As a comparison shopper, I routinely perform cost/benefit ratio analyses. After careful comparisons, I decided to go ahead and order the critically acclaimed Nexus 10 tablet. I hate the design Google decided to go with as I also hated the battery life. However, I chose that over the runner up “ASUS Transformer Infinity TF700” solely based on the more future-proof LCD screen. Reviews of the screen and other functions alike are described elsewhere.
Below is my unboxing video:
As you see from the video, one of the two seals had already been broken. It appeared to have been torn, if not bluntly cut, deliberately. It didn’t really bother me at first but the more I explored onwards the more I became cautious. The screen protector looks nothing like the one previously posted on youtube. Also, a dust particle appeared to be trapped underneath the protective film (picture).
Photo: Dust particle(?) trapped under the factory protective film.
Light Bleeding
The worst part was the notorious Light Bleeding (pictures below). Light bleeding is a phenomenon analogous to the light pollution you would see in the sky in a metropolitan night. Light sources from the ground are reflected by particles in the air causing a ‘haze’ of light in the sky. The issue of light bleeding on Nexus 10 has been brought up before. However, I remained optimistic.
Photo: LCD back-light bleeding. Left: Nexus 10. Right: ASUS Transformer TF101.
Light bleeding feels horrible and seeing this was a really big blow to my optimism. I have never really paid attention to this kind of detail on my current tablet, the ASUS Transformer TF101 so I decided to see if similar issues are present. As shown in photo, my TF101 is CLEAN of any light bleed, if at all, and certainly far less annoying to look at compared to the Nexus 10. Compared to TF101, the Nexus 10, albeit a much better resolution, looks like some cheap Chinese knockoff.
In Google’s defense, light bleeding seems to be more widespread than before with cases showing in the ASUS Infinity (TF700) (forum link) as well as the iPad (forum link). But how could they let the back-light bleeding defect occur at all? As it turns out, light-bleeding is actually preventable, as discussed with more depth by this post. Sadly, it is a problem that could have been completely averted through more stringent quality-by-design principles and tighter quality assurance practices!
Have we focused so much on resolution that we’ve forgotten about all the other aspects that make up a good, clear, crisp display?
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.Bottom line:
I spend 99% of the time looking at the tablet and therefore the quality of the display plays major role in my purchase decision making. I am waiting for my replacement but got my fingers *crossed.
EOM.