They make really good lappies and I am very happy with my A7J but I will never buy from them again. I would not recommend them.

- Their techsupport and member website is slow and next to useless.

- You will often get a notice saying their website is being strangled by traffic.

- Downloading software and drivers from their servers is like using a 14.4k modem. Even if you download fragments from multiple servers across different continents.

- Despite Vista betas and final public release there is NO Vista drivers available for download as of now from their support website. Users are left to fend for themselves. Mind you I have everything working in Vista. No help from ASUS at all.

- Finally. I updated my A7J's BIOS to the latest version successfully. It reset my previous BIOS password. Now I can't access my bios or boot off DVDCD drive. NOWHERE is mentioned that the bios password would be reset when updating bios. I now have to take it to a service centre to have this done.

The Asus website is a real shame. Too much need for navigation. To get something downloaded, you probably need to click around 15 times from the main website. This is all fine on something fast, but for Asus, the webhost probably have 1mbit upload serving 50 people simultaneously at any time of the day.

In terms of the drivers, Asus tend to supersede their software support very soon after the model gets discountinued. My M6R has only had 1 bios update and 1 graphics driver update, which made the entire situation worse (fan runs constantly). Despite so much complaint, Asus never cared. Considering how often Asus replaces their old model, I need to wonder how many people get stuck looking for support at some web forum. This is probably the main reason for for me not getting Asus again unless I can find it at a bargain price (which I didn't).

I am a bit surprised about the bios password issue. Does it actually ask u for a password? Perhaps there is a default password - have u looked on the net? How is the bios upgrade done on a lappie with no floppy drive? - is it a boot CD? Can you just make another boot CD with the old BIOS on it - you did backup the old BIOS right?

If it was a desktop it would be simple enough to pop the hood, remove the CMOS battery, short out the CMOS pins and then put the battery back in - no more password. On a lappie not as simple.

Speaking of the password problem, there should be a key that allow you to temporarily set the first boot device. From memory, it's esc or f8 for Asus laptops at POST stage.

Yeah im in a similar boat at the moment, my A8jp less than a month old has a stuffed hardrive and the courier still hasnt picked it up yet.
I will wait and see how quickly it is picked up and repaired. Hesitant to buy an Asus due to reliability questions and my fears were answered

I have had a complete opposite experience....i have found my ASUS laptop to be very reliable. (I have an A8jm) Have got vista running on it without too much drama and would buy another ASUS again without hesitation.........unlike my last laptop with was a HP, nothing but issues.

Bios was updated within BIOS. There is a flashing util in the BIOS. You simply load the BIOS data file and it reflashes.

There is no magic backdoor password that works. And I cannot boot off DVDCD. I got no floppy.

But... still $1699 for F3JP is very very hard to ignore.

1Tb/s writes...

But... still $1699 for F3JP is very very hard to ignore.

Agreed. My F3JP has worked perfectly, no hassles whatsoever. I wish they had given me an XP installation cd instead of pre-loading it so I could update the OS on my pc lol. But I have no idea why you would never buy from them again - they have very good build quality, good price, and from what I've heard, good support. Sounds like you're the one in a million

::mesaboogie writes...

I wish they had given me an XP installation cd instead of pre-loading it

Did you get any XP installation / Asus Recovery CD with yours?

I purchased an F3JC recently, with Vista. First time I tried to get to the Asus site, it took awhile trying to connect. Seemed to have an issue with TPG's transparent proxy, so changing that to a Telstra proxy helped. Once I got onto the "Australian" site, I had no problems finding what I wanted, or with speed.

Plenty of Vista drivers on the site for this machine too.

You know what they say.. ASUS = ASUX ... maybe it applies to some ppl only.

wow, first time i am hearing this,
normally everybody rants and raves as too how good the service centre is.

Well im yet to see that customer service, booked repair on friday, still hasnt been picked up by courier yet and was told when it does it will be a few days to examine the laptop and 5 working days to get in a new hdd. So all up at least 2 weeks without a decent computer.
My complete opinion is reserved until the laptop is returned. If the problem is properly fixed I will be happy. Im moving overseas in 5 weeks however so if it starts to drag close to that date ill be pissed.

Well im yet to see that customer service, booked repair on friday, still hasnt been picked up by courier yet and was told when it does it will be a few days to examine the laptop and 5 working days to get in a new hdd. So all up at least 2 weeks without a decent computer.
My complete opinion is reserved until the laptop is returned. If the problem is properly fixed I will be happy. Im moving overseas in 5 weeks however so if it starts to drag close to that date ill be pissed.

Forest Bear writes...

Their techsupport and member website is slow and next to useless.

Never had any problems with the Tech Site in downloading of drivers.

You will often get a notice saying their website is being strangled by traffic.

I have only ever come across this 2 times

Downloading software and drivers from their servers is like using a 14.4k modem. Even if you download fragments from multiple servers across different continents.

Yes true that is annoying but consider how many people world wide download files from there servers it can bog down any network or server if there is a crap load of requests coming through.

Finally. I updated my A7J's BIOS to the latest version successfully. It reset my previous BIOS password.

When upgrading it gives the option to Wipe the entire BIOS on upgrade or not i have always asked for it to be wiped.

H.W. writes...

The Asus website is a real shame. Too much need for navigation. To get something downloaded,

Not if you know what you are doing on the Support Site every time i go there i know exactly what im looking for and 2 clicks and im there.

I took my A8JM to the service centre at Silverwater to get my loose hinge fixed. Took them around 2 days excluding weekend and a public holiday. They replaced the whole top cover and bottom cover and on top of it all, when i came to pick it up, they tested my machine found that one of my 512 stick was faulty and replaced it on the spot. I was damn impressed with their service.
Plus tech support always replied to my emails within a couple of hours i found.

-DaNieL- writes...

I took my A8JM to the service centre at Silverwater to get my loose hinge fixed. Took them around 2 days excluding weekend and a public holiday. They replaced the whole top cover and bottom cover and on top of it all, when i came to pick it up, they tested my machine found that one of my 512 stick was faulty and replaced it on the spot. I was damn impressed with their service.
Plus tech support always replied to my emails within a couple of hours i found.

Impressive stuff!

I sell *stacks* of ASUS notebooks at work. NEVER have I had an issue with one.

Can't say that for any other brand. Still, it's good to hear your opinions. I even agree with them.. my ASUS S478 motherboard has been neglected entirely. Very few driver updates and overall poor support for it. It's not a bad board but it won't work with Vista at all. Will definitely buy a board with a more "popular" chipset next time around..

I have to say, the Asus website is shocking,
but if you think Asus is bad, dont ever buy a notebook computer again, because there service is currently the best.

Forest Bear writes...

will never buy from them again

guess thats a bit dramatic i think,(not to come across mean or offensive) but i mean ur saying how good ur A7J is but u wont buy another one solely on the fact that there are 'currently' no drivers available yet and the customer service is a bit below average?
Ok i do agree about the website being pretty bad and driver dl is pretty shocking but thats not a strong enough excuse to not buy another asus notebook again..

If you look at desktop PC, almost all onboard sound cards drivers are not vista capable, that means u can only run stereo or mono channels with no surround sound.. but these problems will be fixed in due time so don't get too caught up atm an just be patient with there drivers and support coz theres probably another 150odd people calling up an asking about the driver issue and why there download speeds on there website are shockingly slow.

But as for the updated bios issue is there nothing in the user manual about an admin bios password defaults or anything?

solidheat writes...

but these problems will be fixed in due time so don't get too caught up atm an just be patient with there drivers and support coz theres probably another 150odd people calling up an asking about the driver issue and why there download speeds on there website are shockingly slow.

Almost every single Asus M6 Series have overheating problem and fan issues because a bad BIOS update. This problem is never addressed and I doubt it ever will.

well its been 5 days since requesting warranty work and the laptop still hasnt been collected yet. Not impressed. To top it off ive been told a few business days to look at the laptop and 5 business days to order in the parts. So feasibly it will be nearly 3 weeks to repair a faulty hdd.

Birdman writes...

wow, first time i am hearing this,
normally everybody rants and raves as too how good the service centre is.

i stopped buying asux products years ago

simply due to its consistently poor service and shitty products.

i guess i just came across alot of shit mobos.

many of them that came back fomr asux were still faulty or had other faulty...
faults which should have been found before they left the service center

and don't get me started on their website... argh

Devilsaltarboy writes...

well its been 5 days since requesting warranty work and the laptop still hasnt been collected yet. Not impressed. To top it off ive been told a few business days to look at the laptop and 5 business days to order in the parts. So feasibly it will be nearly 3 weeks to repair a faulty hdd.

thats a bloody joke.

fairly sure any respectable manufacture would have had that out to you next business day

hell, Dell would have had a tech onsite for you on the next business day lol hahaha

ASUS repair kit haha

guff writes...

ASUS repair kit haha

never get sick of that :P

was a big hit when i used to have my website :P hahaha

guff writes...

ASUS repair kit haha

lmao, great times great times

I wouldn`t know about Asus service but it certainly doesn`t sound to good. I have an Inspiron notebook and I can tell you Dell`s service and speed of repairing any issues couldn`t be faster. The biggest hassle with dell is waiting in the que to get a tech on the phone,once thats done they will do whatever it takes to fix your problem and as for drivers you can download any that you want at a good speed from their website.

hmmm yeah i think every now and then u get the one with all the issues.. it was my turn this time i guess or maby my impatience with vista... im going into the service center in sydney in the next week, well see how it goes but im condisering asking them to put XP on my laptop instead of vista

Re service, it depends where you go. I'm generally happy with my A6K but when it had some problems I first took it to my local (at the time) agent Perth Digital. They took forever to do what they did and it came back with more problems.

I gave up on them and sent it to the service centre in NSW (who advised they weren't using external agents anymore coincidentally) and Donald bent over backwards to help. Freight to Perth was overnight, all paid for, all work done under warranty which included replacing all the bits the first mob messed up. Basically ended up with new CPU, motherboard, heatsink, battery and screen (some of these only had minor issues) and I was kept informed.

Moral of the story; with Asus for support, go to their head office and you'll get looked after.

ASUS W3V have serious overheating problems too. i made mistake of cleaning the heatsink and keyboard with ArmorALL after it stopped dead then realised it was still in warranty. Asus claim liquid on MB caused it to fail. If ever this notebook was running any liquid used to evaporate at 5 paces away. Very lucky I had a bad feeling about this one for a while and brought a BenQ S61 which is excellent for $1000 less.
Anyone looking for Asus W3V spares other than mainboard details here.
home.exetel.com.au/abili...-spare-parts.htm
I will never buy asus again either

We've got heaps of ASUS laptops at work and nothing at all goes wrong with any of them; mine's an a6000. Only thing that shits me to tears is live update, how the hell can an update utility slow an otherwise fast laptop to a crawl to the point that it ends in an out of memory message!? And is it just me or do ASUS laptops not have fans in them? I have an Acer at home and you can definitely hear when the fan kicks in but on any Asus they don't make a sound. Ever. Maybe I'm going deaf?