Light Bleed & Other thoughts

[Codeworks]

I posted some initial impressions in another thread, however, I thought I would post some here as well.

The new Excite is a very nice tablet in the hands. Feels extremely well built, has nice angles, no creaks, etc. Side by side with the Transformer TF300, it has a much more 'professional' feel to it. It is also thinner than the TF300. Deceivingly so since the TF300 is much more tapered.

The speed seems a tad bit quicker than the TF300 as well.

It has a vibration motor inside that you can use for feedback during games and music. Although I leave the haptics on during normal use, I have turned it off for games. I found that with certain games (Fruit Ninja) it actually slows the game down in order for the motor to rumble.

Sound is also very nice. Not sure if it is dolby SRS or what, but has a nice sound to it.

The screen is noticeably brighter than the TF300, but probably not enough so to make the switch between the 2. The whites seem a bit whiter as well.

However, I am definitely having light bleed on the left edge in 3 different spots. One spot being kind of an annoyance. I am thinking I will exchange it, but I am curious to see if others are experiencing light bleed as well and maybe I will just keep it.

Thoughts? Questions?

 

[wynand32]

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm thinking about getting the Excite to replace a Samsung GT 2 7" that's just to slow and low-res, and I'm coming from a Transformer Prime that I returned directly to ASUS because of many, many issues.

So, a couple of things that I'm sensitive about:

1. You say it has haptic feedback. Is it strong enough to be consistently felt, without being noisy? The Prime's vibration was extremely weak even when it worked, and it actually made more noise than vibration.

2. You say the screen is "more white." Is the TF300 colder (more blue) or warmer (more red) than the Excite? I use my tablets for reading about 80% of the time, and so black text on a white background is incredibly important to me. The Prime had a tendency toward a very yellow tint (some screens I saw looked like they had a film of yellow over them) that was very unattractive, and avoiding that tendency is important to me.

If you can elaborate on those two items, that would be much appreciated.

Oh, and how is battery life seeming? Thanks!

 

[Codeworks]

The haptics have 3 different levels of intensity... They are a bit noisy at the highest levels, however, the low level seems pretty good. I keep mine medium for now, but may turn it off later. The haptics are not tied to touch either. When scrolling, they can be felt as well. Kind of a gimmick, but for now, it doesnt bother me.

To me, the TF300 seems a bit 'dirtier'. I wouldnt say it is warmer or cooler in color saturation than the Excite, I would just say that it is a bit brighter and brings out some of the dirtyness that the TF300 has.

As for battery, I cannot comment. I have been installing apps, playing Riptide (which doesnt freeze on the Excite like it does on the TF300 periodically), and have not necessarily been concentrating on battery life.

 

[wynand32]

I think that "dirtyness" is exactly what I'm talking about experiencing (and hating) on the Prime. I described it once as "dingy." So, if the Excite doesn't have it, then that's a very good thing.

Thanks!

 

[skatergirl]

So far no light bleed for me!

 

[gameling]

MJBarnes,

At what display brightness are you noticing the light bleed? Do you have the brightness all the way up and does the bleed become less noticable if you turn the brightness down to mid point?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Codeworks]

Yes, it is at the highest brightness and the bleed does diminish accordingly with the brightness of the tablet.

However, I almost always keep my devices at the highest brightness, so this becomes a bigger issue for me.

I was reading the reviews on Amazon and someone points out that they have a lot of light bleed as well.

 

[wynand32]

As far as light bleed goes, I think every tablet (and smartphone, for that matter) ever made suffers from it in some percentage of units shipped. It seems to be the natural result of making thousands or millions of highly complex devices with very tight tolerances for very little money. Search the forums for any tablet--Apple, Samsung, Acer, Toshiba, ASUS, doesn't matter--and you'll see some percentage of people complaining about it.

This isn't to minimize the concern over any individual unit, of course. In my experience, it can either be a problem (it's noticeable during normal usage and detracts from the experience of using the device) or it can be irrelevant (it's only visible on black screens at full brightness, usually when booting). I've returned tablets because of light bleed, and I've had tablets where I didn't even notice the light bleed until someone mentioned it and I went looking for it.

I suppose my only point is to maybe, hopefully stave off any implication that Toshiba has done a poor job of quality control in making the Excite just because of light bleed on a handful of units. It's not happened so far, but in some forums I've seen the idea take on a life of its own.

 

[Codeworks]

I completely agree with the above statements.

I have had the bleed on some devices more than others and some were non-existent. In this case, the light bleed is only noticable upon the boot process or on the apps screen (or similar very dark background), but it does not take away from the enjoyment of the device on normal use.

The issue now is that I know it is there and it bothers me.

I am in no-way pointing a finger or taking away from the fact that this is a great little device. I think Toshiba put out a quality looking and functioning device to compete well in the market, with ASUS, Samsung, etc.

In reality, 90% of the people that use tablets would never notice light bleed or even know what it is. Its the people like us that are enthusiasts and "look for the flaws".

 

[wynand32]

The issue now is that I know it is there and it bothers me.

Wow, I know EXACTLY what you mean. I think we enthusiasts have at least mild cases of OCD, because we can typically never let anything go.

As an example, I have a new iPad that's mostly perfect--and note that I went through three of them before getting one without a yellow tint to the screen--and then I noticed a TINY little nick on the aluminum edge on the bottom. I mean, it's less than a millimeter long, and less than a fingernail wide, but wouldn't you know for a few days it was driving me crazy.

So, I can relate.

 

[Codeworks]

FWIW. I exchanged my Excite for another and have no light bleed!

Onward and forward.

 

[skatergirl]

FWIW. I exchanged my Excite for another and have no light bleed!

Onward and forward.

That's awesome!

 

[wynand32]

To me, the TF300 seems a bit 'dirtier'. I wouldnt say it is warmer or cooler in color saturation than the Excite, I would just say that it is a bit brighter and brings out some of the dirtyness that the TF300 has.

Put my Excite on order, and was reviewing this thread. A bit confused here: are you saying the Excite or the TF300 is brighter?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[wynand32]

Got my Excite today, and I definitely have some light bleed. No worse than some of the ASUS Transformer Prime units that I saw, but more than I'd like. I'll use it for a few days to see if it's noticeable during use. If it is, then back it goes to Costco and I'll give another unit a shot.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[gameling]

Costco? What state are you in? I haven't seen this in the San Jose area Costco stores. Was it the 16 or 32 GB version?

 

[wynand32]

It's available at Costco.com, both 16gb and 32gb...

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[eskanday]

looked at two other sealed Excite at BestBuy and Office Depot and both have this light Bleed issue. It seems that it is in all of them or most of them. I kind of thinking that it is not really noticeable unless you look for it. According to Mobiletechreview. All Tegra 3 tablets (TF300 and Prime) except the Acer 510 do have this lightbleed issue.
one time the voice muted by itself and I had to restart it.
otherwise no issues with the tablet.

 

[wynand32]

I've seen enough references to people getting a replacement Excite without light bleed that I think it's possible to get one. So, I ordered another from Costco and will get it tomorrow. This one's not the worst I've seen (a few Primes that I had were much, much worse) but there's some bleed at the top that's visible on pretty much any darker screen. It's bad enough to be distracting.

 

[eskanday]

this is 3 so far with lightbleed. let us know if your replacement with or without lightbleed
thanks

 

[wynand32]

Well, the replacement came in, and it's DOA. Won't power on, and it's been sitting now for two hours connected to the charger. So, that one will be going back to Costco tomorrow, and I'll order one more to test. If that one's bad, well, it'll be off to a different tablet entirely.