Asus W3J Fabulous Model! Revealing the Secret of its Fantastic performance

You might have heard, you might have read that Asus W3J is a fabulous model.

Well, it is absolutely true. Actually the only thing this laptop cannot seem able to do is work consistently for long! Mine stopped working when it was quite old (i.e. five months old) and this was because i always took great care of it.

It had no scratch, at least until it returned from the fantastic Asus Italian Service Center after a whole month's "residence" there! You might think that my Asus W3J was "repaired" there, as Asus does, but........it didn't!

Some objective participants in this forum have been truly wondering in other threads (such as the Asus after-sales service thread) what is exactly wrong with this model! Well, in case I was not clear enough before it's time now I revealed the secret of its fantastic performance.


Although I had had my own doubts in the past the problem is its overheating. This can cause -----as IT DID to my W3J---- "minor" problems with the WLAN system of the motherboard (actually, who need a wlan these days!?!) and more strange ones such as the constant rebooting of my laptop WHEN IT WORKS ON BATTERY. (again some wise people have questioned the importance of such a problem. The say "it is still a laptop than can be used as a desktop if you always use your AC adapter").

If this happens and you live in Europe you can only watch the movie "Good night and good luck", since there is a very good chance that you will call them tens of times, send them letters and e-mails and still wait for a month until you find out that they have returned your laptop unrepaired!

(Don't be afraid if they accused you of having been ordered such an expensive and rare -in Europe- model!)


Hence, the Asus W3J's problems are directly linked to its inadequate manufacture which consequently causes hardware to overheat and malfunction for over!

In short avoid purchasing the fabulous Asus W3J. Let other people enjoy!

I will be extremely happy to answer all other serious queries but please be aware that because of the time difference and high workload t might take me a whole day before posting again!

 

VictorTsilonis, I understand you are disappointed and angry by the fact that your W3J was problematic, and service was bad, but I don't think you need to write a thread, encouraging people NOT to buy it.

I'm not saying not to admit and reveal W3J problems, but don't express them in such a harsh way that right away turns off newbies. Its unfair to them to be persuaded by a personal comment on the W3J, than by a general comment that others would agree on (such as "The looks are fantastic!", which so many people agree, and not "My W3J had a defect keyboard key. W3Js suck!").

Also, I've noticed you posted in several Asus threads, and instead of actually giving feedback to the original poster's questions, you tell them of your unforunate encounter with a problematic W3J and Asus support.

But in a way I have to agree with you, Asus needs more dedicated and helpful customer service.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh and mean. I just don't want others to be discouraged by ANY notebook just because of one specific unfortunate occurance.

Happy 500th Post to me.

 

I just want to say to this that the 1000's of people that aren't hear protesting this model are proof that you got a bad unit. The reason there seem to be so many problems is because the people that aren't having problems have no reason to come here and get help. I have an Asus V6j, its 8 months old and there is one problem, and Asus is working with me on fixing it (battery wear). I would not be nearly as skeptical about buying the W3j as Victor.

 

Did you use your restore disks?

Did you boot a Knoppix CD or other Linux LiveCD to rule out a software issue, such as video card drives???

If it's overheating related, then it shouldn't happen at first power on....

There are a lot of people here who might help you, even if the Asus techs in Europe are less then stellar. Ranting and raving won't get you that help. It's just not productive. Cross posting the same posts in every thread relating to the W3J trying to scare people is not productive.

 

Wasn't there others who had these same issues and they turned out to be driver/software related? I am sure I read something about that reboot issue when on battery. Look for a thread labeled "w3j owner thread". It has LOTS of help there.

 

Problem is, noone except the 3-4 people who saw Victor's initial post before the mods removed the quoted emails (removed for privacy reasons) know what the problem is... and despite frequent prompting Victor is unwilling or unable to elaborate.

Still, what the hey... we can always use some more spam around here.

Victor also appears to have trouble differentiating between poor manufacturing and poor tech support. Asus' reputation for building quality notebooks is well known, and well deserved. If you bought a top tier Sony, Apple or Toshiba notebook in the last couple of years, chances are it's built by Asus. Unfortunately, Asus' service centres in Europe sound like they've seriously dropped the ball on this one.

 

No, it was never written in his initial post with e-mails either (I did read it). He has finally posted what the problem was in one of his many other threads today HERE.
And he has also posted in the infinite reboot thread you refer to.

 

Please someone bad this guy he is of no help to anyone including him self. He has not attempted to heed anyones advice nor has he replied to most questions.

 

You know. Having sold over a hundred of the w3j in the past few months now i would say you have no clue of what tyou are talking about. I hope someone bans you becuase you are making an a$$ of your self and making multiple threads bashing the best model asus made. They have only one that is better the v6j. Please dont post anymore unless you can answer the questions posted by many people in their reply to your rant.

 

hehe.. good thing he kept posting. Since I am about to purchase a W3J, his first post freaked me out. But looking at his repeated posts, I figured he was a troll.

I've decided to skip his posts from now.

@Geared2play.com,
Great to know that you've sold over a hundred W3Js. I was hoping I wasn't in the minority..

 

Eddie: Funny thing is I posted a thread about some Alienware news in the Alienware forum, and it was closed so as to not make NBR "look bad", but things like this, no one does anything about...

 

I got a question,

I am still going to get the W3j next year (after all the shopping zombies clear after the holidays). But if I get some type of technical problems with my unit, how does a reseller solve the issue?

Like I am planning to get it with a 7400 chip but of course that voids the ASUS warranty, so I am forced to get the reseller warranty... I am just asking in case Murphy's Law hits me. Not ranting, hating, yelling or beating on anybody....there's enough wars and chaos in the world that we don't need more.


thanks,

 

agent007, you are far from a minority if you buy the W3J. Its one of the most popular models from Asus, and they always sell fast.

 

up until the release of the a8js the w3j always had a shortage. There was never enough to go around. Once core 2 duo rolled out, asus only refreshed it with a t5500 while refreshing the a8js with t7200. Perfect way to destroy the best and most reliable model they have had for years. w3 has been around before most of their current ensembles and known to be reliable. I dont know why they decided to kill it. put a t7200 and 7700 go in the w3j and the same in the a8js and they will still see awesome sales both would be popular with penny pincher and the pros who like quality.

 

I was thinking of deleting it, since there is no real valid evidence, but if anything it may do the opposite. As obvious(or not) as it seems, it's an isolated case, and posting various times about something that could perhaps 'justify' his purchase. Remember the guy whom complained and trolled about the scratch on the screen, the keyboard, etc.?

It's true service from anyone can not be the best, usually very rare but it happens. People wake up on the other side of bed, wake up forgetting to buy coffee grinds the previous day, and what not.

However, if anything these threads kinda help, just look at the majority of people with it, they are nothing but happy with their model, and yes, there are lemons once in a while, but problems only leads to solutions, and solutions make people happy.

 

ok, but my question stands on the reseller warranty. How does the protocol goes on repairs or problems with it? I am planning to get one with a 7200 or 7400 Core duo 2. Of course it voids ASUS warranty and I gotta then go to reseller.

Just want to know worst case scenario how far can the reseller warranty do for the customer?


thanks,

 

Find your self a reliable dealer who has a customized ensemble warranty in writing. I ve seen ONE thus far that clearly states this. Worst case scenario? You dont get your waranty from your dealer and asus declines to service becuase you voided the warranty by modifying the cpu......

 

Great post Cori, and I agree. It would make the "Asus community" look as if there is something to hide. Besides, he is killing himself with all the ranting in several threads and others see (stzd8 shows this to be true) he is one of many and a disgruntled one at that with a grudge. Not that I think he doesn't have some reason to be pissed, just goes about handling it the wrong way.

Good call on leaving them

 

Indeed, there is nothing to hide, if there is a problem, it should not be hid, but discussed, and it will be fixed.

Remember the Screen Graininess problem?? Or the wrist rest? Or the heat? It was not ignored but instead solved. It just takes time and research, patience, of course, is a virtue.

 

Yes, W3J's get hot. Yet i have played on mine playing games such as FEAR or Prey for 2 or 3 hours at a time, and besides the system being warm/hot, never experienced any instability or problems because of it. Also, the reboot loop on battery? thats a driver issue with ATI. if you go back to Mobility Catalyst 6.8, the issue is abscent on the W3J and PowerPlay, the part of the ATI drivers which causes the reboot loop works perfectly properly. Furthermore, compared to the A8Jm/s etc (the notebook EVERYONE compares the W3J to) The W3J comes out in my opinion as much more styleish, same battery life, and same performance. The only real down side is price due to its style and small form factor/construction.

All in all, your issues seem to be specific to YOUR model and NOT the W3J

 

I'm sitting on my couch typing on my new W3J right now. I am very very happy with the notebook! (thanks btotech!) The only two things people should expect are:

1. Warm/hot air coming out of the vent next to where you'll be using the mouse.... it can make your hand warm.
2. Every once in a while the screen doesn't come back when the system goes into standby. I think this is a problem between ASUS and ATi and I hope someone is working on the Catalyst drivers or ASUS bios to fix it.

Besides that, my biggest worry is that someone is going to steal my laptop because it's so sexy! I think the OP just had a bad experience. =(

 

I'm really happy with my Asus, no hardware problems so far and it performs like a champ on any app I throw at it.
Like I said in one of your other posts, you do deserve better service from Asus for your premium service plan, but your particular case seems to be isolated* and not representative of the Asus brand in general. I can relate to how you feel having been there before with other manufacturers, and while it's therapeutic to vent your frustrations it's probably not going to help you in any way in these forums where members try to help each other out through Q&A.

*I think I recall browsing through another thread with a W3J that exhibited similar symptoms, and the user managed to solve it through a driver or firmware update.

 

To the OP

If you are indeed located in the EU, and the retailer is also EU based you are in a pretty strong position.

Under EU consumer law your contract is with the retailer NOT the manufacturer. Any warranty the manufacturer offers is above and beyond the retailers responsibilities to you.

From your original post I gather you had the laptop for less then 6 months. If this is the case I would contact the retailer and demand a replacement/refund. For them to have the laptop for 1 month out of six and still not fixed it is clearly unreasonable.

If they refuse I would contact trading standards or the equivelant consumer advice body in your country. However, if you paid by credit card it may be easier and quicker to simply ask your credit card company to issue a charge back. Given the product is defective, they haven't repaired it in a reasonable time and they won't exchange it, the credit card company shouldn't refuse.

As a side note, you have upto 6 years under EU law to take a defective product back to the retailer. Generally in the first 6 months you can demand your money back/replacement. After this period it depends on the product and how long they want to repair it. Generally on electrical products you have 2 years full warranty.

After this it depends on two points. How long you should reasonably expect the product to last. And how much benefit you have recieved from it in the interim.

For example if you purchased a car. Did 100k miles in 3 years and it fell apart. They may offer you a partial refund, based on the fact you'd made considerable use of the car in the interim. However, had you only done 15k miles, you could probably push for most of your money back.

Hope this helps.

 

To everyone else:

I appreciate you love your laptops and Asus in general. But cut the OP some slack. It looks like he's had a terrible time with Asus. Had you been so unfortunate I doubt many of you would be as laid back as your suggesting he should be.

Moreover, the suggested lack of complaints on this forum may point to Asus's reliability. But should you be one of the unfortunate people to get a dud, that won't afford you much comfort.

Personally I feel support is more important then reliability with mainstream manufacurers. Given the stringent manufacturing processes in place today there is rarely a huge disparity in product reliability between mainstream manufacturers. They all produce similar amounts of duds.

With my laptop being so integral to my work and personal life, the professionalism and speed of support is up there in my priority list. I don't think stories of how your laptop is perfect is going to help him or anyone else who has problems with Asus support.

P.S How likely are people to complain about there Asus on this forum after reading this thread?

 

By no means is anyone not allowed to show their opinion, but regardless of the replies, one thread is good enough, let alone make two, which situates it in the 'trolling' type of poster. Problems should be posted, no matter how big or how small, as it is quite a purchase, whether it is an high end notebook, or low, money isn't recyclable(How I wish...).

If the OP kept the single thread, and not make a sarcastic filled thread such as this one, perhaps such responses as above would not be needed, that is for sure. But honestly, this second thread is just asking for it.

Of course, 24 posts in, and still no flaming, I'm impressed by the maturity of the posters, no name calling but instead justifying on personal experience and possible solutions and ideas to fix the problem, instead of making it worse.

Victor, I truely hope you get your notebook fixed, it's a shame it turned out to be a lemon, but come on, try and look at the bright side

 

To all dear posters,

I would like to thank everybody for his/her comments, whether they can understand my position or not.

(p.s. I was actually fortunate enough to play F.E.A.R. in my Asus W3J until the very end during the summer!)

Now I will attempt to answer some of your queries: 1) The issue is not software but hardware, that is why Asus changed my motherboard and battery after keeping it for a whole month -ALthough it is supposed that I am an ASus V.I.P. member- (yes, I intend to elaborate on this issue in another thread!!!!)

2) I have tried resque disks, everything was erased of course but the laptop still cannot BOOT from battery - if you use the AC adapter and put it into the plug it will usually boot normally and then if you unplug it it can "stay alive" with battery for some time.

3) I always liked Asus company because I believed it was different than most of the others (e.g. HP, Acer).

4) I am not preaching so much against Asus SO FAR (I am still waiting an official answer through their V.I.P. customers' channel about the latest development, i.e., the fact that the laptop remained unrepaired AFTER a WHOLE MONTH SERVICE!

5) Most people here started from the start saying it is a propably software problem but a software problem cannot suddenly occur (or it usually does not occur) after five months of good performance

6) If indeed is or was a software problem Asus technicians should be aware of it or else -namely, IN CASE YOU KNOW BUT THEY DON'T- the whole famous Italy department should be kicked out and Asus should by all means try hard to get some of you on board (and I am not ironic at all at this point, it seems a possible solution but I do not know whethewr you would like to move to Italy).

7) I have not tried anything with Linux simply because UNFORTUNATELY I did not have the chance so far to find some requisite time to get acquainted with Linux.

8) The problem has still not been fixed and Asus has not still answered how is it possible to send a laptop for a whole month's repair and not getting it back done.

9) Maybe the most significant conclusion: I think it is a mistake to rely too much on a laptop whether it is a 500 $ one or one of the most reputable nad expensive such as...... Asus W3J. ---My experience shows, at least to me, that I should return back to the reliable desktop era and buy a cheap laptop for fun.

10) Since I intend to sell it and I have been very truthful about its problems, I would gladly sell it - any offers more than 500 Euros are welcome (I am just mentioning it here for you to know it first - there will be a formal annoncement in the EBay soon and i can keep you inform ................................................................................................if you are interested)

 

Yawn......

 

In the interest of closing this thread and ending your ordeal i offer you free service for the laptop. You pay fo rthe shipping ofcourse which should cost you about 150$ for round trip via usps. I know its not much but its all i can offer given the obvious fact that you didnt even buy it from me. Again i still dont understand why you came upon a problem that most everyone here knows to be a software issue while you incist it is hardware. You keep reiterating and ranting about things that confuse people. If you want to get other members help stick to the facts relating to your notebook only. majortity of the people that would read your rant didnt becuase it was tooooooo long.

 

Have you tried switching the battery? If there is an Asus retailer close by ask them if you can swap your battery to test it out. Just a thought....

 

Eddie, that seems very generous to offer. I would think that would be more then worth it Victor, you will sell it for more than an extra 150 on ebay if it is working properly rather than trying to sell you with issues.

I am no computer wiz here at all (I learn what I can from all you of you ), but I thought that is exactly what that means. If something suddenly goes bad after several months of good use, isn't it more likely to be a file from a program of a driver going corrupt rather than some tangible thing like a motherboard inside going bad?
Could the Bios go bad on him, thus leaving him with the problem even after restoring it from the CD or after the shop replaced the motherboard and battery? Have you flashed the BIOS to the new version Victor?

 

Wow. That's a generous offer.

 

Not only that, perhaps spyware, adware, or anything that may change the registry or important files may effect the performance. Usually, a reformat, or a system recovery to the last known date that the machine started going awkward.

 

He did say that he did a full restore with the recovery cd's. So, I think that the software issue has been addressed. Unless he did not do a FULL restore? But, I assume, since he said all of his data was gone that he did this part correctly.

 

Geared2play,

I read your reply, I was just asking ... geezzz, I am not related to the original post but you have to understand the side of future customers... So what I take from you is ... IF sh#% happens, too bad, bad luck bye bye customer...

 

Thus I said usually, as it often fixes all problems.

However, in his case, everything seems to lead to a dead end unfortunately.

 

If I understand correctly, the BIOS doesn't get changed or altered in any way with a reformat or even changing the motherboard, right, so wouldn't it be reasonable to think it may be that? Or, at least worth a try even if it not really likely?

 

Really??? He offers to take care of someone else's customer from another country, and you take that as too bad, bye bye? Seems like a pretty generous offer to me. Unless your referring to another post of his...

 

Dear friends,

Thanks for expressing your views on the issue and try to help me as much as possible.

The resque disk process was done correctly, at least from my part!

The offer made by GEARED2PLAY is extremely generous (and I would dearly thank you for this although we have just been known each other through this forum), but there is an issue mainly related now to the fact I am going to sell it.

You see, I would like - chiefly for psychological reasons linked to the person who will eventually be brave enough to get it to have my 30-MONTH REMAINING GUARANTEE PERIOD SERVICE. If I send it for repair elsewhere then they might find out about this event and then most probably say (according to Asus behaviour so far I would bet anything on this) "you have broken the rules, so the guarantee is void".

Hence, I cannot send it for repair elsewhere and that's reminds me of two things (Geared2play can be assumed partly responsilbe for reminding me these two things and my consequent actions!)

1) this was a problem from the start, i.e., there is an expert technician in my town who is almost capable of fixing anything - he has even fixed HP laptops that HP claimed that it was impossible to repair (and hence, because they were out of guarantee, "nothing could be done"). When the fabulous looking Asus W3J broked down, the first thing I asked Asus was how long will it take them to service my laptop, because taken into account it was extremely important for my job, I was in doubts whether it was in my own interest to brake the rules and use this expert's assistance in turn. When, however, Asus confidently reassured me that " we will fix it in ten (yes, 10) days the most and you SHOULD send it to us and to somebody else because then your guarantee will be void at once and for all", I decided to sent it to Asus. Now, I believe that this was a huge mistake, but one I could not avoid because I did not have any other info at that time (e.g. that the famous Asus department in Italy does not fix the laptops once but usually you have to send them twice!)

2) A new thread is coming up with novel unwritten info about ASUS V.I.P. Service (title of the thread remaining to be fixed -any suggestions welcome)!You see when you are so intelligent to purchase the Asus advantage programme, then Asus considers you a V.I.P. member and you are even more obliged (or so I have been told) not to send it anywhere but to an Asus certified service center!


P.S. I loved my W3J too much..... until it broked down!

P.S.2 I truly believe that the core message of my experience is that every professional should try to rely as much as possible on desktops and not laptops of any kind (but please avoid Asus motherboards -- I had had two that were burned out without Any overclocking!)

 

I 100% agree. Most dealers on the asus where to buy page will not help you with any problem or support. I did say MOST not all. The MOST will tell you to call Asus directly. Dont expect top notch troublshooting skills when you call asus directly. You can expect very fast and fairly reliable service. You can only get top notch support from the few dealers that can provide it. To find them you need to go through every single dealer on their where to buy page. Read their detailed warranties and make your own conclusions. So if you make the mistake of buying from a dealer who is cheap but doesnt know the product you always have asus to fall back on.

Wow amazing. Dude were you starring in Borat by any chance?
I recant my offer screw you and your notebook. I hope asus eats it and looses your rma from their database. Only Borat can help you now..
FYI over the last years we have about 500 give or take rma's with asus. I file an rma bi-weekly for dozens of parts. a good quarter is desktop motherboard. I lost count to be honest. We stopped making desktops years ago and i still find my self rma'ing desktop motherboard. Excuse me for liking the service we get as dealers and as end users from asus. Until i feel that asus N.a. is not providing a service better then All other manufactuters with a presence in the states i will not be going elsewhere.

 

I beg the mods please ban Borat #2. In the interest of saving my sanity and my payroll with asus accounting please please ban this person. Victor no offence but you make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I hope never to see you back here. I ve already got a call from asus accounting threatening me that i will get fired if you are not banned. I am very sorry nothing personal. I guess the jig is up. I have to confess.
I AM A SECRET AGENt OF THE ASUS UNDERGROUND PROPAGANDA. victor congrats for discovering me. I am sorry for lying to everyone all these years. please forgive me. I took an oath years back i would never reveal my employers identity. They have me working like a horse even on sundays. I am revolting. Victor will you please join me and hold my hand?

 

Geared2play,

I apologize, but I couldn't stop laughing at your reply to Victor. He's not really helping himself. Thanks for replying 'calmly' on my questions. As a matter of fact I am a designer and programmer that's why I asked a lot on warranty stuff since working on PCs is my bread and butter.

 

Rofl!!! ^^;;

In the end this only made me feel better that I bought a W3j from btotech ^^;; I'm sure the support would be awesome.

You're awesome Eddie!

Good bye Victor! If you are going to use EBAY to sell your laptop, GOOD LUCK!

 

Dude, are you being forced to purchase ASUS branded products?? IF a product failed you the first time, then get-on-with-it and look for whatever suits you.

The reason why ASUS has a hard time in Europe is probably because of ancient government red-tape that disallows and prohibits businesses to function easily.

You need to take this issue up with the EU government and leave the forums alone.. ;-)

 

Boy this thread has all the makings of a hit daytime soap, what with Eddy's passionate Asus confessions and Victor's secret Borat identity...

On another note, it pains me to see this thread get more posts and views than my "I love my Asus" thread. Bad is just more fun than good I suppose...

 

Is this guy for real, or is he just deliberately winding us up? With the disjointed rambling reply, I hope he never represents any of my mates in court!

 

O.K. lads, it seems you are right...W3J does not overheat and never malfunctions, I did never own an Asus W3J and...we all live on Mars, right!?!

---Anyway I just used my Nokia 6280 for a small video that I will upload in youTube... I'll keep all those "objective posters" posted!

For all those who have not got an Asus W3J yet I can only wish "Good night and Good luck"!

P.S. Anyway, I have become so frustrated today that I eventually decided to send my Asus W3J back to Italy again for the second time (anyway I have to fix it before selling it). I think I have served my duty enough at this forum and I will post again when I put the small video with the W3J constant rebooting on YouTube....For the time being I rest my case and would only like to request all those objective resellers to send also a letter to Asus stating why this kind of behaviour from Asus will not assist the company to have a good name for much longer.


......Needless to say I might post again after a couple of weeks if I get it back For the second time and still this technological miracle (Asus W3J) does not work!

 

Victor,I am sorry to read about your bad luck with you system.

This year I also had a not so nice experience with ASUS here in the Netherlands, not as bad as your's though.
I had an issue with my DVD burner (TSST-L532U) that came with my Z70VA.
( It would not burn a certain brand of DVD's. Afterwards I read that that is not uncommon. )
They also said they would fix it within a week. It took them 1 month before sending it back.
They did NOT fix the problem. In this month I called them a couple of times, and they came up with all kind of
unrelated stuff ( like the front cover of my screen was broken, or one person saying that my drive arrived from Asia,
and another person saying the next week, that it had not arrived, etc.) After calling them, I sent the DVD-burner back
to them. They said they would fix it (new firmware). After receiving it, it still would not work. Called them again.
They told me to send it again. After talking to the engineer I decided not to send it back again.
I was really disapointed with their service.

But after reading the forums this can happen with any brand, I guess.
This is my second ASUS notebook, and now I plan to buy a W3j early next year, because I want a 14 inch notebook.
I've been looking at other brands/models in the 14 inch category. All of them have issues.
And now I narrowed down the W3j and the Zepto 6214w. 2 more months to decide. =)
I really like the look of the W3j and the good things that that people say about it.

The other day I called Asus-Netherlands and asked when/if they will ship the W3j with the T7200, because they say so
on their website. They said it was allready sold here in the Netherlands. When I called a dealer, they told me that
Asus would stop selling W3j's here. That was really confusing. I'll wait until the February. If I cannot get the
W3j with T7200, I go for the Zepto.

Question: how hot did your CPU get in your system ?

I really hope Asus will fix your system.

 

How refreshing to hear a positive attitude and prospective, even while having an unfortunate experience. Thank you 2Aguas! I'm sure everything will work out fine for you, which ever company you decide to go with. Sorry to hear the bad experience.

 

They say : A wolf's penitence is death.

 

Eddie: I've been reading these boards for a while now trying to figure out which is the right laptop to buy. Let me say hands down you are the most entertaining guy here! LMFAO

We may be talking soon!!!