A8JA and its flaws

Hi,

You all, who own an A8JA, do you also have these "small" flaws as well?

- Keyboard flexes on the left hand side
- Lid doesn't close good on the left hand side

Because I just got my notebook and I called asus about the flexing keyboard ( I haven't noticed the lid issue at that moment) and they just told me to send it back for repair. (Is it just a game to show their customers how they "care" rather then saying "well, you can send it back we won't be able to do anything because its just like that".) So if all of you have these problems, I won't send it back.
And in Europe this computer costs $1690, so its not a cheap price for design like that.

And also the fan that kicks in quite often.
I read it in the newbie faq that one can undervolt plus manually set the fan with various programs. Has anyone tried that already? Does it work? Do I have to uninstall Power4Gear in order to not to interfere with CHC?
By the way the notebook came with 208AS bios that I reverted back to 207AS because of the fan that was constantly running.

Thanks for your feedback,
Greg

 

the fan runs for a reason. to keep it cool. that is not an issue rans run in notebooks especially when plugged in. its not a game to show. you called with issues they are gonna check if its out of the ordinary. i personaly have read that stuff before. about the lid. just the design of it. as for the keyboard some pcs flex as long as it isnt horrible nothing you can do.

 

if u dont want the fan turning on and off u can get the newer bios 208, that will have the fan spinning all the almost all the time.

Also if your fan isn't loud I dont see how that is really and issue, unless this is the first laptop you have owned.

The keyboard flexing and the lid problem was mention by one other A8 owner and if the asus engineers want to take a look at your laptop, why have the doubt? Isn't it better that the company actually offers to take a look at the laptop to make sure it doesn't create any issues in the future than have one of the larger OEMs totally dismiss you, as a pesky customer?

 

The keyboard on my A8Jm flexes on the left side also. Especially noticeable using any key left of the F2 key.

 

Thanks for your replies.
Zydus, you are right, this is my first laptop that I own personally. At work there are many Dells, and I've found them dead silent so thats why it was bizarre to hear the fan in mine. But of course those dells mostly have integrated graphics, so there is also less heat in them. OK, so I accept that its not an issue. (I mean I never realy thought that it was, I was just wondering if there is a way to cut it down when I do only office work with it.)

Now about the keyboard and lid stuff.
The reason why I asked other A8JA owners is to know whether its a commun thing or not? If lots of people have it like this there are less chances that they can do anything about it, so I will hesitate to send it back.
But if there is only one ore two that has the same issue (at least on this forum), yes I will definitely send it back and lets see what they will do.
I mean come on, this is not an OEM stuff, and not the least expensive of the Asuses neither. I don't really find that normal that the keyboard flexes and the lid is bent (like on cheap OEMs).

Anyways, I don't say its a bad notebook. And mainly I chose it for its specs and not for the design (except for the size and weight) so if it must stay like this I will still be happy with it. ( I also bought the +1yr warranty extension so I want to keep it as well, for at least 3 yrs.)
Now I just hope that, if I send it back, it won't stay there for weeks and in case they change it (what I don't really believe) I won't get a dead pixel on the new one. (I am a bit pessimist these days with warranty issues since I had some bad experiences with my car).

 

Hey, I didnt mean to sound as if I was putting you down

Yea even i have a lot of dells and thinkpads at work here and they are completely silent and yes you are absolutely correct they are quiet because of integrated graphics. However if you can get the cpu running at 100% for some time the fan should eventually kick in

I dont really feel that my keyboard has a lot of flex on the left, but i'll take a closer look tonight its friday!!! could you explain what the issue with the lid is. Do you mean one side of it doesn't lock down properly. Also if the lid is visibly bent i am sure you can convince asus to replace the chasis or the entire laptop for you, as that is most definitely a defect.

 

As for dead pixels they don't seem to show up very often anymore so you shouldn't worry too much about getting one. And..I dont think they'll typical give you a new laptop for just a flexing keyboard and lid, seems like thats kinda overdoing it.

As for sending it in for repair, if Asus is aware of the problems with your laptop and has had similar complaints before then you should expect to get your laptop back within a week, however if the problem is novel to them it might take a litte longer since they will probably investigate it more to determine whether its an isolated problem or a design flaw. So your best bet is to talk to Asus again and see if its something they know about and can fix easily or if they will have to take apart your laptop and search for the problem.

 

Thanks guys.
So I will recontact Asus and talk about the lid problem as well.
Zydus: lid is slightly bent upwards towards both ends. On the center part it closes perfectly, but left and right sides are bending upwards.
There was a guy on this forum (Tjun if I remeber right) who posted a picture of the lid bending. I have exactly the same problem.

 

Here is the post wih the picture:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=59925&highlight=Tjun

 

hmm i think the right side of mine stays up a bit hmm i should definitely take a look at it now but i dont think mine is as extreme as shown in the image

 

I'd also like to note that the keyboard on my a8jm flexes on the left edge. I noticed it at first when I got it, but after using it for a while, it doesn't really bug me because it only is an issue if I press excessively hard on the escape key or the left shift key. The rest of the keyboard feels pretty solid.

Dan

 

I've got the AJF (so I guess same chasis). Both of my sides stay up a tiny bit, but I only noticed once I read this thread.

 

Yeah, same here. I haven't noticed it neither until I've read Tjun's thread.

But I really can't make up my mind about whether to report it to Asus or not?
I mean, I don't think they will be able to do any other thing then change the chassis...
On the other hand it would be a good thing that engineers are aware of this issue, wouldn't it?

 

I think Tjun tried bringing his back to ASUS, with no luck... they just said it's the design or something.

His is a bit extreme... mine has a tiny bit not closing, but definitely not like his at all...

 

Ok i checked carefully last night and today was busy setting up a projector for watching big screen movie cant believe how much of a pain that was, switching resolution to 640x480 and what not sucks...anyways...

My lid doesn't close in a perfect line either. Its slightly lifted towards the right and the left. A bit more towards the right. However, i cannot press the screen at any part to produce ripples on my screen so i am not worried about that slight bent.

Edit: Ok lol if i press the top edge just where the curve starts to become flat then there are very little ripple, but having worked at a electronics retailer before its not even close to the amount u get with gateways, hps and sonys

 

about the keyboard... does it make a clonking noise when you hit the keys at the affected area? Meaning that there is a gap between the keyboard and the chassis? If so, it happened on the top right corner of my V6V keyboard. I fixed it by removing the keyboard and put a folded up post-it note beneath it and taped it (making sure to not block the fan underneath). Now it doesn't flex and my keyboard is even all around. I'm happy.

 

Yeah, you are right about the clonking noise. Its just that I can't lift the keyboard to look under it. I've found the small retractable plastic tabs that keep it attached on the upper side, but releasing the keybord up there is not sufficient to lift it. It is held somewhere else too, that I can't see. And not knowing where it is attached and how, I don't really want to force it.

And I won't report the lid "problem". Mine is not as bad as Tjun's, and even the screen doesn't ripple as easy as his, so I think its OK.

 

You forgot one crucial part: there are screw(s) on the bottom of the notebook labelled "K" and you should remove these before attempting to push the retractable plastic tabs.

 

Ouff ok, what a noob. And even I looked on the bottom for a screw, but the label "K>" didn't ring the bell.

Ok, thanks to jsis I could fix my keyboard.
I attache 2 pics of the area under the keyboard. It is realy weird that it flexes, because this looks like completely flat, but there could be a light difference, otherwise I don't see why it doesn't lay tight on it.



Now my other concern is the warranty.
I hope I didn't void it by putting that piece of paper under the keyboard?
And what shall I tell to Asus now? Since I've asked for an RMA last week, I just received the email which tells me to call them to arrange for the sending back.
Shall I tell them that I repaired or just tell them its OK like that?
But anyway I do, I should remove this piece of paper if once I must really RMA it, shouldn't I?

Thanks for your advice.