ASUS Response To Transformer Prime GPS Problems

December 30th, 2011

Tyler

A number of people have complained about the GPS signal on the Transformer Prime tablets and it has gotten to the stage that some people felt so annoyed by it that they contacted ASUS directly and this is what they had to say:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.

The ASUS Transformer Prime is made from a metallic unibody design, so the material may affect the performance of the GPS when receiving signals from satellites.

Please note that this product is not a professional GPS device and signal performance can be easily influenced by factors including, but not limited to: weather, buildings and your surrounding environment.

Please understand there are some limitations when using the GPS function.

Some scenarios you may encounter when experiencing weak GPS performance:

1. Using the GPS while traveling in a car: The roof of a car, the insulation, bridges and other factors can affect signal reception.
2. High density areas with large buildings and structures that can block line of sight communication with GPS satellites.

Right there, the Asus rep confirmed what has been thought all along. Yes he does point out that this is not a professional GPS device nor is a Samsung Galaxy S II but the GPS on that works fine. The GPS works from a technical standpoint if you wait long enough to get a signal lock but it does not work for practical uses. You can use it to navigate from your front door to a mailbox but not from your house to a job meeting. We were mislead by Asus. So now we ask you Asus what are you going to do to fix this? We as customers value all parts on a device we bought to work and when it doesn’t that’s when you need to step in and fix it.

Thanks to BixBix78 he has provided us some interesting pictures. Look at the sensor list on the Transformer Primes Specification Website.

Before

After

Hey Asus where did the GPS go?

What are your thoughts?

Many thanks to Mark for sending this in to us.

Tags: asus transformer prime, gps, rma

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

天青阮

Yeah, the original Asus Transformer had just as abysmal GPS.

Mike Rezny

Thanks for all the feedback about the GPS problems with this device. It is now completely off my list to buy and ASUS is now on my list of brands to avoid.

Their response to a technical engineering problem is completely unacceptable.

If there are glitches with WiFi, card reader, USB port etc will they have the same response: This was not meant to work correctly with a USB stick, there are many reasons one can have problems using a USB stick, perhaps it is caused by the manufacturer of the stick, anyway, we have removed it also from the specifications so we are not responsible for either admitting we got it wrong, or being liable or interested in fixing it up. Please enjoy the other features of the device which probably still work and have a nice day.

Pingback: GPS issue solved bad news - Android Forums
Pingback: GPS issues? - Page 5
Spencersaurus

Thanks I cancelled my order today because of this.

http://twitter.com/TylerMaciaszek Tyler Maciaszek

i would only recommend not getting it if GPS is very important to you it is an amazing device

Spencersaurus

At 499 for Asus to try to pull this ‘not a profession GPS’ bullshit is a disgrace. Then, to remove it from the official specs is basically saying we’re not going to fix it, it’s the aluminium case, live with it. Hence why the order was cancelled. I’m glad I did. I would be very wary of buying from Asus again especially seeing how they have handled this GPS issue.

http://twitter.com/TylerMaciaszek Tyler Maciaszek

I do say this is a fail but ASUS is usually good about these things and i wouldn’t doubt if they get us a fix somehow but honestly i dont think many tablets are going to beat this they’re all trying to push their resolution way to high anfd the GPU in tegra 3 cant handle it which = lag

Trauma_31

This is not true, is the best tablet in the market… crazy talk… mine works like a sharm!

Scott Lanford

Agreed, I think this issue may be overblown. GPS reception on my Prime is certainly much weaker than on my phone for example but I’ve had no trouble maintaining a lock on an average of 5 satellites in my car driving without sunroof open or windows down or any other trickery. I personally don’t care much about using the Prime for GPS but just for kicks I used NavFree turn by turn directions on a couple of short 20 minute trips with no issues. So for practical use I’d say it works reasonably well.
However, having said all that I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone intending to use it heavily for driving navigation as the weakened signal reception would almost certainly make it less reliable than alternatives, especially in the mountains or large cities like New York, Chicago, etc. with lots of buildings and other obstructions.

Rosh

The GPS is still there, just checked it now !
you should check your info too !

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

http://twitter.com/TylerMaciaszek Tyler Maciaszek

they didnt remove it yet from the global website only the US, and some other countries check out the US specs:
http://usa.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201/#specifications

Spencersaurus

Nonetheless, to remove it from the US website is very evasive and basically points to preemptive damage limitation…. Like we at Asus won’t pay to fix your GPS problem because it was never in the spec.

Sneaky and dishonest way to treat customers.

Meagher

why don’t they make an external antennae to plug into the data port…problem solved?
Tgs

Leave it to ASUS to ruin the perfect tablet for which we have all been waiting.
dcrawfordremodeling

Fix the gps
Peter

I have been waiting for this tablet for the last couple of months. I subscribed to nowinstock.net, and after (2) days of just waiting … I was notified and within 10 minutes had mine on order at Best Buy on 12/28/11. Two days later I read all this information about the GPS. It is very disappointing. I was just telling my wife we now have a 10.1″ GPS to use in the car … and now … we don’t. The only way to get around this is to use my cell phone still as a GPS (4″ screen), or use my cell as a wifi hot-spot with tethering. I had planned to use this tablet for entertainment with netflix, for work, GPS, unlikely to do any gaming on it … well … you never know. Angry Birds is always an option. But I was really looking forward to the GPS. It is supposed to arrive on 1/6/12, and at the moment I am looking at other tablets or prospects in the near future, and just return the Prime. There is talk of Samsung coming out with a new one, and of course the IPAD 3. Hopefully a firmware update would resolve some of the issues with the GPS. Chances are the one I ordered has GPS as one of the specifications (unlike the website).

http://www.landofdroid.com Tyler

To be honest if you want a reality for basic uses don’t need the prime more for power users but it’s up to you on personal preference

Traveller

One of my primary uses was location logging and display while driving. This is quite simply a deal-breaker for me until fixed. Based on their removal of the GPS feature from the US website, I don’t plan on waiting for that fix.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=22902749 Nathan Bridges

That’s pretty shady Asus. Trying to downplay your poor engineering is a terrible way to gain customer trust. I canceled my pre-order because of this GPS issue. I’m very disappointed Asus. Your mommy should spank you with a wooden spoon.
Pingback: Myria.de | Test: Asus EEE Pad Transformer Prime TF201