Bit Of A Laptop Dilema - ASUS Ryzen A17 17.3" - Update

[THE INTRANCER]

In the past week, I've been juggling between getting a new laptop to act as a portable desktop system and to be an upgrade (to my current I7 920 desktop system and current 2008 dual core laptop which just has 2 gigs of memory, my I7 920 desktop will have an upgrade in memory to 32 gigs by Monday cause memory was cheap for it) The ASUS was selling for around £100 cheaper including VAT and postage - £640 which I bought.

During which time I've been trying to decide if the issue with hinges being glued on to plastic, really is going to be a problem in actually breaking not just from the back end of the device but possibly the actual screen itself and one that after a years warrantee may result in me trying to fix myself or possibly have to go through the pain of contacting ASUS and trying to get them to accept responsibility to get repaired. This issue is not just a ASUS problem but bigger problem across many manufacturer brands with the exception of Apple and just one PC based one who have prices sky high for their products.

Today I had the ASUS A17 arrive at my door with it but I had to refuse to sign for it and told him the reason why. Logging in to my account I find that there is a re-delivery of it on Tuesday unless I contact Laptops Direct or the delivery firm to send it back. I didn't choose to keep and test it out as I would be charged a re-delivery fee.

This is the only configuration available in the UK at this price range for this size of screen.

ASUS TUF A17 AMD Ryzen 5 16GB RAM 512GB SSD RTX 2050 144Hz 17.3 Inch FHD Windows 11 Home Gaming Laptop
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asus-tu ... ersion.asp

To complicate things a bit, I decided to buy a cheaper laptop which is due to arrive on Monday, This has Thunderbolt 3 and a touchscreen and although slower, it's faster than my current I7 920 chip. The screen size is just 14" which is going to have to be connected to one of my 23" monitors to do any scripting / graphics work / music production.

It's a 2018 model, Lenovo ThinkPad T480s Touchscreen Business Laptop, 14" FHD (1920x1080), Intel Core i5-8350U Up to 3.6 GHz, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB SSD, US Keyboard, CAM, Bluetooth, Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DJ8R6PZN? ... asin_title

The Ryzen system is better spec wise for handling modern games and graphical applications is obviously the better option as a system minus Thunderbolt 3 and touchscreen capabilities, but again I'm reluctant to buy a laptop that is as fragile as the A17 Tuf and smaller screen sizes seem to be. Bigger screen means more weight / stress on the hinges I would imagine as well with a 17.3 screen. ASUS somehow thought it was a good idea to change from 4 screws to 3 screws to hold the hinge in place on the same model range which applies to the 2022 and 2023 versions.

My options are to hold onto the smaller 14" laptop that arrives and reject the A17 17 inch, whilst still keeping my current and established I7 920 desktop system which takes up half my room on a big table (not good) but has more ports and multi-monitor support (AMD RX570 8 gig) good for games and Photoshop.

I could just wait till next year to by a desktop replacement laptop. There might be better options and yes I know a Mac is an option but they are not really an option due to the price.

I guess I'm looking for an all metal durable laptop with hinges that are not just glued on which has a 17.3" screen and decent speed + connectivity ports, expandability (memory not solder to the mobo) at a reasonable price under £1000.

The though of having to mod hinges on the outside of a laptop has crossed my mind but I'm not sure if that would help matters. A DIY laptop enclosure made out of MDF even.

What do you guys / girls think I should do if you were me and with this Ryzen laptop? It's now £100 more now....humm

[uOpt]

The thing I can contribute here is that you can forget about Asus service. No way you would get a hinge breaking sorted with them.

[Steve Bolivar]

https://www.instructables.com/Laptop-Hi ... sus-Fx504/
Not the A17 but close enough so you'll know what to do. If it moves and it's not supposed to use JB Weld, if it's supposed to move and it doesn't use WD-40.
Get the A17 and when it breaks you'll have a cool story to tell and impress your friends.
Great question though. I have a 2023 TUF A16 and will be on the lookout for loose hinge screws. On the upside this looks to be such a widespread problem that there are already lots of videos on the fix, third party hinges and back-plates to fix it. By the time it happens the repair parts and process will be refined to perfection.
Good luck.

[THE INTRANCER]

https://www.instructables.com/Laptop-Hi ... sus-Fx504/
Not the A17 but close enough so you'll know what to do. If it moves and it's not supposed to use JB Weld, if it's supposed to move and it doesn't use WD-40.
Get the A17 and when it breaks you'll have a cool story to tell and impress your friends.
Great question though. I have a 2023 TUF A16 and will be on the lookout for loose hinge screws. On the upside this looks to be such a widespread problem that there are already lots of videos on the fix, third party hinges and back-plates to fix it. By the time it happens the repair parts and process will be refined to perfection.
Good luck.

That's good to know, thanks, if when the time comes to really buy one now. I've done a lot of comparison checking with what must be over 40 laptops over the past few weeks. I remember my impatience to upgrade to a new desktop PC when I was using the same laptop I still use today which took about a year and half from when I did buy that laptop till my eventual PC build in Jan 2010. That took about a year, but the thing is that, today it's still working like a trogen-horse with everything I've thrown at it and never broken down (my I7-920 system) and well it's whisper quiet too if not gaming. I've lowered the CPU power so it will help in the cost of the monthly bills a little. I think I'll just wait till next year before picking up a new candle laptop wise because there are a new range of GPU's with more memory and I think I'll have a better choice of configurations for a 17.3" screen to go along with that and maybe CPU's. Maybe there will be a better hinge design as well so screens don't crack but I'm holding my breath there I think.

My new mini laptop will tide my over by then which will be fun in seeing just how well Studio One 4.6 behaves with touchscreen functionality (never tried it before) and with more memory in my current desktop to give some more breathing room for applications on Monday.

I may find a better alternative than an ASUS laptop to buy which is all metal and has an Nvidia RTX graphics card. The RTX 5050 with 8 gigs seems like a likely option next year. That will match my current GPU memory I have right now.

Best 17-inch Laptops 2024: The top 4 big-screen laptops around:
https://www.trustedreviews.com/best/bes ... op-4252231

I found this which helped me come to some sort of decision.

[FranklyFlawless]

What do you guys / girls think I should do if you were me and with this Ryzen laptop? It's now £100 more now....humm

I would refuse to compromise on such a key component of my workflow and continue to seek other options.

https://www.instructables.com/Laptop-Hi ... sus-Fx504/

Same article on my Structables instance:

• Laptop Hinge Repair | Asus Fx504 - Structables

[Steve Bolivar]

I will be making use of that knowledge when it's time to repair the hinges on my A16.

[THE INTRANCER]

This is for the A15 model, the video is 4 and half years old now, but much of what is raised is I believe, no different in the design aspects of the models on sale today. And there is no mention of the hinge fixings to the plastic to metal grommets that are used to fix the screen to the base of the laptop. Details about the screen are covered as well as the cooling and noise. Having watched another video about the jet engines these models have, they are just too loud I think. The screen quality isn't great either and so I'll be looking for something better on a laptop. OLED seems to be the way forward.

[THE INTRANCER]

Ok a bit of an update:

I did cancel the order on the ASUS A17 a few weeks ago, it was sad that I had to do that but when I buy computer related hardware I want it to last more than a year or two without critical issues.

That said, buying refurbished computer hardware doesn't always mean you're gonna be quite as plain sailing as one would want. For me that was initially the case with the Touch Screen laptop which I highlighted above. The main USB C power connection is highly sensitive and requires the exact position for the laptop to be charged, I.E slightly angled. The best solution is really to use the next USB-C port that adjoins the Thunderbolt 3 port which is far more snug and secure fit.

In addition to this I secured the power cable which has a detachable USB like connection to the corner of the lid using a square plastic fixing plate that has a strong adhesive. I used plastic clips with metal pins to secure the cable connection around the connector port for added rigidity so the port wouldn't be susceptible to be becoming loose like the other one did. Having check out the internal circuitry I did discover that a screw was missing to that secures the USB-C circuit. I tried to fix this but ended up pushing the port so far down that the connection couldn't be put in. But that wasn't the primary reason for opening up the laptop in this instance.

I had to actually buy a new battery for the unit which cost 44 pounds, then figure out why it wasn't charging, doing BIOS resets with the battery removed, update and download Lenovo Battery monitoring software etc. Apart from all that, the laptop is working well now and it just happened that I didn't get sent an Intel I5 CPU model, I got instead sent an I7 8650U. The hinges are solid metal, and attached to a metal frame. There is no flex to the screen when moved from the corner either.

Other than the nice keypad which is back lit, it's pretty much an all metal construction although to be more specific: magnesium alloy, carbon fiber reinforced plastic. It's not really for gaming although the game Hurrican is a nice Turrican clone that runs well on it, but seeing the CPU shoot up to 4.2 Ghz was a bit of an eye opener and well you can certainly feel the heat through the keyboard when it's that high. I have cut the CPU power to 50% in the control panel settings and have a three 120mm cooling pad unit underneath. Right now the CPU is sitting around 25 degrees.

The touch screen is a nice thing to have when the mouse is not at hand and makes browsing the web a different experience. Using it in Studio One gives the program a different feel, it feels faster in some ways such as interacting with the browser. With two additional 23 inch displays I can use it's nice that I can pick one to see things better. Windows Pro 10 was also included and not the Home version as listed in the link above. Not entirely sure what difference that makes to things, but the OS loads superfast compared to my desktop and it's 500 Gig 7800 RPM drive. It's like 20-25 seconds from the power button press barring any updates, compared to 2 and half to 3 minutes and for everything to load in the background. It's great for FPS gaming once it has loaded though.

Next year I'll be looking at a laptop for gaming or some other solution that will be practical and small scale. A Mini PC perhaps.

My next purchase is going to be highlighted in my next thread/post. I need a new audio interface capable of using 4 inputs and outputs to connect two synthesizers into. I'm considering buying the Behringer U-PHORIA UMC404HD which looks to have everything I need and doesn't cost too much. I don't know if there is anything out there which can compete with better feature specs under 200 pounds.