Questions about quality of Asus warranty/tech support

Right now debating between getting a Macbook and getting an m50vm-A1.
Big part of my consideration is that my school has a mac store on campus so I'd never lack tech support for any hardware issues. The flip side of the coin is that the m50 is so much more powerful than the macbook. How good would you rate Asus' tech support/hardware support? And is the 3year warranty worth it?

Thanks

 

Having a mac store on campus would make it more convenient if you had any problems with your macbook, however Asus's support is pretty darn impressive too (in the US & Canada at least). Since Asus doesn't have any physical stores, they offer free overnight fedex shipping both ways, and the average turn-around time is 1 week.

 

I'm in the exact same position regarding the macbook (been using an imac for the last few years, it's been good but price/performance is lacking)! I was considering the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220303 F8SP-X1. I have a few questions; what do they mean with the "F8"? Would one good report for the f8's build quality apply to another, even if the last 4 digits of the name don't match? Does 999 seem like a good price for that laptop? Any concerns with that laptop? Would the transition to Vista be that bad? (I still like Apple's consumer electronics more than Microsoft's, and I like OS X more, I don't like it 400 dollars more, however.) Thanks in advance!

 

F8 is the model/chassis designation, i.e. MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air. It has a decent reputation for build quality, although it is part of Asus budget/mainstream F-series line. You can get an extensive amount of info in this notebook from the Owner's Lounge thread here.

All letters following that are the series and specific release (i.e. F8sn-A1). The last designators are given for specific component combinations.

The particular F8 notebook you're looking at is probably SantaRosa chipset, 2 generations (now, with Montevina release this month) old. The cpu is older, but capable for general uses. If you're using any stressful applications i.e. encoding, gaming, photoshop, compiling, etc. you should be looking at a more recent model with better cpu such as the F8va-B1 for $300 more. The price, however, is fair for what you get, and remember the battery life is going to be less than 2.5 hours.

 

Thank you for your help! How intense do I have to get before the cpu becomes my main bottleneck? I'm not a huge video game player, but the reviews mention positive experiences with some pretty recent games. Does that mean my usual routine of browsing the internet, torrenting, listening to itunes, talking to friends, and the occasional game of TF2 would be impossible with that cpu?

 

I don't think you'd have any problems. The cpu will be fine for all of those general purposes and the gaming will depend mostly on the gpu.

 

Side question. Everyone's had a pretty solid build quality experience with m50 model?

yehk paranoia is setting in. I get new computers every 4 years so it's a big deal.

 

I can give you another example of Asus' warranty and service. I've had an A8Jp for about 1.5 years and the hinge on the lid cracked. I sent it in on Monday for repairs and I came home today and it was here. Asus paid overnight shipping on both ways.

 

M50 is too new to have any info on longer term build issues. The F3 and A8 issues didn't surface for nearly 6 months after release.

 

Their warranty service is very top notch, alteast in the states. I sent my w3j a while back for speaker replacement. They gave me a fedex overnite account number, and got it back within 4 days. They went above and beyond by replacing the cover, which apperently had scratches on it lol, and installing some asus monitoring software.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I was worried after looking at the UK reports, but this is reassuring. 95% sure getting one from xotic.(CA sales tax no <<)