A8JP RMA Woes: from bad to Worse.

Quick backstory: notebook RMA'd for region mura on screen. Here's the original post.

I contacted Asus tech support/customer service and received an RMA number on the 30th of March for the notebook. On Monday the 2nd of April, the package was sent by me via DHL, and arrived at Asus on Wednesday the 4th. I checked my RMA status, and everything went well. Today (8 April), I received my notebook back from Asus. I unpacked everything, plugged in the laptop (powerpack and mouse) as usual, in its usual spot on my desk. Bliss! The screen was perfect. I login, and proceed to update my antivirus. I return my attention back to my desktop while the upgrade is going down, however, out of the blue, the notebook shuts down without warning. I assumed that it was Windows update doing its thing so I tried to switch back on, and I press the power button. And... nothing. This wasn't a battery problem, 'cause the thing was plugged into AC. Hrm. I felt the top-right corner for heat - and bingo. It was almost too hot to touch.

I thought that maybe the fan(s) didn't kick in, so I let it rest and tried it again a few minutes later. No fans, even when I tried to induce some CPU crunching by loading up WoW (hoping some running fan service/driver would kick in). Instead, after a few minutes every time, the thing shuts down.

I immediately called Asus back, and let them know what my situation is. The helpful customer rep, Meela, let me know that Asus would pay for shipping back to their offices. I made a specific point that I would simply NOT accept another repair of this laptop, and instead kindly requested a replacement unit. I was not given any outright guarantees, but she did specify that once the problem had been identified, efforts would be made to replace the unit entirely. The laptop is re-boxed, all the info and forms supplied, and waiting to be picked up by FedEx tomorrow.

I'm rather upset about this whole ordeal. The laptop's already been away for a week, only to return with an even bigger problem than before. What can I do to ensure that I get a replacement unit? Do you guys know of anyone in particular (specifically higher-ups) that I can talk to about this directly? (I've tried searching the forums for this info, but I pull up jibber-jabber every time.) Any special tactics?

Your advice is sincerely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

Geez man, sorry to hear you have a new problem to deal with. I'm actually receiving this laptop tomorrow from Newegg, my first laptop. I was actually really excited until I did a seach in the forums today for "A8JP" and it returned a bunch of threads about the grainyness issue and then yours (no offense).

I hope you get a fresh model and not your current one repaired.

 

I would have sold you my perfect condition A8jp for less than Newegg charged you... alas.

It's fine, except the screen sucks ass and the touchpad sucks even worse. Oh, and readyboost is unuseable with the Ricoh Card reader, it is linked to the sound system and produces crackles and pops when reading from a card.

 

The problem is really the fact that the USB devices are electrically noisy (ex: the Ricoh card reader, a portable hard disk, a USB key, etc) and the sound card is on the motherboard and is an electrically-sensitive device. Not a whole lot you can do about it except get an external PCMCIA or USB sound card.

 

No tricks, just try to be pleasant about it. Trying to get the other side to sympathize usually helps. As far as a replacement unit, it's somewhat difficult, since the criteria is probably going to be where the labour costs more than the unit. They might be more inclined to provide a replacement if it takes way too long. Also might be dependent on how long you've had it (ex: shorter period = more likely).

 

So far, I've been as courteous and pleasant with Asus as I have been in any business dealing. Considering that I've had this laptop for little over two months (bought brand-new from NewEgg), it doesn't seem to be such a stretch for me to request a replacement unit rather than a re-repair.

The laptop gets sent in today. When it arrives tomorrow, I will call and see what they are going to do.

 

i've delt with them before when my w2j died a couple of times ...and got a replacement easily, talk to meela, she is great...just keep on calling her and reminding her.........i used to ask for her in person whenever i called the rma department. eventually they came through, but it took alot of calls on my behalf....

hope this helps,

 

Nope. I use Readyboost with a USB flash drive and it works fine. Only the Card reader crackles and pops.

 

Why upset? You are lucky enough to be getting quick responses.

 

You know it could have been something as simple as a detached fan cable. i think before you asume that it is overheating (shutting down not restarting and feeling very hot is certainly a good cause to think it is) you should have recorded the temps reached before it shut down. I have seen in the past on sealed ensembles where the wifi antenas were not attached, ram had to be reseated, cpu fan malfunctioning. it does hapen rarely. Give them a chance they are usually great at fixing stuff. usually...

 

Could simply mean the card reader is closer to the SoundMAX than the USB port you use for Readyboost. I've seen that on some desktops, but only on certain USB ports and only when using certain devices.

Keep in mind that it has to do also with the power requirements of the device and proximity to other peripherals. ex: a USB thumb drive is likely going to take less power and generate less interference to other adjacent internal components compared to if you plugged in a high-powered device like a USB-powered external HDD or a laptop cooler fan.

 

Indeed - it most likely IS an unattached fan cable (either that or the techie who replaced the screen originally forgot to put the heatsink in altogether - who knows?). I did record the temps with Speedfan (which showed ZERO fans installed, ie. no fan RPM's to track) - they peaked at about 100 degrees Celsius for the CPU before the machine shut down. Please don't assume that I'm a hapless technophobe - I've got enough work experience as a computer tech myself to understand the problem at hand. Understand that I didn't want to repair this myself in order to maintain the warranty, and besides, why would I want to repair something that had *just* been repaired by the warrantee-d guys anyway? For the same reasoning, I don't want Asus to repair this laptop again, because who knows what ELSE they might screw up in the process.

The laptop arrived at Asus' service center in CA today, and I contacted the reps to find out the status. As latief has mentioned, the customer service rep Meela has been really helpful and professional in dealing with my second RMA. So far, no technical inquiry has been made, but I expect it to happen either tomorrow or Friday. I will contact her again tomorrow to inquire what's going on. I'll keep you guys posted if you're interested

 

Nope, it has nothing to do with that. For instance, try putting in a card with lots of pictures or data on it. Windows will try to read the card, and bring the computer to its KNEES. This slows down everything from sound (sound stutters/crackles and pops) to system processes, like mouse movement. This is simply due to the ****tiness of the Card Reader (for lack of more technical explanation), I have other laptops, and none of them behaves like this. Not the biggest problem, since it is still useable, but just not useable for readyboost.

 

I'm glad to finally conclude this mess with my laptop. All I can say now is that I'm no longer an owner of an A8Jp, and glad for it.

Now I'm the proud owner of an A8Js!

On Monday of last week, I sent my laptop back in to Asus in California, and on the Tuesday of last week they contacted me to let me know that their techies did indeed forget to properly plug in the CPU fan during the original repair. They wanted to know if I would accept the repair, and I kindly refused. On the Thursday, the awesome Asus rep, Meela, contacted me to let me know that they were unable to obtain any more A8Jp notebooks for replacement. So, instead, they would upgrade me free of charge to the A8Js, on the condition that I sent all of the accessories I received with the original laptop back to Asus. On Friday I received my new NB - Vista HP, Bluetooth, GF7700, etc. - an incredible upgrade to my original purchase.

I would like to congratulate Asus on exceptional customer service. Despite their original blunder, they saved face at the end of the day. I'd recommend Asus to anyone here simply for their professionalism and loyalty to their customers.

I can't believe how lucky I am, either

 

Thats great.

Youll probably appreciate the better gpu when you play games.

Id say that youd lose some battery life

but because ati never made its power miser driver for the x1700 ( and never will I dont think) you actually gain some battery life.