G73JH RMA Hell (Advice Needed)

I'm about to call Asus to schedule a 5th RMA in a timespan of about 7 weeks for my G73JH. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through a similar situation and if I'm being irrational to start to expect some kind of reasonable compensation for my time and trouble.

It all started when my laptop experienced the infamous PSOD (psychedelic screen of death) back in mid June. The history is as follows:

1. Laptop LCD replaced to fix PSOD by Bizcom Electronics Inc. in Milpitas, CA.
2. Laptop LCD replaced again due to 3 noticeable white spots by Bizcom. They also cleaned out the fans and repasted the GPU.
3. Laptop would display strange distorted lines (PSOD like screen) during bios boot-up, certain resolution changes, and during monitor wake-up. Bizcom claimed to fix problem by "repairing VGA". I believe they replaced the GPU.
4. Problem wasn't fixed. I complained to Asus stating that this was my 4th RMA in 6 weeks. Asus decides to send the laptop to the headquarters in Fremont, CA for repairs. They fixed the PSOD like screen by replacing/repairing the LCD cable.

5. This brings me to RMA #5. I haven't called in yet but now I am experiencing strange boot-up issues / power issues which I've outlined in this post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/601545-asus-g73jh-power-up-start-up-issue.html

I'm thinking this is some sort of mobo issue and have performed the following steps to diagnose:

Reseated ram, ran memtest, ensured UEFI has been disabled in bios, swapped out my SSD to stock hard drive. Nothing has worked.

When performing research about this problem, I also saw another person experience this issue which he resolved with an RMA:

Asus g73jh power up / start up problems - General-Laptops-Notebooks - Laptops-Notebooks

I'm sick of these problems and loved the machine when it was working for the first year of ownership. Thoughts / advice? Thanks for letting me vent.

 

1) Contact Asus Customer Care instead of Bizcom. This way it can be handled by the internal team.

2) Try removing the battery and run off AC only.

3) You could open it up and check the internal connections (USB, sound, etc) and see if anything is loose.

 

I've gone through 3 or 4 RMAs with my G73jh, for all kinds of problems. GPU overheating, broken (after RMA) LCD, failing mobo, loose hinge etc. Despite all of this, I have dust under the screen, a small white spot, a still loose hinge, and my GPU is cranked up to 105 degrees after an hour of Mafia 2. But at this point, if it's not shutting down on me I can live with it; Asus' customer support has failed so miserably that I doubt I'm going to buy from them again. (This was Markham, Ontario, btw.)

For my last RMA I got in contact with Mason Winner directly ([email protected].) He supposedly handled my last RMA directly in California. If you're going to RMA again and Chastity's suggestion doesn't work, (CC didn't offer to do anything at all in my case, only to set up another RMA - no thanks. I spoke with Trinity if it matters) I'd suggest contacting Mason. Good luck.

 

Went to 3 different RMA's

1st was about a defective GPU which burned the mother board
2nd was PSOD

I had not a single issue with those two RMA's. Both Times I sent the unit to Freemont.

3rd one, after getting the laptop back, 1 week later I got a PSOD again, this time, ASUS support went from Great to Mediocre/Patetic/Miserable. I'm not going to get into the details but let me put it like this first 2 times I got my laptop back in less than a week, 3rd time took me month and a half just to get a RMA number plus 3 weeks to get the computer fixed... sort of... now it overheats, but I just don't want to go thru the whole deal ever again. So next time lappy fails... Lappy gets junked.


Best Shot you got, contact someone at Costumer Satisfaction dept. and ask for assistance. I'm sorry I dont remember the name of who handled my case. but they certanly helped.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Seems like 3 or 4 rmas is the norm rather than the exception unfortunately. Just to be clear, I've contacted asus customer care each time and they arranged for the laptop to be sent out to Bizcom for the first 3 rmas. I've also been running off of ac only the whole time. I'll try opening it up and take a look under the hood.

 

I'll join ya... I'm tearing down a G74SX atm

 

Demand a suitable, reliable replacement. Sounds like your $1600 notebook is a paperweight. After three repair attempts you have the right to demand a replacement.

 

I tried that. Unless you want them to offer you yet another RMA don't bother asking for a replacement.

 

I am so confused. I've let windows update install all the recommended updates and haven't been experiencing the strange boot-up problem for awhile now (crossing fingers).

However, the dreaded PSOD symptom during monitor wake-up and reboot has reared its ugly head again. Can someone please tell me if they can reproduce this issue on their G73JH?

My Specs:
Bios 213
v93 Chastity Vbios
AMD Catalyst 11.7
Asus Home 7 Premium Factory Reset

I am running my laptop without the battery. I've set the display to turn off after 1 minute and have instructed the LCD to "do nothing" when the lid is closed. When I open the lid, I will get a strange PSOD screen for 3-4 seconds. When I reboot, I will also see the PSOD screen during the bios screen.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28944685/Monitor%20Wakeup.mp4

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28944685/Reboot.mp4

At this point, I'm thinking there are 3 possible explanations since Asus has already replaced the LCD screen once, the LCD cable, and the GPU.

1) Motherboard is defective
2) LCD is defective
3) Strange software corruption/incompatibility with certain Windows Updates

Would like to get some answers before I set up my 5th RMA w/ Asus. Thanks!

 

Bump, can anyone let me know if they're able to reproduce this semi PSOD?

 

Never had that come up on the 4 lappys here.

 

Hanky I can not reproduce this on mine, I would try posting here or PM Brian@asus on that site Republic of Gamers Forum
since the issue occurs in and out of windows 7 I would agree could be mother board. If you are near one of the service centers, I would ask if I could come and wait with it and verify it is fixed before I left.
5 RMA's is hard to believe... Good luck hope you get it resolved or at least a full credit for what you paid. Have you tired contacting your retailer? they may have more 'clout' with ASUS.