In what situation would you need the manufacturer's support? Asus doesn't sell direct to consumer, so issues while still under warranty are handled by the store you bought it from.
the store is not an expert in the electronics inside the device, or the firmware that runs on it, so they're incapable of providing any meaningful support
I guess my question is what kind of support do you need for a laptop (that any other manufacturer is going to provide)? Software issues are the OS vendor's problem, for hardware issues they'll just tell you to send it to the shop, parts compatibility doesn't exist since nothing is replaceable... I guess driver issues? But then they'll just tell you to either run Windows Update or install it from their downloads page.
sure, it sounds like you understand why the support is bad for most of their devices (which aren't laptops), so here are things Dell support has helped me out with, with one of my laptops they made:
- issues with the OS (yep, Microsoft definitely isn't going to pick up the phone and provide support)
- processor speed issues
- processor virtualization issues
- overnighted me a processor replacement for me to replace under warranty
- overnighted me a technician to fix my poor processor installation, still under warranty
- overnighted me a replacement keyboard to install
as far as I know, Asus has neither negotiated nor paid retailers to provide the type of support manufacturers are supposed to provide, so they can't wash their hands of it
you seem to be pessimistic about things a support team of engineers can or should or will do, possibly based on experience with Asus support :), but tech support for a computer or a device exceeds "have you tried turning it off and back on" and "ok return it", or it's bad support
