M6N Build it or buy it?

well i for one who bought whitebox can say that you should go through a place like proportable.com because of the 3 year warr. they now have standard... They are very very close to Asus and even though i didn't buy mine with them *supply shortage* They have been willing to help me out with whatever i have needed. That is why i suggest them. Customer service should be supported and theirs is top notch.

Just imagine you get your whitebox system and something is wrong.... i know most resellers of them will not take it back at all... and from expierence they want to send it back to asus to get it looked at which will take about 2 weeks.... Going with a prebuilt system will make things much easier.

I STRONGLY suggest that you read the "fine print" on any vendor's website prior to placing an order. I just spent about 3 minutes reading proportable.com's site. Keep in mind that any system ordered from them without an OS is considered "barebones" and are not returnable unless defective. Also, read further and you will see that their 3 year warranty is an "email warranty". You can't call them, email only. That (email) wouldn't do it for me, in fact this is the first time I have EVER heard of an email-based warranty. I like small companies, but that sounds like a company that is just too small (my opinion only.)
Have you ever tried troubleshooting a complicated problem by exchanging email??? It could take days with questions and answers going back and forth!! What if the M6N was your only system....HOW ARE YOU GOING TO EMAIL THEM IF IT IS TOAST????
I am just pointing out that the fine print of each company's policy can be very important and costly to you.
Finally (for the M6N)....which vendor has the best dead-pixel policy, and do you know what the dead pixel policies are for proportable.com, rjtech.com, escstore.com, etc. I don't.
To be honest, this is what has kept me from ordering a whitebox or "custom-built" system to this point. I don't want to pay the price of an IBM or HP, but I still want quality. At this point I could have waited on a hypersonic.
Who else has a no-dead-pixel guarantee that does not overcharge excessively for a system?
Finally, as for the vendor you mentioned being very "close to ASUS", I just called ASUS notebook department, and was referred to a different vendor for the M6N. Go figure.
Andrew
Austin, TX

wow nice aamsel

However, I little downside to building it yourself, is that if there is a problem that requires you to send the machine back, you will need to dis-assemble it to return it, and re-assemble it when it comes back - not a big deal, but a bit of a pain in the arse.

This is very different from building your own desktop to me.
You DON'T build a desktop to save money, you do it to get exactly the components you want, and traditionally pay more than getting a pre-built system. Years ago, a desktop built from scratch was cheaper, now it is more money, because they are mass-produced to hit a particular price-point.
Getting a barebones laptop is strictly for the purpose of putting it together cheaper than an assembled one.
Andrew
Austin, TX

I dunno about built vs whitebox, but I will counter amsels comments by stating that proportable is very easy to get ahold of, and I am sure justin would work with you on the phone if your unit crapped out.

Heck, he helped me on a few points with mine, and I didnt even buy it there. They also have a direct line in to the engineers that design em. Doesnt get much better than that.

Not advertising for em- just stating that I really doubt they would hold you to the email only shtick.

Eric

That may very well be, and that is great, but when I buy a computer, car, etc. I assume that what the company puts in writing is the policy that they can be held to, period. Nothing negative about them, since I have never done business with them.
Andrew
Austin, TX

i also back up proportable and say that they provide a great service and product to all of their customers and to people who aren't also. I talked to the head of ASUS laptop division for North America and he supports ProPortable with all of his heart. Now i dont know what the techs at Asus tell people but when the head of the laptop division supports a company so much it really means something.

As I said before...I called ASUS and asked for their preferred vendor, and I was given another company's name. So again, go figure.
Andrew
Austin, TX

i'm just curious,
mister694, what do you do?
do you have business with the asus laptop division head?

Well i must say that is for me and a few others to know... Sorry.

it has the 9700 now..... you kust have to know where to get it from

I don't understand at all why there is mystery to this?
Andrew
Austin, TX

Well I also know where to get it, but I didn't know it was supposed to stay a secret. Oh well. BTW- It is 9700 64 MB, not 128.