ASUS Vivobook Quality/Service

[Reverend_Jim]

I bought a Vivobook 15 X513EA from Best Buy on July 12, 2022. I picked this particular model because it had an internal slot where I could later add a 2.5" internal drive. It wasn't until October that I got around to doing that. I had freed up (from a previous machine) a 240 GB SSD. I discovered that rather than having a bay into which I could just insert the drive (like my previous Dell laptop), the ASUS required a cable that was not included.
ASUS told me that they would not sell me the cable and that I should get it from Best Buy, which told me that they did not stock this part. They referred me to several local stores. I picked up a cable and hooked everything up and... nothing. The drive wasn't recognized. The tech at Best Buy examined it and told me that the SATA port that the cable plugs into was corroded. Agreeing that this should not be the case on an almost brand new laptop, they sent it in to ASUS for repair (after I backed it up and reset it to factory). I left the SSD and cable installed so it could be tested at the depot.
It was sent in on a Monday and was returned to me that Friday. The service notes said:
  Faulty SATA port
  Reinstalled the OS and updated BIOS and firmware
  Client's data erased due to OS performance or corruption issues
  Client acknowledged that data is not required
  Programs and applications will need to be re-installed
  Unit passed quality control check and Client's fault has been resolved
   
First of all, my data had not been erased. I had reset it to factory, as I told the Best Buy technician.
Secondly, in spite of my "Client's fault has been resolved", the SSD was still not being detected. I returned to Best Buy the next Monday where they also verified the failure. They agreed to exchange it for another unit. I got them to insert the SSD and, it too was not detected. Similarly, a new off the shelf SSD was not detected. In spite of it not being store policy they refunded my money (kudos to Best Buy).
The week after, my Wife tried to plug external speakers into her new (June 2022) ASUS Flip 14 TP412F. The external speakers did not work. Neither did ear buds. I verified that both worked on another laptop. I contacted ASUS and was told that the unit was no longer under warranty. Apparently a one-year warranty expires after five months. I sent them my proof of purchase and they eventually emailed me an RMA number. They DID NOT send me a mailing label. The web site also said I could buy an approved shipping box for just $40 (fortunately I had saved the box they had returned my unit in). After chatting again with ASUS they sent me a Fed-Ex mailing label. It is currently in the depot being repaired.
I have to say that I am less than impressed with ASUS of late and, as I am still looking for a new laptop for myself, I have little incentive to buy another one.

[RAJU_MSC_MATHEM]

Reverend_Jim

I bought a Vivobook 15 X513EA from Best Buy on July 12, 2022. I picked this particular model because it had an internal slot where I could later add a 2.5" internal drive. It wasn't until October that I got around to doing that. I had freed up (from a previous machine) a 240 GB SSD. I discovered that rather than having a bay into which I could just insert the drive (like my previous Dell laptop), the ASUS required a cable that was not included.

ASUS told me that they would not sell me the cable and that I should get it from Best Buy, which told me that they did not stock this part. They referred me to several local stores. I picked up a cable and hooked everything up and... nothing. The drive wasn't recognized. The tech at Best Buy examined it and told me that the SATA port that the cable plugs into was corroded. Agreeing that this should not be the case on an almost brand new laptop, they sent it in to ASUS for repair (after I backed it up and reset it to factory). I left the SSD and cable installed so it could be tested at the depot.

It was sent in on a Monday and was returned to me that Friday. The service notes said:

  Faulty SATA port

  Reinstalled the OS and updated BIOS and firmware

  Client's data erased due to OS performance or corruption issues

  Client acknowledged that data is not required

  Programs and applications will need to be re-installed

  Unit passed quality control check and Client's fault has been resolved

First of all, my data had not been erased. I had reset it to factory, as I told the Best Buy technician.

Secondly, in spite of my "Client's fault has been resolved", the SSD was still not being detected. I returned to Best Buy the next Monday where they also verified the failure. They agreed to exchange it for another unit. I got them to insert the SSD and, it too was not detected. Similarly, a new off the shelf SSD was not detected. In spite of it not being store policy they refunded my money (kudos to Best Buy).

The week after, my Wife tried to plug external speakers into her new (June 2022) ASUS Flip 14 TP412F. The external speakers did not work. Neither did ear buds. I verified that both worked on another laptop. I contacted ASUS and was told that the unit was no longer under warranty. Apparently a one-year warranty expires after five months. I sent them my proof of purchase and they eventually emailed me an RMA number. They DID NOT send me a mailing label. The web site also said I could buy an approved shipping box for just $40 (fortunately I had saved the box they had returned my unit in). After chatting again with ASUS they sent me a Fed-Ex mailing label. It is currently in the depot being repaired.

I have to say that I am less than impressed with ASUS of late and, as I am still looking for a new laptop for myself, I have little incentive to buy another one.

ASUS Vivobook Quality/Service

Sorry for the inconvenience caused to your laptop.
After reading your post, i found mistakes.
1) you have not bought laptops from Asus exclusive showroom
2) You are not contacted to an ASUS service center person for help before buying SSD, whether it's supported or not.
3) you never contacted to the service center to add extra SSD in MB at a nominal charge.


I am using vivobook 15 R542UQ with X542UQ bios model, this laptop came with 1TB 2.5 SATA HDD with DVD RW and one free M.2 SATA SSD slot.
I removed 1TB 2.5 inch HDD, replaced 2TB 2.5 inch HDD, removed the DVD tray, and added another 2TB 2.5 inch HDD using an HDD caddy.
Added Samsung 860 Evo 1TB M.2 SATA SSD.
All disks are added by the Asus experienced technician, i contacted the person before buying SSD or HDD and the person examined the laptop motherboard and bios completely.
Also before buying SSD or HDD i sent mail to Asus team for support HDD maximum capacity.
laptop bought in 2018 intel i5 7200U processor.
The laptop working fine, after four years, the battery is dead and is not charging, so i keep connecting the charger to work on a laptop.

I knew the X series Vivobook is powerful than other series.

[Reverend_Jim]

There were no mistakes.
The X513 was bought from Best Buy. The Flipbook was bought from Visions. I had originally tried to buy a laptop directly from ASUS but the online experience was less than ideal. Every other statement from the online person was an apology for the inconvenience. Getting a laptop that met my specs was very difficult. Every time I found what I wanted I was unable to get a price. When I told the online salesperson what I was looking for they emailed me a recommendation. When I tried to buy what they recommended I was told it was no longer available. As it turns out, the other ones I found online (for which I could not get a price) were laptops that had been announced, but were not yet available for sale.
So I had a choice between
we no longer sell the laptop we just told you you should buy
we don't yet sell the laptops you want that are listed for sale on our website
Also, the drive that I added was originally installed by Best Buy using a cable that they actually found in the store (the only cable they had). I only had to go out and buy another cable elsewhere after Best Buy told be that the cable they gave me was damaged (broken wires). I didn't mention this part originally because I felt it was irrelevant to the narrative and made Best Buy look bad when in fact they have given me great service.
So to sum up, Two new laptops (three if you count the replacement) were defective and one was returned unrepaired, even though the note said my problem had been resolved. The other laptop is still in an unknown state.
If I wanted this type of quality and service I would have bought a Dell.

[Reverend_Jim]

PS: I was a systems programmer for more than 30 years and also did hardware support on desktops and laptops for more than twenty years so I am more than qualified to do something as simple as installing a drive. In this particular case I let Best Buy do it to avoid accusations that I might have done something to void the warranty.

[Reverend_Jim]

FYI - my wife's laptop arrived back from ASUS this morning and the problem was fixed.