Notebook Trio: ASUS A8JS and G2P and ABS Mayhem Z5

Support and Warranty

There are only a few things left to discuss before we wrap up this article. While we have saved discussion of the support and warranty service offered by ASUS and ABS for last, it is definitely not less important than the other factors. In fact, warranty and support are in many ways one of the most important factors to consider when purchasing a laptop. Where it is relatively easy to build your own desktop system and repair/replace parts as necessary if anything should break down, laptops are inherently prone to a lot more abuse and they are much more difficult (and expensive) to get repaired. For any moderately expensive laptop, we would strongly encourage buyers to consider getting an extended warranty. If you can get a warranty that covers the replacement of the LCD as well, so much the better, although at that point you may be looking at $400 extra in warranty costs. The alternative is that you risk damaging your laptop and turning it into an expensive paperweight, or at the very least getting stuck with a relatively large repair bill. Of course, getting an extended warranty doesn't do you much good if the service provided is of poor quality.

The good news is that we didn't have any problems with any of the laptops breaking down during testing, but that really isn't all that uncommon, as most laptops will usually last at least a year before they start having problems. In order to test the service department, we placed anonymous calls to the companies and reported hardware issues and asked for a replacement. Both companies were easy to deal with, and in both cases all we needed to do was provide them with our sales order number and they would send us the RMA information. We didn't actually have a sales order, so of course we couldn't test turnaround time for getting something replaced. However, the fact that both ABS and ASUS talked with us for 10-15 minutes without us providing them with an order number is a good sign. In the case of ABS, they also agreed to cross ship a replacement battery when we reported battery problems.

Without owning and testing a laptop from either company for months or perhaps years, it is difficult to gauge the true level of support end-users might receive. Our initial experience however leads us to believe that they will provide warranty coverage with a minimum of hassle. The phone was answered in a prompt manner every time we placed a call, and the technicians we spoke with from both companies seem to be reasonably well informed. ASUS' phone service was actually exceptional, as we were actually speaking with a real person in less than a minute every time we called, and we didn't have to wade through a bunch of computer menus first. ABS took a bit longer to answer at about 3-5 minutes, but that's still a lot better than what we have encountered at a few other companies where hold times can easily be longer than 15 minutes.

Answering the phone promptly and providing reasonable technical support is a good place to start, but not everything is "perfect" in support land. Neither company offers 24/7 technical support, although you can always send an email and wait for a response. ASUS phone support hours for notebooks are from Mon-Fri 6:00AM-6:00PM PST and technical support is available Mon-Fri 5:30AM-9:00PM and Sat.-Sun. 6:00AM-3:00PM. That's really not too bad, as you at least get the opportunity to call technical support every day of the week, but if you predominantly use your notebook at night that could be a bit more difficult, especially for anyone on the East Coast. ABS' support hours are even more limited: Mon-Fri 8:30AM-7:30PM PST, and Sat. 8:30AM-5:30PM PST. If you want 24/7 support, you'll basically need to purchase a laptop from a major OEM or else purchase a separate support contract.

The other factor in the warranty/support equation is how long the warranty lasts. Unfortunately, in the case of ABS the standard warranty is one year only, and as far as we can tell there's no way to get an extended warranty from them. That's a pretty critical flaw, as the first year of use is likely to be the most trouble-free. ASUS does better, offering a standard two-year warranty, and after registering your notebook (within the first 90 days after purchase) you get an additional one-year warranty bringing the total to three years. This two (or three) year global warranty comes standard on all ASUS notebooks starting in 2006, and it's difficult to complain about a three-year standard warranty. The cost of this warranty is already included in the price of any ASUS notebook, so while they may cost a bit more than roughly equivalent models from other companies, once you factor in the need to purchase an extended warranty for most other laptop manufacturers, the final price is about the same as what ASUS is charging. For ABS, we can only recommend that they set up some form of warranty extension package, and give the users the decision on whether or not they want to pay extra to get that service. As it stands, we would be very nervous about purchasing a high-end laptop that could break down any time after the first year and leave us stuck with the repair bill.