Dear Artie

You and I got off to a great start. We had some wonderful times, sitting in the sun together, my hand gently stroking your chassis. Granted, you were a bit slow at first, but as I got to know you, I realised that you were just waiting for that special someone to come along and unlock your potential. So I put in the hard yards and made a lot of compromises. I did all I could to make our relationship work.

And we were almost there, when you dropped the bombshell. You had a faulty touchscreen. Not a hardware issue per se - more like a driver problem in Vista. Worse, I did a Google search, and to my horror I discovered that other people had posted about your “little problem” and were awaiting a solution.

Artie, I hope you realise that, if not resolved, this touchscreen problem will amount to an irreconcilable difference, and I will have no choice but to part ways with you. I refuse to let my emotions cloud my judgment. This has got to be fixed, or I’m leaving. I’m only being this frank with you because I truly care about you and want you to change for the better.

Yours sincerely

Jenneth

18 Original Responses to “Trouble in paradise”

1. 1 Judie Lipsett Sep 17th, 2007 at 9:09 am

   Awwwww, it always sucks when you find out things aren’t as you hoped they would be. You and Artie were so compatible otherwise; perhaps you can still be happy together…once he gets his act together.

2. 2 JDTagish Sep 17th, 2007 at 9:29 am

   I felt the same way when I found out my Mogul (named Mowgli) has bluetooth issues!

3. 3 turn_self_off Sep 17th, 2007 at 10:22 am

   and this is the reason i go for linux over windows if i can.

   at least there people can, if they know how, get down and maybe fix their problem them selfs.

   but often, if you run into a windows issue, you will find many people with the same problem, but rarely any fix. or if there is some fix, its under pay to use or something similar.

   its when i see that i understand what drove RMS to start the FSF and GNU, and why he fears its message being co-opted.

   i hope a fix will surface for you

4. 4 i-bystander Sep 17th, 2007 at 10:25 am

   Ouch… a chink in Artie’s armor. Please keep us posted on the progress (or demise?) of your relationship.

5. 5 wcrocker Sep 17th, 2007 at 10:31 am

   Jenneth,

   I was going to get to your email from the weekend, but in having to rebuild a Tablet PC (long story) it got lost in the shuffle. Sorry to hear about your screen/touch issues. My R2H is the earlier model and only rarely does that issue pop up. Unfortunately, I’ve heard it occurs more frequently on the Vista model that you have.

   If you can do me a favor and resend the email, and I’ll see what else I can uncover.

6. 6 mas90guru Sep 17th, 2007 at 11:36 am

   sigh, just like a woman. Always trying to change us….

7. 7 cr0ft Sep 17th, 2007 at 12:03 pm

   Maybe you should just upgrade Artie to XP.

   XP should fly on that hardware, compared to Vista.

   Unless the problem is as severe there, I have no idea as I’ve never even met Artie.

8. 8 Douglas Moran Sep 17th, 2007 at 1:41 pm

   This just confirms the Doug Software Axiom: Avoid MicroSoft Products if at all Possible.

   Does MS sometimes put out good (or even great) products? Sure.
   Does MS put out products that other people don’t? Sometimes.
   Does MS have some excellent programmers and QA people working for them? Definitely.
   Is MS a bullying monopoly that squeezes out any competitors and then forces its own versions of its competitors software on its customers using its monopolistic power, a company that takes way too long to rev its products, a company whose Release 1 versions of its products should *always* be avoided (not sometimes; *always*), a company that uses its ginormous user base as its final QA group? Absolutely.

   I tried. I tried with Windows Mobile instead of Palm. I tried with Windows 2000 and Windows XP instead of UNIX or Apple. I really tried. But their software is buggy and slow, and you constantly–*constantly*–have to download upgrades, fixes, patches, and freeware to make it work adequately. It’s absurd.

   So Jenneth, I feel your pain, for it is my pain too.

9. 9 Chuck Sep 17th, 2007 at 3:42 pm

   Wallet goes back in pocket…what good is a tablet without a touch screen?

   Thanks, Jenneth, I was almost ready to buy. If this can be fixed (especially if they fix the WPF incompatibility, too) then this will be the UMPC for me (of those that are on the market now ) But it needs to work!

   Chuck

   ps. This is an ASUS issue - not a Microsoft issue. From what I can determine it is either a driver or a hardware problem. Neither are the responsibility of the OS.

10. 10 thomasw Sep 17th, 2007 at 4:20 pm

    Temporary fixes:

    Put the hold key on the case for several seconds, then take it off the hold status. Somehow this wakes up the screen for pen input again.

    I’ve had so many BSOD that I reinstalled the unit back to the original state.

    I have the R2HV and tried the Windows XP route. The drivers seem not to that well so I gave that idea up.

    ASUS has the right idea for zero pixel guarantee, hardware in a good package for a low price point but on the software support side, they do seem lacking. Reminds me of a car with a 100,000 mile warranty that is in the shop every 2 weeks.

    Regards,

    Tom

11. 11 ignar Sep 17th, 2007 at 11:02 pm

    @turn_self_off, @Douglas Moran: Just curious. Considering this is hardware driver issue, does Linux really have better hardware support than Windows? I’ve thought the list of non-compatible hardware is much longer in Linux side.

12. 12 Jenneth Orantia Sep 18th, 2007 at 12:11 am

    I just got off the phone with Asus support - I have to send Artie in for service. Seven-day turnaround, urgh. Well, maybe some time apart will be good for us…

13. 13 thomasw Sep 18th, 2007 at 6:30 am

    Jenneth,

    I’m not that convinced that the screen issues are hardware related.

    Try this: When the screen stops working with pen input, press the login hardware button (top left of case), then try using your pen on the screen. My pen works fine until I get out of the screen back onto the desktop and it refreezes.

    Good luck!

    Tom

14. 14 thomasw Sep 18th, 2007 at 7:01 am

    Jenneth,

    Try this if you still have the machine:

    When the screen freezes, hit the top left login button. You’ll see the screen for the login options. The pen input works on this screen. Then go back to your desktop and the pen input stops again.

    That’s why I think it’s more of a software/driver issue than a hardware one.

    Good luck.

    Tom

15. 15 turn_self_off Sep 18th, 2007 at 10:11 am

    @ignar

    that depends. if a chip or other first is supported, its often supported no matter what device it is that use it these days.

    it also depend on what kind of hardware we are talking about.

    so often while a device isnt listed it may well be that as it shares internals with another brand of devices it will work. you often see this in networking and similar where you have 101 brands, but all use chips from 3-4 sources.

    right now i have a motherboard with a ati chipset. the network chip is a realtek, the sound is AC97 and so on.

    and when its supported it is supported, no matter what the company that made them decides.

    i dont know if there is a comprehensive list of hardware anywhere, but there probably is.

16. 16 mharrison Oct 3rd, 2007 at 8:25 pm

    I’ve been very pleased with my R2Hv I don’t seem to be having any of these issues since I ran the upadate packs. For me it’s a keeper!

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