Asus M6000 Series Build Quality

I have owned my M6Ne for a bit over a year now. At first, when I was researching on this laptop, I was amazed by how many people are praising it's built quality and design. Yes, it's not a bad laptop but there are some major quality issues that I have noticed. First, palm rest area started squeaking when ever I rest my wrist on it due to abrasion with the body panel where the front LED's are. That was annoying. Second, the silver painted trim on the main body came off after a few months of use. It made the laptop look rather ugly. Thirdly, the spring mechanism for the LCD sounded flimsy where you can hear echos of the spring when you close the LCD lid. In addition, the LCD panel latches are very fragile. They both broke off after 10 months of use but I was lucky to have ASUS repair it for free when it was sent in for a warranty claim on faulty motherboard. At last, the two LCD hinges started to show cracks due to wear and tear or day to day stress from opening and closing the LCD.

To me, all these are quite major problems that exists in this model. Unfortunately, this laptop is no longer with me as it was recently stolen, therefore I can not provide photos.

I recently came back browsing notebook forums and reviews because I am going to acquire a replacement for my stolen laptop. Currently, I am looking at the Asus W3J as I think I do need a slightly smaller and lighter laptop compared to the M6Ne. Again, I see everyone praising the high quality of the W3J (to my impression, the W3J is praised even more compared to the M6000 series when I was researching a year ago)

Anyone with the M6000 series or the Z70 can share their experience with the LONG-TERM build quality. To me, the M6000 series is no way can be called a 'good build quality' laptop.

 

Most people seem to think the V70 is of great build you seem to have had alot of problems with yours. Are you sure you werent just really rough with it? but if you are looking for quality that can take a beating you need to a get a v6va or a w2v those 2 are probably the best built asus period. Very sturdy constuction the v6va feel like a thinkpad pretty much.

 

I never treated my laptop roughly. And it started exhibiting some of these built quality problems before I started bringing it around like what a laptop is for. And of course, the broken latches was done by banging the laptop against a wall while in a bag by accident. It wasn't that hard of a hit but the two latches broke off. I don't know why my laptop is like that but maybe I just got a bad batch of it or something.

And I am not really looking at the V6V or even the W2V. Way too big for my taste for a laptop. The size and weight of the W3 series is the upper limit of what I can accept.

 

the v6va is about 5.4lbs is just a tad lighter than a w3v and built better.

 

If you want something that will satisfy your every need.... coming from an old M6, the V6 will appeal to all of your senses and realistically be the best system for someone who had the taste to get an M6 to start with..... It's not that the M6 is a bad quality machine... it's not... by FAR.... but the latch is plastic and if you banged it up, there's a good chance you could break it... I have some parts for them they may help you fix that unit up.

Also.... you're dealing with a painted unit... it wears just like anything else... Now the V6 is anodized... so there is no wearing that'll show from your palms or anything else on the unit itself.... the keyboard is going to wear just like what you've got, but that's an easily replaceable part.

 

that is very drool worthy! any other Asus models like that? i'm guessing W1 and W3?

 

No, the W1 and W2........ the W3 has the aluminum lid -- so in that respect it doesn't wear... but it doesn't have the aluminum palmrest...

 

Well... no need to fix it up. It's stolen. I don't have it anymore. And I still think it's the quality of painted area. The silver trim around the LCD panel is just like new. No scratches, no colour fade. And yes, the keyboard is wearing out but still not that bad after a year of use. And Asus gave me a new keyboard when I sent it in for the warranty claim.

V6V has a larger footprint than W3. Although slightly, I still prefer the W3. V6V is 5.7lbs quoted from Asus website. If I travel a lot and go without the optical drive in the W3, it's 0.7-0.8lbs lighter not to mention that it has a smaller dimension which is my main concern. If I wasn't looking for a laptop with a discrete graphic processing unit, I'd probably go for a even lighter/smaller one. In terms of styling, I think the W3 is much sleeker. Much better looking that V6V although the V6V is not bad a a big improvement compared to the M6.

 

Oh, sorry.. I forgot you mentioned that. But what you're missing is that it's PAINT and the friction under your palms is a lot more than you may imagine... it wears the paint off... but also remember that the M6 series is coming up on two and half years old.... but your concerns over the palmrest should be noted that you'll have the same issues with your W3 as you have with your M6 over the same period of time..

But the V6va is a HUGE improvement over the M6 series... you can tell they come from the same family... but it's like night and day.. everything on the V6 is better than what you have.. from weight to size to features to design to build... everything.

 

Yes, there maybe a think silver trim around the W3 as well. I am not sure of it's quality but I also have a Sony VAIO V505 and it had been 2 years. Paint is not wearing out except at the two corners. (Yes, it's purple in colour so even if the paint wears out, it doesn't show that much) If I were to get the W3, all I could hope for is that the paint would be of better quality, just like the silver trim piece around the LCD panel of the M6 which remains intact after one year of use and I assume that piece is painted as well, just in a different process.

And of course, there will be no flimsy spring mechanism on the W3 and the LCD hinge should not cause enough day to day stress to create cracks around the back LCD panel, not to say that in the W3, it's has a brushed aluminum cover (Easy scratches maybe?).

 

First of all.... there shouldn't be cracks around your lcd panel... if there were, I'm going to have a hard time believing it under normal use.

 

Yes, there are cracks around the LCD hinge. It's not only me. I recall someone else having this experience too. The crack are developed because the stress builds up on the back panel when trying to open and close the LCD panel. The hinge is quite tight itself and it's just a design issue. To show that it's a stress build up due to closing/opening of the LCD panel, the crack bulges out and not just a crack that is created by force or misuse. To create this same kind of crack, maybe you could exert a force from the inside of the LCD panel causing it to bulge out but that is not possible. Must be day to day stress from opening/closing laptop.

And if I ask myself, I've treated this laptop quite well. More than half the time it just stays at home on my desk and if I bring it out, it is always in a protective case.

 

OK, we have a z70v and a z70va in this apartment. The silver trims do come off if you bump them into something but they won't come of unless it was a very hard bumb or scratch against metal. However, i notice that under the LCDs (on both of them) near the hinges has a little gap on each side. It's not a big deal since i can't really see it but it bothers me sometime. Both came out of the box that way. No creaking on neither of them. However, the keyboard on z70va was bended and i had to tape it down or else the right side of it has a lot of spring sounds when u click on a button. Ohter than that, they are great machines.

Edit - Both were purchased in Nov. 05, no problem on z70va but z70v has the headphone jack problem where the speaker won't turn off eventhough a headset is plugged in

 

And the W3 is nowhere near as good looking in person than the v6va. the v6va is much better built as well. and feels light than than the w3 unless you take out the optical drive.

 

Your Z70 is still relatively new. If it inherits the problem that my M6 is having, (Day to day stress causing a crack on the LCD Cover/Lid), it will show later on. Mine didn't show any cracks until recently. As for the silver paint, mine started coming off in 2 months. That is before I started bring the laptop around. It's just the rubbing of my palm against it that's causing the discolouring.

 

Yes, the V6V is a great laptop. I would have gotten that one instead of my M6 if I purchased my M6 1-2 months later. But now that I have owned a M6 before, I don't want to go back to a 15". Not neccessary for my use. I would rather have a smaller footprint which the W3 can provide although it is still a tad big for my taste. But nothing can be perfect.