Stay away from the A7Sv!

Hi guys!

Just wanted to send out warnings to possible buyers of the A7Sv. I'd like to share a few of my annoying experiences with it!

At first glance, the notebook performed as expected. At the time I bought it, it was rather expensive and I was hoping that I had bought a quality product. And at first, it looked like I had - everything ran as supposed and I didn't have any issues.

But then the issues started to appear...

The first issue that came were apparently related to the graphics and mainboard. The monitor would start to f*ck up and display pixels that would somehow have become gray/orange'ish and start to flood the display in various ways. It looked like the matrix-effect, just in gray/orange colors.

As the graphics issue came, I decided to reboot of course, hoping that this was just a one-time failure. But as I had feared, it wasn't -- the issue was permanent and it gradually became worse. After about a few pair of these restarts, the monitor would start to boot in two frames - making it completely impossible to navigate at all. At this point I simply had to get it fixed...

I decided to call Asus to start an RMA case. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome, as Asus had replaced the motherboard and LCD screen very quickly, and kept me informed about the process while it went on. I live in Denmark, so they decided to send it to the repair center in Holland - which i know is very infamous for the many unsatisfied customers it has had.

I can only say that everything worked out fine for me. But then again, I was most likely just lucky!

Here's the precise replacement(s) listing Asus sent me:

I thought that would never happen again. But I was WRONG.

A few months later, I experienced the EXACT same issues. This time I also had an additional issue with the HDD as well - it was starting to freeze and make noises. Windows wouldn't react and I had to reboot every single time after approximately having used the PC for a few minutes.

Back to RMA it goes. I waited 3 months for a repair and nothing happened. They were apparently "waiting for parts" and weren't interested in telling me any kind of ETA on these parts. I kept calling frequently, atleast once in two weeks.

In the meantime of that chaos, I took a little time researching the 'net for similar experiences. I saw that Asus' own message board had a few clients with similar freezing issues and obviously still have them! There is no fix to it:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...&board_id=3&model=A7Sv&SLanguage=en-us&page=1

I also read on the same board that the Chipset used in the A7Sv is very prone to errors, especially the graphics. Unfortunately, I'm unable to find the link for that... But yeah. It came as a shock to me how such an expensive product could be so error prone.

Anyway... The RMA appears to end with a refund. I kept whining to the Asus hotline support until I got a more friendly supporter on the line. He now claims that I'll be able to get a refund for the PC, aslong as I'm able to provide a receipt of the initial order. Which I have... So it'll be interesting to see what happens!

My RMA status has certainly changed overnight from "waiting for parts" to "repairing". I hope "repairing" now means "giving customer his money back"! Because that's all I want! I cant be arsed to have the same issues again!

But as I've concluded from all of these experiences... The A7Sv is terrible. I'm not alone with these issues and I'm very sure that I won't be the last! I'm advising everyone with any genuine interest in buying this product to take a look at another and carefully revise the background of the new product you're interested in!

A7Sv is horrible and it's not a quality product. That's cold truth.

 

Wouldn't it have been better to push for a replacement with a different machine of similar or better specs? It may be difficult get refunds, the refund may not include the VAT etc. so you may lose money.

 

You are right. And I also assured the RMA-guy that I wouldn't accept their offer of a refund before I see the exact amount they are willing to give.

If it's unacceptable, I'll make sure to push for a replacement or hopefully an even better one!

There's no way in hell I'd be willing to keep another A7Sv. I don't know how I could even contemplate selling it to a third party, either. The product is simply not good enough for its price range and to be selling it to someone else would be pure hypocrisy on my part.

Either way, I know Asus has some great products (especially for motherboards), but I'm still unsure if I'd settle with keeping a better replacement. Atleast I'd have good faith in selling it to a third party, at least I'd be selling a decent product - unlike the A7Sv.