Ever since its launch last year, ASUS’ high-flying Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet-cum-netbook has been plagued with one problem in particular: poor GPS signal.
The tablet’s all-metal construction restricts the internal GPS chip from receiving a strong signal, which results in a delay in picking up a signal and often an inaccurate positioning in location-based apps such as Google Maps.
Until now ASUS has tried to keep customers sweet by offering an additional 8 months on top of the standard 12 month warranty, as well as offering a no-quibbles return to retailer for a refund if the customer really isn’t happy. Now it seems they’ve come up with a permanent solution which both fixes the issue and allows users to keep their tablets, albeit a fairly unsightly one: an external GPS dongle.
Although the company hasn’t started issuing them to customers yet, a few pictures of the Transformer’s Prime GPS dongle have started to appear online. It slots into the multi-pin socket on the bottom of the tablet, where you insert the USB cable and dock it into the keyboard. The elongated dongle resembles the hinge from the keyboard dock when inserted and adds a little bulk to the bottom of the tablet. The keyboard dock won’t play nicely with the GPS dongle, so it’s one or the other by the look of things.
Some users have already taken matters into their own hands, using a third party GPS receiver which connects via Bluetooth being a popular solution. To us this seems like a better alternative to the somewhat chunky dongle ASUS has come up with, although the Bluetooth connection will of course add drain to the battery.
We’re told that ASUS will be making an official announcement on the dongle later today, and from here forth they will be offering it to customers for free as a solution to the GPS issue.
Would you accept the GPS dongle or are you going to wait for the similar Infinity Series tablet which has been designed to gain optimum wireless signals?
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Source: Land of Droid
Via: PhoneArena