[Q] Did Acer ruin honeycomb?

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Problems I've got with the Acer A500:

GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.

Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off

Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.

Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.

System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.

Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.

Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?

No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.

Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!

Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.

Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?


Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.

It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.

Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.

Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.

For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?

For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1

Originally Posted by michaelh99

Problems I've got with the Acer A500:

GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.

Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off

Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.

Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.

System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.

Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.

Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?

No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.

Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!

Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.

Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?


Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.

It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.

Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.

Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.

For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?

For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.

Originally Posted by rorytmeadows

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.

Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?

Originally Posted by michaelh99

Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?

Well, I think your thread is misleading. Tablets are new and there are going to be flaws in new products. That's why you don't buy the first new model of a car. But if you're going to, then understand there is always risk.

1. I have had no problems with the GPS.
2. I have had problems with the compass, but nothing unusual for a digital compass.
3. Unresponsiveness happens with pretty much every device. Mine has been unresponsive like 5 times already, but a power down and then up again fixes it beautifully. It's like a nice reminder to clear the system and make it run faster. This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Acer. It could be Honeycomb.
4. Apps crashing. Happens. I'd think that it's Honeycomb, rather than Acer.
5. I've seen the headset icon on when I didn't have any headphones in. Oh no! Stop the presses! This occurs, sure, but that could be Honeycomb, not Acer. Also, are we sure it's not the music icon?
6. Bluetooth profiles are limited. Sure. But maybe that's a reminder to us all that Bluetooth is awful technology. This one is probably Acer.
7. Copy and paste, although annoying, isn't Acer.
8. Right now, it's not proper to open the bootloader for everyone. Don't hold that against any company.

Most of the things you mentioned really might have to do with Honeycomb rather than Acer. So don't trash the wrong company.

Now given that it's Honeycomb instead, it's new. It will have bugs and problems. Sit and wait or learn the trade and get in there and fix it.

Or wait until a future generation product.

Problems I've got with the Acer A500:

Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
NEVER OCCUR for me

Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
NEVER OCCUR for me

System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
NEVER OCCUR for me

Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Just restore to factory default or clear the data in "manage application" can solve the problem

Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Root the device and remove the sound using root explorer

Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
when you press vol +/-, there is a small icon on the right and you can adjust 3 volume settings

....

Ya, I'm pretty much in the rorytmeadows and ardatdat camp. Considering Acer did very little to their OEM copy, I'd place the blame for a lot of the issues on HC.

The compass is definitely finicky. I've only ever got a solid read when my GPS was tracking - when it's not, the compass is definitely off (using GPS Essentials here which could also be an app issue). If there is a common degree variance, this can be coded in/out. Also, orientation matter - whether you have it in portrait, facing you, landscape facing up... There's a difference and the gyro checks.

I understand where some of you guys are coming from re. new releases having bugs. I can't accept that viewpoint. I paid for this device and while a few bugs are to be expected these days, some of the problems amount to beta level bugs that should have never left the factory.

If there were going to be regular releases of updates I'd feel differently but it seems clear that releases will likely only come from the devs and only after jumping through the hurdles and hoops that Acer has put in their way.

I think the A500 was worth trying but I'm still not sure it's worth keeping.

A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.

Originally Posted by gammaRascal

A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.

With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.

Originally Posted by michaelh99

I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Ya, but... Nothing you listed is consistent and repeatable... Where exactly is the disagreement?

The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.

I don't see it. Maybe I'm biased *shrug* The majority (not all, of course) complaints or issues with the a500 (be them HW, SW or HC related) on this (and other) forum are sporadic and inconclusive. Not a lot of serious testing happening and a complaint like 'my gps can't see any satellites' doesn't mean a whole lot without more granular info. It doesn't help and it certainly shouldn't be used as part of a rationale. You gotta take those kinds of half-thought out complaints with a grain of salt.

With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.

I read this all the time - with games mostly, but the argument is the same.

How when a new game is released (pick your poison) you're bound to get a very small, thought vocal, minority who dig their nails into the support section complaining about 'players are paying to be testers' - or - 'their computer should be able to play it' etc. The argument being, 'it's suppose to act the way I want it to act' when in fact, that is never the case. With games, with hardware - software. 'It's suppose to act the way they want it to act' - We're just consumers. We consume. They create, we consume.

Now, I'm not trying to discount the importance of your view (I know it reads like I am but I'm not trying too - just trying to further the discussion). You're obviously having issues with the a500 and far be it for me to make lite of them. I think what is key here is that, for the majority of us, there aren't any of these kinds of issues and that, of the ones you listed, few are consistent and repeatable.

So I chalk it up to one of two things - you got a bum tablet or it's user error.