back to article Asus drops GPS from tablet spec after issues emerge

Asus has dropped the word 'GPS' from its Eee Pad Transformer Prime spec sheet after early adopters of the 10in Android tablet found the gadget's satnav tech doesn't work too well. Forum postings between Christmas and the New Year show a number of Prime owners peeved by the tablet's apparently poor ability to pick up a GPS …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    First it giveth, then it taketh away

    But look they gave you a little unexpected surprise: a locked bootloader!

    http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/2/2676062/asus-transformer-prime-bootloader-encryption

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      EPIC FAIL?

      As pretty much everything (including the current Transformer) has a locked bootloader too.

      You can tell that Asus has become a strong force in the tablet market, as FUD like this story and this comment prove.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        F*U*D?

        Hello Mr Shitpeas.

        You got your definition of FUD wrong. Both story and comment are pointing out actual facts.

        Maybe we need a Shitpeaese to English dictionary. Something you can do in the ample free time you seem to have.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        "...as FUD like this story and this comment prove."

        I suppose they were both paid for by Apple too. Barrington, you need some perspective you utterly ridiculous fandroid.

    2. DPR

      Lost in space

      My Asus Transformer works fine as a satnav - so the problem may be one for the new Prime model.

    3. Craigness
      FAIL

      Unexpected surprise?

      An unexpected surprise ought to be an oxymoron, but seeing as Asus announced the locked bootloader thing a while ago, the fact that a community as knowledgeable as XDA is surprised is really unexpected.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Headmaster

        Oxymoron?

        You must be using Mr Shitpeas's dictionary too.

        "Unexpected surprise" is a pleonasm.

    4. King Jack
      Trollface

      Doing a Sony

      It's called doing a Sony.

  2. Cameron Colley
    FAIL

    What a complete and utter fail.

    I hope they're providing a full refund to anyone affected. A problem like this is completely inexcusable in somethkng of this price.

    Perhaps they should justbtell people they're holding it wrong?

  3. dotdavid
    Thumb Down

    "Did we say...

    ...GPS stood for Global Positioning System? It actually means General Purpose (computer) System.

    We only removed it after we locked the bootloader. We figured that meant it wasn't general purpose anymore."

    Joking aside, I always though Asus was one of the few Android OEMs with a clue after seeing the original Transformer's decent build quality and very timely updates to the latest version of Android. Seems I was wrong.

  4. TonyHoyle

    Asus have always locked the bootloader

    The original transormer had one from release.. it's just that the key was leaked soon after they changed it someone had worked out another way to root (Razorclaw).

    That's now been plugged, so you can't root the latest firmware.. and it's the reason I won't buy another Asus tablet. On the original TF, for example, you have to root it to enable wifi channel 12, which just happens to be where the office wifi is, making the stock TF unusable for me. That and proprietary cables, inability to charge off USB (so can't be charged in the car), etc.

    1. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      Crap approach

      From this & TonyHoyle's report, I can't see any point in buying one. If I wanted something locked-down then there is Apple, at least with a neat & tidy garden to be locked in.

      But what is the point in locking one of these? Do Asus think they can get a cut of money from stuff sold for the platform? I doubt it, though please politely explain to me if this is wrong.

      If I was in the market for a tablet, my first thought would be as a pretty plaything, in which case Apple are fine. If I wanted to make use of it more seriously, I would expect standard cables and USB support, along with the freedom to load what *I* want on it, just like a real computer but in a small form-factor.

      So why should I even consider Asus?

  5. Ru
    Gimp

    Problems? What problems?

    Just wait a little longer for it to get a position lock. Not that big of a deal.

  6. damac

    Locked bootloader + GPS issue petition

    There's a petition going on about these issues. Sign to show support.

    http://www.change.org/petitions/david-unlock-our-bootloader-transformer-prime

  7. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    FYI, RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook GPS is about the same... i.e. useless

    Free advice to get the PlayBook's GPS to lock-on to the GPS satellites:

    "Try standing outside, well away from any buildings, trees, or tall grass."

    "Try holding it over your head."

    "Try standing on a ladder."

    ...

  8. keitai
    Mushroom

    Locked bootloader for non-3g tablet?

    Usually the excuse for locked bootloaders is bending over for the operators subsiding 3d phones and tablets. And for most it is an ok trade-off since you'll get the device cheaper than you would get it else.

    But for a wifi-only tablet? Why not start locking asus zenbooks while at it.

    This is on the road to be an major PR disaster.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nvidia's Doing?

    This is probably Nvidia's doing - they're big fans of keeping everything proprietary/under NDA/heavily obfuscated, so it's probably just a way of stopping us from finding out that the provided kernel sources don't match what the device actually runs...

  10. Alan Denman

    Not bothered!

    Obviously the feature is specially designed to appeal to iDevice owner's

    If you can't beat them, join them so just maybe it is a tribute device.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I, for one, am not surprised

    I purchased a G73JW-A1. A supposedly top of the range gaming rig.

    From the get-go it was utter crap.

    It died within 3 hours of delivery and because Asus claimed it would only take 5 working days to repair I trusted them and allowed them to pick it up.

    8 weeks it took to turn around.

    The trackpad never worked properly - it would either slowly degrade to the point of not recognising it was being touched or would become so hypersensitive it would react to a finger 10mm above it.

    The GPU had to be replaced. Twice.

    It would BSoD several times a day. Mostly during low-end tasks such as typing a document.

    The keyboard would miss keystrokes if you went faster than a one-handed dyslexic.

    There were umpteen "fixes"

    Asus didn't give a flying crap - their responses were singularly two fingers to the customers who bought their supposedly premium model.

    In isolation, you would think it was just bad luck but a quick scour of the forums showed it to be all too common.

    Shoddy design. Shoddy build quality. Utterly disinterested support staff and a customer services attitude that would make most tinpot dictators proud.

    I would rather cut my balls off with a blunt, rusty spoon, than ever purchase another Asus device - in the long term, it'd be more pleasurable and less painful.

    Anonymous because I wouldn't put it past them to hunt me down and try to sue me.

    1. Gordon 10

      Eeerr

      You do realise that in the uk at least the sale rather than Asus suing you, you are entitled to a full refund under the sale of goods act?

      I would have though the situation similar in most countries with decent consumer protection laws.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Yes, Gordon, I know full well the sale of goods act. Asus simply couldn't give a shit even threatened with legal redress, they're response was a "meh - so what?".

        They won't escalate complaints. They insist you write, not email, a complaints department who don't even have the decency to acknowledge receipt of a recorded delivery and then deny you sent anything.

        In the end, I gave the unit away rather than waste any more of my life pursuing it.

        I reiterate - shit products, shit support, shit customer services attitude, shit company.

      2. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

        Sale of Goods Act mainly relates to your contract with the retailer, dealer, not necessarily the manufacturer.

  12. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Assume that features announced at launch never turn up.

    Then you won't be disappointed.

    Ths isn't just Asus, then again maybe it was, I don't remember - they promise a TV tuner model of the PC, they promise a 3G modem version, they promise an SSD alternative... forget it. These will PROBABLY not happen, if they do, HUGE bonus. Don't buy vapourware.

    It's a bit different this time if the thing IS on sale and THEN you find that parts of it don't work as advertised, but it's not HUGELY different.

  13. Wortel
    Facepalm

    Perhaps

    Asus has made the same mistake(s) as Lenovo, where the internal GPS of the ThinkPad is suffering from bad configuration in software.

    http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-slate-tablets/GPS-TPT-Acquiring-Satellites-Bug/td-p/555031

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