Asus @ Best Buy

What do you guys think? They've started with the G1... I'm pretty excited about this, I have $400 in gift cards that could see some use pretty soon if Best Buy stocks a good Asus lineup.

What are your thoughts?

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8246999&st=asus&type=product&id=1168045345063

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8180103&st=asus&type=product&id=1164154629344


Interesting.

 

Wow. An excellent move by BestBuy to stock Asus products. They also sell them at low prices - $1800 for the G1 that should sell for $1900.

The more places you can buy an Asus product, the better, in my opinion. The buyers benefit from price competition

 

yo seriously? I'm going over to best buy right now then to play on the G1 (i've never seen one up front before)

edit: wow not in canada yet, our best buy is so horrible =/

 

Thats good to know. Smart move to stock Asus notebooks.

 

Yeah, I agree. It's so much more convenient to actually go to a store and play around with the computer instead of reading reviews and drooling at pictures that people have posted.

I guess the critical question is - will Best Buy have enough Asus notebooks in stock to ship them out to location and sell them/display them at each store. If they can't, it's likely Asus notebooks will be an online-only thing.

Best Buy - stock the V1 and the V2 in the future please, so I can have some fun!

 

I can't believe it - wow.

 

Best Buy is good for Asus, but I don't know how good. The problem that I for see is that most people that are going to Best Buy to get a laptop want to spend as little money as possible on a computer, but thats not Asus. I could have gotten a similarly spec'd (not similar quality or anything like that) laptop for more than $500 less, so it will be a hard sell for Asus at a store like that. It will be interesting to see how well this works, and how many other computers they get.

 

We are losing our "exclusivity"

 

Seems like a good option to test out Asus notebooks in person, but tax on a $1800 laptop is reason enough for me to buy it online.

 

Wait, if you buy it online from Best Buy do they still charge you tax?

'Cause 7% of $1800 is like, a lot of dough.

 

I bought mine last night. There was only 1 Best Buy in Orlando that carried it, took a drive down to it. Spent 15 minutes playing with it, that was enough for me. I've been debating on which one to get, F3JP, A8, G1, G2.... this made it easy to pick it up.

Beware, it only has a 1 year warranty and not the standard 2 year that Asus normally provides. Being my first laptop and feeling way possessive of it, I bought the 3 year full accidently/full coveage for it. No regrets!

 

Technically, you still have to pay tax, though most people don't. Just hope you never get audited.

 

Finally the big guys paid attention to Asus notebooks. I'll check if my local store has one on display so i can actually see a G1 or G2.

 

I think it could be great for the Asus brand. If you're going through the store and see some Sony, HP, Gateway, and then BAM Asus notebooks... If you're a good consumer this would cause you to do a little re-research and check into them... specs, looks, power... Asus usually gives you all of that.

And for a competitive price.

 

I approve of this.

 

Lets just hope that there are enough "good consumers" out there, and that the notebooks are sold for a "competitive price". That is what I am worried about, because generally speaking, those two conditions are failing right now.

 

Wow, is this in store also, or just online store?

 

...just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

 

The only "positive" thing about this is that one can actually "feel" one in person before buying, but as someone said before, we will loose "exclusivity" since I consider ASUS to be a "Boutique Notebook", something like Alienware, Sager and such.

Best Buy Pros:

• Play before you buy
• No delivery wait time

Best Buy Cons:

• Taxes ($135 dollars)
• No matching bagpack
• No matching Gaming Mouse
• A bit more expensive (see first con bullet)
• Only one year mfg warranty

 

Yeah but now asus will have to up its ante in regards to customer service. They need a 1800 number for starts. Most likely more cs agents. And from my experience talking to a few, they'll need better/clearer english speakers. Oh and Asus definitely needs to fix their servers/internet speeds for their driver downloads and such.

 

hopefully this will give them more customers and they will need more CS. As previously mentioned, the tax sucks and the exclusivity just won't be the same. On the positive side, it means more members for nbr!

 

WTB: Active moderator for ASUS forum

 

this may be a bit problematic....the more mainstream that asus becomes, the greater the decline of quality of the product may in order to produce more notebooks....also, it may mean that cs may be overloaded and the quality of that will decline.

 

ejl has it right...I mean, as Asus becomes more mainstream, they'll make more money, good for them.

But that means they're upping their production rates too, in order to fulfill all the orders from the resellers and now some big box stores like Best Buy. Asus has very beautifully designed notebooks of top build quality, but will it change as Asus grows dramatically?

Like will they still take the time to check every one of their notebooks being built for good quality? Or will Asus be the next Dell as it grows larger?

 

Just played BF2 on one at Bestbuy. Looks cool with carbon fiber ish finish. But can clearly say its vinyl and not carbon fiber(or is it?). Otherwise the screen looks great. Build is not great but are better than Dells and similar to HPs.

Didnt get tempted to get one this much, before seeing it in person. Instore sale of Asus is a great move.

 

Here's the press release of Asus and Best Buy's new agreement if anyone's interested.

 

I wouldn't be worried about Asus' ability to produce enough notebooks. If they knew they were going to make the money, they could easily up the production levels. Think about all the other computers they make. If they were smart, they would spend less time manufacturing the competitors computers, and more time on their own.

 

Best buy can do things that small resellers cant, like put things on sale.

G1 might be for $1500 down the road when the next one is almost coming.

 

They offer a 3 year accidental damage plan? Can you please confirm this? I've looked all over their site and from what I've read they don't cover "accidental or intentional physical damage, spilled liquids, insect infestation, etc..."

 

i am thinking he bought best buy's warranty plan.

 

Yes, I'm looking on their site at their warranty plans and I don't see anything that covers accidental damage. Am I blind?

 

it is probably something offered in stores.

 

I saw this thread yesterday and had to go to the BestBuy store and check this out, because like one of the other posters said, it's not the same reading reviews and drooling over pictures haha

So I got there and looked over their line up of notebooks about 15 or so, never even saw an Asus So I asked the sales guy he was maybe in his mid to late 20s, he said we don't carry any of the Asus line, I said yes its on the website, so he got onto his computer and looked it up, he seemed to know the specs of the G1 b4 even getting to the page. Needless to say not all the stores carry it

 

Quality move by Best Buy to do this, even if it's just online for now. Endorsement for ASUS from a large computer retailer could be just the thing they need to jump-start their American presence.

 

yea just what i thought, this is not a big deal as i thought it was because they already had asus notebooks on their business site. Im sure if I go to my best buy i wont see any asus there either.

 

Its called ADH (Accidental Damage from Handling) coverage that goes along with the standard coverage. "This coverage option provides coverage for product failures due to an unexpected and unintentional external event (drop or liquid spill) that arises from your normal daily usage of the product."

And yes it is the Best Buy warranty. I figured it was worth the cash to protect the investment. I loving it too much.

 

Yup.. We have 1 store here out of 4 that carry it.

If you go online to Best Buy and look up the G1 there is an option to check local availability...

Seems they are selective about which stores get them. Maybe it's the big selling stores to see if it will fly.

Here is an $1800 computer sitting next to a $650 one.
The person that picks up the Asus is going to be a little more computer savvy.

That G1 in Best Buy I saw though is what sold me on Asus. I agree about the build of the G1 but that screen made me go and order a V1 from a vendor.

And about that warranty.. You don't think BB would let Asus cover the 2 years do ya?
Nope
because:
1. that would infringe on BB's extended warranties.
2. removing the extras like lightscribe, backpack, warranty, mouse are what make it so Asus can make a buck because a company like BB is never going to pay Asus what they want for the system.

So whether Asus stays with BB will prob be determined if they sell enough to make anything off of it. But it does get their name out there.

 

I had a friend check the employee price at the bestbuy he works at, he said it was $1662.15. I think they get a discount of cost +10%, but im not sure on that.

 

Are you saying that you did not like the screen on the G1? I am interested in one as well, but was wondering about any glare off the screen.
I live near Portland, Or. and went into the local Best Buy here, the only store in OR/WA that has them is thier Springfield, Or. store. I figure they must be catering to the kids at the U of O.

 

anyone know if best buy would carry the asus v2je?

 

Doubt it, BB will only, so far rather, bring a few mid end models, like the G1, perhaps the G2 and maybe the A8/F3 models.

 

CharleyS

No no..
I'm saying I loved the screen.
Crystal clear and gorgeous.

The G1 and the V1Jp use the same screen.
I chose the V1 over the G1 for personal reasons, size, expresscard..

What I meant is I liked the screen on the G1 so much, It shamed any other computer they had there, that I knew the V1 would work for me since it has the same screen.

I think if the V1 didn't exist I would have ordered a G1.

Glare wasn't bad. Depends on viewing angle and brightness etc..
But man you could see all the details from almost any angle around that screen. It didn't do the LCD wash out thing that many others do.

 

Asus + Best Buy not in Michigan as of yet. I really wanted to get to see the G1 in person. Everyone at my local Best Buy seems to lack advanced knowledge of notebooks anyway. "HP this, HP that, No, I don't know what Santa Rosa is" = Best Buy employees.

 

lol yeah their so called "geek squad" - they look like geeks, but they don't know much about computers other than to fix stuff you have to call Microsoft and Pentium D is far superior to Athlon X2.

 

If they knew anything about computers, would they be working at Best Buy?

 

if they needed jobs they would

 

you gotta start somewhere. Hard to get hired as $400/day tech support without any previous experience.

edit: or just go to university/college in comp sci whatever works =)

 

Still waiting to get a G1. Six stores in driving distance and none have had one yet.

 

Why don't you just order one online and get the extras like Targus/Asus Backpack, Logitech/Asus gaming mouse, 2 year warranty and even save some bucks in taxes?

I got mine from Discountlaptops.com and saved about +$165 in taxes and shipping and if you consider the +-$80 bucks for the backpack and +-30 for the gaming mosue = ~$275 dollars in savings!!!