Eee Pad Transformers Owners Thread (26/04/2011) First post updated

[Guest ArtyCarl]

Hi Phil-t

I know just what you mean about iOS but now that Paul has rooted his Transformer we could hope for a tweaked ROM before too long and that might make the difference.

[Guest SilentMobius]

little bit worried about the HDMI out. It appears to only do 720p. Whereas the cheaper Vega did 1080p when playing video. The transformer seems to do 720p by "voiding" the bottom 80 pixels. On the screen they still make up the button bar, it just gets a little taller.

[Guest mimminito]

Hey, new to the forums, been reading for a little while though.

Got my Transformer yesterday, and Im very impressed.

Build quality is superb. Feels great in your hands, so sturdy and a great weight. After some use, the screen has got use to my fingers now, and you can swipe without getting stuck etc :P

Apps wise, almost everything I have tried is working. Facebook likes to crash every now and then, so hopefully they will update this. The Market is very nice, but as pointed out by Al Sutton on twitter this morning, the US Market has a Featured Tablet Apps section, but the UK does not! Bit annoying, but back to the transformer!

I am a little dissapointed the Transformer does not charge when plugged into a PC, unless its off or in standby. And even then, the charge rate is 1/6 of plugging it into a wall socket (obviously a wall socket will be more powerful, but not by this much I would of thought).

I think Asus have done a superb job here. The only feature I would like is built in 3G, but I dont think ill like the price tag they will decide to slap on it when it comes out :)

Now a question. Being a powerful Tegra2 device I thought it would be able to play my high definition video files. I thought wrong. It cannot handle an episode of Prison Break in 720p for example, without a lot of stutter and out of sync voice. And when I tried a lower resolution video file, it works but again its not smooth (480p). I tried RockPlayer, mVideoPlayer and QQPlayer (which was the best by far, but still not great). Im really waiting for a decent Video player app to come out, something which will take advantage of the processing power inside these new devices! Hopefully VLC will have it up and running soon :)

Well, thats all for now. I might post up some screens if I get a chance to later. Otherwise I think most people know what it looks like :)

Adam

[Guest SilentMobius]

Now a question. Being a powerful Tegra2 device I thought it would be able to play my high definition video files. I thought wrong. It cannot handle an episode of Prison Break in 720p for example, without a lot of stutter and out of sync voice. And when I tried a lower resolution video file, it works but again its not smooth (480p). I tried RockPlayer, mVideoPlayer and QQPlayer (which was the best by far, but still not great). Im really waiting for a decent Video player app to come out, something which will take advantage of the processing power inside these new devices! Hopefully VLC will have it up and running soon :)

An app will not solve this.

Rockplayer, QQplayer uses the CPU to decode, it will _always_ be slow and jerky on HD content

mVideoplayer just uses the core android video decoder engine, it will always be identical in speed/support to the default video player

The Tegra 2 SOC is capable of playing main profile h.264 at 1080p (with caveats), high profile at 720p.

Froyo running on Tegra2 could handle 1080p in baseline profile under the older harmony drivers

It _seems_ like the Nvidia honeycomb binaries are even less capable and content that plays on my tegra2 Vega now stutters on my transformer. Hopefully this (1080p baseline) will be fixed with a firmware update (The harmony platform has been abandoned by Nvidia, the transformer is based on the newer Ventana platform)

Also, even though honeycomb supposedly supports WebM (that uses a subset of Matroska as its container) it does not support the Matroska container (.MKVs) itself, which is odd and quite an oversight.

Either way it seems like 1080p baseline profile in a m4v container is the best you can hope for.

Edited April 12, 2011 by SilentMobius

[Guest GiTax]

could someone that currently owns the transformer go to this site http://www.justin.tv/directory/gaming (its a streaming site)

and try to watch one of the streams? preferbly one that is high quality.

How is the quality on the tablet? (is it jerky or just playing smooth?)

Thanks in advance.

[Guest mimminito]

An app will not solve this.

Rockplayer, QQplayer uses the CPU to decode, it will _always_ be slow and jerky on HD content

mVideoplayer just uses the core android video decoder engine, it will always be identical in speed/support to the default video player

The Tegra 2 SOC is capable of playing main profile h.264 at 1080p (with caveats), high profile at 720p.

Froyo running on Tegra2 could handle 1080p in baseline profile under the older harmony drivers

It _seems_ like the Nvidia honeycomb binaries are even less capable and content that plays on my tegra2 Vega now stutters on my transformer. Hopefully this (1080p baseline) will be fixed with a firmware update (The harmony platform has been abandoned by Nvidia, the transformer is based on the newer Ventana platform)

Also, even though honeycomb supposedly supports WebM (that uses a subset of Matroska as its container) it does not support the Matroska container (.MKVs) itself, which is odd and quite an oversight.

Either way it seems like 1080p baseline profile in a m4v container is the best you can hope for.

Thanks for the info! Im a bit clueless when it comes to the inner workings of these devices and how its all done. Thanks for making it clearer.

So, a conversion/container swap could do the trick then? If so, any recommended software to do so?

[Guest saeeedah]

Sorry

Can anyone upload some test shots and videos of the back camera?

[Guest saeeedah]

Sorry

rear camera records HD videos?

Edited April 12, 2011 by saeeedah

[Guest SilentMobius]

Thanks for the info! Im a bit clueless when it comes to the inner workings of these devices and how its all done. Thanks for making it clearer.

So, a conversion/container swap could do the trick then? If so, any recommended software to do so?

I use ffmpeg because I process everything automatically. but if you need a GUI I'd use handbrake.

Here's a good site for tests:

http://www.h264info.com/clips.html

The only one of those that plays well is:

The Bourne Ultimatum – 1080p Trailer

Download Link: bourne_ultimatum_trailer.zip (80 MB)

Video Type: 1920×816 (1080p), 23.967 FPS, CE-Baseline profile (PS3 and Xbox 360 compatible)

Audio Type: AAC LC Stereo

So 1080p Baseline profile (well baseline CE, not sure if that matters) ~7.5MBpS

[Guest SilentMobius]

could someone that currently owns the transformer go to this site http://www.justin.tv/directory/gaming (its a streaming site)

and try to watch one of the streams? preferbly one that is high quality.

How is the quality on the tablet? (is it jerky or just playing smooth?)

Thanks in advance.

That site is just flash, 720p h.264 under the Flash VM is always going to be terrible on a poxy little 1Ghz ARM cpu.

Maybe their App serves up the streams without flash if so that would probably be smooth?

[Guest mimminito]

I use ffmpeg because I process everything automatically. but if you need a GUI I'd use handbrake.

Here's a good site for tests:

http://www.h264info.com/clips.html

The only one of those that plays well is:

The Bourne Ultimatum – 1080p Trailer

Download Link: bourne_ultimatum_trailer.zip (80 MB)

Video Type: 1920×816 (1080p), 23.967 FPS, CE-Baseline profile (PS3 and Xbox 360 compatible)

Audio Type: AAC LC Stereo

So 1080p Baseline profile (well baseline CE, not sure if that matters) ~7.5MBpS

Brilliant thanks. Ill give this a test at lunch I think :)

[Guest gswallow]

I've had my Transformer from last Friday (moving over from a Vega). I couldn't believe that the video playback quality is actually worse than on the Vega. I just downloaded that Bourne Ultimatum trailer and it works fine on the stock HC video player. Any idea how I can translate this encoding profile into a profile for Handbrake or SuperC for best quality DVD encoding (ie NOT HD)?

[Guest SilentMobius]

Some more information:

Content from BBC iPlayer at SD quality looks like this:

AVC Main Profile @L3.0 698Kbps 25fps 640x360

This would play quite nicely on my Vega running Froyo and the Tegra2 Harmony board However its really jerky on the Transformer (and from what I'm hearing the Xoom as well)

The Bourne Trailer plays fine and looks like this:

AVC Baseline Profile @L4.1 7435Kbps 23.976fps 1920x816

My guess is that dropping Opencore and going to _only_ using Stagefright has limited the range of what HC can play compared to Froyo. I'm not really happy with that (also dropping AVI as a container, which is _really_ annoying)

[Guest steviesteve]

In less than 24hrs, I have backlight bleed, a dead pixel and the rear camera works intermittently. My chunky (feeling) Vega represents superb value for money compared to this transformer. Will try another tomorrow but after great first impressions regarding the design/build quality, I feel let down by these problems and the roughness with Honeycomb.

[Guest Uxian]

Beware of removing micro SD cards in an open area. The Transfomer launches them like some kind of ballistic weapon and I still haven't found the first one I tried.

[Guest cas3]

Hi.

Thought I'd share my first impressions too. I was pleasantly surprised by the build quality given the lower price compared to the xoom, lighter than I expected and has a really nice solid feel. I don't feel that "give" on the back that some people have mentioned either but maybe that's just how I hold it.

Haven't had a chance to test music or video yet but disappointed to hear its video playback is comparable to the xoom :) . Carrying on with the software side of things the ui is generally pretty snappy although dragging between homescreens isn't as smooth as I'd like, seems there is still room for optimisations. I haven't had loads of crashes or anything, maybe 2 soft reboots and a few force closes on apps, but overall less than I expected based on feedback from the xoom.

I read before I bought it that there was a custom launcher running on it but that it could be disabled so bought it anyway, but it turned out to just be a couple of widgets and an Asus wallpaper so was happy that it was easy to change it to a near-stock experience. The ui on the box is different though so I guess their "waveshare ui" will be landing with a future update.

Also I sent the email off yesterday to get the dock from Asus direct and got a reply today so am already pleased with them, I think its a decent deal they're doing for us early adopters :) .

Now I just can't wait to root and get a rom from Paul running on it :)

[Guest Paul]

Beware of removing micro SD cards in an open area. The Transfomer launches them like some kind of ballistic weapon and I still haven't found the first one I tried.

Haha, yeah, I did that too! :)

P

[Guest mimminito]

Fingers crossed I can get it off work, ill be going to the Moto Dev App Summit in London on Friday. They should have a load of xooms to try out, so Ill try and get some comparisons in :) Maybe some videos or pictures of the two devices

[Guest chimpy]

Just received my Transformer this morning, i'll do a more detailed write up at some point soon, but initial impression is very positive.

I had an Advent Vega before, so my opinions are somewhat informed by that. I also have a Nexus One running CM7.

The build quality is very impressive, light years ahead of the Vega and surpassed my expectations on that front. The screen is also superb, better than the iPads' by virtue of it's higher resolution.

I'm enjoying Honeycomb too - although I have to say that it's not totally intuitive, and this is coming from somebody who's been with Android since the G1.

I've also experienced the dreaded instability - crashes in the browser in particular, and mini-freezes which have so far not required a reboot.

But on early impressions its definitely worth the money, particularly with the comet discount code and quidco (total £30 discount off retail price).

I was just so pleased I wanted to share my thoughts' using the device to type right now!

[Guest Daire]

I've had my Transformer a couple of days now and I have some good and bad impressions of it.

Good

* Build quality is nice and solid. A little creaky around the edges though.

* Can't fault the screen. Couldn't ask for much better.

* Pretty good value for money with the Comet discount.

* Honeycomb shows a lot of promise as both a tablet and Netbook OS.

Bad

* Honeycomb is still pretty Beta. Lots of things not working reliably and hardly any optimised apps.

* Honeycomb + Tegra 2 performance is not amazing. Lots of lag, low framerates and missed screen presses. My Desire "feels" faster.

* Still heavier than I would like. Being a widescreen device it is a lot less comfortable to hold than an iPad in landscape (especially one handed).

* Using the tablet in portrait feels odd due to the aspect ratio. Probably comparing with an iPad too much.

* Flash performance and video playback in general seems pretty choppy. iPlayer quality seems worse than my phone.

Basically I think the hardware is a lot better than the software at this point. I'm not sure why Honeycomb isn't as fast and responsive as I expected but can only hope that there is a lot of room for optimisation in the coming months. I'm happy to be an early adopter and help get Honeycomb tablets out there - now over to you Google/Asus to invest our money in improving the experience.

Daire

[Guest Paul]

Fingers crossed I can get it off work, ill be going to the Moto Dev App Summit in London on Friday. They should have a load of xooms to try out, so Ill try and get some comparisons in :) Maybe some videos or pictures of the two devices

See you there! :)

P

[Guest zen123]

I already have a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab which I take everywhere. wife has her Ipad, which by the way is brilliant for reading magazines & newspapers, which stays at home mainly. But I couldn't resist ordering a eeepad from comet.co.uk with 5% & quidco discount, but unsure whether I'll be keepng it.

I'm a bit concerned about their refund policy in that open box returns incur a 10% restocking fee. I thought that the distance selling rules allow for the buyer to examine the goods. I have a question for those who bought from comet & returned the the pad as to whether they had the 10% fee waived.

[Guest Matchstick]

I already have a 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab which I take everywhere. wife has her Ipad, which by the way is brilliant for reading magazines & newspapers, which stays at home mainly. But I couldn't resist ordering a eeepad from comet.co.uk with 5% & quidco discount, but unsure whether I'll be keepng it.

I'm a bit concerned about their refund policy in that open box returns incur a 10% restocking fee. I thought that the distance selling rules allow for the buyer to examine the goods. I have a question for those who bought from comet & returned the the pad as to whether they had the 10% fee waived.

Zen123, I noticed that as well and the Distance Selling Regs do clearly indicate that the user can open and use the item at least briefly before returning it for a full refund.

[Guest Turbo_lew]

Afternoon All, New Eee Pad owner here,

Well it's still on charge, im currently at work and keep getting shouted at every time I pick it up :) so haven't really played with it.

I've been playing with Android for a while now, I have a Desire running LeeDrOiD 2.4.

I'm new here and willing to help with test Rooting & ROM's.

Thanks Lewis.

[Guest ArtyCarl]

I received mine this morning and am disappointed so far. I installed a few of my favourite apps straight away and then realised that I had no sound at all. So I uninstalled it all and reset the device and the sound happily returned. Then I went about installing my apps one by one and checking that everything worked as it should.

In the past 3 hours I have had several freeze ups, crashes and general sluggishness that I wasnt really expecting. I really want to like it but am impatient for things to just work like they do on the iPad2.

On the plus side having flash support in the browser is almost good enough to hang on to the device and hope for Paul to weave his magic with a speedy new Rom.

Most of the apps I downloaded worked adequately if not exactly adapted for tablets and the first couple of games I played looked great on the bigger screen.

Jury is out so far, hoping things improve with use.