Asus RMA Everything fixed - (back to 8.0)

doclike

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I had my Asus Vivotab RT sent to Asus for RMA. My HDMI out was not working.

It is fixed now and I have 8.0 back on my tablet which also solved the flash problem, standby drain problem and the freezing problem in standby ;);

I am happy now with my Vivotab RT and will make a backup of the 8.0 when I receive my USB Stick tomorrow!

I will upload the 8.0 for the Vivotab RT on my Skydrive so everyone can go back to 8.0 ;)
 

berty6294

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I had my Asus Vivotab RT sent to Asus for RMA. My HDMI out was not working.

It is fixed now and I have 8.0 back on my tablet which also solved the flash problem, standby drain problem and the freezing problem in standby ;);

I am happy now with my Vivotab RT and will make a backup of the 8.0 when I receive my USB Stick tomorrow!

I will upload the 8.0 for the Vivotab RT on my Skydrive so everyone can go back to 8.0 ;)

Sooooo many Asus computers bug out on everything when you update them to 8.1. It is really bad.
 

M Coffey

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I have worked out most of the bugs in Windows 8.1 on my Vivotab RT.

What flash problem were you having? Flash seems to work okay on my 8.1 in both the desktop and metro versions of IE. Sometimes it tells me
I have the wrong version or I need to install Flash..then the error goes away and what I was wanting to play just works.

I just corrected the Wi-fi connection problem that a lot of 8,1 users have been experiencing.

And the freeze problem...that was fixed as well.

My battery lasts me about 7 hours. But, I tweaked the screen polling to make it faster which is known to shorten the battery life.

So far I like 8.1 after I got everything worked out.
 

doclike

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dont u have the Standby freeze problem ? How did u fix the battery drain issues? Was there a new win update the last week?

With flash i meant the camera flash ;)
 

M Coffey

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The Standby freeze problem was easily fixed by going into Device Manager under USB devices and Unticked the checkbox "Computer can turn off this device to save power".

Since I charge my tablet daily I can't comment on the drain problems. I only had my device less than a week before I upgraded to 8.1 so I am unsure how the tablet held up before the upgrade. But, I do know it lasts about 7 hours on a full charge including a lot of use and some standby time.

I have never used the flash on the camera on my Vivitab RT. But, my Android phone has a flash as well which I always keep off because it washes out anything I use it on. I am accustom not using a flash. BUT, now that I know it's an issue I have to look see.

****Update: Yes, I have confirmed the flash does not work. But, I don't really care. I have a nice digital camera with a flash for pictures that need a flash.
I have been using tablets and cellphones for years that don't have a flash and I didn't really care. I probably would never have used the flash anyway.

As far as an update last week..I don't think so.

I do, however, continue to have wifi connectivity issues. I thought I had solved it by following some instructions on one of the Windows 8 blogs, but then last night just hours after posting here I started having connectivity problems again. I am doing a "refresh" right now of 8.1 to try to correct it.

***Update: The "refresh" did not correct the issue. However, I have tried another fix I have read and so far it has been promising. I have not have
the wifi problems this morning that I had yesterday morning connecting to my job's wifi. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
 
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M Coffey

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Well, I am going to knock on wood, but its been 24 hours and still no Wi-Fi connectivity issues. The real test will be over the next few days where I will test it at a coffee shop where last week it would just refuse to connect. But, I think its okay.

I plan to post here a comprehensive update to 8.1 with all the bugs and fixes I had encountered and applied to get my Vivotab RT back in tip top shape after the update.
The flash still doesn't work and I will address that, as well.
 

doclike

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So I am back to 8.1 and the Standby freeze is fixed. However I experience more battery drain in standby than i had in 8.0.

Now I have around 5% f?r 10 hours. Before I had 3-4 for 18 hours!

But I think this is still fine! Performance has improved with 8.1. IE is much faster and more comfortable to usw.
 

M Coffey

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Oh, there does seem to be a new firmware update on Windows Update. I have my Windows Update disabled unless I specifically go out and fin them and manually update my tablet.

Since I have worked so hard getting my tablet working great, I decided not to install that update. Who knows what new problems it will bring with it.

Glad to hear you went back to 8.1. It is overall nicer than 8.0. Last night my wife opened her Christmas present early which was a new Surface RT. She got a chance to play with 8.0 but she liked the 8.1 on my tablet better so we upgraded her Surface last night.
 

MA83

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Any updates? I've been debating between a Surface RT and the VivoTab RT for a while now. Any thoughts on a comparison between both devices?
 

M Coffey

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My wife has the Surface RT (original) and I have the Asus Vivotab RT.

We both updated ours to Windows RT 8.1.

There is good and bad to both. Where do I start.

Surface RT is really nice. It feels nice and solid but it's a little bit heavier, thicker and longer than the Vivotab RT. The Surface weighs 1.5lbs and the Vivo I believe was 1.2lbs.The screen on the Surface is I think like 1/2 inch longer (diagonally) than the Vivotab. They are both very responsive and easy to use. The Surface has a dedicated USB port but it has a funky power adapter. It took me 30 minutes to figure the "trick" to plugging it in. It's magnetic. But, it's nice as not to be able to damage the plug on the motherboard as you can with a traditional plug. The screens, other than the slight size difference, look identical and have the same resolution. Both bright and vivid. The specs inside as far as processor and RAM and HDD are also the same. There hasn't been any issues thus far reported by my wife after she updated to 8.1 BUT I use mine a lot more then she uses her's. She does use it, though.

The Vivotab RT is MUCH thinner than the Surface as discussed above, it's slightly smaller and weighs less. I purchased the keyboard with mine that turns it into a netbook. They keyboard has it's own battery and when both the keyboard and tablet are fully charge, you can walk out of the house with a netbook that lasts nearly 15 hours. The keyboards for the Surface are thinner and don't come with a battery. But, it makes it look like a tablet with a case which is nice. I had no issues whatsoever when I had 8.0 on my Vivotab. Going to 8.1 had a plethora of problems. It will freeze when going to sleep although there is an easy fix for that which has been very well documented. Some report the battery drains faster. Maybe like 5-10% faster. I have had A LOT of Wifi connecting/dropping problems. They seem isolated to places in public where you have to "accept" terms in a browser before you can proceed onto their network. The wifi keeps dropping and sometimes it refuses to connect. A few weeks ago I tried a multitude of things to fix this problem and to be completely honest, I am not sure exactly what I did to fix the issue. But, it WAS fixed. I then had a problem with keyboards not wanting to work with my tablet. I had made some registry hacks to disable some background stuff and I think those changes caused my new problem. I undid my hacks but the keyboard problem persisted. So, yesterday I performed a complete wipe and reinstall of Windows RT. AND behold I am back to my Wifi connection/dropping problem. Some of the fixes I tried last time didn't seem to fix it this time. Right now I have the device in Airplane mode (which still allows you to use the Wifi and bluetooth) and keeping it in Airplane mode has allowed the tablet to work on the Wifi at least for tonight. I am not sure if that will be a permanent fix. Oh, the Vivotab has a GPS and it's SUPPOSED to have an LED flash for the camera. Most people have not been able to get the flash to work so don't let that be a deciding factor. GPS works and is nice. (Surface does not have GPS). And the Vivo has a dongle/adapter for USB which converts the charging port to a USB port. The Vivo keyboard has a dedicated on board USB and its own charging port.

As I said, the Vivotab is very responsive and the screen is great and its VERY light and thin. If you're a techie guy that wants to work on 8.1 update issues, which can be resolved but not without some work, I would recommend the Vivotab. If you're not so savvy you might want to stick with the Surface RT.

Hope this helps.

**Update - First, I wanted to stress that the keyboard problems I was having on my Vivotab were undoubtedly caused by ME and in no way the fault of Asus or the tablet.

Second, as of today SO FAR I have not had any further Wifi connection/dropping/limited problems now that I have put the tablet perpetually in Airplane mode. Come to think of it, this MIGHT be what fixed it last time around before the reinstall of Windows RT. When I was having the connection problems before, I would attempt to disable and re-enable to Wifi on the tablet and just trying to do this would give the tablet fits (it would refuse to disable the Wifi). So, I would play with the Airplane mode switch thinking this might get the Wifi turned off. I would play with these switches quite often and I might have left Airplane mode ON and not even realized it. This switch is way above the Wifi information on the menu and unless you're specifically looking to mess with Airplane mode, it can VERY easily be overlooked. Since I don't have 3G on my tablet, Airplane mode can stay enabled all it wants for all I care. You can still enable Wifi and bluetooth after you enable Airplane mode. If I discover I am still having more wifi connection problems, I will update this again.
 
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M Coffey

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Well, its been a couple of days. I have connected my Vivotab to a hotel's wireless, Barnes and Nobles and at a hospital. It has connected every time. This is with the Airplane mode enabled and now I am pretty confident this is the way this problem should be fixed. I did have an issue this morning where I could not connect at a Denny's BUT my wife could not connect to their wireless with her Surface RT nor with her Samsung Note 2 phone. So, I think that was a problem with them not our devices.
 

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