New ASUS laptop useless, customer service appalling

[Smithson]

I bought an ASUS Asus FX553VD-DM048T i5-7300HQ, which has excellent reviews https://www.webantics.com/asus-fx553vd-i5-7300hq-156-full-hd-gaming-notebook

It's basically useless, even Firefox is really slow. First trip to the service center and they claimed to have replaced the hard drive, but there's no improvement.

 

So I took it back again, they are making all sorts of excuses, saying it's Windows 10 constantly updating,  (it's a legal version that came with the laptop). After a week, yesterday the technician called saying he'd turned off all malware and anti-virus stuff and it's 'fine'. I wouldn't accept it, as these apps came with the unit and shouldn't need to be turned off. Besides that, I'm sure there's very little improvement.

 

The customer service is appalling, the reviews are generally 1 - 2 stars. There is obviously issues with the machine, but they're hoping I'll just give up. Does anyone have suggestions how I can get them to take some responsibility? Last time I was in, I raised my voice speaking in Thai, the manager was out fairly quick. He said he'd refer it to higher management, but obviously hasn't done so.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Smithson

[watcharacters]

 

I'm sure you know already but  just a reminder nevertheless that voice raising isn't favored  in Thailand.

 

Good luck with your dilemma.

 

[Smithson]

I have been told that, and it's in the books, but I don't fully agree. The fact the manager came out indicates this. The place is changing in terms of customers service, raising your voice, without being abusive can be helpful, because other customers hear and take note.

 

Besides that, why should I be so worried about what's favored by people who are trying to rip me off? One of their suggestions was to upgrade the hard disk, which would void my warranty.

[KittenKong]

Even though the machine may be brand new, there will undoubtedly be many Windows updates outstanding, possibly including some major ones, and you would be well advised to leave the machine connected to a fairly fast internet connection for at least 24 hours in order for it to update itself. You can check what it is doing from the updates/security settings.

 

Once all that is done you can start the task manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Del and select task manager from the options presented), and select the "more details" option which will allow you to see where the bottle neck is. From the spec of your machine I expect it to be the hard drive.

[KittenKong]

22 minutes ago, Smithson said:

Windows 10 constantly updating,  (it's a legal version that came with the laptop)

Are you absolutely certain that this is the case? Many laptops sold here have Windows added at the point of sale, and it is rarely a legal version.

[sammieuk1]

I have had to replace a pristine Dell Inspiron 17 7000 due to smoke pouring out and motherboard failure it had a 1tb SSD  I7 16MB RAM

Gutted I forked out on a Acer swift 3 Ryzen 5 and hell is it slow it has a normal HD the problem me thinks Try Edge works much faster than IE, Firefox and Chrome.

[colinneil]

OP you say you have a legal version of windows, i doubt that very much.

I bought an Asus K455L 4 years ago told the shop i only wanted genuine windows, yes we only fit genuine never copy.

Well 6 months later, i got problems because it was a copy they had fitted, computer had to go back to have new windows fitted.

[Smithson]

11 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Are you absolutely certain that this is the case? Many laptops sold here have Windows added at the point of sale, and it is rarely a legal version.

Yes, the service center accepts this, which is why I don't accept them simply saying it's the updates.

 

I agree it's likely to be the hard disk, it's always running 100%. The first thing they suggested is an upgrade, which would void the warranty. They claim they've replaced it, but I'm skeptical. They're neither truthful or helpful, I think I need to go higher up in the food chain.

 

Thanks for the suggestion to try Edge, problem is I need Photoshop etc. and it's just useless.

[KittenKong]

9 minutes ago, Smithson said:

I agree it's likely to be the hard disk, it's always running 100%. The first thing they suggested is an upgrade, which would void the warranty. They claim they've replaced it, but I'm skeptical. They're neither truthful or helpful, I think I need to go higher up in the food chain.

The hard drive does seem to be the weak part of the spec, as I mentioned. Really you need an SSD in a machine like that, and I'm surprised that they dont fit one as standard (though of course you would not get 1TB of SSD storage for that price, so they may be favouring space over speed).

 

Replacing the hard drive is recognised as being a standard user procedure (the hard drive is accessed from panels designed to be easily removed by anyone with a small screwdriver) and should not affect the warranty of the rest of the machine. If you keep the old drive you can always put it back into the machine if you have other problems with it that need to be dealt with under warranty.

[Smithson]

The solution may be the hard drive, but the problem is the ASUS service center taking no responsibility and possibly lieing. If I was to add an SSD, any idea of cost and which model? The laptop is appalling slow, using my old 15k machine is much, much better.

[johng]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

computer had to go back to have new windows fitted.

Where they PVC, Aluminium or wood ? ?

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, Smithson said:

The solution may be the hard drive, but the problem is the ASUS service center taking no responsibility and possibly lieing. If I was to add an SSD, any idea of cost and which model? The laptop is appalling slow, using my old 15k machine is much, much better.

Well, with few exceptions, I have found that customer service in Thailand is often extremely poor. "Saving face" (aka lying) is common. Not much I can do about that, I'm afraid, apart from commiserate.

 

As for the technical problem, any SSD should be suitable. Your main question will be the amount of data you need to put on it.

 

120GB is a practical minimum for Windows and some common programmes. If you intend putting music or photos or videos or games on it, then you may need a lot more. 120GB drives cost from around 1200B here, a little more for well-known brands. 240GB from around 2000+B, and 480GB from around 4000+B, and so on. A 240GB drive combined with judicious use of external media (USB sticks, USB hard drives, cloud storage) for large amounts of personal data would probably suit most people.

 

If I was fitting a new drive to a new(ish) PC then I would simply ensure that I had access to the PC manufacturer's drivers on their website via another PC, and would just remove the old drive, fit the new one, and then install Windows completely fresh using the installation media and activation key you were given with your laptop purchase. If you did not get the installation media and the operating system was installed in the factory, then you should have some sort of proprietary Asus backup programme installed that will make a recovery DVD or USB stick for you. If so, do so, and use that to install Windows onto the new drive once you have fitted it.

If there is no such programme on the laptop and you did not get the media with the purchase then it can be downloaded easily and officially from the Microsoft website. Create a bootable USB stick (16GB blank stick required) following the procedure described on the Microsoft site and do the install with that and your existing activation key.

 

Given that you probably dont have many programmes installed in such a new machine, I would not attempt to clone the operating system partition to a new drive though it is possible to do so with free programmes like Easeus. Cloning the OS partition to the new drive is more suitable for older installations which already have many programmes and settings installed as these could take a long time to reinstall manually to a fresh Windows installation.

[irwinfc]

run the windows user experience (press and hold Windows key then press Pause/Break) then click where it says Windows Experience Index. let windows run the tests and you'll be able to see which component(s) is/are slowing your system down. another thing to look at is your current power plan. click on the battery/power icon on the system tray. your current setting might be all the way on the power saving scheme. good luck

[KittenKong]

36 minutes ago, irwinfc said:

run the windows user experience (press and hold Windows key then press Pause/Break) then click where it says Windows Experience Index.

AFAIK that no longer exists in Win10.

 

A shame as it was quite handy.

[PETERTHEEATER]

39 minutes ago, irwinfc said:

run the windows user experience (press and hold Windows key then press Pause/Break) then click where it says Windows Experience Index. let windows run the tests and you'll be able to see which component(s) is/are slowing your system down. another thing to look at is your current power plan. click on the battery/power icon on the system tray. your current setting might be all the way on the power saving scheme. good luck

My QWERTY keyboard doesn't have a Pause/Break key. Is it one of the F keys?

[GreasyFingers]

Op, you are right about the Asus service. I needed a new battery for my laptop (purchased in Thailand < 3 years ago). They were given the full details on the machine and what was on the back of the old battery. With all of that they could not supply a battery that fitted.

[dotpoom]

5 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

I'm sure you know already but  just a reminder nevertheless that voice raising isn't favored  in Thailand.

 

Good luck with your dilemma.

 

Is it favoured anywhere?

[Tony45]

Recently I bought a new ACER Aspire VX15 with all the bells and whistles. It ran very slowly as the HD was a Toshiba 5400rpm model. I replaced it with a SSD and now it runs very fast. No problems now with Windows 10 updates. SSD is 490 Gb which is ample for my needs and cost 4700 baht. Easy to copy and replace and you have the best backup copy for your computer on the old HD. A HD case costs only a few baht and comes with lead to connect.

[OneMoreFarang]

I just looked at the specs in your link: "1TB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive"

 

There is no such thing as a fast 5400rpm notebook hard disk!

If you want a fast notebook buy one with a SSD!

 

Lots of Windows updates are normal for most new machines. I often buy Lenovo ThinkPads with original Windows 10.

After I buy them I install all Windows and other software updates before I give them to the users.

These updates take normally 12 hours and sometimes more. Just updating, restarting, more updates, restart, ...

This is when I actively search for new updates and look when a restart is necessary and restart right away and search for new updates again.

If I wouldn't do this then updates would also be eventually installed. But probably it would take days.

 

Apart from that I also received "bad" notebooks from the official ThinkPad dealer. I noticed they were extreme slow and I gave them back and received a replacement.

If you do this (I think) within 7 to 10 days and return the original box with all the details you get normally right away a brand new machine from the dealer.

After some time (I think after 10 days) repair is done by the service center and that takes more time.

 

[Smithson]

Thanks for the advice on how I can repair the computer. The thing is it's not something I want to do, because it's under warranty. Can anyone offer suggestions of where to complain or other action that can be taken? They're a huge company and will improve their service if forced to by annoying customers and bad publicity.

 

 

[sikishrory]

I bought a lenovo for 40,000 baht. Also a peice of shit I would like to throw at the wall. My guess is the hardware is fine but the software (windows 10) is the issue. Absolute lemon of an operating system. I could think of 100 reasons it sucks.

A good example of it being slow. I can download a large file of say 500mb or 1gb quite fast through a torrent client or usenet. However if I try to download a 50mb ebook which is handled by the actual windows OS rather than a client it is so slow. 50mb might take 10 - 15 mins.

If you want to test your hard drive just take it to any computer repair shop they will test it.

I would consider changing your OS to an earlier windows or linux or something. You can even run a ubuntu from a disk that could perhaps rule out some things. I would consider linux myself I am just not sure how it would run on a touch screen 2 in 1 like my crapbox lenovo.

Edited July 18, 2018 by sikishrory

[Ebumbu]

They've gone out of the way to make Asus of themselves! 

 

[DJ54]

Bought new ASUS once great deal two weeks later gave it to one of the neighbors kid. It was very very slow for anything. 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, sikishrory said:

I bought a lenovo for 40,000 baht. Also a peice of shit I would like to throw at the wall. My guess is the hardware is fine but the software (windows 10) is the issue. Absolute lemon of an operating system. I could think of 100 reasons it sucks.

A good example of it being slow. I can download a large file of say 500mb or 1gb quite fast through a torrent client or usenet. However if I try to download a 50mb ebook which is handled by the actual windows OS rather than a client it is so slow. 50mb might take 10 - 15 mins.

If you want to test your hard drive just take it to any computer repair shop they will test it.

I would consider changing your OS to an earlier windows or linux or something. You can even run a ubuntu from a disk that could perhaps rule out some things. I would consider linux myself I am just not sure how it would run on a touch screen 2 in 1 like my crapbox lenovo.

I run Linux Mint on my laptop, have not used Windows for years. What finally convinced me was the bootup time. 3 minutes in Windows 7, 50 seconds in Linux. And far fewer virus attacks. Hackers seem to target Windows more than any other OS.

Possibly a Linux or Ubuntu system would not fit the OP's requirements. For me, it does everything I need and I would rather swallow razor blades than struggle with Windows again.

[atyclb]

8 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Even though the machine may be brand new, there will undoubtedly be many Windows updates outstanding, possibly including some major ones, and you would be well advised to leave the machine connected to a fairly fast internet connection for at least 24 hours in order for it to update itself. You can check what it is doing from the updates/security settings.

 

Once all that is done you can start the task manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Del and select task manager from the options presented), and select the "more details" option which will allow you to see where the bottle neck is. From the spec of your machine I expect it to be the hard drive.

 

looking at the machine specs unless the hard drive is nearly full and or highly fragmented it should not slow the machine so much.

 

has a fresh windows 10 (without the bloat) install been done?

[4evermaat]

Nowadays, higher end laptops will have SSD that screws onto the motherboard M2 slot i think. So you can have 2 hard drives (usually SSD will have OS and software, HDD is storage)

 

There is MemoryToday in Fortune Town IT mall, 3rd floor

 

Also advice.co.th should be able to help with SSD upgrade. But memorytoday are memory and SSD/HDD specialists. And they will install new drive/ram right there free. Really handy if the slot/drive is way back there. Depends on the model's design. Ideally there is a rear panel to open up and access at least the RAM.

 

Also, buy nothing lower than 8th gen intel in 2018. Faster, likely to have more cores, and uses 25% less power. 7th gen only if you can get a steal of a price. You guys paying 25-40k for a new laptop; should be blazing fast out of the box. I've seen where the stores want to pass off older stuff to people who dont know better.

 

Sent from my ASUS_X00ID using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

[sikishrory]

41 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I run Linux Mint on my laptop, have not used Windows for years. What finally convinced me was the bootup time. 3 minutes in Windows 7, 50 seconds in Linux. And far fewer virus attacks. Hackers seem to target Windows more than any other OS.

Possibly a Linux or Ubuntu system would not fit the OP's requirements. For me, it does everything I need and I would rather swallow razor blades than struggle with Windows again.

is yours touch screen by any chance?

[ChouDoufu]

can you switch off automatic updates to see whether that is slowing your drive?

[atyclb]

2 hours ago, sikishrory said:

I bought a lenovo for 40,000 baht. Also a peice of shit I would like to throw at the wall. My guess is the hardware is fine but the software (windows 10) is the issue. Absolute lemon of an operating system. I could think of 100 reasons it sucks.

A good example of it being slow. I can download a large file of say 500mb or 1gb quite fast through a torrent client or usenet. However if I try to download a 50mb ebook which is handled by the actual windows OS rather than a client it is so slow. 50mb might take 10 - 15 mins.

If you want to test your hard drive just take it to any computer repair shop they will test it.

I would consider changing your OS to an earlier windows or linux or something. You can even run a ubuntu from a disk that could perhaps rule out some things. I would consider linux myself I am just not sure how it would run on a touch screen 2 in 1 like my crapbox lenovo.

 

 

besides macbooks, i have a lenoxo x1 carbon and it flies

[atyclb]

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-FX553VD-7700HQ-GTX-1050-Laptop-Review.213522.0.html              similar to yours but has an ssd in addition to hard disk