Help me understand the quality of the Z63A

I want to invest in a second notebook, and I did buy an Apple ibook G4 1.33, but I am going to return it, seeing as Apple is sure to update the ibooks to Intel next week. However, before purchasing the ibook I was interested in the Asus Z63A, but I was put off by the fact that the place I went to see it had none on demo and wouldn't open one to show me. I won't buy something without first seeing how the build quality is. Since Asus isn't really a widespread brand, I need your help in determining the overall quality of the Z63A when compared to the following laptops, which I have owned:

Dell Inspiron 4100
IBM T23
ibook G4
Dell Inspiron 600m

Of that list, I consider the T23 to be top in terms of build quality, the 4100 second, 600m 3rd, and ibook last. Where would the Z63A fit into this list?

Also, for those of you that have owned a Z63A for a while: how have the display hinges held up? Have they started to weaken after a year or less?

 

No complaints of any problems with hinges after what 8 months now? As for quality i think its the best built whitebook asus has to offer now. Its in a class of its own but if you take the whole lot of them z63a definitely is top 2. If you though a dell 600 was aof good build quality then you will melt everytime you touch the z63a. No comparison there. Sorry.

 

Well I suggest you search the forum...... the W3 series (which encompasses the Z63a) has only been out since April but I think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone unimpressed with it's build.... STF.

 

It's a great notebook; one of THE most best built notebooks I've ever come across. In your list, I would definitely put it in the top two... TIED with the Thinkpad, probably.

The hinges are awesome; I've had this Z63a for about two months now and the hinges feel brand new (yes I know it's not that old...but the hinges are noticably very good). No screen wobble at all, and very smooth operation.

 

is the z63 model even a year old?

anyway, from what I've heard, ASUS build quality is right up there with IBM. More stylish-solid than business-solid, but I'm extremely impressed with mine. I was going to purchase an IBM z60t, but with the big delays Lenovo has been having, I decided to look elsewhere. I've compared my Z63a with my dad's T42, and while it's obvious they are for different markets, the build on the ASUS seems just as solid.

I'm surprised that you rated the iBook so low, my friend had one for over a year, and I was considering buying it from him when he sold it before he went to Europe for a semester. Actually, I think ASUS makes some if not all of the Apple laptops.

 

Asus does make Apple notebooks; however, Apple creates the design, and Asus just builds it. It's good to hear that Asus is really top notch. I just didn't want to buy the thing and find out that it was a cheap peice of junk. I was also looking at the Z60T, but I don't like that Lenovo won't give me an estimated ship date. For all I know, it could take a week or it could take 4.

 

yeah, I gave up when my order went from 2 weeks to "backordered"

 

With most Asus dealers, you'd probably get your notebooks shipped the next day or two.

 

The Z63a came to North America a couple months after the W3v.... so that was towards the end of May.... do you're looking at a model that isn't even 8 months old... but the chassis is proven... it's a nice unit.

 

I've had more notebooks than I care to admit. Dells, (IBM) Thinkpads, Toshibas, Gateways, Sony, HP and now Asus (z63a). This Asus tops them all in terms of build quality.

I'm pretty critical of my laptops, so for the Asus to take top honors on my list is really saying something. Now, having said that, there are a few of things I have noticed that you might find of interest.

1) The battery is one of the many strengths of this little guy. Its good for 4 hours, its built into the hinge area to keep width down... its really a great concept. However, the way it latches into the notebook leaves something to be desired. There are two dinky plastic hooks that secure it and these are definitely not enough. There is probably plus/minus 1/8" of slop; that is I can wiggle the battery back and forth by quite a bit. Not a big deal if it says on a desk, but I often need to carry my notebook around (close the lid, and walk around a customer floor for example). This slop really gives me an insecure feeling when carrying, almost like one of those clips could easily snap and down would go the laptop.

2) The finish is a silver and I've found mine is easily scratched. Again, I often need to carry around my powered on Asus outside its case so I realize I'm probably harder on my laptops than most. But after about a month there are areas that are starting to show some scratching. I wonder how this is going to look in 6 months or a year.

3) The touchpad's buttons are pretty stiff. If you're used to your Dell, you'll find these really hard to get used to. This is a good thing and a bad thing; the click feel is really solid, however it takes a bit of effort to press.

4) The hot buttons are in a place that I accidentally press all the time. The result is applications starting or settings changing that I didn't intend. Again, this might be specific to me and may not be a problem for others.

These things really are minor. I can't overstate how well this Asus is built. Its far and away a superior notebook and you will not be disappointed should you go this route.

Feel free to ask any more questions you may have!

 

Good post CoolVanilla... I'm sure all Z63a owners would agree with you.
:asus:

 

I agree only 80%. I have never been worried about the fit of the battery.

The hinges are the best I have ever come across on a notebook.

A minor niggle is insufficient separation between the display and the main unit when the computer is closed. I have a line of worn paint on the palm rest where it has been rubbed by the display bezel.

John

 

This is starting to sound really good in favor of the Z63A. If Apple doesn't have any good offerings next week, I'll pick up a Z63A whitebox. I plan to pick up the Z63A, 1GB DDR2 533MHz SO-DIMM, then transfer the CPU and hard disk from my 600m, and I should be good to go!

 

Don't forget the wireless lan card!

 

Correct me if i am wrong but the 600m is the old 855 chipset. That uses a 400fsb cpu and ddr type 1 ram. Neither one will work in the z63a. The only thing you can use is the harddrive nothing else

 

I am probably one of the very first to get the Z63A, last June-ish. Anyway, I can testify that the build is solid and robust.

 

Nah, the 1.6 I have is a Dothan @400MHz FSB. It's compatible with the Z63A as per Asus' specs on the web.

 

The wlan card isn't included in the whitebox package?

 

I don't think it is... I know on the invoice for my laptop there was an entry for the Intel 2915ABG card.

 

I must confirm all the praise for the Z63A.

I just set one up for my sister's friend. I convinced her to get the Z63A over her cousin's advice of some crappy HP. I say crappy because it was a crappy model. HP has some nice laptops, just so you know I'm not biased.

She went nuts when she saw it in store and wanted it badly.

I just gave it to her today after I spent a couple days loading windows and software and configuring it for her.

The thing is a beaut', puts my Z70Va to shame. I say this only for my Z70Va because mine is creaky, and in the process of being fixed or replaced by my reseller. He's on it

The Z63A is solid, feels like it was built from one piece of material. The hinge is spectacular, and the latchless system for the lid is amazing. I love the positive feel of the lid "snapping" shut. It is VERY light for everything you get.

The keyboard is a joy to type on, it's awesome. My Z70Va has a very floaty feeling to it and I love it, but the Z63A has a different feel to it, which I equally love. It has a positive punchy feeling so you know the key has been pressed while the Z70Va's keys are a bit light and sometimes you can't tell if a key has been pressed down or not.

The screen on the Z63A is to die for. Reflections are minimal and puts my matte screen to shame. After using my Z70Va for a while at such a high resolution I find the resolution on the Z63A a bit low, but that's because I"m used to such a high resolution. The resolution is just about right. Viewing angles are not as bad as people suggest. It's actually not as bad as I initially saw it to be when I saw a w3v in store and decided against getting that laptop.

Now I'm so jealous of her and actually offered to trade my Z70Va for her new laptop

I actually love my Z70Va, she's sexy, powerful, and fairly light for all her gerth.

The portability of the Z63A is to die for, but you don't sacrifice screen realestate since it's still a 14".

If you need to confirm the quality of the Z63A, then go to a store and check it out. If you can't find a store with a model to look at then trust me when I say that Justin is right; it's in a class of its own.

It feels EXPENSIVE in everyway, the lid, chassis, outter shell, keyboard, EVERYTHING.

Cheers,
Mike

I want one

 

I must confirm all the praise for the Z63A.

I just set one up for my sister's friend. I convinced her to get the Z63A over her cousin's advice of some crappy HP. I say crappy because it was a crappy model. HP has some nice laptops, just so you know I'm not biased.

She went nuts when she saw it in store and wanted it badly.

I just gave it to her today after I spent a couple days loading windows and software and configuring it for her.

The thing is a beaut', puts my Z70Va to shame. I say this only for my Z70Va because mine is creaky, and in the process of being fixed or replaced by my reseller. He's on it

The Z63A is solid, feels like it was built from one piece of material. The hinge is spectacular, and the latchless system for the lid is amazing. I love the positive feel of the lid "snapping" shut. It is VERY light for everything you get.

The keyboard is a joy to type on, it's awesome. My Z70Va has a very floaty feeling to it and I love it, but the Z63A has a different feel to it, which I equally love. It has a positive punchy feeling so you know the key has been pressed while the Z70Va's keys are a bit light and sometimes you can't tell if a key has been pressed down or not.

The screen on the Z63A is to die for. Reflections are minimal and puts my matte screen to shame. After using my Z70Va for a while at such a high resolution I find the resolution on the Z63A a bit low, but that's because I"m used to such a high resolution. The resolution is just about right. Viewing angles are not as bad as people suggest. It's actually not as bad as I initially saw it to be when I saw a w3v in store and decided against getting that laptop.

Now I'm so jealous of her and actually offered to trade my Z70Va for her new laptop

I actually love my Z70Va, she's sexy, powerful, and fairly light for all her gerth.

The portability of the Z63A is to die for, but you don't sacrifice screen realestate since it's still a 14".

If you need to confirm the quality of the Z63A, then go to a store and check it out. If you can't find a store with a model to look at then trust me when I say that Justin is right; it's in a class of its own.

It feels EXPENSIVE in everyway, the lid, chassis, outter shell, keyboard, EVERYTHING.

Cheers,
Mike

I want one

 

I agree! I thought the M6Ne (Z70Ne) had good build quality...then I came across the Z63a and was impressed even more.

 

This is the version of the Z63A I was looking to get: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=007838&cid=896

Mainly because it seems to come with an abg card and DVD burner.

 

You may want to ask them about that... as far as I know, a "barebone" doesn't come with anything except the chassis.

Seems like a good price... but I'd recommend buying from CanadaSys if you're in Canada.
www.canadasys.com

 

do they keep regular stock, or are they one of these, "we have to go to our "warehouse" to get it for you tomorrow" kind of places?

 

Actually, Canadasys seems to have better prices than Canada Computers. I like having the option to buy the most minimal bundle and buy the accessories as needed.

 

CanadaSys is one of the best Asus dealers in Canada... especially if you're in Ontario.