A8Js Questions

I'm getting ready to purchase a new A8Js this week, however I have a couple of questions. Let me note that I want to go with the global warranty over a reseller warranty.

1. Does anyone know some specific resellers that offer a 30 day return program? (refundable)

2. Can someone tell me the exact model of the existing ram stick - I wan't to purchase another one seperately to ensure I get equal stability while maintaining the global warranty. Or, would anyone recommend a certain brand? I want quality over value.

3. What is the best 7200 HD to purchase for this notebook? How much gain in loading times will be noticeable?

Any help with this would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Just a note, if You plan on changing anything, You will lose your warranty and if planning to buy online there are some sites that have that kind of program (the refundable one) but not for shipping, taxes and some cases VAT.
And about the HD, most of the brands are trustworthy enough. You can get good prices for 80/100 GB 7200 rpm without much search. If You need links I can search some and post it for you.

 

1. Doubt there is any, because if they did, wouldn't everyone just buy it, play with it, then return it? The dealer would then lose alot of money due to shipping and open box units don' sell at full price.

2. It doesn't matter really, as long as its the same type.

3. Seagate and Hitachi are the popular ones in this category. Gains? Probrably 20-30% which is usually unnoticeable.

 

That's why I'm buying them seperately. If there ever is a problem I will just swap the original ram/hd in then send it to Asus without them knowing.

 

This is a problem. Most large companies offer a full refund if not the 15% restocking fee. I'm not going to purchase something that I can do absolutely nothing about if I don't like it. Since this will be a long term purchase and a big investment, I want the luxury of making sure I will like the product. I also want to make sure I don't get dead pixels or any other defects that sometimes are not covered by warranty. I am very picky when these types of things happen.

 

That Usually doesnt work, they have ways to see if You opened the laptop, by stickers, paint or whatever.....not easy to trick them by doing that,

 

After reading a couple threads in this forum, it appears that others have already done this.

 

Yes, you can install both ram and drive without having to remove any stickers (it's easy to do, just see to that you buy a sata drive).
So if you keep your old drive and remove ram you can send it in as it were and nobody could tell the difference. I think I read somewhere that asus support don't care or check if you installed extra disk or memory. But to be safe just keep the old disk. Why not buy an extra case and you'll get a nice portable disk.

 

Then Just as an advice check if You can do that with THIS notebook. If others already done that with this pc no problem if it was it another check first if it can be done with this one without them finding out. And if You really can just check what is refundable from where ur buying and good luck

 

it works. period.

 

Most reputable dealers offer some kind of "refund if you're not happy with it", policy. Generally you need to remember that you will need to return it "like new", which means don't take stickers, or protective screen covers off, don't register any OS or applications, don't throw the box away, and don't even take the accessories out of their plastic bags until you're ready to keep the laptop. Also you may have to pay a restocking fee. The bottom line is ask your reseller their refund policies BEFORE you buy. Most have some kind of policy.

I'm sure that Asus uses different brands, so it's pointless to try and match the exact same stick from someone's stock A8Js. If you REALLY wanted to, you could wait until after you received it, and match the stick that way. My favorite memory brand is Kingston, and I have 2 1gb sticks in my A8Js. You would be safe by getting another stick of PC2-5300 (or PC2-5400) notebook memory and adding it yourself. Finally, changing RAM (or changing your hard drive, or changing your CPU, or adding internal Bluetooth), does NOT invalidate your Asus warranty. You can read this thread on Asus warranty for my research and response there;

http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=84789

I got my information after I contacted Asus North America and asked them. If you want the complete answer, contact your local Asus service center.

Any 7200rpm SATA notebook drive should work as well as another. I wouldn't expect big performance gains. I got a 60gb 7200rpm Hitachi drive with my A8Js, and swapped it for a 5400rpm 120gb Seagate, and I can't notice ANY difference at all in boot times.

 

I bought ocz ram.

It registers in dual channel with the stock ram.

I think all the available brands will as well but I can at least verify that brand does.

I prefer the hitachi 7200 rpm drives because i read in toms hardware that they use a lot less power than the seagate ones.

Im going to buy one in the near future.

 

qsn for the A8JS OWNERS:

1. What sort of battery life are you experiencing on average with a medium load? is it atleast 3 hours?

2. Does the laptop actually read xD cards or not? I cant seem to figure out the right answer for this one.

TIA!

 

Between 2-3 hours