping up. Once everyone's devices are updated and new shipments perform correctly (and consistently) the entire wireless debacle will blow over in a couple of weeks. It was only 8 weeks ago that the front page was riddled with angry posts about the pre-order debacle. People have very short memories.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Col.Kernel:
I don't. I will remember they screwed the pooch hard on the launch.

But! I will also remember they did the right thing, and won't hesitate to buy from them again.

I don't expect any person or company to be perfect. It is HOW they deal with their mistakes that determines their..... moral fiber if you will. If Asus will follow through on this I will happily buy their products in the future.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
Gary said there has BEEN NO CHANGES, not that there will be no changes. Go back and read.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] texstar:
If I was Asus, I would offer to replace the metal back with a plastic one for those who want it. In addition if needed replace/adjust the wifi and gps modules. I suspect most Primes would be fixed with the plastic plate which costs pennies to make and replacement is a 5 minute job. For me, I don't use gps and while the wifi is a bit weak, it would not be worth it to me to send my Prime back and wait 2-4 weeks to get it back.

Just my 2 cents.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Danny-B-:
in reply to everyone whos unlocked their bootloaders.

The T&C's of the tool

Which is worded in a way that makes me think they possibly had the new part design in place before releasing this tool. hoping that as many people would unlock their devices as possible.

They even refuse to do it if you pay !!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] andersonphotographics:
Whilst reseaching info on this topic, came across this teardown article:

http://m.techrepublic.com/blog/crac...ardown-solid-tablet-but-not-without-flaws/399

Some very interesting conclusions regarding lack of shielding !!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] rdalev:
Using your math:

1 million sold @ $500.00 a piece= 5 hundred million dollars !

$500,000,000.00

-$5,000,000.00 Shipping

-$5,000,000.00 not 10 million for labor to repair

-$20,000,000.00 associated cost

equals $30,000,000.00

So: $500,000,000.00

-$30,000,000.00

_______________

$470,000,000.00 That's Four Hundred and Seventy Million Dollars Left !

I'd say 30 million dollars is a mere pittance to keep Asus's reputation intact !
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] lp_stealth:
I too think think they should make right however your math is wack. The do not make $500 profit per tab. They probably sell them for 4-450 a piece minus shipping to north america then the cost to build each tablet probably 1-200 lets say they make 150 dollars per tablet then thats only $150,000,000 - $30,000,000 = $120,000,000 they will still make profit with my number if they actually sold 1 million tablets and my guesses are close.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] PrimeUser:
I'm not a fanboy, and I was lucky to get a solid Prime unit, yet I might exercize my right of change, know why? I have 2 dents on my backplate my son did with a metal miniature car drop, therefore and if ASUS make the change official, I might as well ride the wave :D
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] blackinjun:
That's closer but still not real life lets say after hard cost including materials, packing, shipping, and collections/banking they gross 150.00 (which I doubt) they will net out about 25.00 a tablet if they are lucky after internal cost. Building lease, machinery lease, salaries, insurance, medical (if they have it) taxes, etc.

So more like $25,000,000 - $30,000,000 = $-5,000,000

And none of this accounts for marketing, product placement cost, aftersale vendor support cost, reserve for mandantory recall, website, software (android) development for future upgrades, etc
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] pileot:
Ya when i worked in retail things like TV's, computeres, game consoles, etc. had VERY little markup at the store level, like maybe 5%... we might make $10 on a laptop for instance.

The reason places can afford to do this is when you buy a TV or laptop or in this case a tablet you also buy cases, styluses, hdmi cables, screen protectors, screen cleaner, etc. and the markup on THOSE is huge.

I would suspect it costs somewhere close to $400 for the hardware and shipping for Asus. $100 profit margin to be shared between the retailer and Asus is not a lot when you consider all the extra associated costs.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] vballrkc:
You guys are priceless. :)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] tuckersmission:
What you are talking about is a product recall. And the numbers do seem somewhat skewed in my opinion. If Asus are offering then I think they would only offer it to those that want / need it.

Over 1.2 million units have been sold so far, and the majority of those people are happy customers and probably not the gadget freaks that we are :-) inspecting and analysing every aspect of our Primes. I don't see 1.2 million people eagerly watching every update on XDA.

So whats better, offering a solution to the small percentage of that have issues and going some way to rebuilding their credibility, I mean they will have to deal with them is some way anyway. Come on, some peeps have had up to 6 units returned!!!

n.b. I recently asked a Prime owner what he thought of the issues affecting the prime? His response was 'what issues?'.

After I told him we did all the obligatory tests, Wifi, Speed Test, BT/Wifi drop out, GPS. and his unit suffered all of them. Guess what, for what he was using it for it was spot on.

Anyway, It would be fantastic if ASUS did offer this. And if they did I recon it might be the new back plate on the TF700 plus some pogo pin adjustment.

Just my 2 cents worth.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] vvveith:
Really???

Seriously, if the back plate is a problem, then a far cheaper fix is to cut a hole in the aluminum back plate and seal the hole with a plastic window. It would cost them about twenty five cents per unit. It would only take ten minutes per unit to complete. Why would you want a plastic back plate that is cheap and easily cracked when you can have an aluminum back with a tiny window that fixes everything? No brainpower here. :eek:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] shinzz:
Where did you get that information??
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] tuckersmission:
Which bit? I got the volumes from the Iterweb :-). And as far as happy customers go just look at the reviews on Amazon or other review sites.. you'll see that the overall ratings are very high.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] shinzz:
Over 1.2 million Transformer Prime being sold...

As far as I know, Sony released a statement that 1.2 million PS Vita was sold.. but Asus hasn't released any figures of how many Transformer Prime's are sold ....

SO yea, where did you get this information?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
wow, if 1.2million has been sold already in less than 3 months I'd say that's pretty well for Asus considering there was no major advertising or campaign. can you post link to those numbers?

---------- Post added at 09:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 AM ----------

I want to see a link also. if those numbers are true, there's probably no way Asus discontinuing it cause its a success so far. based on that number in the lil bit of time since end of December till now.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] shinzz:
I highly doubt it considering that in.. 2011.. they sold about 1.2 million OG Transformer & Slider combined...

And they were hoping to ship (not sold) 1.8 million Asus Tablets (that means all Asus Tablets) in 2011...

So yea.. I want to know where he got that information.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] tuckersmission:
Ok, Im googling like mad to find the source! At work so having to be discreet!

---------- Post added at 05:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:41 PM ----------

OK Guys, I think I've got confused with something else. My Bad. I should know better than to try to Multi task at work. I cant find the source... But thinking about it your right. that number is way off...

Apologies Dudes!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] yoursexyhero:
Is this really true? I love my prime but now after looking at the screen more the yellow tint is actually starting to bother me a lot. Even downloading "screen adjuster" I dont want to use an app just to cool down the color temp. especially since the app makes my TFP run funny >_> I hope this is real I want to get a replacement and I hope i dont pick up a worst TFP... sigh....
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Bryanxst:
Their is definitely something going on with the TFP stock. Last week I hassled johnlewis.com to find out why I hadn't received my prime yet. I ordered it in mid-January. They seemed to be clueless even though they have a good rep in the UK for customer service. After firing off that email I checked into my jl account to see if owt had changed. It hadn't! I then clicked through to the product page, low and behold, it had gone. I then looked in on MicroP, John Lewis tech supplier. The same was true here, no TFP's on either site!

From this and my other research I optimistically deduced that Asus had stopped the original TFP production sometime around the end of January and were in the process of re-tooling or modifying the design.

If my hunch is right and this news of a hardware fix for defective units proves true, the fact that both John Lewis & MicroP are now back IN STOCK according to their websites, then I am expecting my Amethyst Grey model early next week.

Does anyone know if the TF No below relates to which batch MicroP are pushing out, or is it purely a stock No?

Asus Transformer Prime TF201-1B002A (10.1 inch) Tablet PC ARM Cortex (A9) 1.3GHz 1GB 32GB WLAN BT Camera Android 3.2 nVidia Tegra 3
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] shinzz:
Haha, no problem. If it was true, it would have been all over the media... 1.2 million sold in 2 month is unheard of in Android Tablet market (that & with all the production/WIFI/GPS issue they are having).....

Btw, isn't it interesting... Even the latest batch of Transformer Prime's aren't shipped with ICS.. instead, it's honeycomb 3.2... Weren't they supposed to ship with ICS towards the end of Jan (according to Asus of Italy)?? Surprising that no one has caught on to that....
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BTrack:
Maybe this ..

After reading through all the posts thus far, all the suppositions regarding the "hardware fix", and all the math, I'd like to suggest the following:

Perhaps ASUS has been following this forum and will supply us with a small piece of beer can, a bit of wire, some tape, and installation instructions!

Could work and be cost effective, albeit ugly. :p
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] federer:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/29/best-buy-boosts-return-window-from-14-days-to-30/
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] rdalev:
That's great for peeps who bought their Prime within the last 30 days. Bought mine when it was a 14 day return window, which I allowed to pass, thinking Asus would fix the GPS issue, not sweep it under the rug ! How foolish of me to expect a company to fix their products !
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] yoursexyhero:
It seems it goes into effect as of March 4 and no purchases from before hand are grandfathered in. (Or so I've read from other posts I will call BB in a few to confirm)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] buxtahuda:
That may be the case, but others have already had their returns accepted after the 14 day period passed.

They are probably supposed to do it this way, but most managers will be happy to help make sure a customer will return, and enough flaming will usually get past these kinds of limitations: especially knowledgeably, logically, and calmly doing so.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
You're out of your mind. Asus' tablet sales were down 24% in Q4 2010 based on their annual report so little were sold then. Analysts are projecting tablet sales in general to be down 38% between Q4 last year and Q1 this year showing little demand. The same analysts are projecting 5.4MM total sales of $399+ high-end Android devices (from all manufacturers) in 2012 and Asus’ market share in 2011 was 10%. Jonney Shih, Asus' CEO, said in an interview he'd like to "sell "1MM" Prime's" this year - they sold about that many TF101's last year. I posted a chart showing 2/3 of tablets are purchased B&M and there have only been a handful of Prime's available in stores at any given time. Taking all that in to account, an optimistic number would be 250K-ish. I'd love to see some stats (or even sound logic) that would indicate anything different.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
you want sound logic. well the Prime has a failure/return rate of less than 1% :p lmfao SMILE
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wynand32:
When did you buy your Prime that you thought the GPS issue would be fixed? ASUS removed GPS from the specs at the end of December 2011. If you bought after that time, and you'd visited this forum since then, you HAD to know that ASUS wasn't promising any GPS fix. Quite the opposite, in fact.

If you bought earlier than that, then my condolences.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] BarryH_GEG:
Also, the manufacturer of the LCD panel's finally been revealed: HanStarr.

This is from their website:

We promise the the next generation a bright, colorful world filled with hope!

●TFT-LCD makes you cross plains and mountains and reach the farthest ends of the earth.

●TFT-LCD enriches your world and bring everything to life!

Ever since the company was first established, HannStar has possessed a clear service philosophy. We aim to provide humanity with the healthiest possible visual environment; we are engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of low-radiation, low energy consumption TFT-LCD which is lightweight and convenient to use. Looking ahead to the screen-age of the future, we are confident that we can give the next generation a window which is natural, free from obstacles, and eliminates distance!

http://www.hannstar.com/Common.aspx?mid=7&tmid=1&modid=1

And this is the Prime's cousin...

http://www.hannspree.com/EU/EN/Prod....aspx?sort=2&page=1&pattrs=&attrs=&viewAll=0#
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] buxtahuda:
Haha, I can't stop laughing at the fact that it's running 2.2! I mean wow!

I just ran into some cheap reader or other running 2.1, I was just like wait, is this a big Hero?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Core618:
Sounds about right, we get a lot of our attorney's and some of the other staff as well, who call in and ask my help desk and desktop staff for things all the time, because they listened to the 'guy at the store' who turned out to know little to nothing... and then they want us to fix/update/tweak their personal equipment for them.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wynand32:
I hear you about the yellow tint. I had two Primes with screens that had a terrible yellow tinge to them. I actually found there to be three distinct screen types on the Prime:

1. Terrible yellow tinge, flat colors, poor text.

2. Warmer than, say, a Samsung screen, but pleasant to my eyes. Good colors, decent text. Some parts of images sharper, but oddly enough less detail in bright areas.

3. Same warmth, better colors, better text. Some parts of images not quite as sharp, but again oddly enough more detail in bright areas.

I found #2 and #3 to be excellent across the board, and prefer #3 overall. #1 was just simply absolutely horrible. If you have one of those, I feel sorry for you.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] junrider:
Whoa.. missed this thread, so many posts just skimmed through. I guess Wordlywisewiz was right about his source about looking into a hardware fix for the wifi/gps. Guess the OP and other are confirming this to be more of a valid improvement. The only things is, would Asus publicly announce this? I doubt it, they would take a mass hit on RMA for devices wanting the new parts in their prime. I suggest spreading this once there is an actual working fix to other sites to inform other prime owners about the new parts. I know Im gonna inform my friend who I used my best buy account to buy his prime about new parts when it is actually tested to work . Im still probably gonna wait for a tablet for me and my wife to see the choices and maybe the prime will actually start the hitting shelfs and hopefully price reduction.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jflaplante:
I just had a nice talk with our Friend Aaron from the Asus Hot line. He's a really nice guy unfortunately the corporate BS he's forced to recite is not very helpfull.

The main parts he tells me are:

"The TF201 has a aGPS chip and needs wi-fi to work"

When I told him that it was tethered all the time he then told me that:

"The TF201 is not intended for professional navigation"

He told me about newer parts to fix some wi-fi issue but nothing is planned so far regarding the GPS beside the denial of the problem by saying basically that the GPS is not designed to do anything usefull.

Mine does work when I'm

outside

in a

fixed position

in an

open field

but remove any one of these 3 prerequisites and things go south very rapidly.

Since my purchase was 20 days ago, he offered me a full refund including the docking station. I will take him up on this offer and I have already received my shipping labels. Without any commitment or acknowledgement of the issue by Asus, I cannot trust that the issue is going to be fixed one day.

It is very sad because I like the unit very much. Fortunately I didn't unlock the boot loader yet so everything was fine. It will be months before another model becomes available so there a big hole in the product line right now...

I hope it help some of you with your decisions.

JF.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] lp_stealth:
yes, and no! I bought mine mid January. my retailer advertised GPS as well as every Canadian vendor (some still do) my box advertised GPS and they came out with a GPS update even after I bought my tablet. So yes I did have hopes on it being fixed. you can't just delete 3 consecutive letter on some corner of the internet and expect all to be well!!!!

Hell even when the got around to deleting GPS off the specs on the back of the box they left the extra coma in place! What kind of monkeys dodo the have working there, they can hit backspace 3 times but not 4?

Back to hardware fix, we will never know but I am willing to bet the only reason they are even coming out with a fix at all is because vendors started pulling them from their sites. From what I have seen Gary Key seems to care but the company as a whole cares way more about money than selling a quality product. For that I won't be buying from Asus again at least not for in the foreseeable future, until they earn my trust again. EX. bad mobo could also kill graphics card, processor, ram. I'm not taking that risk, sorry Asus you sweep problems under the rug, well I'll sweep you under the rug.