Database Users

Issues with Xoom WiFi - 3/27/11

Picked one up from Costco today - there is a long list of things wrong with it, I hope there are fixes out there cause they are really critical flaws and I'm close to returning it back to store. Oh, I own a EVO4G so I'm by no means a noob to Android. Its also important to note that I don't own any apple products
1. Browser:
Wow force closes like none other. It also fails to load any website after you've crashed once. No way around it except rebooting the device. Poor adobe flash performance - should be much faster than my Evo but it ain't so. Defaults to mobile browser as stated on here. Screen, text fonts and pics started to blur when I was on a website, serious bug wow. Tried alternatives such a as firefox and dolphin, meh. Did I mention it was laggy, irresponsive browsing experience?
2. Apps:
Faceook, Pandora, VPlayer, etc. fail to work. Force close heaven...come on! They're basic frggin apps. Market is portrait only. Most apps aren't formatted properly - fonts are way too small. Widgets are non customizable in size and are just too small to be useful. Look at the calendar and mail widgets....
3. Display:
10.1'' is way too wide to hold comfortably. I now spend 100% of the time in portrait mode. Videos look proper but pictures look blurry? Fonts look horrendous. Screen has this blurring effect, it is far far from crisp and decent. I expected 1280x800 to be better, sharper.
4. Build.
Heavy. So heavy you cant even rest it on just anything to get it to prop up properly. Very Dense. Not comfortable, strain to the palms.
5. Battery
4 hours of use and its already down to 60%. Expected better from two large batteries weighing this much.
I know I forgot to list some other issues...and sadly there are more.
Honeycomb is unfinished but I didn't expect them to be this far off?
OK.... we need solutions, or when is the next update(s)! Desperately needed.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

Ehm ... Didn't you research before you bought the Xoom?
It's been in this very forum for weeks ... all those were mentioned.
Nothing new ... so cope with it and wait for an update ... or return it.
Case closed.

1) Only had one browser FC in nearly a month.
2) Not 3.0 optimized apps. Contact the app devs.
3) Get bigger hands.
4) Lift weights. Apparently the Xoom is a good one to start with.
5) I get at least two days of heavy use.
(Bonus comment) The Xoom has been out a month and there are 3415453215 threads of people whining about it. No need to make another. Return it, do some research and buy something that satisfies your expectations and anatomy.

You made me laugh ... LOL to "anatomy"
El Daddy said:
1) Only had one browser FC in nearly a month.
2) Not 3.0 optimized apps. Contact the app devs.
3) Get bigger hands.
4) Lift weights. Apparently the Xoom is a good one to start with.
5) I get at least two days of heavy use.
(Bonus comment) The Xoom has been out a month and there are 3415453215 threads of people whining about it. No need to make another. Return it, do some research and buy something that satisfies your expectations and anatomy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Just to counterbalance, I bought the Xoom wifi yesterday and love it. I had a great time rooting and playing with my Android phone, and I can't wait to dig into the Xoom. I did a lot of research before buying the Xoom and actually found the problems to be non-existant or not as bad as stated.

Mr Bland said:
Just to counterbalance, I bought the Xoom wifi yesterday and love it. I had a great time rooting and playing with my Android phone, and I can't wait to dig into the Xoom. I did a lot of research before buying the Xoom and actually found the problems to be non-existant or not as bad as stated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Im getting great battery life. I took it off the charger about 6pm last night. Took it took work with me and browsed and streamed with it all night. With bluetooth on and a lil under max brightness im at 32% at 745am. i have had no force closes in the browser and the only problem i have is flash not working in the browser (works with Dolphin though).
Also thumb keyboard is great in landscape, but im comfy with the stock keyboard to.

Pretty sure, could be wrong here...but pretty sure an update won't help the weight of the device...(which I enjoy, feels good in my hand)...but then again if they optimize code enough between now and then, removing enough 1s and 0s could help....

vTeCz said:
Picked one up from Costco today - there is a long list of things wrong with it, I hope there are fixes out there cause they are really critical flaws and I'm close to returning it back to store. Oh, I own a EVO4G so I'm by no means a noob to Android. Its also important to note that I don't own any apple products
1. Browser:
Wow force closes like none other. It also fails to load any website after you've crashed once. No way around it except rebooting the device. Poor adobe flash performance - should be much faster than my Evo but it ain't so. Defaults to mobile browser as stated on here. Screen, text fonts and pics started to blur when I was on a website, serious bug wow. Tried alternatives such a as firefox and dolphin, meh. Did I mention it was laggy, irresponsive browsing experience?
2. Apps:
Faceook, Pandora, VPlayer, etc. fail to work. Force close heaven...come on! They're basic frggin apps. Market is portrait only. Most apps aren't formatted properly - fonts are way too small. Widgets are non customizable in size and are just too small to be useful. Look at the calendar and mail widgets....
3. Display:
10.1'' is way too wide to hold comfortably. I now spend 100% of the time in portrait mode. Videos look proper but pictures look blurry? Fonts look horrendous. Screen has this blurring effect, it is far far from crisp and decent. I expected 1280x800 to be better, sharper.
4. Build.
Heavy. So heavy you cant even rest it on just anything to get it to prop up properly. Very Dense. Not comfortable, strain to the palms.
5. Battery
4 hours of use and its already down to 60%. Expected better from two large batteries weighing this much.
I know I forgot to list some other issues...and sadly there are more.
Honeycomb is unfinished but I didn't expect them to be this far off?
OK.... we need solutions, or when is the next update(s)! Desperately needed.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I returned my 3G Xoom I had on release date and was bashed here. Minus the battery and app fc(which is supposedly a WiFi only problem.) I mean I got the iPad2 because it's just so much more Stable and likewise have my Evo4G for Android goodness. I wanted to buy the wifi xoom but so many more problems......?
Really interested in Samsungs new 10.1 skinny design. And it's light(important)!

vTeCz said:
Picked one up from Costco today - there is a long list of things wrong with it, I hope there are fixes out there cause they are really critical flaws and I'm close to returning it back to store. Oh, I own a EVO4G so I'm by no means a noob to Android. Its also important to note that I don't own any apple products
1. Browser:
Wow force closes like none other. It also fails to load any website after you've crashed once. No way around it except rebooting the device. Poor adobe flash performance - should be much faster than my Evo but it ain't so. Defaults to mobile browser as stated on here. Screen, text fonts and pics started to blur when I was on a website, serious bug wow. Tried alternatives such a as firefox and dolphin, meh. Did I mention it was laggy, irresponsive browsing experience?
2. Apps:
Faceook, Pandora, VPlayer, etc. fail to work. Force close heaven...come on! They're basic frggin apps. Market is portrait only. Most apps aren't formatted properly - fonts are way too small. Widgets are non customizable in size and are just too small to be useful. Look at the calendar and mail widgets....
3. Display:
10.1'' is way too wide to hold comfortably. I now spend 100% of the time in portrait mode. Videos look proper but pictures look blurry? Fonts look horrendous. Screen has this blurring effect, it is far far from crisp and decent. I expected 1280x800 to be better, sharper.
4. Build.
Heavy. So heavy you cant even rest it on just anything to get it to prop up properly. Very Dense. Not comfortable, strain to the palms.
5. Battery
4 hours of use and its already down to 60%. Expected better from two large batteries weighing this much.
I know I forgot to list some other issues...and sadly there are more.
Honeycomb is unfinished but I didn't expect them to be this far off?
OK.... we need solutions, or when is the next update(s)! Desperately needed.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Mine doesnt FC all that much. When there is a fail however, closing all tabs with the x on the tabs, reopening the browser and hitting the home button works for me to reset it.
2)Yeah, lots of apps fail... but it was expected. Once they get optimized for HC, itll be nicer. Till then facebook and some others are done through the browser. Also... my market works in landscape. Dont know why yours is only in portrait.
3&4) You seriously are complaining about the design of the device when you could have found this out in 2 seconds by holding one at a store that had a demo??? I find that the screen is very crisp with high res pics and I have no complaints on it.
5) My battery life is great... no complaints here. Wife and I played with it non stop with angry birds, web surfing and whatnot for hours and it only went down maybe 20%.
I really dont see this as a fail device, just a device that needs a few tweaks here and there. I bought it knowing the charging plug was crappy and a terrible design, no USB charging and a chance that my normal android apps wont work on it due to optimization. Knowing what it is going to be used for, the size and weight... I am more than happy with the device.

vTeCz said:
5. Battery
4 hours of use and its already down to 60%. Expected better from two large batteries weighing this much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are experiencing advertised battery life. The XOOM is rated for 10 hours of battery life so 4 hours would be 40% of the battery if you've been using it for that long. Plus you haven't run through any charge cycles on your battery. It will get better.

One and Two are valid, but will be fixed in time.
The others are rediculous.
Sent from my Xoom

vTeCz said:
Picked one up from Costco today - there is a long list of things wrong with it, I hope there are fixes out there cause they are really critical flaws and I'm close to returning it back to store. Oh, I own a EVO4G so I'm by no means a noob to Android. Its also important to note that I don't own any apple products
1. Browser:
Wow force closes like none other. It also fails to load any website after you've crashed once. No way around it except rebooting the device. Poor adobe flash performance - should be much faster than my Evo but it ain't so. Defaults to mobile browser as stated on here. Screen, text fonts and pics started to blur when I was on a website, serious bug wow. Tried alternatives such a as firefox and dolphin, meh. Did I mention it was laggy, irresponsive browsing experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odd. I've been using my device pretty much constantly since I picked mine up. No force closes. No laggy browsing. Your Evo does better? You may have a defective unit.
2. Apps:
Faceook, Pandora, VPlayer, etc. fail to work. Force close heaven...come on! They're basic frggin apps. Market is portrait only. Most apps aren't formatted properly - fonts are way too small. Widgets are non customizable in size and are just too small to be useful. Look at the calendar and mail widgets....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Facebook works for me. The rest I haven't tried. And the widgets are personal preference. Too small? How old are you?
3. Display:
10.1'' is way too wide to hold comfortably. I now spend 100% of the time in portrait mode. Videos look proper but pictures look blurry? Fonts look horrendous. Screen has this blurring effect, it is far far from crisp and decent. I expected 1280x800 to be better, sharper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10.1 too wide? Last I checked, you could have pulled out a ruler to figure that one out. But hey, whatever. Blurry screen? Again, you must have a defective unit. Either that, or maybe your fingers are really, really greasy.
4. Build.
Heavy. So heavy you cant even rest it on just anything to get it to prop up properly. Very Dense. Not comfortable, strain to the palms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm getting a very interesting image of what you look like. 1.5lb is too heavy? Orly?
5. Battery
4 hours of use and its already down to 60%. Expected better from two large batteries weighing this much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mine running since I got to work at 1am (i work 3rd shift), and after a full shift, I still have 45% battery. I've watched youtube videos (HD), listening to music, downloaded apps, posted on forums, read news, downloaded podcasts, added numerous widgets. You know, typical stuff. And it hasn't touched the charger all morning (since you have to use their approved usb charger).
I know I forgot to list some other issues...and sadly there are more.
Honeycomb is unfinished but I didn't expect them to be this far off?
OK.... we need solutions, or when is the next update(s)! Desperately needed.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying the Xoom with Honeycomb is flawless. It's clearly not as optimized as it should be. Opening up the Apps menu, for example, should obviously not be laggy like it is. That said though, most of the "issues" you have above are NOT mirrored on my identical device.

reuthermonkey said:
Odd. I've been using my device pretty much constantly since I picked mine up. No force closes. No laggy browsing. Your Evo does better? You may have a defective unit.
Facebook works for me. The rest I haven't tried. And the widgets are personal preference. Too small? How old are you?
10.1 too wide? Last I checked, you could have pulled out a ruler to figure that one out. But hey, whatever. Blurry screen? Again, you must have a defective unit. Either that, or maybe your fingers are really, really greasy.
I'm getting a very interesting image of what you look like. 1.5lb is too heavy? Orly?
I've had mine running since I got to work at 1am (i work 3rd shift), and after a full shift, I still have 45% battery. I've watched youtube videos (HD), listening to music, downloaded apps, posted on forums, read news, downloaded podcasts, added numerous widgets. You know, typical stuff. And it hasn't touched the charger all morning (since you have to use their approved usb charger).
I'm not saying the Xoom with Honeycomb is flawless. It's clearly not as optimized as it should be. Opening up the Apps menu, for example, should obviously not be laggy like it is. That said though, most of the "issues" you have above are NOT mirrored on my identical device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to say facebook acts like the old roms for the tablet use to. Sometimes it would crash, and you can't add facebook in accounts / sync. Twitter adds just fine

I spent about 7 hours playing on my xoom yesterday and really didn't experience any of the problems you did. Yes some of my phone formatted apps weren't working but I expected that.
I think I had one force close with my browser. That's not so bad.
Screen looks fine to me. Yes initially loading a webpage is blurry, but that's just how its rendering stuff. For me at least that lasts maybe a second before the browser fully loads the page.
And if its too big for you, maybe you should get a child sized tablet for your child sized hands? (Or stick with your phone?)
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

Aldiko, ezpdf, xda premium and many others I use on a daily basis are completely useless as the fc's are so frequent is not worth my time
I did read about all the issues beforehand, so right now I have 89 days before either there is an update that fixes the issues or is going back to cotsco
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

At first I was upset that the XDA app doesn't work properly yet. Then I thought, "Hey dummy, you have a 10.1" screen... Use the real site".
After that I uninstalled Facebook, Engadget, etc. and just added the bookmark widget to the home screen.
Sent from my Xoom.

i only get about 6.5 hours max of real usage on the xoom
I'm talking about 'DISPLAY' time usage, or, HOW LONG the screen has been on, as a case to determine the battery life.

MikeyMike01 said:
At first I was upset that the XDA app doesn't work properly yet. Then I thought, "Hey dummy, you have a 10.1" screen... Use the real site".
After that I uninstalled Facebook, Engadget, etc. and just added the bookmark widget to the home screen.
Sent from my Xoom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with XDA site specifically is that it is very slow typing responses and some other things. It does work, just lags.

aohus said:
i only get about 6.5 hours max of real usage on the xoom
I'm talking about 'DISPLAY' time usage, or, HOW LONG the screen has been on, as a case to determine the battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what goes into said usage? I'm overclocked to 1.5ghz and I get much longer than that.

keitht said:
The problem with XDA site specifically is that it is very slow typing responses and some other things. It does work, just lags.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found all typing in the browser lags, and always has, since my OG Droid. It's quite annoying, I expected Google to resolve it with 3.0...

minor gripes

I picked up the iconia on sunday, I have been playing with it for a while now but the battery seems a little weak. I used to have an I pad then an I pad 2 and with similar usage they lasted much longer than this tab. Is this typical? I have renames phone.apk and telephonyprovider.apk and it didnt seem to do much. Is there anything else I can do?
Another issue is the moments of lagm like while i typed this, the letters had an obvious pause while I typed, sometimes on a web page it would just freeze up for a second. Some pages just plain crash the browser.
The last thing that has me on the fence on whether or not I swap this for an I pad 2 is the market not working, the app always has connection errors.
I am a little biased, I loved my ipad2 but it was stolen, this is the replacement, aside from those issues and the weight of the device I like it, and android gives it extra brownie points as well. But can any of those issues be fixed?

Try a different browser
As far as your browser problems go, try downloading and installing Dolphin HD. much more stable and much better features than stock.
My question to you -- Did your tablet update the system to 1.141.07 yet? When mine did last Friday it cured all of my Market crash problems. If not, when it DOES, make sure you rename those telephony apk files back to original before you update or it may crash your tablet.
Also, as with any LI battery, when breaking it in make sure you let it run down until the indicator turns orange before recharging. My tablet has gone from 7-8 hours of fairly consistant use to 10 to 14 hours. Today mine has been on since 9am and still not in the danger zone yet at almost midnight (but getting close now).
As with any battery powered device, what you are doing with it affects battery life too. Watching lots of streaming video and intensive games will run it down faster. Also, check update frequency of apps like mail, facebook, twitter. The more often they update the faster your battery will drain even when it is 'sleeping'.
And don't forget, it is also new to you still, and you are probably using it more right now trying to learn it and just playing around than you actually will on an average day.
Ken - Sent from my A500
Http://everythingiconia.blogspot.com

That is a good point. The update came in when I connected to my wifi, since I got it. I have started using dolphin HD but it is still a little glitch, not as has as stock though.
Unfortunately, the glass has started to come lose for some reason, I really want to like this tablet but its not making it easy for me. I have to return this on no matter what, the loose glass will only get worse. I think I might stick to an I pad for now. Its not so great but it works for me. Maybe the transformer will work a little better.
Also main reason for this is reading and my arm is killing me. This tab has lots of fat.
Why do I have to be such an android fan boy. I really want a honecomb tab, but the I pad form factor is so damn perfect for my hands.
Thank for the input.

If the Apple experience is good for you, then I highly recommend the iPad2. I have one and I am getting ready to sell it (not to you). The iPad2 hardware and build quality are excellent, I just can not stand not being able to fully access my device. I am weird like that. I prefer my A500. For what it is worth, I get excellent battery life out of both, but my A500 sucks down battery like there is no tomorrow when I play movies that can not be hardware accelerated. In all other instances, I get outstanding battery life.
Your choice on where you should go. Either way, have fun.

I am on the fence right now. I really enjoy having this tablet, despite the quirks. My main issue is the weight and how apparently games are laggy. I tried plants vs zombies at it slow down alaot. I also get many fc on every app. I don't want an I pad I just want its stability. I have my eye on the samsung galsxy tab 10.1, time will tell.

I have to wonder what you've done to your device... Mine plays Plants vs Zombies perfectly, I suffer from no slowdowns, have never had a FC from and stock apps (some 3rd party ones do from time to time, but there's no way of telling if it's caused by the app, the OS, or the tablet hardware).
I rooted it once, installed an app that needed some files in /system and then unrooted again because, really, I see no need to stay rooted...

Acer A500 disapointment ...

Hello, I just bought an Acer A500, this is my first Android device (I own an iphone 3gs).
But I am very dispointed by its speed. I was hoping it would be as fast and smooth (at least !) as my old iphone 3gs but it's not ... When you scroll a web page it's not smooth, whatever the web browser I tried, even single web page as Google !
The only smooth scrolls are when you use the photo browser or when you scroll through the icons pages. For the rest, even the Android Market app, it's not smooth at all.
So is there any optimisation we can do to let the A500 display everything smoother, or is it just an Android 3.0 problem which may be corrected in a future release ?
Thanks

The coming Android OS 3.1 will be better. The update including the browser stability and smoothness.
.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Thanks, I just hope now the 3.1 will come quickly to the A500 and that it will really be smoother ...

My experience with the A500 is very fluid. I find that browsing to be "fast & smooth" as well. So, I'm left scratching my head that your receiving a better browsing experience on a 3GS. Could you upload a video sample on youtube? Some people have reported wifi issues with their device and that could be the culprit to your browsing experience. See if coming in close proximity of your wifi AP improves your browsing experience. If so then search this forum for what others have done to resolve the wifi issue. I am not having an issue so I have not further investigated the wifi issue.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

The browsing experience is a pain in the ass... but that is not from ACER it's from honeycomb...
the stock browser is still unstable and buggy and not support HTML5 and CSS3 as promissed...
and some function supported already by Iphone (field url and email for input do not trigger the good keyboard)
no smooth animation on javascript it s choppy and lost a lot a frame...
-- EDITED --
When I say a pain in the ass I mean, only if we want make or build animated javascript website
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com
this should be SMOOTH...or maybe I expect too much from "high-end" tablet dual-core.
HTML form field url/email
Issue16401 : http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=16401
SenchaMobile.
http://dev.sencha.com/deploy/touch/examples/kitchensink
-- animations ... choppy and not smooth at all...
-- Buttons ... rounded are... weirdly rendered but that is not a real issues from the android, but probably from webkit or more from also sencha methods.. but still
flickering on any page change...
you can see this flickering also when you are on form fields
-- FEEDBACK --
I do not mean anything wrong, I said before that Android 3.0 is young and will grow up by time with better and better things to come I love android and I love Acer Tablet, really good products
-- 3.1 --
it's come in this month "confirmed by Acer Thailand" but no final date yet...
So far my disapointment are not same
I just see the UI improvement on Samsung Galaxy 8.6... it's so nice the UI is sweeeeet
the status bar, with the turn on/off many things...
the fast app launcher on the bottom... WoOow sweet...
I hope we will got some flavor of it
IMPORTANT:
I own 2 tablets Acer A500
I own 2 Liquid Metal S120

You should probably return it. Nobody has yet had these issues, so it might be something wrong with your tablet.

@bec07 : who ?

You and the OP.

It is important to note that not all websites are created equal. I have fast and smooth experiences with some sites and horrible one with others. There are too many variables from code quality, embedded media and offsite advertising, amount of content on a given page etc to truly quantify a 'good' or 'bad' browsing experience.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Some of it has to do with the browser, some has to do with the page you're loading.

gammaRascal said:
It is important to note that not all websites are created equal. I have fast and smooth experiences with some sites and horrible one with others. There are too many variables from code quality, embedded media and offsite advertising, amount of content on a given page etc to truly quantify a 'good' or 'bad' browsing experience.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Some of it has to do with the browser, some has to do with the page you're loading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, google.com is fast for me, but this site xda is very slow.

I use Dolphin HD browser... faster and more features.

Basicly all tablets are identical at this point. Some thinner, some thicker but only one manufacturer was smart enough to add the full size USB port.
Since the hardware is identical and it really packs quite a punch those issues should not happen. It would be best they check with their retailer or inconspicuously go to try out another A500.

Bec07 said:
Basicly all tablets are identical at this point. Some thinner, some thicker but only one manufacturer was smart enough to add the full size USB port.
Since the hardware is identical and it really packs quite a punch those issues should not happen. It would be best they check with their retailer or inconspicuously go to try out another A500.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2 tablet and both are identical so I should change all tablet... naaaa don't think so.
I do think the 3.1 will remove some flickering glitch, and smooth maybe the javascript animation and css animation stuff. but for sure some website are poorly coded or got a DOM overloaded that eat the memory.
I do compare Sencha Touch website between iPad 1 and Acer A500... sad that run smoother on the old old iPad rather than on the new A500
but read really, I said the honeycomb and android is still young and buggy and will be better day after day because of the active community and the open mind of the code. do not interpret or miss understand.
It's a fact that browsing is not that smooth that should be, but it's already good.
now have to become the BEST.
(someone told me on the galaxy S II the browser was.... too fast for rendering it's tooooo good, but I didn't check about flickering or else)

I would have to agree with the first post, the web browsing experience is not as nice as iOS in regards to smoothness/scrolling, comapred to my iphone4 and former ipad1, but its not that bad either.
looking forward to 3.1.

sencha was developed with iPhone in mind, that's not really a valid comparison.

sollie said:
Agree, google.com is fast for me, but this site xda is very slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just change the theme to xda classic and here you go

Today I checked xoom 3.1 videos on youtube, and I'm still disapointed ...
Browsing the web is faster but still not as smooth as it should be.
And not only the web, also the other apps were not 100% fluid.
I don't know if I will wait until the 3.1 comes to the A500 ... I may sell it quick (only owned for 2 days !) and buy an iPad. And believe it or not : yesterday I have been to the hospital because of an epilleptic crisis I did while using the A500, because of the non-smooth scrollings ...
My point of view is that a pad experience seems magic when it's 100% fluid, without this the pad experience seems not far from a laptop experience, which is not what I was searching for.

New android users always feel that. U can easily change ur the launchers such as Launcher Pro which is very smooth and fast in my opinion. There are tweaks around for you to look for and learn while experiencing Android =)
dizzy33 said:
Hello, I just bought an Acer A500, this is my first Android device (I own an iphone 3gs).
But I am very dispointed by its speed. I was hoping it would be as fast and smooth (at least !) as my old iphone 3gs but it's not ... When you scroll a web page it's not smooth, whatever the web browser I tried, even single web page as Google !
The only smooth scrolls are when you use the photo browser or when you scroll through the icons pages. For the rest, even the Android Market app, it's not smooth at all.
So is there any optimisation we can do to let the A500 display everything smoother, or is it just an Android 3.0 problem which may be corrected in a future release ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Ipads have had probably What? 50 updates. A500 had one so far. I have the A500 and my wife's has the Ipad. I think I updated my wife Ipad 3 times since Christmas ( hour or longer updates ) Give it some more updates and the A500 will shine. The way both Tablets are now if I had to sell one of them it would be the Ipad. The only thing I like better about my wife's Ipad is, I can plug it directly into our digital camera and get pictures real fast, but you also have to buy the 30.00 adapter to do this and now you have something more to lose and carry around. JM2C

This is the difference with Apple : with Apple it works fine out of the box, of course a few bugs are corrected in firmware updates but these bug do not avoid you to use your pad.
With Android I feel like in the bad days of Windows mobile : you have to wait for the manufacturer promeses before being able to use your pad properly, but most of the time windows mobile devices never worked as expected ... That's the problem of having one operating system for hundred of devices with different hardwares.
I would be very happy to keep my A500 mainly because of the included usb port, but also because of the price and the fact that Android is more "open", if only Acer would have given us a 3.1 release date I would feel better.
Edit : this time it's sure, I will sell it !!! A current bug let me type very slow on the keyboard, this is the last bug I will accept ! Another big problem has been found : the button bar on the bottom of the screen : I often touch it while using the A500 which freezes the screen ....
I guess I will wait for 3 or 4 more years before going back to Android ! For now I'll stay with Apple.
Thanks anyway to all of you !

Honest Opinions on the Transformer

I’ll be starting grad school in the fall and am in the market for a laptop/tablet and currently the Transformer is at the top of my list right now. I was hoping I could get some honest opinions on how the well the transformer works as both a media and productivity device (primarily concerned with the latter). I plan on using it for grad school, but since I’ll also be working a full-time job during the day, hope to use it as a work device as well. I also moonlight as a photographer, and am looking for ways I can incorporate the transformer into that as well.
My main concern is the stability of Android. I’ve owned both an EVO and an HTC HD2 running Android/Windows Phone 7 (thanks xda!), and although I loved the openness and overall capability of Android, the instability and battery life made things too cumbersome at times. My phone doubles as a work and personal device, so I fire off a lot of e-mails all day, view docs, send calls, etc etc. Nothing was more frustrating than having the phone lock up in the middle of something important, or die in the middle of the day if I used it a lot (on days when I need to use it a lot). Currently using an iPhone 4, which I know doesn’t get a whole lot of love around here, but simply works when needed. Not an Apple fanboy by any means…actually an old Windows Mobile guy, but sometimes stability and accessibility are important…particularly for heavy users like me.
Secondly, I’d like to know how productive one can really be on the transformer. What’s piqued my interest about Android on a tablet is the ‘desktop-esque’ experience it provides. As good as iOS to me is on a phone, its utterly neutered and has very little utility on a tablet IMO. For instance, true multi-tasking isn’t too important to me on a phone, but it would be on a tablet. Interested in knowing how well the tablet handles word docs, excel sheets, and PDF files…particularly from those who have experience with the keyboard dock.
Looking for honest answers here, and hope people can look beyond ownership bias. Hoping to hear the good and the bad. I’ve used enough mobile and desktop OS’s and devices to know that nothing is ever perfect.

I can't really comment on the productivity end as I mainly use my Transformer to read, watch videos, play games, and web browse. For what I need it to do it is great. HD videos on YouTube play great. It does have issues playing HD videos that are in mkv format but one they are re-encoded they play great.
The screen is where this thing really shines though. I have yet to see a better screen on a tablet anywhere. None of the HC tablets even come close, imho. I do have some light bleed but it isn't enough to bother me and I don't even see it unless I am in a dark room with the brightness cranked up.
One thing you won't have to worry about is battery life. The battery in this thing is way better than I expected. I can get 2 days with my average use, easy. It also hardly loses any battery when in standby also.
Honeycomb does still need some tweaking but it is not a big problem. There aren't a lot of apps optimized for HC yet but the list will increase with time.

Personally I think you would be better off with a laptop for your needs.
I think you will suffer the same frustration you did with your andriod phones if you are using the tablet for lots of documents, spreadsheets and other office type apllications.
I think these things are really designed for web browsing, casual email, game playing, music & video playing, etc.
You can edit docs etc and the optional keyboard helps a lot, but I think of these as a secondary machine. I have a desk top and a laptop too. At home it has pretty much replaced the laptop but not for work related tasks.

Im new to tablets and android all together. As a computer tech by trade, I figured it would be good to learn somethign new, did some research and went with the transformer. And I must say, coming from a windows & iOS background, Android has been a HUGE let down.
the hardware on the tablet is great. Build quality, the screen, the dock works wonderfully. USB ports that charge my phone. etc. All top notch.
Android is the downfall of the eee pad. To get the tablet to perform anywhere near the capabilty of my iPhone or PC, its about 5x the amount of work.
Video playback is a joke. when I try to copy any file over 3 or 4 gigs onto it, it crashes. And of all the videos ive copied over, only 2 worked properly. Even supported file formats are iffy at times.
App support is also very weak. The list of apps on this site that are supported by the eee pad is pretty much all you get. Which is sad compared to the App support that the iPad / win7 tablets have.
From a work standpoint, the failure of the proxy support is huge. I have to use a proxy server at work for my devices to function properly. Laptop: works fine. iPhone: works fine. Android: doesnt work at all. Native proxy support in 3.1 just doesnt work. Using apps to get proxy support KIND of works, but is flakey at best. If your work/school relies on proxy servers , then dont expect to use the eeePad there.
Hotspots.. again, a big problem. Bluetooth tethering KIND of worked for me, but since the proxy support is so shoddy, that started interfering with tethering when proxy wasnt needed and... you guessed it, didnt work. Not only that but for proper adhoc tethering , youll have to root the device and install a custom kernal or something.
So, all those issues are Honeycomb related. Gonna hit the same problems on the Xoom or anythign else that uses 3.x The only reason im keeping my eee pad is because software issues get worked out in time. They better... because right now this thing is just a giant paper weight for me. still on the edge of returning it and buying it again later once all the problems are fixed. So ya, it may be able to handle word, excel and such documents (so can the iPad by the way), but with such severe connectivity and networking issues, it really doesnt matter. *shrugs. honesty! EP121 anyone?

The TF would be good to SUPPLEMENT a full desktop or more powerful laptop but it could never be my primary machine. I need the application/device support of windows.
Being said if I had a computer at home I could have made it through college with the transformer as my mobile device.
As for the guy above me i havent experienced any of his issues. It only supports a few video files but that goes for all android stock media players. Recoding them to mp4/m4v in handbrake results in flawless video playback, never had a failure.
Apps are weak, its a new ecosystem. Like the ipad when it came out the vast majority of the "compatible" apps are just the phone apps scaled up. That will change.
Not sure about the proxy, havent encountered that. Ive never had a hotspot issue. In a restaurant, at work, using my Evo to wireless tether or on the plane. Its connected to every "infrastructure AP" network Ive ever tried and that is all I encounter. I have never had a need to connect AdHoc.

Before I got my tablet, I had imagined all these things I would use it for.
I was going to be able to do all of the following on one device!
For productivity:
- Check emails
- Read textbooks in pdf format, be able to highlight, save bookmarks and annotations...all in digital format.
- Use office programs like Word & Excel for typing up papers and creating charts.
- Watch video lectures & tutorials
- Use Anki flashcards
For entertainment:
- Watch videos from streaming sites
- Have a library of HD movies/miniseries on the device
- Be able to HDMI out my video library wherever I was
- Have emulators with a whole bunch of games I could play whenever I had down time
- play Android market games
This is what happened after I got the Transformer:
I realized I could do all the above, but ended up going to other devices because it just felt cumbersome on a tablet.
About all I used the tablet for was to watch videos and...watch videos..oh yeah and casual web browsing.
- Checking emails...I ended up just pulling out my phone.
- Reading textbooks...not many available in PDF...and it's not that great on a digital screen. Writing notes...don't even try it...even with one of those capacitative pens.
- Word and Excel are ok...but you can't do multi worksheet formulas...etc. I ended up just using my laptop or desktop.
- Video lectures...a lot of them required plugins and the browser/OS did not support that...back to laptop.
- Videos from streaming sites...choppy...unwatchable.
- HD movies...commonly downloaded ones dont work...had to re-encode or transcode at least 80% of them.
- HDMI haven't tested....I had to return my transformer...since the touch screen locked up.
Emulators...never did it.
- Android games...as a gamer...I find the current crop of games to be too simplistic and boring (minus Spectral Souls)
I have another one on order that's arriving today, so I'm still giving it a chance. Maybe I'm not using it properly...in any case it is still a pretty cool device to have around. I would consider it a borderline second device...but more like a third (i.e. Desktop for true power productivity/gaming, Laptop for moderate mobile productivity, then a Tablet when you go on quick vacations and you don't want to carry the others).

I would look for something like a laptop that cam run windows and android at the same time. Like the viewsonic pro.. acer w 500..better yet the evolve three convertible.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

I have my Transformer for about 2 weeks now. Actually today is the day I would have to decide either to keep it or to return it back to BB. Just finally got the keyboard dock just 2 days ago. My perseption before and after having it is completely different.
Before having it, I was really excited, kind of hoping finally the perfect device has arrived. A perfect device that can do everything I need.
I kind of know from reading everywhere, mostly from this forum what to expect and what is not there yet. Yet I finally decided to buy it with big hopes that with time, everything will be there. Buying the transformer also means I decided to invest in the Honeycomb platform rather than others (like iPad). I have no luxury of keep buying new devices, so I had to be careful to choose and decide.
My previous experience with Android was very good indeed (have a HTC Evo, my first Android phone). Before that, I always used Windows Mobile phone, which did everything I needed.
Well, my HTC Evo did everything and more, and that's why I had a big hope with the transformer/honeycomb. I chose the transformer among other honeycomb tablets for some obvious reasons: the keyboard dock that has the USB ports and the SD Card reader, and extra battery.
I also like photography and I needed to make sure I can use it to transfer pictures from my camera SD Card to an external HDD. I checked and found out the transformer does that perfectly, with the NTFS support right out of the box. That's incredible in my opinion.
I also imagined I would be able to connect to my work network and do anything I needed to via Citrix. And for personal communication, there is a Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, and Skype.
After getting it, my expectation dropped and everyday is a learning day for me, as well as improvement day.
My first day with the transformer, I got all my emails setup (dual Exchange support! My Evo does not do that (I heard some custom ROM can do that), then I could not find Yahoo Messenger (dissapointed, well, there is a Yahoo messenger for my android phone, and its perfect!), Skype is a phone version and looks weird and many features missing (video call is the most important missing feature).
Day after day, until now, I still do the improvement jobs, and got many items not available previously. Got Yahoo Messenger from a good guy here in the forum, got a battery indicator wigdet from this forum also, and many bug fixes here and there.
For work purposes, I also drop my expectation. The connection from Citrix client in honeycomb takes very long (3-5 minutes) while from my Evo it takes much quicker. Not sure why, I contacted Citrix support about this. They said they both should perform the same as the core are the same, but they behaves differently.
Checking email only is not enough for me, if somebody sent an email, it comes with an issue to fix.
Yes, its hard to decide to let it go, or continue to keep it. I decide to continue to keep it, again, with hope, over time, things get better and better.
What do I gain from the transformer compared to my netbook?
Well, battery life, like many said here, is very exceptional. I got 2 full days. 1 day plus without the keyboard dock before. Really full day till night, with everything I do, from emails, browsing, youtube, reading, etc.
Instant on and ready. Wifi always on.
No spinning harddrive. No heat.
I was surprised! The device was not hot at all. Very different even compared to my Windows phone, connect to the wifi to a while and you can feel the heat. I'm not even talking about my netbook.
And I agree that many said here that its not a primary/replacement device. I still need my Windows machine to do most of the work.

It pains me to agree, but the above coments are true, as follower of android from day one. to anyone who has used an rooted/jailbroken ipad, honeycomb is way behind, to be honest google should be ashamed. as i type this on my transformer the lag is horendous. with the ipad you can nearly replace a netbook, full printing, ipgages and numbers are real tablet work tools. The TF is just about ok for web browsing, but just. As a media device it sucks. I tried to watch a streaming movie on movie stream, ok it plays but stutters and is awful. switched on my now ancient ipad with 256mb ram clicked on istream net and bang same movie looking almost 720p smooth as a nut. All the points brought against the ipad now seem to be a joke to me, even the no flash issue. Ok you have limited access by usb and SD card but there is some plus work arounds. I mentioned on a Archos site that i could stream any movie via air video from a crappy netbook hooked up to a 1TB HDD and if not in playable format they could be converted on the fly, this is over a local wireless network or over 3g anywhereon the ipadand they all took the piss, but its true. As an owner of a TF and Ipad, I have togive credit to ASUS, i love the concept. But as stated in an earlier post, I will be reaching for my HTC desire or IPAD more than the transformer. Lets hope Google step up, and support ASUS and the other manuacturers.
If honeycomb worked like the ipadit would blow apple out of the water. Anyway going to watch Tron on my year old Ipad.

i have to echo most of the above sentiment.
this is such a good idea, but it's just not ready...at least for me. i bought it for the reasons the op cited, and i'm let down. the lag kills the experience, even typing this on the keyboard is painful. honeycomb is great for usability imo, and the open ability to customize, but it is flat out slow. the browser is capable, but slowdolphin is buggy, adbloc is hard to come by (that works properly)
editing docs in polari is slow, screen rotation is slow, it's just everything i so slow. my dell mini 9 runs faster for the few times i need to doc edit, and the ipad run circles around it in terms of tablet function (but has several huge letdowns in its own right)
the one difference from some of the above posters is that i won't hang onto it and hope software gets smoothed out, by the time that happens we will have at leat one generation newer devices, maybe 2...so suffer with inferior experience to be outdated..not for me.
As I sai in another thread, i see this concept as the future...without doubt. my days of wanting to pay to beta test are over though.
Edit from my iPad. - see all those missing letters at the ends of words, that was typed with the dock..that's how bad lag is. I see no choice but to return it, I can't see google/ ASus releasing a realistic fix in the next couple weeks...but I hope I'm wrong.

Stability: maybe I'm lucky but I find Transformer to be VERY stable. Only FCs I have were when closing some game and maybe once in the browser.
Honest opinion: it's still only a toy. Don't expect it to be able to do anything better (or even on par with) than laptop or PC - but it is quite a good toy for many thins.
Right now I do most of my browsing on Transformer, for browsing it's in some things better than computers/laptops but in others it lacks greately (adblock, lack of extenstions in browser). It's also great for comics and PDF. And it's quite good for small games (Aporkalypse is great!).
I bought it mostly to write applications for it. In my personal opinion the OS is just great. The apps are mostly a mess with some pearls in it - like Newsr which just great or Dolphine Browser HD (or many others that you can find mentioned here and there on this forum). The problem is there is quite a huge lack of pearls in some departments. But it will change, I don't see what could stop it.

SCARED
I wish I had not read this thread. I´m very exited to collect my TF tomorrow. Looking forward to it for weeks. Planning on using it on the couch for browsing, playing with some apps, reading and responding to email, hanging around in a variety of forums etc.
Same as I do now with my HTC Desire and Asus T101MT netbook...so no really heavy stuff...
But as I read all these unsatisfied experiences I feel a bit uncertain about it. I mean I´m not an Applefanboy (ok, I do own an iPod) and I always feel a bit pity for all those people who buy an iPad just because it's an iPad...but now I'm in doubt...
Is this toy really that bad???

jpvdw said:
I wish I had not read this thread. I´m very exited to collect my TF tomorrow. Looking forward to it for weeks. Planning on using it on the couch for browsing, playing with some apps, reading and responding to email, hanging around in a variety of forums etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For things like that it's great. Only problem is that on some forums (this one is an example) most browsers are slow (but usable and with keyboard dock it should be much more easy to write on forums thank using screen keyboard).
Is this toy really that bad???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not.
If you are not sure - go to some shop and play with it for a while. By "it" I mean - any tablet with HoneyComb.

Well after using the TF for about 3 weeks, I have to admit it is only a good toy. If you want productivity at school and home, stay away from the tablet form factor as a whole. HC is good, but the app support is bad, and its still a platform which is evolving. Other than watching YouTube videos, I don't use it much. The stock browser even on 3.1 is bad and slow. The browsing experience is way better on the laptop than this one.
Will try the Tab 10.1 too and see if it has a better experience. Otherwise, I don't feel the need for a tablet now, especially keeping in mind the current state of HC. Won't go for an iPad because I feel 4:3 aspect ratio is ridiculous.

Great toy for work and home. Wife loves it and my 7 year old enjoys it. Is hc beta? yes. Will it get better? yes

What's wrong with document editing in Polaris? Certainly it's a good deal better, in UI and features, than say QuickOffice or Doc2Go. I don't know if the rest of you are trying to manage complex multi-sheet spreadsheets or something, but for basic word processing it seems more or less adequate. Some people have weird and unrealistic expectations.

Be realistic as to what to expect
im new to the tablet and android world. When i bought the tablet, i wasnt expecting it to replace my laptop for heavy duty usage. Simply not there yet..
Allow me to give you and example of every day usage for me:
My tablet is always on.(sleep mode) i wake up, check my emails, the news, weather, all while im still in bed. I even check XDA forum to see the latest "oh no..im returning the transformer (sad Face)" thread...
when i get home, i do the same, but this time i sit in front of my tv, watch some nba finals, lookup some articles or "do it yourself" tutorials.. i get bored, open some tabs, tune my guitar (with the TF), and just jam out.. (reading tabs on portrait mode is beautiful)
Then my little girl gets to play on my "little computer" (barn stack, angry birds, read a long stories, etc.... which came in super handy on our recent road trip)
Before bed, i lookup some reviews on Netflix, add them to my instant queue, fire up the TV, check my Chase account (also app), more emails,
its convenient..
just last night i wanted to be nos and see how much the house on our street is selling for.. (zillow App) quick, with a gorgeous map. My xboxlive app notifies me of whose online.. just a lot of cool features
And im sure im not using the tablet to its full potential.. Ive tried the cloud jsut once (and monitored my laptop as it downloaded some "Stuff"//haha)

grainysand said:
What's wrong with document editing in Polaris? Certainly it's a good deal better, in UI and features, than say QuickOffice or Doc2Go. I don't know if the rest of you are trying to manage complex multi-sheet spreadsheets or something, but for basic word processing it seems more or less adequate. Some people have weird and unrealistic expectations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lag. Also, the touchpad in the dock is a mess....unless I missed a way to disable tap clicking natively. It really has to be turned off. Polaris as a program is fine, and I liked the easy integration with dropbox...but even editing a light 2 page resume was laggy. It's probably not polaris' fault..the platform is laggy.
@jpvdw I actually think the iPad would be better suited for what you want to do. I see a ton of shortcomings with the iOS devices, but most of them involve getting work done for me. Like uploading files through a web browser and wanting to use a real keyboard (though there are bt options).
I want to move to android...there's just nothing for me to move to that can equal what I get. If maybe the device was 15% faster I'd bear with it.

two things..
first, there has to be a memory leak in one of the stock apps, or os, or something. i can reboot and be working fine for about 10 mins... then it gets all wonky again.
i reset the browser to factory defauults, and it actually seems like it's a bit faster now. even with plugins enabled

People - please DON'T EXPECT tablet performing well as your laptop or desktop replacement....how could a Tegra 2 with integrated GPU comparing to your laptop/desktop power horse!!
Now please go and enjoy your own Transformer device while sitting on the couch, lying on the bed or even in your bathroom (make sure you have accidental damage insurance in case you drop into the water ...)
For me, this tablet makes me more connecting to digital world...well sort of because sometimes I just use my blackberry without tablet or desktop at all...
good luck/enjoy!
rcjpth

share your impressions

Hi
I have rooted Desire and I just love Android, so I'm buying Android tablet for browsing web, watching movies and some gaming. It was hard to figure out which tablet to buy but I think I'll get Transformer instead of Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it is more functional. So it would be nice if you Transfomer owners could share some impressions.
How good is build quality?
How responsive it is?
How fast it is?
How good does it play 1080p vidos?
Does it work with turn-by-turn navigation?
And would you recommend it?

People have had issues with build quality but I personally haven't. My TF101 has been fine.
Responsiveness is top notch, no issues here.
Depends on what you're comparing it to, it's benchmarks are above the Xoom and Galaxy tab 10.1, but if this relates to real world performance I don't know.
It plays low profile 1080p flawlessly, and 720p high profile flawlessly. Don't quite know why you'd want to watch 1080p on a 750p screen though.
Yes it has turn by turn navigation.
I'd recommend it if you need the extra features it has over the Galaxy tab.

seshmaru said:
People have had issues with build quality but I personally haven't. My TF101 has been fine.
Responsiveness is top notch, no issues here.
Depends on what you're comparing it to, it's benchmarks are above the Xoom and Galaxy tab 10.1, but if this relates to real world performance I don't know.
It plays low profile 1080p flawlessly, and 720p high profile flawlessly. Don't quite know why you'd want to watch 1080p on a 750p screen though.
Yes it has turn by turn navigation.
I'd recommend it if you need the extra features it has over the Galaxy tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said. Screen is totally mindblowing , btw!
I myself have had absolutely zero issues, like seshmaru, but buy it 4m a store, and open and check it, would be my recommendation. Light bleed is the most common issue, followed by some creakiness issues and speaker balance issues, very rare though
Sent from my cell phone. DUH.

Mine eee pad had serial B5xxxxxxxx. So far no issues with it.
But it's quite heavy to hold the eee pad with one hand and using it while laying on the couch.

I got mine like two weeks ago, and I guess I'm lucky that it's pretty perfect (although there's a slight creakiness on one corner).
I don't have any complaints right now, but I'm scared to get the dock because I keep seeing problems about it (battery, lag, what else??).

seshmaru said:
Don't quite know why you'd want to watch 1080p on a 750p screen though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As has been said many times on these forums, it's more about not having to re-encode 1080p movies you already have just to play them on the TF.
Regards,
Dave

I am on my 2nd transformer now, the first one had some light bleeds along with head pixels in the midldle.
The only thing that i suggest is to root it when you get it and throw Prime 1.4 and a custom kernel on it so you see the true speed of it. Im semi please with it, still better then the ipad 2 imo. there are some issues but should be fixed over time. the only really annoying issue is when typing in the browser and how long it takes to show up on the screen.

Then I'll get one. Actually after some googling on iPad 2 I understood that I really wont get one, Transformer has so much better hardware and I love honeycomb. iPad has 0.3 Mpix front camera and 0.9Mpix back camera, lol.
Thank you all for helping.

I just put Prime 1.5 on it, run really smooth..

my only issue is the lack of volume. Its too low for my taste. Other than that i love my TF.

KRolands said:
Hi
I have rooted Desire and I just love Android, so I'm buying Android tablet for browsing web, watching movies and some gaming. It was hard to figure out which tablet to buy but I think I'll get Transformer instead of Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it is more functional. So it would be nice if you Transfomer owners could share some impressions.
How good is build quality?
How responsive it is?
How fast it is?
How good does it play 1080p vidos?
Does it work with turn-by-turn navigation?
And would you recommend it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With all the issue pointed out here I was a bit worried about buying one. I have not had any issues except for bugs which are part of honeycomb. When I got my Galaxy S2 there were a lot of people *****ing about various issues but when I got my phone I had none of these so called issues once I tweaked things! So each to their own.
You'll find that most posts are about complaints. Very few people come online and say how awesome something is. Most of the time there are solutions to issues but people don't want to search.
1. I chose it over the Galaxy Tab 10.1. I like how light the Tab is but I love the dock and the extra features that the Transformer has to offer.
2. Build quality on mine is outstanding. I have had a lot of android devices and you can see the extra effort Asus put into the dock and the tablet. I don't have any light bleed or flex on my device. Even the USB docks have magnetic port covers. How cool is that? Keyboard is very nice and the keys don't feel cheap.
3. Very fast device and very responsive. Interesting to see how both the Tegra processor and the Exonys (in my S2) differ in different tasks but both are blazing fast (the S2 is faster at rendering pages on wifi vs the transformer). Make sure to update to 3.1 firmware. Mine came with 3.0 which was not very responsive and sucked [email protected]
4. No idea about the 1080p. It is touchy at playing high def files (honeycomb hardware decoding issue). My S2 plays 1080 no problem. I find 720p MP4 videos plays perfectly fine if encoded with the proper specs for the transformer
5. Yes turn-by-turn works great. I tether with my phone and off I go
My only complaint is an issue with honeycomb and the stock browser lag when typing. Also, no auto correction when typing on the hardware keyboard.
Cheers. Hope this helps

I have used the Transformer for couple of weeks now having previously owned the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 inch.
All in all, my impressions are very positive and I would definetly recommend the device. The screen's great, device is quick to use, to comfortable hold in hand thanks to clever backside texture and reasonable weight, overall design is good. The keyboard dock has been a true surprise, it is way better than in many laptops and the integration with the tablet is seamless.
My unit (Scandinavian) is faultless, no cranky build quality or light bleeds.
However, there are some things to improve
- Flash performance: Flash being the most obvious advantage over iPad, I was disappointed that my old Galaxy Tab plays Flash better than this Dual Core Honeycomb device
- Browser is a bit buggy (closes unexpectedly once a while)
- Lack of Honeycomb apps evident, no way to sort out Honeycomb apps from all Android Market offerings (not a Transformer issue, though)

KRolands said:
Hi
I have rooted Desire and I just love Android, so I'm buying Android tablet for browsing web, watching movies and some gaming. It was hard to figure out which tablet to buy but I think I'll get Transformer instead of Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it is more functional. So it would be nice if you Transfomer owners could share some impressions.
How good is build quality?
How responsive it is?
How fast it is?
How good does it play 1080p vidos?
Does it work with turn-by-turn navigation?
And would you recommend it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had my Transformer for just over a week now and am absolutely loving it. I have had no problems with my Transformer apart from when I managed to brick it and then get it working again (my fault not ASUS ). The screen is great (though I wish it was SAMOLED+ because my SGSII has an amazing screen) and the build quality is very good - it feels a little heavy compared to an iPad but also very sturdy.
After updating to 3.1 the tablet is very smooth - with the possible exception of the browser when using the dock. Sometimes it takes a couple of seconds for the tablet to realise I'm typing something but generally not too bad. Using the tablet as a tablet (on-screen keyboard) there is no lag anywhere. Youtube 720p and normal 720p play flawlessly and look great. I haven't personally tried a 1080p video yet. Turn-by-turn navigation works well and it's nice they included a GPS chip in it, though you still need WiFi/3G for it work correctly.
The main attraction for me is the fact the Transformer is basically an Android Netbook! Good sized, clear screen with amazing battery life (I get about ~16 hours with Auto-Brightness and browsing/watching films). The best thing is when you root it and under/over clock it however! Under clocked to ~800Mhz I can browse for hours and hours, it's great! Over clock to 1.6Ghz and it's blazingly fast and everything (and can probably handle full 1080p video).
My only slight disappointment is in the rear camera which despite being 5MP is pretty crappy but it's not very often I use it. Bonus points for having Polaris Office and a Remote Desktop service packaged in for free which means I've been playing Portal on mine through my gaming laptop just for fun!
-X