[UPDATE] Video Links added. GPS Dongle Test Findings on its Performance.

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Well now that the GPS dongle is a go, I can release my findings on how well this solution performs for our Transformer Prime tablets. Asus pushed out a FOTA last Thursday to add software support for new GPS dongle. most probably never noticed it as it was a forced update.

First off, here is Asus official literature on how to install it and enable it: ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/EeePA...SG_English.pdf

Here is where to go to sign up, register, and fill out dongle application info. You will have to log in first to register. If this is your first time or never logged in before, make a free account then proceed. https://vip.asus.com/login.aspx or Just go to Asus event page where it has detailed info on it http://event.asus.com/ASUSPad/TF201GPS/



Here are Pictures of what it looks like by itself and attached to the prime. please note these pics are zoomed up to try to show more detail on what it looks like. They dongle is not as big as some seem to exaggerate it being. its actually small, thin, very lightweight, and build quality is very good on it. The engineering sample I have matches the color of my prime, the Amethyst Gray version.
http://www.landofdroid.com/2012/excl...me-gps-dongle/
[UPDATE] SCROLL DOWN TO BOTTOM OF POST FOR UPDATED HIGH RES PICS

The GPS Dongle, IMO, is a great design and implementation of a viable solution to a problem the consumer thought Asus forgot about. Well they didn't and are now providing us with a solution/Fix. Once GPS dongle is attached and locked, it doesn't budge at all. its attached very securely. you will likely use auto screen rotate so the screen can flip upside down so you can hold the prime with the dongle pointed towards the sky. Basically hold prime upside down. which won't matter because screen rotates to show everything right side up properly.

Now to the good stuff. I tested this dongle based on what some of the more hardcore GPS users are always saying to test. I made sure to cut wifi off, cut off all location services, and do a fresh reboot on tablet before starting my GPS tests. So the prime wont be using any Agps data. Which in my case, never helped my prime anyways before. Keep in mind my Prime, by its own internal GPS chip, has never seen a GPS satellite or lock indoors, outdoors, or while driving. I attached dongle and got satellite fixes and locks immediately. Actually within a few seconds. It was very fast. This is night and day difference in my experience with GPS. I am now seeing alot of GPS satellites indoors and getting locks. It got even better and accuracy improved as I went to my balcony. More satellites and locks increased also.

Now I already know some of the more hardcore GPS users will be like so what and say My GPS can see satellites and get locks also. The real test comes when you try to move or drive. Normally the prime internal GPS would instantly lose its locks And/Or accuracy is very poor. Well that's not the case anymore. I made sure to especially test this while driving. FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO USE PRIME FOR NAVIGATING WHILE DRIVING OR WHATEVER, THIS GPS DONGLE NOW PROVIDES A REAL WORLD SOLUTION AND WORKS VERY WELL. I don't have a mount in my Magnum for the prime so i either had it sitting on my lap or on the passenger seat. I wasn't about to put it on my dashboard to be sliding all around and possibly break it..lol. Once I got in vehicle and activated GPS, it immediately start picking up alot of satellites and locking on to them. I was seeing like 16 satellites and having 9-10 locks. Accuracy was very good. within a few feet actually. Once I proceeded to drive, The dongle consistently held the satellites and locks. Even once I hit the highway and proceeded to speeds in excess of 60-70mph, GPS Dongle still held all its 15+ satellites and I always had at least 9-10 satellites locked. I never lost a satellite lock once or it would always fluctuate between 9-10 locks or more. I tested this while driving repeated times over several days. Accuracy was always very good. I set my GPS test to show me accuracy in feet and not meters. always showed accuracy within a few feet. Accuracy saw best results of about 4Ft. and worst of about 10ft. All very good. It consistently held satellites, locks, and accuracy.

I know some are wondering, since this doesn't have a pass through to allow charging, how is battery life. I'd have to say for the time I used it, it hardly drained the battery at all. my battery drain came from cutting on super ips+ mode so i could easily see the display while outdoors or driving. I did attach dongle to prime and left the GPS on for a while, at normal brightness settings, to see how much of drains battery. well to me, it hardly drained the battery at all. Plus if you really concerned about battery life, you could easily put prime into battery savings mode to make battery last that much longer. I can easily see this Gps dongle being able to survive long trips navigating. While traveling, if you just using the prime to Navigate with GPS on, then you should have no issue with the battery lasting the whole trip. This will easily last a several hour long road trip, even longer if prime put into battery savings mode.

I have attached screenshots of my GPS Test app results. I also tried using GPS Status and worked well. This dongle also worked great with Google earth, cached mode. So it'll work just great with any offline Navigation app. CoPilot is one I hear thrown around alot for being a great offline one. REMEMBER, I ONLY TESTED THIS WITH WIFI OFF, ALL LOCATION SERVICES TURNED OFF, AND AFTER A FRESH REBOOT. SO MY SCREENSHOTS REFLECT THAT ONLY. I NEVER TESTED THIS WITH WIFI OR OTHER LOCATION SERVICES TURNED ON EXCEPT FOR GPS. ALSO ALL TESTS WERE ALWAYS AFTER A FRESH REBOOT OF TABLET AFTER OTHER THINGS WERE TURNED OFF.

First set of pics was while indoors and on my balcony. I'm higher up and there are alot of tall buildings and such surrounding me.




This is what I saw while traveling in car. keep in mind it consistently held these locks. I never once lost the locks or GPS satellites. Always held at least 9-10 locks or so.





I will entertain any reasonable questions about its performance, design, or battery life you may have. Please keep the hating down to a minimum. This is an informative thread for those curious to how their dongle will perform once they receive it. Not a thread to debate on why you don't like it, or why you hate Asus, or whatever. This is a real solution for people who truly want to use prime as a navigation device while driving. My results surely could've even been better if I had a car, window, or dashboard mount. all tests was while it was in my lap or on the passenger seat, or when I propped it up with GPS facing the up on my center console right before my transmission gear selector stick. I can see this working great for people driving, hiking, or even flying. it now sees alot of satellites and always hold the locks. no more dropped GPS reception or going off the grid..lol

Thanks to Asus for allowing me to test this out in advance and Thanks to members involved in a Positive movement of Prime forums. Thanks also to all the great developers we have in developement section using their free time to make this product even better for us. Its greatly appreciated. Also Thanks to members actually helping out others here in XDA. All we want is to learn more about our devices, share information and tips, and learn how to modify device with the best tweaks, mods, and custom ROMS/Kernels. People don't want to be up here fighting with each other everyday. There comes a time when enough is enough. Can't wait to see what else Asus has in store for us in the future. Whether it be software updates, any further hardware tweaks, or future products. All I can say is, in my experience, Asus has treated me well. They have done more than any other company I've seen before. Especially here in the forums. They are trying their best to fix problems and provide solutions and that's all that matters. Asus has me on board for future products as the Prime was my first Asus experience. For me, its been a great one. A very exciting roller coaster ride here in XDA..lol

P.s. something I forgot to add. another member pointed this out. MAKE SURE TO REMOVE THE 2 RUBBER PLUGS IN THE DOCK CONNECTORS BEFORE YOU ATTACH THE GPS DONGLE

UPDATE: NEW HIGH RES PICS ADDED!

Up Close front of dongle. part that will facing you



Back of dongle. part that covers back of tablet.


A look at the 40pin connector inside the groove of dongle piece



Up close look at 40pin connector



GPS Dongle attached to my prime. Front view


GPS Dongle attached to prime. view from the back. I know the back of my prime needs cleaning..lmao


[UPDATE 4/19/2012]

Well some people have started receiving their dongle. We have a member, Dude2k5, who has opened up his dongle to see what makes it tick inside. So thanks goes to him for these new pics of what the GPS dongle looks opened up.





update: Gps(Dongle) Extension Kit Test Videos link added. Courtesy of JJdevega
if you want to see confirmed videos of the dongle getting locks indoors, outdoors(stationary), and while driving, Click on the link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1610199

pix will be back up soon

Awesome dude! Great post, great information. This was a really cool move by Asus. I'm looking forward to getting my dongle.

Edit: have you encountered any problems with it at all? Any negative impacts on the functionality of the tablet?

Looks Great! Can't wait to get my dongle on!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

demandarin
First, thanks for the detailed, in depth review of the GPS dongle! It sounds very promising, and for those who require GPS for navigation or other functions, this sounds like it now gives the Transformer Prime GPS service on par or better then the competition!

I'd also like to say that it's very gratifying to see that Asus didn't simply "remove" GPS from their spec sheets for the Prime, but continued to try and find a workable solution to an ongoing problem.

While I don't personally see myself using my TP for navigation in the car, it is gratifying to see a company that doesn't leave their customers in the lurch after they've made a substantial purchase!

Thank You!

Originally Posted by gruntguy

Awesome dude! Great post, great information. This was a really cool move by Asus. I'm looking forward to getting my dongle.

Edit: have you encountered any problems with it at all? Any negative impacts on the functionality of the tablet?

No, I haven't encountered any issues with it at all. It has been working perfectly. Off course when not in use, I just detach it. I don't really think there are any negative impacts on functionality. Maybe except for it can't be docked to keyboard while GPS dongle is attached. Or that it doesn't have a pass through to allow charging at the same time. But in my use, its barely sipping the battery. No excessive battery drain at all while in use. So best thing would be to detach it while its not in use. When its attached, it doesn't get in the way at all when using the tablet. whether you have GPS facing up or down. Of course facing up will yells best GPS results. Either way, its not in the way at all or adds any extra bulk or whatever to tablet. we have have some talking about Modding the free dongle to work on keyboard also. which is possible because of you look at close up pic of connector, it seems to be held in there by only 2 screws. so you could easily remove it and fabricate a solution to work while docked also if you choose.

I have not received any update on my Prime.

I changed from DE to WW rooting it long time ago and I do not receive OTA anymore. How can I receive this now?

The PDF link to FTP Asus does not work.

Your link to the manual is broken.

It is ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/EeePA...SG_English.pdf

I'm glad ASUS came up with a fix, but the fix doesn't allow you to use the dongle and the keyboard attached, or dongle and charge.

I know this has all been said before on other forums, but when you spend £500 on a device that includes a keyboard dock, you shouldn't have to expect an add-on to negates the keyboards use.

A good interim solution, but hopefully ASUS will come up with a better solution, or allow us to trade in our Primes against the TF700.

Thanks for the great post though.

Is it worth mentioning for those peeps who do not use the dock that there are two rubber bungs that protect the locking mechanism catches on the tablet itself. and these need to be removed before fitting the dongle!! (not that anybody has ever tried to dock with the bungs in lol)

Originally Posted by CBers

I'm glad ASUS came up with a fix, but the fix doesn't allow you to use the dongle and the keyboard attached, or dongle and charge.

I know this has all been said before on other forums, but when you spend £500 on a device that includes a keyboard dock, you shouldn't have to expect an add-on to negates the keyboards use.

A good interim solution, but hopefully ASUS will come up with a better solution, or allow us to trade in our Primes against the TF700.

Thanks for the great post though.

Would also be nice if Dongle had a power plug on it so you could have it plugged into power with Dongle attached...