Laptop failure with authorised repair centre

[Nerfherder]

So my wife has a Asus Zen Book laptop, its just under 2 years old. The other day it started doing this weird thing where it would not start up and would just stay on what looks like the Asus bios boot screen.
I did all the usual battery pull and hard reset and nothing changed.

After playing with it for a day I was unable to boot into any diagnostic or Bios menu. So I assumed the worse that it was a mother board failure and found an approved Asus repair centre to drop it off.
I get the quote a few days later and it says SSD fault and they can replace for 4k ? Minus 450 that I have already put down for deposit.

Now the weird thing is that I can't even find a 500 gig SDD that expensive never mind they are quoting for a 256 gig.
The old me would have definitely done this myself but I'm worried by the fact that I couldn't even get into the BIOS. I'm also not sure how I'm supposed to get the windows licence key for this device and will I need a special image with the drivers pre loaded ?

I feel like I'm getting shafted here but are they really charging me more than 3k to install a drive and windows ?
What am I missing ? Is there another ultra small SSD that this laptop could be using ? The compactness of this laptop frightens me, its just a bit bigger than a Mac book Air.

EDIT: Its a Zen book

 

[Exaelea]

SSD might be soldered onto the motherboard.. could explain the cost to replace, otherwise they shafting you.

If its windows 10 then the key is in the Bios, just install and it will activate (also will activate automatically online regardless if key is in or not and it was activated prior without a laptop board change). Or if it was Windows 7/8 and you upgraded then it will just automatically activate as the key would be bound to hardware config (still allows for multiple drive/ram changes without losing activation)

 

[Mystic Twilight]

You're getting shafted pretty hard if you have a bios failure and the solution is an ssd swap.

 

[ArmatageShanks]

Just give your wife the quote, do DIY and spend the rest on bottles of captain for yourself.

 

[Rickster]

So my wife has a Asus Pro book laptop, its just under 2 years old. The other day it started doing this weird thing where it would not start up and would just stay on what looks like the Asus bios boot screen.
I did all the usual battery pull and hard reset and nothing changed.

After playing with it for a day I was unable to boot into any diagnostic or Bios menu. So I assumed the worse that it was a mother board failure and found an approved Asus repair centre to drop it off.
I get the quote a few days later and it says SSD fault and they can replace for 4k ? Minus 450 that I have already put down for deposit.

Now the weird thing is that I can't even find a 500 gig SDD that expensive never mind they are quoting for a 256 gig.
The old me would have definitely done this myself but I'm worried by the fact that I couldn't even get into the BIOS. I'm also not sure how I'm supposed to get the windows licence key for this device and will I need a special image with the drivers pre loaded ?

I feel like I'm getting shafted here but are they really charging me more than 3k to install a drive and windows ?
What am I missing ? Is there another ultra small SSD that this laptop could be using ? The compactness of this laptop frightens me, its just a bit bigger than a Mac book Air.

What's the model number lol.

 

[Nerfherder]

What's the model number lol.

Of the laptop ? UX330UA-FB287T

 

[Nerfherder]

You're getting shafted pretty hard if you have a bios failure and the solution is an ssd swap.

Ye, well that's how I'm feeling.

I called them and they say its the price of the drive they get from Asus. I'm sure they add for time there but I know its not 3k worth.

 

[Nerfherder]

SSD might be soldered onto the motherboard.. could explain the cost to replace, otherwise they shafting you.

If its windows 10 then the key is in the Bios, just install and it will activate (also will activate automatically online regardless if key is in or not and it was activated prior without a laptop board change). Or if it was Windows 7/8 and you upgraded then it will just automatically activate as the key would be bound to hardware config (still allows for multiple drive/ram changes without losing activation)

This is my worry. I opened it up and couldn't even see the drive so was a bit concerned I'd need special tools to get to it.

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

Those Zenbooks use a M.2 SSD...it looks like a RAM module.

And it's expensive indeed...

 

[Nerfherder]

What's the model number lol.

Ok after googling I can see its a very specific drive but its still a normal price.

 

[ponder]

I feel like I'm getting shafted here but are they really charging me more than 3k to install a drive and windows ?
What am I missing ? Is there another ultra small SSD that this laptop could be using ? The compactness of this laptop frightens me, its just a bit bigger than a Mac book Air.

You are getting shafted without lube.

ASUS ZenBook UX330UA | Laptops | ASUS South Africa

The feather-light 1.2kg ZenBook UX330 is a supremely elegant, 13.5mm-thin, all-metal laptop with up to 12 hours battery life.

www.asus.com

Storage
Solid State Drives:
512GB SATA3 M.2 SSD
Solid State Drives:
256GB SATA3 M.2 SSD

It uses an M.2 ssd, held in with one small screw.

According to Crucial it's the standard M.2 Type 2280 size, Interface - SATA 6.0GB/s

Follow this guide to step 4 then jump to steps 10 & 11, https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Asus+ZenBook+UX330U+SSD+Replacement/126619

or

 

[Nerfherder]

You are getting shafted without lube.

ASUS ZenBook UX330UA | Laptops | ASUS South Africa

The feather-light 1.2kg ZenBook UX330 is a supremely elegant, 13.5mm-thin, all-metal laptop with up to 12 hours battery life.

www.asus.com

It uses an M.2 ssd, held in with one small screw.

According to Crucial it's the standard M.2 Type 2280 size, Interface - SATA 6.0GB/s

Follow this guide to step 4 then jump to steps 10 & 11, https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Asus+ZenBook+UX330U+SSD+Replacement/126619

or

Yes, I realised after googling I was definitely being shafted.

I'm going to be harsh about this and try my self, If I fail I'll unashamedly take it to them again to fix. I lose the R450 "quote deposit" but worth risking if I can get the same drive (or better) for under R1k.

I'll create a windows 10 boot disk tonight, order from takalot and pick the laptop in the morning.

 

[ponder]

Yes, I realised after googling I was definitely being shafted.

I'm going to be harsh about this and try my self, If I fail I'll unashamedly take it to them again to fix. I lose the R450 "quote deposit" but worth risking if I can get the same drive (or better) for under R1k.

I'll create a windows 10 boot disk tonight, order from takalot and pick the laptop in the morning.

Make sure you get the ssd back and all the screws & feet are still there.

Also boot from a linux usb and see if you can access the ssd, maybe there's just some corruption etc.

 

[garyc]

I recently did an SSD upgrade of an older Zenbook, very easy process. https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/pics-of-your-rig.154155/post-25473835

If you want to check out their diagnosis of it being the SSD at fault, you can boot off a Linux USB drive and see if this is the problem.

 

[Nerfherder]

EIsh

So I ordered a new SSD and declined their quote.

I just picked up the laptop and I still can't get into BIOS. This is really annoying now.

I'm getting really suspicious because the manager saw that I rejected the quote and offered me a R1000 discount which is still R1000 more than what I would pay for a new drive myself. I then asked him again, is it just the drive that is not working, are the MB and ram OK ? He said yes and handed over the laptop.

Flipping hell. I'll play around with it by removing the drive and see if its some how preventing me getting into the BIOS menu.... otherwise its going to be me going back again tomorrow.

 

[airborne]

Those Zenbooks use a M.2 SSD...it looks like a RAM module.

And it's expensive indeed...

I'm pretty sure I've seen plenty 2hnd 256GB M2 SSD's on bidorbuy, if I recall they go for the same as Sata, around R600 for a 256GB

 

[TheMightyQuinn]

I'm pretty sure I've seen plenty 2hnd 256GB M2 SSD's on bidorbuy, if I recall they go for the same as Sata, around R600 for a 256GB

I would never buy any 2nd hand hardware, even less so a 2nd hand SSD...

 

[airborne]

I would never buy any 2nd hand hardware, even less so a 2nd hand SSD...

Wtf??
I've bought plenty 2hnd hardware incl SSD's, Memory, 4G modules and I've had zero issues thus far. Actually with 256Gb SSD's I've noticed they are often sold in near new condition because a laptop was upgraded almost out the box to a higher capacity drive.

 

[Dairyfarmer]

I would never buy any 2nd hand hardware, even less so a 2nd hand SSD...

.... especially of BoB

 

[gregmcc]

I'm getting really suspicious because the manager saw that I rejected the quote and offered me a R1000 discount

Jeez. This is theft. Bunch of con artists.