Buying refurbished ASUS ROG: I need Your advice

yagathekitten

Prominent
Oct 14, 2017
4
0
510
Hello everyone!
I'm going to buy myself a laptop and I have found an ASUS ROG Strix GL553VD (IPS) at a much lower price than usual.
The reason of it's special price is that it had some issues:
- it has been bought by someone and returned to the shop within the first fifteen days since buying it ( you know, when you can test a laptop and return it back for no reason ) and from what I know, the hard drive has been working for total of 43 hours as for now.
- but most importantly it had it's motherboard and power module (power supply or something like this )
replaced by the manufacturer.
Also I'm getting a 2 years warranty from the manufacturer (and from the shop too) from the moment of purchase, but obviously, I'd like it to last me for longer than that, I mean for many years, without any major problems.
So, is it still worth buying? Does anyone have any experience with that model or has been in similar situation?
 
Solution
Well, taking a second look, I found the ASUS UK site shows some different specs on that unit for UK version. It still only shows a TN panel option, but while the US models show options for hard drive, SSD and PCIe SSD, the UK model only shows options for HD and SSD, no m.2 PCIe, so you'd better verify whether that does or does not have an m.2 slot.

It also only shows the i5 CPU option, as you said. But with a GTX 1050 it should be pretty capable. I'm really not seeing any bad reviews of this model anywhere either, so it might be a pretty solid investment.

Edit:

Actually, I found a review that indicates there may be issues with the lid, so you might want to find one to check out in person before deciding to buy.

When you first...
Does this unit have the the i7 or i5 option? How much are you going to get it for? Also, ASUS does not show any model of ASUS ROG Strix GL553VD that comes with an IPS panel. Both options shown are NT panels.

https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ROG-GL553VD/specifications/

Generally, I've found manufacturer refurbished electronics to usually be better than new products, because most often if the original line of products had any common issues that were found after retail sales of them began they will include the updated software or revised hardware that was found to be a correction of the issue. Plus, obviously they're less expensive, so if you're getting a full warranty as well I'm not sure how you can go wrong.
 

yagathekitten

Prominent
Oct 14, 2017
4
0
510


Hi,
Thanks for your response. It comes with i5 cpu, and its price is 848 euro or 1000 usd ( im from western Europe, so it is an approximate price ). Basically, the website says that it is IPS and a customer advisor also told me that it is IPS, but they might have some incorrect information. I'd also have to buy an additional internal ssd m.2 128 gb drive, because it comes with 1 tb hdd.
 
Well, taking a second look, I found the ASUS UK site shows some different specs on that unit for UK version. It still only shows a TN panel option, but while the US models show options for hard drive, SSD and PCIe SSD, the UK model only shows options for HD and SSD, no m.2 PCIe, so you'd better verify whether that does or does not have an m.2 slot.

It also only shows the i5 CPU option, as you said. But with a GTX 1050 it should be pretty capable. I'm really not seeing any bad reviews of this model anywhere either, so it might be a pretty solid investment.

Edit:

Actually, I found a review that indicates there may be issues with the lid, so you might want to find one to check out in person before deciding to buy.

When you first behold the Strix, named after a genus of predatory owls, you’ll notice that it’s a little less flashy than its predecessors. Like a sleek predator, the Strix conveys a sense of quiet power, of quality, and sophistication — despite its bright orange accents. It’s a refreshing change, a compromise between gaudy “gamer” styling and slick professional design, and it works. It’s clear this is a gaming laptop, but it’s not ostentatious or eye-rollingly over-the-top.

Unfortunately, some of that luster wears off once you close the lid for the first time, and apply even slight pressure to the back of the display. The metal plate on the back of the display, where the bright orange acrylic panels reside, snaps inward like a fresh-seal cap on a jar of jelly. Press on the back with less force than you’d use to push a key on the keyboard, and the aluminum pops like a Snapple lid.

At first, it looked like it might just be a design quirk. After all, a lot of laptops have some amount of give in the display lid, and can be bent to a degree. This is different. When even a minuscule amount of pressure is applied to the back of the laptop, the aluminum case pops inward hard enough to visibly bruise the interior of the LCD.

Imagine you have the Strix in your bag, or backpack, with a water bottle, travel mug, or even a couple pens in an adjacent pocket. Any amount of pressure placed on the back of the laptop causes the lid to pop inward and put pressure on the LCD. Over time, you might even inadvertently cause serious damage to the screen simply by putting the laptop through the rigors of a daily commute.

To find out if this was simply a manufacturer defect, or a design flaw, we took a closer look at the culprit. The metal plate on the back of the Strix has two creases where the metal was bent to create an accent effect for the orange acrylic inserts. It looks nice, and adds some aesthetic appeal to the striated metal back plate. But those creases also create the structural flaw which causes the Snapple-lid effect.

So, this isn’t a one-off factory defect. This is a problem that will affect the entire product line, and it’s something you need to check out in person if you’re considering this laptop.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/asus-rog-strix-gl553vd-ds71-review/
 
Solution