ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Laptop: Ryzen 9 7940HS, 14" QHD+ 165Hz, RTX 4060, 512GB SSD Expired

I had to send images of the receipt (which says open box) and of the laptop serial number, so Asus already has my proof of purchase.

There isn't anything to fight, MyAsus app shows warranty is Jan 2024 to Jan 2025 now. I would advise addressing the warranty reset with Asus on an open box right after you buy the laptop. If you wait six months, I don't know if they might balk. Even if Asus gives you static, go right back to Best Buy and validate whether they will advocate for you as a reseller on the Asus warranty or if Best Buy will assume the full year warranty themselves. But complete this within the 15 day return window, meaning start the process on first day. Full disclosure, my case with Asus was escalated several times internally and they asked for multiple doc's to validate I bought and have the laptop in my possession. They were very friendly and professional through the process. I am confident that I have a fully covered product by Asus with Best Buy as a backstop.

If Asus truly is changing their stance on used/refurbished/open box items, then they need to change their general warranty disclosure. I hope this is the case, but as long as this document remains up (and unchanged) on Asus' website - https://www.asus.com/support/imag...c08f4d.pdf, and I continue to read about the refused warranty claims on open box items. I will remain skeptical.
Also, you shouldn't have to jump through hoops (escalated several times, etc.) for something that is supposedly fully covered.

What do you think about Acer? I'm looking at the Predator Helios 16 when it goes on sale. I'm also looking at a Legion 7i pro.

Never had one, personally. Link to the one(s) you're considering?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/pr...os_16.html [bhphotovideo.com]

Good specs, but again, I've never had an Acer laptop.
Price is too high for what you get, IMHO.

What do you think about Acer? I'm looking at the Predator Helios 16 when it goes on sale. I'm also looking at a Legion 7i pro.

Get the Legion Pro and don't look back. Better display, build quality, thermals, and customer support. It's not even close comparing Acer and Legion's midrange-toprange stuff.

Following up with my experience. I'm on my 3rd unit now and it's still not "perfect". I don't care so much about backlight bleed as that's unavoidable, so that was a non-factor in determining returns.

1st Unit: Open Box - Excellent. Appeared to be in good working order, thermals ran really really warm, speakers buzzed badly. I was willing to overlook all of that as just "quirks" of the machine, but then I noticed there were some hairline stress cracks and damage in the finish on the front lower lip from the prior owner so I returned. I also didn't like that ASUS only provides 90-day warranty guarantee for open box and didn't want to gamble with that (even though ASUS support is terrible anyhow).

2nd Unit: Brand New. Figured I would go with a new unit to avoid any damage and the warranty issues. Upon opening, the holes in the top of the lid were very noticeably defective near the logo area in one corner - Unevenly spaced and quite noticeable from a few feet away. I didn't even bother to turn the unit on and took it back for exchange. At Best Buy, the associate plugged it in and could not get the unit to power on, so it appears I avoided a dud unit overall.

3rd Unit: Brand New (exchanged 2nd unit). Physically perfect, thermals much better, speakers don't buzz, backlight bleed acceptable. All things seem good. However, there is trackpad rattle that is a bit annoying. Meaning if I lightly tap to select something, about 50% of the time I get an audible "tap" noise from the looseness of the trackpad, even though I didn't push hard enough to physically click the trackpad button. Apparently this is also EXTREMELY common for ASUS laptops, I'm just not used to it and it feels cheap/bad. Many people mention adding electrical tape inside the machine to fix this issue, which I shouldn't have to do for a $1,500 laptop. My other laptops (surface book 2, surface laptop, and an old alienware) have never had this issue, regardless of trackpad material or size.

Given the QC issues I've seen in a small sampling of units, I'm VERY reluctant to exchange the 3rd unit and start over since everything is basically perfect except the trackpad rattle. I may just "live with it" rather than re-roll the QC lottery a 4th time.

Edit: Example of trackpad rattle from reddit (mine is not quite this bad) -> https://www.reddit.com/r/Zephyrus...is_normal/ [reddit.com]

i dont think theres a legion pro for sale for anywhere near this $872 openbox price with comparable specs. there is a legion 5 but it seems to be a very budget built laptop since it has been less than 900 forever