ASUS - you better be lucky, don't pick the faulty laptop

To abstract my Asus V1S-1B/Vista experience:"you better be lucky, don't pick the faulty laptop"

One day, happening without any warnings, the built-in speakers of my 3 month old V1S-1B got no sound while the headphones were working fine when plugged-in. I did not misuse this laptop in any way. I'm not suspecting my headphones being the cause of this problem since I'm using them with my mp3 player and I used them with my old laptop for years and never had any problem. And teh last puzzling thing was that the Asus boot screen was still playing a sound with teh built-in speakers...

Then, I tried a lot of thing and spent a lot of time to solve this issue:
-system roll back to previous restore points
-reinstalling realtek drivers from Asus (old driver) and from Realtek (newest one)
-updating the BIOS
-Fresh install of vista on a spare HD...
Nothing solved the issue...and I called Asus. They got the laptop back and changed the mother board right away. I got my unit back (with the keyboard not properly locked in its place) and this fix took care of the problem. The built-in speakers worked fine for few weeks.

And recently, again, I'm getting the exact same problem...and I got into a new round playing with Vista, the Bios (a newer version is available) , drivers….nothing helped

Yesterday, I re-called Asus - they don't like to be asked for a refund -
They don’t like this idea even if you spent your money and your time trying to make your nearly 2000$ laptop working as it should. First, having to deal with Vista itself (incompatibility of older programs, obnoxious vista security bullcrap, bloatwares and official unwanted vista services and memory/CPU hugs...) and second, having to deal with a faulty laptop and sending it off for repair for some time. Well, now, it's not over since they reissued me a new RMA number and set me up with my faulty unit for a new round of FedEx trip & repair...

Ironically, they get very defensive when you ask for a refund. Customer service told me that they will never refund anything and they are going to repair the damn faulty piece of junk "until the warranty expires, over and over. Yep!"...This inflamed me a bit. Thereafter, the technician to whom I've been redirected to got better explaining. He said that for a second round of repair for the same exact problem the procedure will make them looking more in depth instead of changing the motherboard blindly as they did the first time. He also said that the same procedure will finally make them send me a brand-new-Asus-v1s-1b unit after a third round of faulty hardware.......
What a mess. They sold me a faulty laptop, they are going to beat the **** out of it to fix it before to get me a new unit that may not work also and refund is not an option…Damn!

Well, I guess that I had a bad luck with this one, but considering the inconvenience that this problem caused and also the PRICE of thi$ "high-end" laptop, Asus should have performed a better diagnosis in the first place when the first trouble arose or should have provided a new unit or a refund right away.

I guess that Asus will come anyway with a newer fancy laptop soon enough that will erase any individual *****ing about a bad experience with a previous model. And this is not helping the few of us stuck with a faulty unit and to get a better customer service.

Now, I'm seriously considering reselling this V1S-1b for few bucks on ebay and getting a Dell XPS M1530...lighter, more powerful for a little bit less $$$ (even if I don't really know their repair/refund policy..). I'll have a glance at it during this new Asus fixing round.

PS: well tonight, my V1S-B1 abruptly turned off in middle of use…there is no sign of power…It was muted for a little while and now it’s finally dead! I’m going to FedEx it to the mother house and hope that FedEx will loose the damn piece of ****. My chances are slim but FedEx is for sure going to provide me a refund in case of problem! -- DON’T BUY FROM ASUS and especially not a V1S—

PSs: I’m posting this with my good old Compaq Presario 2800. A 2001 laptop with which I never had any trouble.

 

Please don't buy a dell. They're the wal-mart of the computer world, Except they over charge. I encourage you to buy something else, anything else, other than a Dell.

Maybe get another compaq?

 

I have to say, your experience is not the norm though. Sure Asus is having a crap load of more problems recently, but overall I think "most" (I stress MOST) of their models are solidly built. That's not to say I haven't had problems with my Asus G1s either.

Anyway, I completely disagree with you calling Dell the Wallmart of the World. That's complete utter bull****. While you can keep saying that the inspirons are crap, and are horrible consumer laptops. He's talking about the XPS line here...there's no comparison at how much better computers they are compared to the Inspirons.

Even worse, you suggest buying a Compaq... Talk about irony right there, Compaq is HP's **** zone where they put the "worst" of consumer laptops out to wring. If anything, look at HP, not Compaq.

 

I hate compaq as much as the next tech rep, but he had a compaq and claimed that it never gave him any issues(for years). So I kind of wondered why he didn't buy another one, thats why I suggested it.

Every case of dell customer service, performance and products that i've experianced or heard of has been absolutely terrible, which keeps me well away from any dell, XPS or not. (this isn't one or two or three cases, but over ten, So I have good reason, No not one dealt with the XPS Brand of laptops, but that is still regaurdless, can you really blame me for hearing about 100% of their products being terrible, and then suddenly change my mind for just 10% of their products by word of mouth from people I dont know?)(TO be honest when I heard of the XPS, My immediate reaction was, "Oh look, it's the Kia Amanti of the Laptop world" because of all the horrible things i've heard of from dell.

I have an ASUS now and I love it. But I've only have it for 4 days, So We'll see.

 

Every computer company has its horror stories. When it gets that bad, you basically call back afterwards and ask to talk to the manager.

The only time you can count on any company to fix a design defect is when it has the potential of endangering the public (ex: exploding batteries issue) which can then lead to huge lawsuits. Otherwise, depending on how easy it is to fix, it might just go down the wayside...

 

hey Herv, sry to hear about your bad experience with the V1S. i have to agree with you that buying ASUS notebooks does rely a little on luck...there are other issues like the modular kills main battery and faulty graphics card...However, this doesnt mean they are ****. For one, Im absolutely happy with my V1S. Ive had it for about the same time as yours and ive had no problems whatsoever. Ive dealt with their support a few times and they have been pretty helpful (im not sure abt yours, maybe it differs in different regions) but still, i tink it's a bit extreme to deter people from buying ASUS, esp. the V1S

 

Well, just check this thread for my experience with an A8Js. I reach the same conclusion as you do: I'll never buy an Asus laptop again.

 

I second that suggestion, read the thread. I have just posted a long account of my take on the problem.

 

I'm French living in the US. Asus technical support is good. The last turn around to change the motherboard took 1 week that is not that bad comparing to other stories. And I got few contact with them by email and got very helpful and quick to answer.

I've choosen the Asus v1s versus any other beacause I wanted a high end laptop, well built and reliable...You can read that all around. I was obviously wrong...Compaq has been engulfed by Hp and now they sell cheap and low end laptops.
I don't know if the the M1530 would be a better choice and if dell is providing a better refund/replacemnt policy than Asus. Walmart does...

p190x, sorry, I read your story, it sounds awful. It seems that your are going to get it turn ok by going in portugal. Isn't it?

EBE, you posted interesting thoughts about the lack of reliability of Asus. But what should we do now?

 

Well, each of us with problems should first try to solve their own problem, either by a repair, a replacement, selling off ebay, or whatever -- each should choose his/her own best way.

As to the general problem, I don't know. Is anyone willing to build that online petition I was talking about? But this is better discussed on the other thread.

 

Actually, a cool thing we could do is just talk about it first lol. that way more attention is received (however more people will see Asus as a bad brand...) the more people read/know about it. I can even post about it on my blog, and if we keep talking about I'm sure others will too. I think that's a good start.

 

not bad Theros. Idealy this should be on a sticky note along with "The ASUS Information booth" thread. Perhaps we could start a new thread with a poll about it. By the way, where is your your blog?

 

This discussion should probably continued on the ASUS Quality: Below expectations? thread; there is more info there so if you want exposure it's better to continue there.

I will consider adding it to the sticky and/or adding a poll, but first, let's see how much use comes out of it.

 

I am very happy with my F3Ka purchase. I will buy ASUS again if I won't need to visit repairs service in the period of three years. After this period of time I may feel the need to get newer and more powerful system.

 

At last, it seems that someone else is experiencing with its G1 the exact same problem than me with my V1S: The built-in speakers are muted and the external speakers are ok. The Asus boot sound is still playing on the built-in speakers...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171332&page=3

 

According to someone there http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=216173

Under the US law a manufacturer must provide a refund after 4 faulty repairs.
That's why Asus replace the unit after 3...
Well, two more to go for me!

 

Like I said on another thread, this seems to be a minor software problem. Try to solve it with drivers first.

 

EBE, The problem that I'm experiencing with my V1S is not a minor software problem but a faulty hardware. Read again my very first post of this thread...

-I've tried everything possible to fix this on the software side updating drivers, bios even reinstalling Vista

-Asus themself tried their time too. They replaced the motherboard and the laptop worked for few weeks until the same problem got back again. And more recently, the laptop turned off abruptly and there was no sign of power reaching the laptop while the AC adapter was aparently working fine...

It does not seem to be a minor software issue to me...and not to Asus either...

 

Sorry for sometimes making same suggestion twice, don't have time to re-read earlier pages of the threads.

Did you try a different OS than Vista? XP or Live Linux for instance. Does the sound work properly there? If so, then it's a software problem.

Did you try installing the drivers from the sound card manufacturer (not ASUS drivers)?

 

Ok EBE, I noticed that your are contributing to a lot of threads and it may be difficult to keep everything straight. I appreciate your contribution to this thread too.

Actually, you suggested this in this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171332&page=3 to a person experiencing the same problem than me with a G1S.

I only tried Vista. And I tried realtek drivers distributed by Realtek or Asus...nothing helped

After all that time spent for nothing + the first Asus repair I would like my money back instead of playing monkey business with a faulty hardware

 

Perhaps the Live Linux is not a bad idea. Only takes dnloading the ISO, writing it to a CD, and booting from it. (assuming that the sound card driver is supported by that Linux)

At least you will get a clearer idea whether it's software or hardware.

Sorry again for not keeping track.

 

Thanks EBE for this good suggestion. I'll try that if Asus send me back a "transtiently fixed laptop" again . I'll make sure that the linux driver recognize my sound card with my headphones since they always work while the built-in speakers are not responding.

 

I'm just reporting here 2 other threads exposing the same issue that I now encountered two times in a raw (after Asus repair) with my v1s:
Issue = built-in speakers dead/headphones ok when plugged-in + 1 puzzling details: built-in speakers still play a sound while Asus boot screen...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=216794
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171332

I got my V1S back from Asus for this second repair (see first post and topic of this thread) and as usual, they "just" changed the motherboard...Let see how long this new fix will last...

 

that is correct. i thought it was after 3 times. also i belive a max of 90 days is allowed to rectify rma