Once and for all: "Internal" BT possible with the z63a or not?

First off, hi all! I've been a long time lurker and thanks in large part to these boards I purchased my first Asus notebook about 1 month ago; the z63a. I dropped in a 1.83GHz proc, 2GB of 533 RAM, a 100GB 5400RPM HD, Intel a/b/g wifi miniPCI nic... all the good stuff. This machine simply screams.

I thought, after having searched and read these boards pretty thoroughly, that an internal BT card was NOT possible with this notebook, despite the LEDs, the built in buttons and the bios support for it. Recently though, I've read a couple of posts that make me think that, perhaps an internal BT card can be added. That, combined with my own suspicion that theres got to be a way, prompted this post.

Can someone "in the know" PLEASE confirm, with absolute certainty one way or another (something to add to the motherboard, something that plugs in, perhaps a miniPCI that supports BT and WiFi?) one way or another on this subject? I'd really like to use those buttons and make that LED spring to life!

Again, many thanks guys. I look forward to learning much more and hopefully one day, contributing as well!

 

See this thread:

http://www.notebookforum.ca/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=591&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

http://www.canadasys.com/laptop.htm

Give DZ a chat!

You need to come to Canada if your dealer will not put a bluetooth in for you. $90 Canadian installed.

 

I was told that c9tech can also do it but it is labor intensive.

 

Ah hah. So it IS possible after all. Soooo... where do I buy the module? According to that post, its the same as that used the z70a. I'm in the US so the Canadian guys are not an option. PROPortable perhaps?

(PS: I've taken apart my fair share of lappys, so I'm very confident this is something I can do myself. I just need the part!)

 

Although we strongly do not recommend voiding your warranty, we have the part.

You can e-mail me for more info.

 

You want the bt module and antenna that comes out of the W3 and the lengths are actually different. You could also probably use the bt 1.2 module from the v6va with the antenna from the w3 and have quite a nice upgrade.

 

c9, thanks for the response. I've actually been in contact with Justin at PROPortable since this post and I think at this point it makes the most sense to follow thru with him.

I'll be sure to post up all results of this little experiment. Sounds like its going to be quite the challange, but I'm not one to shy away from a challange. Thanks much everyone. Stay tuned!

 

Maybe you can post up some pics of the disassembly & assembly... would make a nice reference for the rest of the people who would want to undertake such a project

 

Let us know how you do it. I bought my Z63a from CanadaSys, its only $75 for me to have it installed by CanadaSys. I don't like to risk my Z63a, but if its easy, I might also try to do it myself.

 

You bet I'll take some pics and post up the procedure. Hopefully it will help others in the future decide if this is something they want to try, or pay someone else to tackle.

To be honest, I'd rather just have an experienced person do it, but I can't afford to loose my laptop for a few days; I'm an owner/operator of a software development company and right now, this baby is my meal ticket!