Fuck you, Asus.

"Nibby" (nibby68) 03/24/2016 at 13:37 • Filed to: None

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Never again. My mom bought an Asus Zenbook in Fall 2014... 1080p, light, 13" i5 8GB RAM + SSD. It was a nice price for $700 (back then at least). Had very good reviews too.

A couple weeks ago she texted me saying her hinge had broke. I Google’d, apparently it’s a super common issue on these ZenBooks... but you only find that out after a few months of ownership. She mailed it to me and here it is.

I was able to backup her work stuff and bookmarks. Everything seems to work perfectly though. Tore it open, this is the culprit.

The plastic where the standoffs for the hinge screws seem to have broken. There are a bunch of people on forums with the same/similar model complaining about it too. I guess this guy was especially unfortunate.

Anyways what I was able to do was remove the standoffs and broken plastic around them... they were able to squeeze into their respective holes so I could at least reassemble it and it works fine. Looks a bit wonky, but it works.

She told me I could keep it so I’m gonna probably sell it off online but it will probably need a new display assembly or proper repair in the future. I got her a ThinkPad T450 to replace it with.

duurtlang > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:44

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Fall 2014... apparently it’s a super common issue

Why did you open it up? It should still be under warranty. Less than 2 years old and a common issue, so it’ll be hard for them to claim it was user error.

Illegitimus Prime > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:44

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Bad luck with a bad design. They’re usually pretty good. The only reason I don’t use my old G73 is that I dropped it and borked the screen like a dumbass. Thing was built like a tank and had the best cooling I’d ever seen in a laptop.

Wacko > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:45

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http://www.asus.com/support/images…

Warranty??

Asus is well known to have 3 year warranties. this could be one of the 3 year ones.

fall 2014 is less than 2 years ago.

Nibby > duurtlang 03/24/2016 at 13:45

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1 year warranty

not for canada - australian in disguise > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:45

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I’ve had one ASUS computer (K53U, bought in early 2012) and I can assure you that ASUS is complete garbage, or at least from my experiences. That goddamn K53U went through about 5 hard drives, every 3 or so months the hard drive would just die. No warning. No nothing. Just die randomly. Never again.

Now I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T540P and I’ve had nothing but good experiences with it.

Moral of the story? Screw ASUS, or at least their laptops.

/rant

Stapleface > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:45

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Wow, that’s a pretty lousy design. But, they already have your money, what do they care? Almost seems like if you could design a better mounting solution you could come up with a little cottage industry of your own.

For Sweden > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:45

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The only laptop I’ve ever had that didn’t develop a broken hinge is an old Dell Latitude lease return.

duurtlang > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:46

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Weird. 2 years warranty on an article like a laptop is a legal minimum here in the EU.

Nibby > For Sweden 03/24/2016 at 13:47

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Cause Latitudes are generally quite solid. For myself, I refuse to buy consumer machines and just stick to business/workstation class laptops. Build my own desktops.

Nibby > duurtlang 03/24/2016 at 13:48

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Welcome to USA, land of capitalism.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:56

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Huh. All the ASUS laptops have treated their owners well.

Better than my Toshiba that to this day actively tries to rid itself of its screws...

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > For Sweden 03/24/2016 at 13:58

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My old gateway FX laptop was new in 2007 and is still kicking along well. 17" screen - no damaged or worn hinges yet. Running VISTA no less. The mainstream brands sometimes gave a shit about quality, you just had to get one of the non-barebones models

spanfucker retire bitch > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 13:59

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When it comes to (consumer) Ultrabooks the only model I’ll ever even consider is the Dell XPS as its construction is downright “prosumer” on top of its aesthetic good looks.

and 100 more > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:00

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I have a a CR-48 (one of those early, early Chromebooks for devs) with the same problem. I get it on the CR-48, which was never intended for long-term use, but that really blows for a consumer laptop.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:00

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Best advice I give to people on computer stuff - buy professional laptops or gaming grade laptops. Those customers demand higher quality and more performance. You save buttloads of money in the long run. Hell my old Gateway FX laptop runs circles around my GF’s dell from just a few years ago. I only upgraded for gaming reasons.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > duurtlang 03/24/2016 at 14:03

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You shut your filthy socialistcommie mouth! Providing actual customer service is antithetical to Corporate Profits. And the United Corporations States of America is all about that sweet, sweet profits.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:06

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My Asus A-SUCKED too. Not as bad as my Toshiba though.

for Michigan > For Sweden 03/24/2016 at 14:08

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My Toshiba Satellite held up pretty well over the past five years.

Tripper > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:10

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Just had to do this on an HP and was able to find the parts on amazon for $9. On a last ditch effort I typed the numbers on the side of the hinge into amazon...sure enough there they were right and left sides!

Give it a whirl if you want to make it look perfect

Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:11

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Holy Icons, Batman!

Nibby > Tripper 03/24/2016 at 14:16

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The problem isn’t the hinge; it’s the plastic that it screws onto.

Nibby > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 03/24/2016 at 14:17

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Yeah I only buy business/workstation class stuff for myself but my mom needed a machine ASAP at the time.

Nibby > spanfucker retire bitch 03/24/2016 at 14:22

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Agreed!

Shankems > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:24

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$700 for a new laptop. Disappointing, but not entirely surprising given the price paid.

facw > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:25

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My Zenbook (UX31A) just died. Sadly nothing so simple as a hinge problem. It just powers up and does nothing. Took everything apart, put it back together but didn’t find any loose connectors or other fixable stuff. I’d like to buy a better quality machine to replace it, but damn if getting a QHD screen on the current Zenbook for $750 isn’t tempting.

Tripper > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 14:36

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New chassis perhaps? They are usually pretty cheap. Even when I have bought directly from dell it was under $100 for the entire assembly (screen lid/bezel, bottom chassis and all parts). I would think a piece like that would be $40 or so even if it’s a large part.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > spanfucker retire bitch 03/24/2016 at 14:37

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The XPS is what my employeer issues as laptops, no complaints here.

Nibby > Tripper 03/24/2016 at 14:59

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Looked around, the lowest I found was $121

Tripper > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 15:06

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That’s rough, could go ham w some sort of serious epoxy, but that might not work/you might have a laptop with a “fixed” screen after you’re done.

fordy875 > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 15:10

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I’d tired of semi-expensive PC’s falling apart and turning into garbage a few years out. They are expensive, but I’ve just recently moved onto Macbooks. Between the windows nightmare, shotty build and inability to function properly. i’m done with PC. I gave it a shot with the new XPS 15, but that came with issues.

Nibby > Tripper 03/24/2016 at 15:19

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I pretty much got it fine now and it works fine. It opens/closes as it should.

Probenja > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 15:32

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I have the 2015 Zenbook UX305 and I also have read that the UX303 has screen hinge problems, mine hasn’t had any issues so far, it’s just some models that give a bad reputation for the brand.

1111111111111111111111 > spanfucker retire bitch 03/24/2016 at 15:32

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We’ve been getting surface books for testing lately. If you stomach the price tag it put the dells to shame.

 > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 15:44

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Asus makes decent laptops. We actually hardly ever get them in for service. Hinges break on just about every laptop so this is nothing special.

Nibby >  03/24/2016 at 15:51

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This model is known for hinges breaking. It’s a design flaw. Lots of Amazon reviews on it, forum stuff, etc.

Otherwise it’s a pretty nice machine.

 > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 15:53

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Shitty design then. Asus usually has decent hardware though. I know a lot of HPs and Dells are pretty bad for hinges. IBMs can survive a nuclear blast, especially old ones.

Nibby >  03/24/2016 at 16:01

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dem thinkpads

Actually I quite like HP’s EliteBooks. They’re sturdy

tromoly > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 16:26

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Even the best companies have a bad design here and there.

Personally on my second Asus laptop and have had a Transformer tablet in the past, all of them have been great.

Nibby > Tripper 03/24/2016 at 17:09

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http://imgur.com/a/PysGp

Danger > Nibby 03/24/2016 at 21:38

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So choice

Nauraushaun > Nibby 03/26/2016 at 09:00

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I find that every laptop ever made is shit. They all just seem to fall apart well before they would be expected to. They’re all trying to look unique and failing at it too.

At the moment I have a Macbook, which I think is the exception. Apple is always pushing the premium angle, so you can’t really buy one that doesn’t perform well on OSX. They’re all of the same design which is relatively basic, so it’s all reasonably well thought out and works well. I don’t buy Apple products in general, but I think the Macbooks are winners.

Nibby > Nauraushaun 03/26/2016 at 09:13

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Not true.

Use a business class laptop, they’re built to last. EliteBooks, ThinkPads, Latitudes/Precisions are all leaps and bounds better than consumer laptops.

Nauraushaun > Nibby 03/26/2016 at 17:33

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Interesting. I have seen the Thinkpads. Teachers were using them in school, people still use them on the train. That sort of slowly-evolving rarely-changing design is what you want. It’s when they make radical changes every generation that you get basic design flaws in critical components like hinges.

boxrocket > Nibby 03/27/2016 at 10:48

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There’s no perfect laptop nor laptop manufacturer (if that’s even accurate, as many laptops are made by Foxconn and Pegasys and the like then have brand labels affixed at the end), but better to pay less for the same internals and a lesser brand name than overpay just for perceived brand cachet (e.g. apple, hp, etc.). My next-door neighbor had an HP CQ60 (also sold as a Compaq CQ60) which had the same broken hinge problem. I bought a replacement hinge set online, and after about a half hour it was as good as new. My neighbor had me keep the laptop and bought a new one (Asus V55, IIRC) instead.

Nibby > boxrocket 03/27/2016 at 10:51

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Nice!

Unfortunately for that laptop I posted about, the hinges are fine... the standoffs on the display assembly had broken so that would require replacing the display assembly and I don;’t want to pour $100+ into it (cheapest I found was $121)