TF201 GPS works as navigation device under 20 MPH

[neneloco]

Hi guys,

I have been reading posts about the GPS not functioning or not doing what it's "supposed" to so I figured I would chime in with my opinion.

The GPS works on my Prime OUTDOORS. Does it work as many perceive it should work, NO. I do not recall seeing or reading anywhere where ASUS stated that the TF201 was a navigational device. They said it had GPS.

I tested the GPS on my drive yesterday in rainy condition from Great Neck, NY to Valley Stream NY. This is a 10 mile, 30 minute drive through local NY streets. I was able to locate over 10 sats and lock in to an average of 7 or more sats so long as I was driving no more than 20MPH. As soon as I crossed that threshold the sats began to drop like dead flies.

So, I am assuming that the Prime was never intended to be used as a motor vehicle navigational unit but more as a pedestrian navigational device.

Besides, for those complaining about not being able to use it on your car. How will you mount this to your dash and see the road? The Prime is too big to be dash mounted and if you mount on your center console, you would have to take your eye off the road in order to see it. Would you really want to do that.

[leeshor]

Interesting observation but speed should not come into play. The sats are so far away (22,000 miles or so) that it's not exactly like you are outrunning them. Something else is going on. I have picked them up on mine doing 80 mph and it was no different than when I was doing 20 mph.

[neneloco]

Interesting observation but speed should not come into play. The sats are so far away (22,000 miles or so) that it's not exactly like you are outrunning them. Something else is going on. I have picked them up on mine doing 80 mph and it was no different than when I was doing 20 mph.

Did you lock in to the sats at 80MPH? When I drive over 20 MPH, the Prime doesn't lock in to sats. It still picks up sats in view though.

[leeshor]

Did you lock in to the sats at 80MPH? When I drive over 20 MPH, the Prime doesn't lock in to sats. It still picks up sats in view though.

I didn't notice any change in the lock, if I remember it was 9 or 10 all the way to 80 mph

[dcAndroidFan]

Driving home yesterday and monitoring with GPS Test I was able to lock on at normal highway speeds (60-75 MPH) and keep a lock with 4-7 birds -- mildly overcast, TF Prime sitting flat on the passenger seat face up. Accuracy fluctuated between 45 and 95 feet. Satellites would drop off and reappear sporadically but I never had fewer than four and usually had seven. Max was 11, I think. Acceptable for open road navigation, but I'd be concerned with trying to follow a complicated route through a city with a number of short turns.

As many others have said, though, I have no intention of complex navigation with the Prime since my HTC dInc has wonderful GPS and I can put it in my pocket. The ability to lock to the building or location where I am and get location-aware services like weather and search results is what I'm looking for and apparently I was lucky enough to get one that's quite capable of that.

[neneloco]

Hmm, I will take the highway route tonight to test the GPS. My WiFi is great so even if I get subpar results, I doubt that I will take any action in swapping out device or sending to Asus to repair. My Galaxy Nexus is used as my driving GPS.

[Kronie]

I tested and was able to use Navigon yesterday on an 11 mile drive to my work. The prime was just sitting on my passenger seat. It worked OK. I did notice that my phone quickly picked up like 20 satellites in under a minute where the prime was still struggling to find two. it definitely has weak GPS.

[edster]

I was able to use the TP201 for navigation yesterday also, using wifi hotspot from my phone. Navigated well at 50+ mph. I didn't look at GPS test while testing to see how many satellites is was locked to. This only worked while connected to the phone though, stopped working immediately after I turned off hotspot.

[zubba]

So, I am assuming that the Prime was never intended to be used as a motor vehicle navigational unit but more as a pedestrian navigational device.

No, it was originally intended to be used in a wide range of applications, including navigation, the same as any other navigation device. It wasn't until customers realized just how terribly it performed and complained about it, that Asus downplayed it's usefulness, and removed GPS from it's specifications. There was at least one person who posted on this forum or XDA whose intended use for this device was as a large screen GPS, I believe for long haul trucking. Obviously, you wouldn't set it on dash, blocking the windshield.