New Laptop Checklist?

First off, I would like to say thank you to everybody on this forum. I have learned so much ever since I stumbled across this forum during the summer, and I am incredibly grateful to this community.

Well, I will be picking up my very first laptop (hopefully) tomorrow. (An A8Js from MilestonePC in Toronto.) I hope this question is appropriate for the Asus forum, but here goes:
I would like to ask for suggestions for typical things to inspect after I pick up my laptop.
e.g. Since there is a 30-day Zero Bright Dot Guarantee, should I run Dead Pixel Buddy? Run CPU-Z / Everest to check hardware? NHC for battery wear?
Any suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

I wouldn't worry so much about the screen... dead pixels are rare, and if you do happen to have one, you'll either not notice it at all or it'll stare you blank in the face.
If you want, you could run NHC to test the battery wear... but it's probably nothing to worry about. Just enjoy your new toy and treat it well!

 

Yeah, the point of the ZBD warranty is actually to show how much Asus believes in them.... and since they ran that warranty on the V6 series for the last year and half - I've heard of only a handful - and I mean 5-6 max - that have been replaced in all of North America... I don't know the total number of V6's brought in over that period, but I know that it was more than 6,000... so, don't worry.

In terms of everything else, I wouldn't worry either as it's going to be under warranty for two years and as long as it turns on - which it certainly should - I wouldn't stress.

 

Testing for dead pixels is only a matter of taking a few minutes of time to do it. I always have done that with a new display...but some of the previous posters are right; problems are rare. However, I have had a few dead pixels I didn't notice...until I was working on a large project...then they bothered me a LOT.

Anyway, 10 minutes of your time (tops) and you'll sleep all the sounder for it. It's also usually a good idea to check the hardware, just to make sure your specs are correct (mistakes DO happen). If something is amiss (and again it would not take long to find this out), it would be a lot easier to get it fixed right away than to discover it a year later...which by then they might not do anything.

So, I'd guess it would take you about 20 minutes MAX to at least do a cursory inspection of your new toy...not much time at all compared to the next two years in which you'll have the notebook (1,051,200 minutes for those wondering...now doesn't 20 seem like a really small number here?).

 

congratulations on your a8js I think you made the right choice.

 

My Z96JS had a very noticable dead pixel, and the replacement screen had 2+, and the next one had another... I wouldn't say they are excessively rare, at least not for the ones ASUS used in the Z96J anyway (this being ensemble and officially supported by a ZBD policy may make them more careful). If it's stuck you can try to fix it see here, but if it's dead get it replaced. I finally got the entire system replaced (backlight did crazy flickering) and the new one only had backlight flicker for awhile which seems over now and no pixels at all. But in the interm I went through 3 different screens with at least 1 dead pixels.

All I did to test was make a bunch of different coloured backgrounds and set them to Full Screen Preview and check the screen. Dead pixels are most noticable on red backgrounds. My check including close inspection and 4 different backgrounds took about 3 minutes.

Cat

 

Thank you for your comments, everybody!
Everything seems in order, and I did not notice any dead/stuck pixels using Dead Pixel Buddy.

One question, though: I noticed that the Frequency listed for Memory is 332.4 MHz rather than 667MHz that I expected. Is this due to power saving? Or should I be worried that I've gotten the wrong RAM?
(I remember coming across a thread or two that addressed this, but I can't seem to find it via Search... sorry if I've repeated a common question.)

 

Yes, the frequency for memory is 332 point something, it's correct, not due to power saving or wrong RAM, but because it's a DDR2 RAM. Multiply the 332.4 (or 332.5 in mine) by 2 and you'll get the 667 you want.

 

Oh, I see now. Thanks for clarifying that!