[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] GernBlanston:
I like my Prime, a lot. It has the performance I like for games, it streams video very well (when paired with wired headphones), it's a joy to read comics on, it's slim and easy to hold, the screen is responsive, and to be honest, there's no other gadget in my house that sees as much use as the Prime, except perhaps my home theater PC or my television. I'm just bothered by a few issues, and want to RMA it when I'm comfortable there's available replacement parts and a decent turn-around time. On the serial number issue, I've been told to wait for a serial number fix, I've been told to wait for Asus tech support to contact me after providing my information....but since that's a wash, I'm now waiting for whatever announcement Gary has for us (who knows, maybe they'll unlock the bootloader for all) to decide whether to RMA it or not. There are enough posts of people complaining about units returned to Asus that get the "CID" treatment to give me pause, and when I do RMA it, it will hopefully go quickly and be returned promptly, and to be honest, I don't know if there's an actual fix for the GPS or the wifi/BT problems (although there might be some chance I get a new board/unit that isn't so susceptible to the BT dropouts).

The reality of the Prime is that it's a fantastic piece of kit, but with some design flaws that, although they don't affect every Prime and every usage scenario, affect enough people to fill General with their posts. The people posting are not "apple fanboys". They are not "whiners". They are people who spent, like you, a considerable amount of coin on the device, and sometimes it just doesn't perform as advertised. This results in considerable frustration for some, and many come here to voice that frustration, that's just human nature. But before you put labels on them, I'd just like to see a few of you walk a mile in their shoes. In my mind, a number of people posting on the same issue gives us at least some insight as to how many are affected, and gives buyers some kind of baseline outside of Asus marketing to determine where their dollars should be spent.

But you guys (and you know who you are) running around suggesting everyone with consenting posts on such issues should just shut up and read others' posts are being hypocrites. As are those who assume that because their Prime works for a given usage scenario, all others do as well. Sometimes I think your posts outnumber the complaint posts. You think that after 3 or 4 people complain about the serial number issue, for example, everyone else experiencing the issue should just "read the thread for that" and be quiet...well, Gary hasn't updated that thread in some time, and has posted the problem "solved" on CNET, and suggested that people still having the issue are corporate spies, for crying out loud...and as you guys would have it, we'd never know that it isn't solved, and that it (for all but one user here) requires an RMA to solve.

Here's the extent of the disconnect with reality being suffered here by some people: Recently, a user posted that he was suffering the serial number bug. Rather than kindly suggesting the person read the thread on the matter, or call Asus tech support, the first suggestion, posted by one of the most vocal of the aforementioned, was to root the device, install a third-party fix that doesn't work (he would know this if he'd read the thread on it), then contact Gary Key. WHY????? What kind of personal investment of faith and love for Asus does one need to have to suggest that others experiencing faults should im an individual in Asus marketing, rather than call tech support? Gary Key has not solved the issue. Gary Key does not suggest you root your device. Gary Key is in marketing, not tech support. Gary Key will tell you, if pressed, and if you wait for him to get back from his real job and spend half his Saturday going through emails and im's from people in this forum to get to yours, to do the exact same thing that phone support will tell you to do: Update manually to the next firmware, do a system reset, and wait...then, RMA your device. But, because Gary Key is some kind of godhead on these forums, real people with real issues are steered in his direction with the suggestion he will lay hands on them...vice the obvious, more suitable means to solve issues...