Z70Va - Creaky Hard Drive Cover and Loose Hinges

Hey all,

I've owned my Z70Va for a bit over 4 months now and overall I've been satisfied with it but there are a few issues I want to get other Z70Va owners' opinions.

My Z70Va has been one of the less solid ones, it's been creaky and squeaky. One reason is the battery is a bit loose that causes the palmrest to creak in several places. I fixed this by cutting some small pieces of soft mounting tape and sticking it on the battery.

The second cause of the creaking is the hard drive cover. If I lift up the notebook from the front the cover bends and scraps against the base and creaks really loudly. Taking off the cover gets rid of the creaking, but I'd rather not have to use the laptop without it.

Another thing is the screen seems a bit wobbly, when opening the lid it wobbles for nearly 3 seconds before it stabilizes and there's some squeaking. I've tried tightening the screws, including the four on the bezel and the ones attaching the hinges to the base to no avail. While this might be normal on a lot of consumer level notebooks, for a notebook that's known for its high build quality it's a bit disappointing.

So does any other Z70Va owners experience the same thing? The screen wobble might just be standard due to hinge design, it's not that big a deal for me. But I'm pretty sure the hard drive cover isn't suppose to creak like it does.

 

it sounds like your cover isn't in correctly......... which is almost an impossibility.... but if you're grabbing it by the cover, it's got to move......

In regards to your screen.... so you fling it open and wobbles like the knockdown clowns at the toystore? That's what you're describing and if you opened it and placed it where you wanted, there's no force behind it to wobble..... so what you're saying it's either overstated or you are using your notebook improperly.

 

That for sure! There is no way the bottom of that drive cover is touching a flat surface enough to make it creak. Are your rubber feet there?

Like Justin said, under normal use not enough to make anyone notice.

 

Having used our two Z70va's for over a month now, neither I nor my wife have found any physical problems with them. She opens and closes hers daily while I carry mine from up and down stairs and out in the garage and out back to the deck (so far I haven't dropped it yet!). Both feel as tight as they did when we first opened them. No creakes, squeeks or anything. And my screen sure doesn't flop around. When I open it to the position I want it, it stays solidly right there in place.

Sounds like you got that one in a million not so well built ASUS notebook!

 

I think there may be some misunderstanding about the hard drive cover creaking. The cover itself scraps against the notebook base and causes the sound. I don't have a digital camera with me so I can't take a picture, but one edge of the cover is right up against the notebook whereas the other edges have a bit of room. When I pick up the notebook the cover and notebook rub against each other since the notebook flexes a bit.

As I said, I've tried reseating the cover. I've tried holding it down when screwing it back in, and I've also tried just letting the screws shift it into the correct position (i.e. i put the panel back into position , drop the screws in and go back and forth between the two screws to tighten the panel). And obviously since there's no creaking at all when I take the cover off it's the culprit.

When I say screen wobble, it means i can use one finger to nudge the screen and it'll wobble there for 2 seconds. It's not flip flopping around but it's noticable. Unless I open the lid and hold it there and oh so gently release the screen it'll wobble. I mean it's not out of the ordinary, compared to say the school's Acer Travelmate 4101's or the last generation Dells I see around, but compared to an IBM T or Z-series (or even my sister's old R32) it's a lot less solid. And I said it in the initial post, I don't mind it that much as it's not all bad, I like how I can open the screen one handed without holding the base when it's on a desk.

 

The screen is going to wobble. You are timing the wobble?

If the screen wobbles when you open it, this means you are FLINGING it open, which is a no, no.

Read your manual on how to open up your laptop.

As for the harddrive cover creaking, mine doesn't, but a couple covers creak a tiny bit. No big deal unless it does this while it's in use on a flat hard surface.

My screen wobbles too, but not on a hard flat surface. When I open up my screen I do so carefully and I don't just FLING it open. Stop messing with your screen hinges by flinging the thing open, you will shorten its life.

Cheers,
Mike

 

How do you time screen wobble? I just tried this with an old m6n where the hingest need to be replaced becuase there is a nice loose feeling to them. The screen wobble i cant even count seconds. You bring to light something nobody ever looks at. Sorry. It just sounds trivial even if there was wobble. Wobble without a loose hinge? Sorry you said it your self.

 

Well that's exactly the thing I'm trying to find out! If that old M6 doesn't even wobble, but I can count the seconds mine does, it kinda seems to me the amount of wobble I'm getting isn't normal for the M6 series.

"Wobble without a loose hinge? Sorry you said it your self." I'm saying my screen wobbles when I move the screen. This usually means loose hinges and I'm asking how much wobbling is to be expected with the Z70Va.

I appreciate the responses, but getting attacked about my 'laptop screen opening' technique seems a bit funny to me. No, I'm not even close to 'flinging' the screen open, I open the screen just like everybody else. As I said before, the amount of wobbling I'm getting is comparable to other laptops, usually lower end consumer ones. If it's normal with the M6/Z70 then so be it, nothing I can do about it until I get a new laptop in the future.

But the creaky hard drive cover definitely ain't a regular occurance then?

 

cmon guys hes asking for help not to be attacked. im sure this guy isnt making this stuff up and hes most likely not flinging his laptop open as you suggest. if you want to help or provide insight go for it but dont automatically assume hes wrong or making things up and discredit him/assume hes doing something wrong. try and help out and if you cant simply acknowledge the fact without belittling a forum member

 

Nobody is attacking. It just seems funny to me. If you can time a screen woble then you can surely determine if you have loose hinges. If you hinges are not loose then there is nothing wrong with your screen and the wobble is in your head. Thats my take on it. I dont know what screen woble is. If you fling/flick the screen it will wobble for a cetain period depending on the mechanism. Its not a comparison basis. If i fling my m5n screen which is 12" it will "wobble" for over 3seconds. My hinges are as tight as the day i got it over 1 years ago. Screen wobble is not a valid point o comparison it will happen with most screens.

 

Agreed..... there's no need or desire to "attack" you... Your experience just seems too far fetched to believe... and if people can't believe you, they can't help you. At the same time, if you're anywhere close to being factual, then you're being far too rough on your notebook to begin with... Treating it normally is usually a good place to start and if you're having an issue by treating it improperly, you start by stopping that action..

 

That or it was sold to you with these problems. The drive cover does not creak loudly. one persons preception of loud is anothers silence. Funny how that works. I would contact your vendor and arrange something. The problems you mention are just non existant as far as i know. sorry

 

Sorry if I seemed to be attacking, it's hard to tell how someone is addressing something on the internet when you are only typing words and not speaking. So the tone of what we're saying is non-existent here.

Just so you know my screen, my new replaced screen, wobbles too, but that's with EVERY laptop. Some more than others. The wobble happens when my laptop is not on a completely stable surface, like now I'm in a Second Cup (popular coffee shop in canada), using their round coffee tables that are wobbly themselves, so my lid wobbles a bit when I type fast or hit keys hard, but other than a slight wobble it is solid.

When you open your lid like others do it will slightly wobble, but not for like 5 seconds or 3 seconds.

Okay I just gave my screen a slight tap and left it to wobble and counted the seconds and yes you can count the seconds, but that slight tremble is normal. Remember your screen is on hinges, not a locking hinge with adjustable slots that you can lock your lid into.

Hrmm that would be nice wouldn't it? haha

Don't worry too much about it unless you're on your desk or kitchen table and it wobbles while you're typing. That means it is loose and all you have to do is take it into your reseller and ask them to tighten the hinges, if you don't want to do it yourself.

Cheers,
Mike

 

You know guys, instead of accusing me of abusing my laptop I really think the suggestion to get it looked at by the reseller should've come first. I'm still really confused how my first post somehow conveyed the picture of me widely swinging away with my laptop...Wonder if I hadn't mentioned the screen wobbling if I'd actually get some clearer answers about the cover creaking. Or maybe I just need more in there since it sure seems my post got misinterpreted.

I was already planning to to ask my reseller next time I went back home as I'm planning to get a optical bay battery, but I thought getting some user (and especially other reseller) opinions would be useful. Guess I was wrong about that.

Looks like if I want stronger hinges I'm gonna need to go IBM or.....budget Dell?!?!?

 

Budget dell? Prolly will have the weakest hinges. If there is no play in your panel (like when you apply presure to lift it) there is nothing wrong with your hinges. I really dont know whats up with your hd cover. Its not possible for it to creak becuase its touching something. The rubber strike zone sits about a mm above the surface. It cant be creaking. So either you dont have a z70va or you got a non standard rubber strike zone.

 

see youre basically saying hes a liar for suggesting that his hard drive cover is creaking. clearly something is creaking why would he make this stuff up?

 

I'm commenting on the screen and the use of the screen.......

in terms of the hard drive cover...... it slips in on one side and has two screens on the other..... it's not a very tight connection, and if you put pressure right in the middle of it - you'd be putting pressure on the harddrive itself and that's not good....... I have no doubt he hears it.... I'm not saying he's hearing things that aren't there..... I'm just saying, that's not a normal thing to hold it by the hdd cover and if he's "creaking" so be it... it's not a structural piece.

 

i wasnt calling him anything. he said that it creaks when he puts it down. I am sying that the cover does not come in contact with a flat surface. if its creaking like justin said he is pushing on it to make it creek. It does not creek loud. it creeks things that creek are plastic in partucular laptops around joints and edges. Very normal. I dont know why it bothers him. It dont bother me and most others. The human mind is complicated........ If you want something done about creaking you can lube up your hd cover around the seams. If it makes you happy. But dont get any on your hdd.

 

I just recently purchased a Z70va and so far I really enjoy it. But I noticed last night when I was using it on campus that anytime some bumped into the table that it was sitting on that the screen would wobble a little. Everything seems to be very tight so far as hinges are concerned. So, I am wondering if what I experienced is normal. BTW I open it very carefully and it is not that the screen is changing position it just wobbles a little. Thanks for your thoughts.

Dave

 

Dont worry (i guess) mine does the same thing.
The hard drive cover and the screen and the creaking ...
Im still happy with the laptop becose everything else is just perfect but this is not the most solid laptop ive seen. anyway maybe its just mine , i dont know becose ive never tryed other z70va to compare. I dont think warranty cover that sort of thing .. anyway .. gonna live with it and stop complaining

 

I went to my reseller (CanadaSys) on Friday to buy a secondary battery and I got them to take a look at my Z70Va.

I explained that the cover was creaking, and they quickly switched it out with another one to test it out and that did the trick. Just a very minor variation in the manufacturing of the cover but the creaking made the entire notebook feel flimsy.

I get that same kind of wobbling when the table is bumped. It's normal for our notebook, my reseller took out two other Z70Va to compare the wobbling and it was the same among all of them. I personally would like less wobbling but it's a compromise so the screen isn't as difficult to open.

 

lazybum131...wow canadasys is excellent in their service.

It took me forever to have my screen replaced and my creaking palm rest fixed by my reseller as they only go through Asus. My palm rest is NOT fixed though. I'm going to demand they replace the body because they scratched it and it's also still not fixed.

Cheers,
Mike