I was in love. With my laptop. My Asus Zenbook was the most beautiful laptop I’d ever had. I’d had the earlier model for a few years and tragically had it stolen in 2014. Then I replaced it with the newer model, the Asus Zenbook UX303L (Hey Asus, if you’re reading this – suberb branding with the name Zenbook, but maybe try harder on the model name next time). It wasn’t long before I had fallen in love all over again with my new Asus Zenbook, upgraded and updated. But again, it wasn’t meant to last…
Asus Zenbook – The Glory Days
I was always getting compliments on my Asus Zenbook. People loved it, and I loved it too. It was fast, sleek, portable, and gorgeous. The i7 processor and 8GB of RAM took on Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Chrome (usually with 10+ tabs open), Excel, and OneNote all running simultaneously – no problem. It was cool and quiet. Zen, if you will.
Photo by Intel in Deutschland under CC BY-SA 2.0
My laptop and I had traveled to India together, and London, DC, Philly, Boston, and finally, California. Even in Hawaii I was toting my Asus Zenbook between volcano hikes and reef dives. I didn’t travel anywhere without it. I used it everywhere from my couch at home to my Fort Kochi guesthouse in India to my seat in coach at 30,000 feet.
Lily was a frequent contributor to my keystrokes.
When I dug out the vacuum and unscrewed the bottom cover to give my Zenbook a good clean, I was surprised to find not a single dog hair or bit of foreign matter had found its way inside.
The 256 GB solid state drive let me save large files in a breeze. But more importantly, it gave me peace of mind that my documents were safe – not likely to be erased or corrupted from a run-in with a pock-marked road or an overly-zealous TSA agent. I wouldn’t have even considered a laptop for travel unless it had a solid state drive.
But my love affair with my Asus Zenbook was about to take a dark turn.
Photo by Jan-Willem Reusink under CC BY 2.0
The Beginning of the End
One day I noticed that the lid on my Zenbook was a little askew, and didn’t line up with the body when it was closed.
I did some research and hoped that it was just a loose hinge. I looked up a fix on YouTube, and opened up my laptop for some surgical repair. It seemed like a simple fix – just tighten the screw on the hinge and it would be good as new.
But when I opened it up, the screws on the hinge were fine. I looked further and found that there was a plastic piece inside the hinge connecting the body to the display that had snapped. This was after just 14 months of use, 2 months out of warranty.
See how the hinge is not flush with the body and there is a little black plastic piece sticking out? That piece is supposed to be inside the laptop.
Why would Asus make that piece plastic? Plastic breaks with repeated wear. Like the kind of repeated wear you expect with an ultra-portable laptop. The worst part – the plastic piece was fused to the display, so to fix it would mean ordering an entirely new display and hinge. Naturally, I decided to live with it and hope it didn’t get worse.
But of course, it got worse.
Asus Zenbook – You’re Too Young to Die
The broken plastic piece prevented the left side of the hinge from following the movement of the display, while the other side of the hinge would open normally. Every time I closed the laptop, the left side of the hinge would remain partially open unless I manually pushed it back into place. The torsion from opening and closing the hinge with one side moving and the other stationary exacerbated the problem. Soon, I could see a gaping hole into the hinge every time I opened my Zenbook.
Things even started to poke out.
Other components in the hinge started to break and every time I opened the lid I would hear a loud “POP”. Eventually the left side of the screen was completely detached.
That was when I knew I had better back up my shit and research my options.
Option 1: Asus Customer Support.
I was out of the 1 year warranty period (by a mere 3 months, at this point). No help from Asus. They said I could send it in for repairs at an estimated $690 not to mention the cost to ship it to their repair center. A repair time of 8-10 business days plus shipping time would mean that I would be without a laptop for a minimum of 3 weeks. I’d get it back right around the time my PhD thesis was due. Wonderful.
Option 2: Tech Help Desk at Work
The University of Minnesota has a help desk in their tech store that will do out-of-warranty repairs for PCs and Macs. I brought in my sad, pre-maturely aging beauty, but was sent packing in less than a minute. One look at the hinge and a glance at my touchscreen display and they said it was out of their hands – that I was better off going through Asus. Ha.
Option 3: Computer Repair Shop
Determined to save my baby, I tried one last place that some work friends recommended. They’d had laptops and phones repaired at a shop for a fair price and quick turn-around time so I was optimistic. But alas, my PC got its final diagnosis. I needed an entire new display (because remember, it is fused to that plastic piece) but none of their suppliers had the parts. Again, I was sent packing.
So there I was, with a powerful, gorgeous, top-of-the-line Asus Zenbook that I paid $1,300 for, brought down by a broken little piece of plastic.
Asus, you beautiful piece of shit.
Here’s hoping it can hang on long enough for my replacement (not an Asus!) to arrive.
Do you have an Asus Zenbook? Has yours held up?
The links in this post are here so you can see the laptop and its specs, but in case it wasn’t clear already, I AM NOT RECOMMENDING YOU BUY IT! DON’T BUY THIS LAPTOP. I KNOW IT’S BEAUTIFUL BUT IT WILL BETRAY YOU!
Oh but if you do buy something else after clicking through the link, I’ll get a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping fund my replacement. 😉
No way, that’s shitty! I am working on the new Apple Macbook – had it for 12 months, travelled loads with it and it still seems to be going strong.
I know, so sad! Glad yours is holding up to the test!
Dear Sonja,
I’m Maria from Romania. Same problem happened to me. Asus don’t want to fix it on warranty.
I have exactly the same problem. Beautiful piece of shitt.
Ugh nooo! I’m so sorry.
Same problem, luckily happened last year just in the “accidental” warranty. Now just waiting for it to happen again.
Sucks for ASUS that they couldn’t be more ethical and actually admit fault and issue a recall. I know I will never buy another ASUS computer in my life as I’m sure many others who bought this “beautiful POS” would agree.
Seems like more and more people are having this problem! Lucky it happened for you inside the warranty. Maybe they installed a better one when they repaired yours? Hopefully? ugh.
Same problem here with a S500c. same left side hinge.
Ugh another one! Are you in the warranty still?
Exactly the same problem here too. I’m going to try using some sort of plastic solvent to recreate the piece that snapped off – will take photos of the repair in progress and let you know how it goes (if successful)!
Good luck! I hope it works! And I wish the US had a similar law for consumers but I don’t think they do. You might be able to get your money back though!
Also, bear this in mind: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/11296784/Shops-accused-of-denying-six-year-warranty-right.html
Ahh… My laptop is the same now too 🙁 don’t have warranty 🙁 what should I do?
If you’ve already contacted Asus and they won’t do anything for you, then I think you’re out of luck like I was. I would be hesitant to pay to fix it since there’s a good chance it will just happen again in a year or so. I cut my losses and bought a Lenovo Yoga. Love it so far.
Dear Sonja, thanks for your post. I just had the same problem, went through the exact same problem. Unfortunately I’m out of warranty and there’s no way I’ll pay half of the price of the computer to fix it.
Lesson learned tho!
Ugh I’m sorry, this sucks! Are you going to buy a different one?
Same story, 13th month. Well not exactly the same in fact: I don’t travel. My laptop barely got out of my home a dozen times. All my friends know I was paranoid about keeping the hinge safe but my precautions were not enough.
In France we have a law that makes it mandatory to replace or repair a product if it broke because of a design flaw until 2 years after buying it. I know how Asus will answer: “not a design flaw!” but I’m looking into it..
Let me know how they handle it. I’d be curious if they’d do anything if enough people came forward.
Same issue here. Hinge completely failed at 10 months. Really ASUS? The store I bought it from would send it in for warranty repair, which would take several weeks… or refund my money minus the extended warranty and tax. I took the refund and bought a trusty HP. Not nearly as cool or lightweight. But it has dang good hinges!
Ugh! It sucks! I’m glad it happened within your warranty period at least. I did the same thing when looking for a replacement – hinge durability was priority #1!
This is pathetic, everyone makes fun of Apple and its fanboys all the time, but honestly Zenbooks were the only line of ultrabooks that could directly compete with Macbooks, I even wanted to get one for my girlfriend as she needs a Windows-based machine but out of my 3 friends who have had them – every single one had this hinge problem.
If it was Apple there would be most likely a worldwide replacement program, I used to have an old Canon PowerShot A70 with faulty matrix and Canon has been replacing these FOR FREE 8 YEARS (!) out of warranty, if Asus won’t target this issue I’d say it’s a scam.
Oh, besides Zenbooks there are also XPSes by Dell, so you might want to try them if you don’t want / don’t like Apple. I’ll stick to the last one, but don’t get the 2016 Pro version, wait for second revision, it’s shitty too :/
EXACTLY what happened to mine! Very angry!
Horrible!
I have a Samsung Series 7 Ultrabook – also a beautiful piece of work. Same problem though. Unfortunately getting Samsung laptop parts in South Africa (which is where I’m currently living) is impossible unless I import (from China) which takes forever because SA customs are the worst. I’ve already tried dealing with them when ordering a replacement power supply, which wasn’t a fun experience. The whole things is making me consider switching to Mac because, when traveling, I can always count on there being an Apple store in almost every country I go to. Despite the high prices, I think it’s worth it. My boyfriend’s laptop (Macbook Pro) has held up way longer than mine.
Anyway – I came across your blog because I was about to purchase a Zenbook but now I think I’ve changed my mind. Thanks. 🙂
Dealing with repairs and replacement is the worst! Glad I could steer you away from the Zenbook. Good luck with your replacement!
+1, just out of warranty…
🙁
Same here, but I ordered the replacement lid, not screen, but just the lid and replaced it myself for $125. Now I need a replacement Wifi antenna.
Interesting! I don’t think that was an option according to the repair people I talked to, but maybe they just didn’t know what they were talking about? Good for you for figuring out a cheap fix and doing it yourself!
Where did you find the lid to purchase?
I have just purchased one (UX303UB) about two weeks ago. Starting to get worried from reading about all these bad experiences. My options include: outright return for refund (@ 10% restocking fee), exchange for a different model, buy extended (3 yrs.) warranty for about $200. or just keep it and take my chances.
Also heard Asus has fixed hinge related problems with their newer products.
Decision…..decision, what should I do?
The hinge looks the same from the outside at least. I’d either keep it and treat it very delicately (always open the lid carefully without creating any torsion on the hinge) or return it and buy something different. I’m loving the Lenovo Yoga 900 so far.
Apparently the inside plastic device has now been replaced with a newly designed hinge system.
So here’s to hope, I’ll keep it and as you suggested “be very careful with it”.
BTW Lenovo Yoga 900 looks pretty sharp too!
See here:
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/Asus-ZenBook-UX303UB.htm
I also have just the exact same problem at 13 months. Obviously, it’s a poor design. I really loved my laptop for its functionality but the way ASUS uses plastic piece to hold the metal hinge pretty much guarantee it will break eventually and as Sonja mentioned, you can’t fix it unless you replace the whole display piece which is $$$. Also, what you see in Paul’s link above as a new design is exactly what I see inside my laptop .. so no ASUS has not addressed yet the issue. I hope someone would successfully arrange class lawsuit — surely you’ll find many consumers out there joining the case.
I have a UX303UB. The exact same problem happened and now the hinge is broken. I also got the same quoted price of $690, but the customer service guy says it *might* not be as expensive as that, so I’m planning on sending it over for the actual cost.
pretty sure it’s engineered obsolescence. the old zenbooks did not have this problem.
I just encountered the same issue with the same model and will try to repair it myself.
right now, the top ultrabooks are probably surface pro 4 and xps 13. i’m not sure if i’ll sell this and swap now or just use it until it’s done.
Good luck with the repair! I’m very impressed.
Sonja, I found an excellent working repair. Use epoxy. I shared it on Quora. ASUS tried to quote me some ridiculous amount too after I sent it in for RMA. I thought epoxy would be troublesome but it’s actually pretty easy. Just make sure it’s applied cleanly.
https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-fix-the-hinge-on-an-Asus-laptop/answer/Kuroha-Kami?srid=LhT7
Just had the exact same problem a mere 2 days out of the Asus 1 year warranty. Thank Goodness I purchased this through COSTCO which added another year of coverage with the price. I sent them the pictures they requested a couple of days ago and am waiting for a reply. Verbally, I was assured it would be covered. I am so appreciative to Sonja for sharing her story and for all the replies; especially the comment by Paul about the “fix”. I will try and insist on this latest “fix” from Asus to be applied in my case. At this juncture, I don’t think I will buy another Asus product. Why would they do such damage to their brand with a dumb piece of plastic vs. a quality part especially where it would be heavily stress tested; sad! :-/
Ugh another one! I had no idea when I posted this article that it would be such a common problem. I’m glad you have the extra protection through Costco. Hope they can replace the part with something stronger and not just the same piece of shit.
Yup. Same thing happened to my zenbook after 6 months and the laptop never leaves my desk. Incredibly pissed off. I have contacted a lawyer who does class action law suits, and have spoken to him several times,but he is referring me to another legal team better set up to handle plaintiff class action suits.My laptop was only 6 months old when the right hinge shit the bed. It has been sent off to Asus under warranty. When i called Asus to get an RMA# the guy asked me what the problem was with the zenbook, and i told him the right hinge is broken off, i heard him utter under his breath…”oh god”….So now i wait. I paid over $1200 for this laptop due to its discrete graphics card so i am not about to forget about this. It makes me sick that Asus is trying to slide this under the rug,and its been happening for years now. I did my research and this is nothing new.First and last Asus i buy.
WOW I am shocked that it even breaks under such low-stress conditions! Jeez! I’d be very interested in hearing how the class action suit comes along. As you can see from the comments, there are many many people that have had this issue! Please update here if something does come about!
Yes. I treated the laptop with kid gloves. One morning i go to open it and CRACKKKK. 🙁 The lawyer is calling me today to refer this to another legal team. Hopefully something can be done. Its a pretty sad state. I was looking at the pic you posted and mine was almost identical except on the right side. Not quite as severe but only because after it happened the laptop remained open at all times. Will keep you posted.
What did you end up replacing it with? I really like the specs and look of the Zenbooks, but don’t want to chance the hinge issue.
I replaced it with the Yoga 900 last April and I love it! The hinge is a beast (and very low profile) and I love the look and feel of the yoga. No complaints so far.
It’s absolutely appalling how so many people have had this very same problem, myself included.
Bought the Zenbook 303LN in February of 2015; the hinge (and, subsequently, screen glass and internal wi-fi adapter) broke in December of that year. The laptop was still under warranty, but wasn’t covered due to the problem being “physical damage.” Would’ve had to pay half again as much as the laptop itself to have it repaired, so I didn’t bother.
A friend of mine owns another ASUS laptop (the K555, not a Zenbook), which is also on the verge of death by hinge breakage.
Lesson learned, at a thousand-dollar price tag. Sticking to Dell and (I̶B̶M̶)Lenovo from now on.
Lenovo all the way! I got the yoga 900 when my ASUS crapped out on me and so far so good! The hinge is like armor!
Happened to me too. Arrrghhhhhh
🙁
I had the same problem. fixed by using a kind of glue.when you mix two different liquids and wait few minutes it becomes a plastic. now it is okey but i am not sure how long will it work.
Epoxy? Hope it lasts for you!
Well. The lawyer did call back with another legal team but that team neglected to call me at all. Im thinking there is no money in it for lawyers to bother with it. In the mean time i sent my broken zenbook in for repair and have it back with new hinges. So far so good. I dont know if they changed anything internally as the hinge looks identical. Its under warranty until July 2017 so we will see. I am surprised that no one in the US has filed a lawsuit against Asus,obviously this has been going on for a long time.
Sounds like all we can do is spread the word and boycott Asus. I know I won’t be buying from them again.
Great post! Having your laptop break especially the laptop you use to work while you travel is no fun. Luckily I haven’t had this issue with my current laptop. Taking it to a local repair shop is often the quickest and easiest option to get it fixed. Thanks for sharing.
No fun at all. And the repair shop couldn’t help me this time around.
+1. Problem started within months of purchase. I didn’t realize what it was. How serious it was. Being able to still use the laptop, and my unwillingness to have to deal with another customer support/return & repair ordeal, I put off doing anything about it….until now. I sit outside of warranty with a $1,300 beautiful piece of shit! What’s even more disheartening is the response, or lack of, from Asus. It only took me 20 min to find out this is NOT an isolated case. Not by far! So Don’t tell me Asus is unaware. They just don’t care enuf to remedy it.
Their loss! This type of customer service experience gets passed on. And on. And on. For I have no hesitancy to speak ill of my experience with ASUS, their response to the problem, and their genuine lack of any attempt at a half-ass acceptable solution. I’ll tell 10-15 people. They tell 10-15 people….too bad ASUS. Your loss. I am now strongly discouraging ANYBODY from purchasing an ASUS product. And will continue to do so as long as Asus still manufactures beautiful pieces of shit.
Oh yeah Asus definitely knows about it. They just don’t have the good customer service to remedy the situation. Wouldn’t be surprised if they intentionally switched a lot of their parts to plastic knowing that it would cut costs and the lifetime, forcing people to replace their laptops prematurely. I think if the pieces broke around the 3 or 4 year mark they probably could have gotten away with it too.
another one bites the dust. I really loved this UX303LB laptop that lasted almost two years. And now I’m trying to figure out if I can buy the cover for the screen and new hinges to do repairs myself. i’m waiting to finish my nice letter asus with cc’s to any consumer rights entity and BBB — just as soon as i find out if it can be fixed or will become a sad broken backup machine sitting in the corner.
The repair looked extremely difficult without having any replacement parts. It’s always tough with these compact electronics because everything is hidden and inaccessible. I opened mine up and still couldn’t really do much.
on the upside….. I found a really cool travel blog!!!
😀
I feel your pain! My zenbook didn’t even travel. It was just sitting at home and used maybe twice a week because my classes hadn’t started yet when the right side hinge cracked. It was within the warranty but when they gave it back to me, the metal part was still visibly out of shape and the staff said that this was the best they could do before accusing me of “not opening the laptop properly” and opening and closing the laptop too frequently.
That’s really bad! At least I know I used mine a ton. I’d be so furious if I hadn’t even used it much. Well, I was still furious, but you know…
FIXED it! I purchased an ASUS UX303L Touch-Screen back cover from eBay, and some new hinges. They arrived within two days and on the third day I had replaced the lid with the broken hinges for about $125 in about 1.5 hours (after watching different youtube videos on how to replace hinges and remove LED screen). Its the same set up with the cover’s plastic frame that the hinges attach to – so who knows how long it will last. I will be extra careful and vigilant not to put any undue stress on the hinges — Meanwhile, I’ll start saving $$ for lenovo Yoga 910. Good luck to all of you dealing with broken hinges on an ASUS Zenbook!
i want to buy them too! could you please send me the link where you bought it? Thank you very much 🙂
Same here! Mine just broke (although I’m in my third year of owning the laptop). Will see if I can glue it or so. The laptop is still too good to throw it away, but too old to invest too much money in repairing it.
Next time it will be a Dell XPS for me – that is beautiful beast.
I had the exact same problem with the same model. Luckily, it was still under warranty, so I sent it to their repair center and got it back in under a week. I love Zenbooks, but it’s a shame that such an expensive laptop breaks after only a year because of poor material… If it breaks again, I won’t have warranty anymore.
Hi, I bought this laptop here in Amsterdam and confess had hardly used it because I basically used the desktop I had. However today this lap which is still pretty unused started to have the same problem you described with the hinge. I am already out of the warranty.
By reading yours and everyone’s comments above, it seems that Asus should have just conducted a recall since this is a failure in their product. What a pity now that I have a new laptop which is already broken …
Just to officially add myself to the list of alienated customers… I have the very same problem — three months after warranty. Despite several documented cases the support states they never heard of that issue before.
I had the exact same thing happen, Hinge was designed to take advantage of us gullible people, The computer for me now basically only functions as a desktop without ever closing the lid. So sad. I am debating whether to go with a Surface or a XPS 13 or something else moving forward. Buyer beware, these ASUS UX303’s are all PIECES OF SH**!!
Hello.
Same problem at our company, with ALL 20 of them.
Luckily, almost all of them cracked on the first 24 month of warranty.
Now, there is one with the same problem, but just out of warranty by 2 months, and Asus service partner wants to charge me for repair.
Shouldn’t Asus recall all of their laptops with this problem, or fix them for free anytime regardless the warranty status?!
Same problem also to me….
I found this, home made radical solution….
I’ll try it.
https://lab.whitequark.org/notes/2014-03-22/fixing-hinge-mount-on-asus-ux32vd/
Anyway no more Asus
I just bought the UX303LN last week used/refurbished and this blog is one of the top hits for the hinge problem for some reason! There sure are a lot of comments. I’m guessing the hinge broke for the poor sap who owned this the first time around as the wifi antennas were flipped to the wrong side by whomever fixed it (looks like they replaced the frame cheaply as the lid is still scratched).
I had an idea to save the laptop from destroying itself by loosening the nuts on the hinges so that it’s just tight enough to keep the dispay up while I use the touchscreen but it’s super loose enough that there’s no torsional stress on the plastic bits inside the display I’d recommend people try that if they are afraid of their hinges breaking.
This is the last time I have ever purchased ASUS. This happened to me as well and even though i had an international warranty ASUS refused to fix or replace it under the pretense that it was a physical damage, thus, warranty would not be applicable. After a long dispute and fight I abandoned all attempts of trying to talk sense to asus customer service…
I bought a zenbook in August 2014. By September 2014, I was having issues with it, which I can’t recall right now. I sent it in to have it fixed. It was returned to me. Then it broke down again, for a different reason. I sent it in and it was returned to me again. Both were software/os issues. But, after a year, the left hinge broke. And my laptop went through every single stage that you described in your blog. Mine is now completely unhinged from both the left side and the right side, and can’t even stand up by itself unless I put something behind it to prop it up. I paid a thousand bucks for this and had it break down 3 times within a year….and I barely even used it. I will never ever buy another Asus laptop again. I usually buy laptops every 3 years since Im in the tech field and like to keep up to date with new stuff. But this was just a waste of my money. I always warn everyone to stay away form Asus products. Do they even know how much business they are losing? or do they not care because they are successful already?
I found your site after googling asus zenbook broken hinge. I thought I was the only one having this problem. I’ve owned many laptops in the past and this is the first time i’ve had a hinge break. The zenbook is all premium aluminum on the outside with cheap plastic on the inside. This will be the first and last time I buy a asus laptop. I agree it’s a piece of shit!
Very relatable. Luckily mine broke within the accidental protection period.
Just putting it out there as well, my UX303 broke, 1 month after the warranty expired. I wish there had been legal pressure put on Asus to resolve this.
I am having the same problem now. Mine is not even that “OVERUSED” yet since I only brought it once in a cafe. I usually use it at home and today I just heard a crack while I’m opening the lid of the laptop. I usually leave it open even if I am not using it. It is not as bad as the one that was posted here but its getting there.. T.T The other problem is that I don’t have a warranty for his thing anymore. Is there any tips to avoid it from getting worse? I hope there’s still a way to save this thing. Now I kinda regret getting Asus Zenbook, the specs are amazeballs but it is not durable. I seriously need advice. I’m scared. I use my laptop for work and I can’t afford to lose this thing.
Same issue and same time frame. Frustrating when I have owned mid-level Dells and HPs that have held up for years and this $1000 beauty bites the dust in less than a year-and-a-half. I am still able to use it a bit as it travels between my home and office and gets connected to large external monitors. Sadly, it has been relegated to the role of a desktop since it is useless as a laptop.
Was thinking of trying the epoxy trick after watching some YouTube videos, but thinking I might try to find the shell and give that a shot. Not much to loose at this point. Definitely beats the 3 week turn around and $500-$600 the Asus tech mentioned.
My wife’s ux303 broke at the hinge last week. I too thought that this would require trashing a very expensive notebook. But a quick google search led me to a youtube repair video. The reason that the hinge cracking issue is so prevelant on these asus zenbooks is just a lousy design. If you noticed, the action of the opening and closing of the screen was really stiff. The hinges on the zenbook was simply too tight. That put entirely too much stress on the attachment of the hinge on the plastic frame. That’s right, the hinges are screwed into a plastic frame. The repair is simple. Just using steel epoxy to rebuild the broken pieces and attachment points. Loosen the hinges and I had a working notebook again. Plus the screen opens and closes smoothly with little effort. The hard part is to make sure the hinges are located properly so that everything lines up when you reattach the display again. Otherwise the screw holes won’t line up. The quotes for repair or the fact that they wouldn’t even try shows a lack of repair skills. Cost of my repair, $6.00 for the epoxy. Fortunately I had a set of micro screwdrivers to take apart electronics.
Google search led here! Same Asus zenbook ux303LN w/ broken hinge after 2 yrs. Lots of travel, airports, rough handling, meetings etc.
Fixed using JB Weld plastic / metal epoxy that held ok for a while until I dropped it. And then screen cracked. Mylar taped the corner w broken glass and re-epoxy’d the hinge, now still working! No time for new machine, re-installing OS, apps and everything so I bought another one on ebay – identical – for 330USD. Cloned drive. Now I have 2 of these beautiful POS’s.
The hinge is too tight for plastic to bear the stress. One must loosen the screw on the hinge to prevent the hinge from breaking using special iFixit screwdriver set for geek work.
OMG. This story exactly like mines! Only difference – it lasted almost two years.. I admit, probably I putted too much things into my bag while traveling and thrusted in my bad boy. At least that is that I thought before reading all these comments here. It looks like that these things breaks really easy.
At first I saw the same thing as in the picture, black plastic trying to get out of computer insides. I hoped that everything somehow will stay the same.. 🙂 Yep, that not happened.
Same Problem with the ASUS UX303L opened it one day and just heard a crack sound the hinges had gone and it gradually got worst. I think I got in 2015 and rarely used it now the screen sort of just hangs off. Got it from Amazon and it was about 2 weeks out of warranty when I contacted ASUS. if has been sitting in my house broken for a least a year and a half, going to try a get the replacement part this week.
Holy crap! This EXACT thing happened to me after about one year of use. Ultimately my screen became completely detached from the base, sans the wires.
I took it to a registered ASUS repair shop. They said they had never seen this issue before and suggested I must have dropped it. I was annoyed because I am very careful with my machine and even though I travel with it, it is (was) in tip top condition (no scratches etc). Plus if I’d dropped it or something, I’d be honest as the machine was out of warranty anyway and I want to get the problem fixed and for it to not happen again…
Ugh, bloody asus. LOVED this computer otherwise.
Hi Sonja! 🙂 I have an ASUS UX31A (Core i7) for five years and the hinge is still stiff. But it looks like it has metal-to-metal hinges. If ASUS has switched to plastic hinges, that’s nasty planned-obsolescence ploy on loyal customers. If so, shame on ASUS. I’d like to update to ASUS UX530UQ 15.6″, but I’m now concerned about hinge quality. So my decision hinges on the hinges! Sorry for being puny! 🙂
use this stuff to replace broken plastic
This guy has ingenious way of fixing problem
I had this problem as well. I bought my Asus last year and paid for the 2 year warranty. My hinge broke a couple of months ago and when I took it in to send in for repair, the place I got it from told me flat out that the ASUS warranty wouldn’t cover damage to hinges or any ‘physical damage’. And just this morning, the rest of the hinge cover broke off and my screen won’t stay open without being propped. Even worse, despite just sitting on my desk all day and not being used, when I came up this evening it had a big crack across the screen.
I’m astonished that this never came up when I was looking at reviews of laptops or I wouldn’t have bought ASUS at all.
Really surprised by this article, didnt know it was a problem in older asus models, because i bought a zenbook ux305, and have been using it for more than 2 years. The hinge and overall durability seem really good on this one, have dropped it a couple time and got away with mere scratches on the chassis. They must have improved the hinges, really sorry to hear about ur loss when asus could have designed the laptop better
Same problem with my Asus Zenbook, and without travelling. Only home usage. This is my last Asus laptop for sure…
Same problem here with ASUS UX303U. Broke exactly 2 weeks after 2 year extended warranty expired. Will NEVER buy ASUS again and will tell everyone I know to never buy!! What a POS!
I bought the deluxe Zenbook UX490. I think the USB-C has not reached maturity to be put into production. To add insult to injury I also bought an ASUS Universal dock and mounted it on a cooling pad as I have had overheating issues with ASUS routers and I wanted to give the laptop a good start.
Laptop also in air-conditioned environment with the above setup with hdmi ported to monitor with cover closed so hinge hardly opens and closes – maybe twice a day tops… As I was using my old Sony Vaio which this ASUS was supposed to replace
+1 week USB-C port failure
waited over several months to get a new unit as they were sold out…
+4 months laptop screen went on the fritz when I brought it out…
sent for repair and they apparently replaced the laptop screen
+12 months laptop screen went on the fritz again when I brought it to class…
sent for repair … apparently some connectivity issue with the motherboard and the laptop screen which resulted it in being replaced again…
+13 months Laptop unable to project to hdmi… you see small white dots like small sparkles before it dies…
Lets wait and see what they come back with this time…
Thoroughly disappointing as I am an ASUS motherboard diehard having using their motherboards from the 486 generation… followed with routers…
The joke is my 5 year Sony is backing up the ASUS… go figure…
I have the same problem with the hinge, just except instead of right side mine was the left side hinge that broke… At 10 months… And I didn’t travel much with it.
Thankfully it is covered under the 1 year warranty. But repair would take 3-5 days and I can’t do work until it’s done. I wish now that i had read your blog before buying Asus!!! Definitely won’t be purchasing again, and my next laptop would probably be the trusty HP or Dell.