Are ASUS Laptops any good?

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I have an ASUS Zenbook UX 32A which I bought in October 2013. I bought it because a) I read that ASUS had the best environmental record of the main laptop companies and b) it received good reviews. Sadly however, I've never had such a terrible laptop. The touchpad is so unstable that the laptop is unusable without a mouse. It freezes or crashes far more often than my Samsung, Sony or Toshiba predecessors did. It doesn't seem able to handle more than a few things running at the same time. The screen connector port is in completely the wrong place - halfway down the right-hand side - so I've had to move to left-handed mouse operations. And technical support has been lamentable, absolutely lamentable.

Alexis in London, UK
 
Apologies, some of the comments in this thread really tick me off. I spent $850 on a refurbished Asus G73 4 years ago, and it's worked great. I've also taken good care of it. My issue with the comments in this thread is that people are saying that they bought budget-friendly laptops and expected top quality. Why do you people think these laptops were so cheap? Did Asus just decide to give free handouts on making the molds, the engineering, and the components? No, like any manufacturer would do for a low-end laptop- they cut corners. Cutting corners will give you a cheaper product, but will also make it more vulnerable to flaws. These flaws can be design, performance, whatever it may be- you paid for it. I consider Asus to sell decent quality computers, you get what you pay for. Saying things like "just buy an Apple instead" is foolish considering that Apple only offers premium products and their prices reflect that. Not a fair comparison especially considering that you may have purchased a sub-$600 laptop.

Here's what I'll say about Asus, and this applies to most manufacturers.. If you want quality, you're going to have to pay up- the costs of making a product designed to last, both in the engineering and the actual materials is not cheap. If you cannot afford to pay premium prices then buy used- that's what I did and it worked out for me. Now, that's not always a good solution and any risk can be a hit or miss. But keep in mind next time especially for those looking for sub $1000 computers- I do believe Asus has their computers priced competitively and don't make quick decisions. I spent 3 months browsing the web, the forums, owner's lounges etc.. looking up"LAPTOP MODEL problems"- just to see if there are any major flaws that make a laptop something to avoid. Don't EVER listen to techs at retailers like BB / Walmart, and be careful when reading reviews on products sold on eStores, those reviews are mostly based on 1-2 week ownership and won't give you insight to how long it may last, or if there any major build issues that you might only realize after some extensive use. If you're the type of person to preorder your stuff, I'd recommend keeping in mind that you what you are willing to spend has a direct correlation with the likelihood you will get a laptop that will not have any issues.

As for Asus' tech support, I've only contacted them once through email about a question and they answered promptly. I can't say much about the rest of their service program since I've never used it, nor their warranty service. I wouldn't be surprised though, especially for a company based out of Asia that their call centers aren't US based, or that they have call specialists native to all the countries that they might sell to/ have warranties extended to. Although personally I don't use them, I do think that it's a shame that a customer who has issues cannot get a hold of competent tech support, it's bad practice and I'm against it. Beyond Apple, which caters to customers who are willing to spend a premium- therefore they can provide higher quality services all around. I don't think many companies have good customer service records, if I had to rank it: Lenovo- far second, Asus- close third, then Dell, Acer, Toshiba, HP etc.. But .. speculations.

And a final word of advise, be wary of any opinions expressed by random internet humans, like me. Although I'd like to believe I've got this all down, it's well- the internet, and not everything you're going to read here is going to be right.

/rant.

Thanks and have a good day,
HPFREAK

Edit: a word.
 
No, never buy an asus. I had one for 10 days and the hard drive crashed. The hard drive crashed 3 more time after that in only a few months and they refused to give me a new unit, even though mine was still under warranty. Their customer service is the worst I've ever experienced. After crashing 4 times, they sent me a refurbished computer and, guess what? I' still have nothing but issues with it after having it for a few week. I would never recommend this brand to anyone. I've lost data and time because of issues 4 times and trust me, you don't want to deal with that while going to school.
 
its just like any other, some people get defaulty hardware and automatically want to blame the company. I've had a numerous amount of different company brands and they all have their issues. I myself just bought a Asus G750JM and im loving it. No issues at all (so far) the only gripe is the lack of a windows 8.1 disc, and the use of OEM widows in their laptops (cannot use the ISO download from Microsoft site because it requires a RETAIL key) but no problem look up a windows 8.1 OEM ISO problem solved. I have always used ASUS brand motherboards and products in the past have never had a problem with them. Their laptops come with DUAL fans which is a huge plus for me for overclocking and such (many people will tell you never overclock a laptop, got my GTX 860m Maxwell running almost on par with a 780m) The choice is urs and urs alone, but dont just go by what other people are saying, just cause they got a piece of the defaulty hardware doesnt mean that the company sucks. It was just badluck (and i feel ur pain guys, really i do). ASUS itself is a great company IMO and their hardware ROCKS! but like others if you get a piece of the faulty hardware its just luck of the draw sometimes.
 
before you buy look at reviews of the model number of the laptop before you buy it. all companies make good products but they also have problem products/model numbers. I had 3 samsung tv's one of one model and two that were the same model. The two of the same model both had issues and ended up having the same issues. I looked up on the internet by model number and lots of people had the same issue i was having. If i would of waited a few months after the model came out and did my research i could of saved myself a huge headache. Samsung wouldn't admit that model had issues.

AS for asus my dad and one of my nephews have the same model number of asus laptop. They both had great luck with them. No issues that was the computers fault. My dad got a virus on his but that wasn't the computers fault. All companies have good products but they also have some that are bad products. You know the old saying you are only as good as your last job. That is the same when companies make good products or bad ones. All it takes is one bad one to put a bad taste in your mouth and turn you against a company.

All i can say again is look up reviews for the model number you are buying. see if lots of people are having problems before you buy.

 
Hello
I have a asus r510l laptop and It has many faults. I had a motherboard problem one day after I bought it and now I'm having issues with WiFi and the video card. Asus customer service is not the best. I have had a dell laptop and it was great. I would probably buy dell or an another brand next time I buy a laptop
 

I purchased A ASUS 17334 Laptop at the end of July..from Best Buy..it was a new model...what a mistake..it was JUNK. I used it for work and only when out of town which is rarely. The mouse pad and number key pad quit working and you could not "Shut Down" the unit from the start menu, you had to actually use the hard "Power on" I researched the internet for maybe a simple fix..guess what..everyone who has one of these had the same issue. It was less than 90 days old..so i took it to the geek squad and they had to send it back to ASUS. Today is 10/13 and I left it for repairs on 9/20..by the time I get it back Windows 9 will be out and it will be outdated. I don't recommend ASUS
 
I bought my ASUS x502c for incredible 380 $ and it works absolutely perfect. Of course it is not the best build quality because of price, but it is definetly worth it. I realy like ASUS but there is one problem with warranty. It opens a program where i need to register to get 3 year warranty. I tried to register but when i pressed ok but nothing happens and after a while it says----connection timed out, please try again.
I tried about 10 times but still nothing.
And so when the registration program poped up again I pressed ----already registered, and then another problem appeared. About every hour it displays a command prompt window with text in it.
It disappears realy fast so only I am able to see is SUCCESS or FAILED. I dont know why this window appears but it doesn't affect anything.But otherwise i would recomend ASUS laptops.
 
I’ve heard a lot of good and bad things about ASUS but that didn’t stop me from getting my own ASUS K42J. I bought mine last year and I thought it was a bargain for $400. It actually isn’t that bad as others say. In fact, I never had any problem with my laptop until my cat accidentally spilled juice on it. What I like about my K42J is that it has good quality keyboard, and automatic switchable graphics. It also performs well without overheating. Unfortunately, there’s a lot left to be desired for its screen size and battery life. In fact, my biggest complaint would have to be about its battery life—it drains so quickly.
I’m planning on getting a new laptop soon and I’m thinking I should get myself a macbook instead of an ASUS. I’ve found a lot of good deals at
 


Mine worked great while it worked but it started having hardware problems after about two years. Eventually, I couldn't get it to boot up at all and lost some of my documents and data.

 


The worst. ..if you get a good laptop your very lucky. ..God forbid you need their warranty dept....you'd be better off selling it as broken on ebay and get yourself a new one. ...I had to send ours in after a few months for two problems. ..they said yes one was an it error. .but claim there was damage for the second thing. .,which is a lie. Returned the unit without fixing either problem. ..and yes. .I have an email from them saying . ..the first problem was their error. .,And they still did not fix it until I pay for the other item. ..which they wanted overt 300 to fix. .,when we bought it for less than 300 to begin with...worst. .will never but asus product again.
 


I like Apple computers a lot, but I also like Asus's, because Apple computer DO NOT have the highest bang for buck ratio. Their products are way to overpriced, and the only computer from them that is a good deal is the iMac 5K display 27 inch. Also, their isn't much support for software and hardware as their is as WIndows, and OSX isn't as configurable as OSX, which I don't like.

Their aren't as many video games on a Mac either, and the hardware isn't just as powerful.

Apple's Tech support is kind of good, and kind of bad. It's good because they have ACTUAL STORES where they fix your device if you have apple care. The bad is that THE EMPLOYEES HAVE NO IDEA ON WHAT THEIR DOING. When I called them for tech support on my MacBook's, they took 20 minutes to find out what the hell I was saying on Google, and they were just telling me about their new products.

I also like professional applications on Mac's better, such as an Adobe Cloud Application(ex Photoshop), Final Cut Pro, and more.

A lot of my support for Apple has gone away, but Macs still have the potential to do better by lowering the prices and try to add more support for hardware and software for macs.
 
Bottom line! Asus did a lot of promo brain washing like many other brands and I along with millions of others got suckered in. Bought a laptop and several tablets most recently the TF701t. An over priced, hyped tablet that could be really great ir it were manufactured by anyone else! The screnn cracked, like the thousands of others, it constantly crashes regardless of upgrades or no upgrades and the build quality is horrible! For all you other Asus fans like I was, just wait, no matter what asus you have, if its new within the last 2 years its junk and will soon if not allready, be total junk. And the only thing worse than the chinese junk they sell is the joke customer service! No need to explain that one, you can find out for yourself if you havent allready.
 
There is no true american brand. The OEM's are Apple, Dell, Toshiba and HP to name a few disign their laptops then ODM's (Foxconn, Quanta, Comal, CLevo) in China and Far east manufacture them with the OEM's brand on them. ASUS and MSI are both ODM's and OEM's as they started competing against the American OEM's 10 years or so ago. Before that they sold barebones to stores like Xotic PC and the added hard drives and memory. Another thing is 90% of the laptop are made by specialist companies that make the components used in all machines. You have Seagate and maxtor that make hard drives, Nvidia and Ati the make graphics cards, Sound blaster and realtec that make sound cards, Intel and AMD processors, Samsung, Intel and Kingston SSD's.

Asus and MSI are know for the motherboards for desktops. I'm not sure if they use their own mobo's for their laptops. Laptops come in different sizes and shapes and unlike desktop the mobo isn't standard and has to be designed to along with the case.

Once laptops are manufacturer a brand like at Best Buy cannot be modified by Best Buy. So if a pc ships with 4 gb of ram Best Buy cannot modify it. Now the customer can add memory but would pay for the memory and labor. The OEM's get some of the models and you can configure them at the OEM's website. The you have the Sagers and some of the other gaming laptops that take the basic Clevo or Compal model and brand it with their names. Xotic PC carries configurable Sager and does the Sager factory in California. I once bought a Sager from a computer store in Las Vegas and when I had warranty work it was done at the factory in California.

 
Had a Core i5 Asus laptop that lasted maybe 2 years tops. Piece of junk sits in a drawer now. Wifi kept dying, BSOD, just random hardware failures. They are cheaply made. Asus used to make good motherboards but I think they are just another name for made in china "meh" hardware now. I'd much rather have a business-grade laptop like a Dell Latitude or Lenovo, and even Acer makes some really good ones now. But many of these consumer-grade laptops like Asus and other entry-level priced laptops you see at places like Best Buy are pretty lousy. I also HATE buttonless touchpads.
 


I would never by Apple. I don't want to pay for marketing I want a good value quality laptop -
 
It is the end of 2014 and they are still bad.They sold me a laptop with a malfunctioning sound card so the whole motherboard and the display frame need to be replaced:??: .I know that I should have went with Dell.I am certain I will never buy anything remotely connected with ASUS.
 
One thing that everyone has to keep in mind is what you're looking for.
I've worked with Dell, gateway, Acer and H.P. . The shut downs can happen with all and any notebook, and they do.
In my experience looking for a computer with compatible components is essential to sound machine. Do not purchase a $600 machine and expect it do what a $900 or $1300 can accomplish.
Be weary of the high end processors with crappie video cards, guess who's doing all work?
Btw. I'm thinking of purchasing an Asus in the new year.
 
I bought an Asus k53 back in 2011. its a nice computer but be warned when trying to upgrade. It turns out the motherboard I purchased was defective. Only one of the two slots is usable.. I contacted Asus and they told me it would be $185.00 out of my pocket for something that never should have come off the product line.. DONE WITH ASUS... BUYER BEWARE, TURN OVER NOTEBOOK, POP IT OPEN AND MAKE SURE THE PARTS YOU THINK SHOULD COME WITH NEW ASUS COMPUTER SHOULD BE THERE BECAUSE I AM LIVING PROOF THAT IT DOESNT...
 
Asus laptops used to be very good but now they are way too cheaply put together. The hinges break, the plastic cracks inside which makes the case separate. I've never seen such thin, cheap plastics in my entire life. Go with Lenovo, they are made well and more reliable.
 
Terrible Computer. Constant updates and if you press cancel in the middle of an update hides every single thing on your computer and deletes all of your microsoft word, powerpoint all of your saves. Save your money and get a windows.
 
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