RIP.. my W3V bit the dust..

well...not exactly biting the dust....

but close, and since I got you to read my thread...

help me decide what to do as fellow ASUS users...
And no personal gain like: "give it to me if you consider it dead!" *adinu hehe


Well, here's the story.

After about 1 year and 9 months (I only had 1 year warranty with my Ensemble for some reason), I am considering to officially retire this unit. There is simply too many problems with the unit now.

For about 5 months now it has been limping by as I have dealt with a number of issues including a "completely" dead battery with about 5 minutes charge before it just shuts off. Also have a dead pixel located at the top left part of the screen, not too noticeable, just try to ignore it as much as possible (but still sucks though). The palm rest has taken a beating where the paint has fully faded completely from the left side, constant rubbing and scratching from my watch did the damage. Other than that it has been really good to me and I pretty much used this on a daily basis. I have made some interesting mods to it including overclocking, and some ventilation modifications(very minor stuff but permanent), none contributed to the demise of the W3V though.

Well, today my keyboard starting acting up and a number of keys stopped working completely, I tried reconnecting the ribbon cable. This was basically the final straw. I'm really pondering whether or not to fix the problems by getting replacement parts from the eStore.

I'll take pics of it so that you can see the condition. Don't get me wrong, I don't abuse the unit. I clean it and keep it well maintained and stored. Everything has been wear & tear..

Although i have recently bought a C90s, I don't have the same attachment to it, infact, I feel that the build quality and design is somewhat lacking in direct comparison. I like the C90s for what it's worth, but I feel that I may need something closer to the W3V but more modern for example: F8SV-A1/B1.

Help me make a decision as to what to do with the W3V!

 

Man, when I read the title I thought your computer fried. But then I come in and read that you have a bad battery, some dead pixels, paint fading and a bad keyboard.

I wouldn't really consider all those "fatal" flaws of a laptop. And your computer didn't really "bite the dust".

All those (well except for the pixels) are normal wear and tear components. Doesn't mean the computer is dead. It means it's been worn and used.

I mean, do you really consider a car's life is over if it has a dead battery, some paint scratches, a cracked windshield and bald tires?

BTW, I voted for the last one. If you really think that these problems merit the laptop be "put to rest", then please send it to me (ill pay for the shipping) and I'll take it off your hands.

 

Fix the keyboard and donate it to someone who really needs it

 

Well, when the car is worth only a couple thousand, and the total cost to fix is gonna be a couple thousand. It would be considered finished. this is pretty much the same situation.

What I'm saying there is that the cost to fix everything could probably be around $200-300 in total, now that's probably the cost of the W3V right there minus all the upgrades..

 

Ok, I agree that the cost of the fixes is quite a bit compared to its worth, but by no way is this laptop dead.

Like I said, I'll take it off your hands if you feel your computer is as good as dead.

 

Well I wouldn't say it's as good as dead. so sorry lol, I wouldn't be giving it away for free
I'm more leaning towards just selling the bugger and getting for what it's worth and putting it towards a new portable laptop.

 

Heh, when people say that their computer "bit the dust RIP", it usually means it's dead.

 

ok fine! I used the wrong term, now I even tried to change the title of this thread, but that doesn't seem to work

 

[single tear]

I've had my W3V for 3 years, going on 4, and I've had no problems. The closest things I have had to a problem are: the strap on the included carrying bag broke, my W3V fell and the screen broke, but it was repaired under warranty; and I replaced the battery once, which is expected given my notebook's age.

Besides the repair cost, you must also consider the cost of buying a new notebook: $200 vs. $1500. As exemplified, you probably have a couple more good years left so I voted for "Fix the Keyboard, buy new Battery and keep it going!"

By the way: I love my W3V, but I am thinking about upgrading to the U6S.

 

Ouch! I'm surprised they repaired it under warranty!

True. $1500 is quite a bit of money. However putting $200 on something I've already used, own, and as maintenance for wear & tear is a lot of money too. I'm kinda impartial to both ideas given the age of the laptop, it goes for about $500 on ebay (at much better conditions than mine). So even if I do fix it, I'll be down $200 for practically nothing, and won't get it back in return except as a functional (but flawed, and depreciating) unit.

Well exactly, that's my excuse. I planned originally to keep using the W3V as a portable unit(I even bought a external APC universal battery for $50 off ebay) to work along side my desktop replacement C90s. Now that the W3V is in this condition, I might just sell both the C90S and the W3V, consolidate it and get something right in between ie; F8SV-B1. Yes a lesser video card and cpu power but it's darn close in a W3V like package.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the W is a business-series notebook, and the F8 is a budget-series. Better than most F-s as I remember, but still budget. There really is no worthy successor to the W series -- the U series are a good candidate but seem a bit too flashy to me.

I would fix it and keep using it or give it as a present to someone close to you (sister/brother/girlfriend). As you say, selling it is not worth it -- the computer is much more valuable than the few bucks you can get for it after it gets 1 or 2 years old.

Also, consider things this way. You can't sell it for a reasonable sum, as already discussed. You can't use it as it is -- so if you don't fix it, you'll have 1500USD equipment sitting for nothing. But if you add 200USD, you'll have 1700USD equipment which is WORKING. So in the first case you lose 1500USD (because the equipment is sitting doing nothing) but in the second only 200.

That was my reasoning when I fixed my M6BNe for 500EUR after a car crash.

 

I say fix it. Or you could give it to me, I'd have no problems with that either

I agree with E.B.E though, its nearly impossible to sell the thing for any decent amount of value, primarily because its a PenM notebook, regardless of how good it is. I doubt you'd get more than $500 for it, which really isn't worth it.

 

Wow, this is really bizarre. it's like the W3V just wants to quit.

Another blow this morning, the power brick is now broken as well. It will not power the w3v, I ended up using my c90 power brick and that works fine but obviously I would need another one..

I've calculcated the total cost for this repair if i were to purchase it from asus estore; keyboard $20 + battery $100 + power brick $60 = $180 + shipping

Would the w3J battery work? Is there any difference between them?

 

You should check with a reseller or someone who tried on whether the battery works.

180 USD is still very, very reasonable for turning it into a functional notebook.

 

I would keep it and try to fix it. It is still useful as a backup unit. Selling it isn't worth it since when you factor in age and other aspects, most people might be eyeing a dual core budget laptop when you factor in how much you probably paid for that thing.

 

Personally, I believe when cost of repair is 50% of the current value of the notebook, it's not worth it.

At $180, you're not there yet so I voted for the first option. Keyboard from the Asus eStore seems reasonable. You might want to try eBay for the power brick and battery. But it's still very close.

[Edit:] Looking at eBay, it's $60 for the battery and $35 for the power brick. $115 doesn't sound all that bad really.

Not to mention the F8 and V2S just don't live up to the legacy of the W3 series.

 

Well. I bit the bullet and ordered a few much needed parts.

Obviously the keyboard needed replacing as the shift key is jammed, as well as the powerbrick. I might rip apart the old one for inspection as it still lights up when plugged in, I suspect that the wire was deteriorated somewhere along the line and I might be able to resolder it for a complete repair.

The battery will wait, I'm most likely gonna grab it from ebay though as it's definately cheaper. Also looking to fully restore the unit by painting it either chrome black or gun metal(like the brushed aluminum LCD cover) with matte black pinstriping

 

Well, good luck with the replacements.

 

well I got my new keyboard, and I have also started doing some mods to the top case. I sanded it down with 800 grit then with 2000 grit, then I primed it with Tremclad/Rustoleum Primer, going to do some sanding afterwards.

All this talk about ASUS using carbon fiber casing is false, I always thought it was plastic, and it definately is. When I sanded it down, it got to a white plastic similar to the z63A finish.

 

will post some pictures tonight, but I think I might start a new thread...

 

Here's some teaser pics..

 

It's not carbon fiber; it's carbon fiber reinforced plastic. It might look like regular plastic but it's probably quite a bit stronger...

Can't wait to see what the finished product looks like with the white...

~ Brett

 

Exactly. 10% carbon bulk chopped carbon fiber + an ABS matrix material is still a composite, and the carbon fiber gives it *much* better material properties then a plain old plastic.

It's not woven continuous carbon fiber with a clear epoxy matrix like you see on car parts, but it is still carbon fiber.

The bulk fiber like Asus uses has the advantage of having similar material properties in all directions, unlike woven laid-up CF which has properties very specific to the direction and number of layers, making it difficult to design and manufacture with.

Also, carbon fiber in ply-based woven layups has a tendency to delaminate easily when subjected to impact loading, something that would be unacceptable for use in a laptop case.

I think you should fix your W3, because it's going to be very hard to get a comparable machine for much less then you paid for it even now. The cost of the parts to fix it is much less then the cost of getting a new laptop.

 

Ahh that explains it.

It's not going to be white, the white is just the primer. I'm thinking of using either the Krylon Hammer Metal plastic paint or either invest bigtime and get the AlsaCorp's GhostChrome Killer Cans(which I'll be using on my automotive modifications as well), the latter would look way better in a cool chrome look never seen before on a laptop.

 

Sounds awesome - just be careful not to use something that'll rub off too quickly from your palms.

~ Brett