F3S - Bad design or bad luck?

Hello all,

I live on my notebooks and ASUS is my third manufactor so far. I'm trying to figure out whether to stick with them on a replacement or cut and run.

I bough a F3S a few months back, and for the most part I am happy with it, but there are issues.

First, the annoying:

With a desktop icon etc advertising Litescribe, I figured I would give it a try, but after a few hours of playing around (with no luck) I investigated further and discovered the DVD recorder did not support litescribe. Not the end of the world, but sloppy sloppy configuration by Asus.

My second complaint with Asus Live Update. This has never updated anything, and while it hasn't screwed anything up, it hasn't updated buggy Wireless or Video drivers which were driving me up the wall. I had to find those myself from their less than helpful web site.

Now the big problems,

First the case. The case seems like a flimsy P.O.S. For me it is natural to pick up a laptop from the front corners, but mine has developed cracks because of weak plastic over the PC slot. Funny, because I always thought the problem would be the rough edges getting caught on something. Now I'm afraid when I turn my notebook in for repairs they will think I dropped it.

Second, the reason I need to return the notbook for repairs is the connection to the LCD seems faulty. The red pixels get offset so I get weird lines etc on the screen. If I open or close the lid slightly I can make them go away. But this becomes very annoying.

I need to buy a replacement first, before I try to get my notebook repaired, but I need to know if my problems are one-off, or if they are persistant design flaws as I really like the power/performace of this notebook otherwise.

Any thoughts?

 

You can get a lot of info from the F3 owner's lounge thread, or searching.

Asus uses the same HDD image for all F3's including those with LS drives. You get the icon because of this, even though the hardware is not installed - streamlined manufacturing by Asus, annoying to the end user.

The F3 case crack is a well known issue - there is a long thread about it. Asus is repairing it under warranty; call for RMA.

Asus Live Update does *not* work, again is well known, and can cause conflicts with other system resources. Uninstall and manually check Asus' website.

The LCD inverter cable or connection may be going bad. This happens in some instances in all models, and is not specific to the F3. Again, call for RMA.

 

Hmmm....maybe that's why I've never heard of the F3....I'd definitely warranty it, case and all.

 

Deadken, you definitely need another brand.

Case is flimsy, connection to LCD is faulty, LCD by itself is bad, red pixels everywhere. DVD does not scribe CDs
And of course bloatware suite from ASUS.

There are so many reasons to change the brand...

Good luck to you in your endeavor

 

So what brand is any better?

I've got two dead acers on the shelf (the third I got fixed and gave to my wife) and my old dell was a disaster.

I'm starting to think they all suck.

 

Probably better off giving Asus another try. You just happened to buy one of their crappier models (from what I've read on these forums). Just try to do your best and do some homework on the potential ones that suit your needs. There's always HP, since you haven't tried them out yet...

 

I've had enough experience unloading bloatware from a nieces HP to make me want to avoid them like the plague. Maybe their hardware is more solid though, of course trying to get tech support makes me shudder.

****, you'd think returns would destroy the margins of any manufacturer, and with my track record, I've had to RMA every laptop I've had (except for my acer, who's backlight died 1 week out of warrenty).

Gets depressing, as it comes out of my wallet.

 

I guess in the end it's up to you what you do, but like you, I am not sure other brands will offer a better experience. I would recommend against Acer... Maybe one of the business series from HP? (not the Pavilion series, those are consumer laptops) Or a Thinkpad? Those still have a pretty good track record, even though Lenovo makes them now.

Indeed, the cracking case is a well-known design fault in the F3 -- so in that respect you did hit upon a badly designed computer from ASUS.

Also, the LightScribe and LiveUpdate issues, as ClearSkies mentions, are wellknown -- but that doesn't excuse the confusion they can create for new users of ASUS.

As to the other major problem, the LCD signal cable, I think it's a random fault that your particular computer experienced, it's not a recurring fault with the F3 (at least I haven't seen it recurring on these forums).

 

My personal choice is obvious and reflects my experience so I can not recommend any other brand

Another place to read is 'THREE MEN IN BOAT' written by Jerome K Jerome more than hundred years ago