ASUS M6Va Sound Card story

Hi,

it's almost 2.5 years since I have my ASUS M6Va laptop.
I bought it in Russia and then moved to states.

After about a year ahd half I experienced problem with sound -- it came from both speakers & headphones. I've sent it back to ASUS and they repaired it.
Later I realized that it's common problem for that particular laptop.

20 days after my warranty expired it happened again. I contacted ASUS, paid for shipping and they have repaired it for free.

Couple weeks ago it happened again, 3rd time. It's obviously design flaw of that laptop series, I cant explain it other way.

I contacted ASUS and they told me that since it's out of 90 days after repair warranty I will have to pay for shipping and repairing.
BUT IT'S 3RD DAMN TIME IT HAPPENS, what's wrong with it?

I was very loyal ASUS customer and I admire many things they've done. But I think it's just wrong way to handle things like that.
Twice they were unable to fix it so it wont happen again and I cant keep sending laptop every half year because it's my work computer.

Despite I had great deal of respect for ASUS I'll avoid buying their products again. Yes, things like that happen not too often with them, but when it happens to you, it just doesnt feel good.

 

I dare propose a solution to make the thread worthwhile

Buy a cheap external sound solution like a TurtleBeach AudioAdvantage Amigo (or Micro), for instance, and use that instead of the integrated audio. You will get slightly better sound quality, and the speakers will be muted via software.

Instead of paying for repairs every half year, you pay once.

 

Thank you

Didnt know I had such option.
So no matter what will happen to my sound card I can always use external, right?

 

here is a complete list of inherent defectsw with your model

Red ghosting on screen reported on models sold between september and novermber of 2005. Contact dealer fro replacement.

Audio dj failed. Laptop speakers will not turn off when headphones plugged in. Inherent issue. Occurs after some usage.

Rare but reported cases of charging mechanism failing. Laptop charging brick will turn off after being plugged in but works when battery is removed. To check remove brick from wall socket then reconnect. Try without battery then it will work.

Clogged gpu and cpu radiators. Happens after about 6 months of continuous non stop operation. GPU and CPU radiators must be cleaned with canned air. A paperclip can be used to clean the gpu becuase it is not removeable. If uncleaned can cause permanent damage

Scrambled video. Blocks and other anomalies present at boot up. Not an inherent issue. Rare. Faulty video card.

Failed hhd or failed optical drive can contribute to centrino spash freezing. Solution is to replace faulty device.

Bad hinges. After prolonged use the screen may become loose. The whole back lid needs to be replaced. The hinges are not broken rather the carbon alloy mechanism in which they reside starts to break appart. Same issue as the m6n, This can be avoided by tightning the screws at the base of the screen which hold the hinges attached to the lid

 

That is unfortunate that ASUS would not replace it after the third time, but expected. The fact that the warranty expired and they were willing to replace it the 2nd time goes to show their integrity, but I guess the 3rd time would have pushed it to the limit. Other providers like Acer, HP, or even Dell would care less for notebooks out of warranty despite it as a "known" issue unless they do a full recall. Which never happens in computing industry.

 

Thank you for the information. I wish I'd known it before...

So to clean "Clogged gpu and cpu radiators" I need to disassembly laptop and clean it with canned air?

 

If you disassemble it, I would suggest get to the heatsink grill and clean it (and also the fan) with Q-tips.

As to the sound card, yes, the external should disable the internal and then all the problems should be gone. I can't guarantee that of course, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't.

 

I cleaned up CPU fan and heatsink grill and temperature dropped for around 4-6*C. Thank you guys for advices

 

Btw, if anyone could tell me where to find GPU on this laptop -- that would be great, dummy me cannot find it myself.

 

If you look at the back of the machine, on the left side of the machine you will see an exhaust air vent. That would be the cooling vent for the GPU fan and heatsink device. If you haven't already noticed, there is also an intake vent on the top left side above the keyboard. You will need canned air to clean out the dust from the vent chambers.