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£10 Battery Upgrade For UK Eee PC 900 Owners

Posted by kdawson on from the doing-the-rght-thing dept.

Ken E. writes "Asus has backed down in the face of complaints from UK Eee PC 900 owners about the ultra-portable's low-capacity battery. Confusing statements posted in online reviews led buyers to believe that they would get a larger capacity battery than they actually did — and they weren't happy. Asus has, however, made a conciliatory gesture by extending a £10 high-capacity battery upgrade offer. Mobile Computer has the full announcement, plus quite a bit of background on how this fuss all got started. The batteries will be available June 10 and in the meantime Eee PC owners can download a BIOS update that Asus claims will add half an hour to battery life."

60 comments

  1. genius. by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 5, Funny

    unlimited battery life.. just keep downloading BIOS updates to add half hours to your battery life..

    1. Re:genius. by Enderandrew · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just like the endless litany of products guaranteed to take strokes off your golf game. Buy enough, and your scores will be low enough to beat Tiger Woods.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    2. Re:genius. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      With all the money I've sank into that stuff, I calculate that my next game will be coming in at -5 strokes.

    3. Re:genius. by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      Buy some more and you needn't play at all anymore!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:genius. by base3 · · Score: 1

      I've got practically infinite disk space on my old 486, because I ran multiple copies of Stacker :).

      --
      One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
    5. Re:genius. by RealGrouchy · · Score: 1

      Alternate technique for never having your battery die on you mid-use.

      - RG>

      --
      Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  2. Oh, 10 pounds sterling, not 10 lbs! by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 3, Funny

    I caught the RSS title of this story and it appeared that Asus is making a 10 pound heavy battery! I thought for a second that luggables were making a comeback!

    --
    Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
    1. Re:Oh, 10 pounds sterling, not 10 lbs! by Stormwatch · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh, you gringos and your funny non-metric measurement systems...

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
    2. Re:Oh, 10 pounds sterling, not 10 lbs! by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Yes, because the brits always use metric measurements for everything. How many stone do you weigh again?

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:Oh, 10 pounds sterling, not 10 lbs! by alx5000 · · Score: 1

      Between two or three *whoos*es per square inch. Per fortnight.

      --
      My 0.02 cents
    4. Re:Oh, 10 pounds sterling, not 10 lbs! by Scuzzm0nkey · · Score: 1

      How many Leagues away from work do you live?

      --
      People are like slinkies; useless but fun to watch when you push them down the stairs
    5. Re:Oh, 10 pounds sterling, not 10 lbs! by You+ain't+seen+me! · · Score: 1

      Yes, because the brits always use metric measurements for everything. How many stone do you weigh again? No, us Brits use both measurements at the same time. Thats why we always have a slightly confused look on our face. For example we buy litres of petrol (if we can afford it), but measure our usage in gallons, and I'm 5ft 11in but weigh 75Kg and so on.
  3. Can you just buy a second battery by hkmarks · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Can you just buy a second battery for a discounted price? That would be a not-terribly-crazy alternative.

  4. MiyEee PC runs just fine by wildem · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've no business attachment with Asus, but I have to say I couldn't be happier about the battery life of my Eee PC. Just today, I was using it for more than 3 hours for surfing the net, mplayer music playback, and occasional web video. I still had 30% juice left according to Ubuntu's battery state widget.

    1. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Shadow-isoHunt · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've got a 1.2ghz p3(latitude c610) that gets 14+ hours on two 66whr batteries w/ a 1500x1050LCD, so color me unimpressed.

      --
      www.isoHunt.com
    2. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      But is yours a 900 with a 4400mAh battery?

      People living elsewhere got higher-capacity batteries.

    3. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by daybot · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I've no business attachment with Asus, but I have to say I couldn't be happier about the battery life of my Eee PC. Just today, I was using it for more than 3 hours for surfing the net, mplayer music playback, and occasional web video. I still had 30% juice left according to Ubuntu's battery state widget. I guess it's subjective. I looked at the Eee PC but the battery life was a deal-breaker. I know the Eee PC is excellent value and Toughbooks aren't, but Panasonic's ultraportable options of 7 (CF-W7), 9 (CF-T7) or 12 (CF-T5 - discontinued) hours set the benchmark that the subnotebooks will need to meet before I buy one.
    4. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by quinks · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If you want something that's just a step up from an Eee PC, get a Latitude C610. I had a C600 whose hinge broke after ages and got a broken C610 and did a transplant. And being able to have two batteries in there in place of the CD/DVD-drive slot is just badass. The C600 was free and the broken eBay C610 cost $50. Just over 1 kg, 14-inch screen. Some of the stuff is showing its age, like the single USB1 port, but with a PCMCIA card, that's no problem either. But one thing baffles me, I've never been able to get more than 6 hours out of mine (making 12 hours with two batteries), and I've got the slower 1 GHz processor. Any advice in terms of software, hardware, batteries or power configuration? Running Windows XP or Ubuntu? - Tried PowerTop or Intel Drivers or did you change anything in the BIOS?

    5. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by StackedCrooked · · Score: 2, Funny

      Have a nice day. I guess yours wasn't.
    6. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by wildem · · Score: 1

      I hear the 8-cell battery gets up to 4 hours on these latitudes, so how can you get 14 + while doing any real work on it?

    7. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And what does that computer weigh, including both batteries?

    8. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      From my personal experience, the battery widget on Ubuntu is not a completely reliable source... it's more of a ballpark guestimate at best. In particular, the drain it reports doesn't appear to be particularly linear, especially once you get to 20% and below, at that point it starts to "drain" faster and faster.

    9. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by quinks · · Score: 1

      Typo. 1960 grams without CD drive or battery. Batteries weigh 410 grams, CD-ROM drive is 266 grams. I've got an eee PC here, and it is a lot lighter at just under a kg. :(

    10. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by debatem1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      1960 + 410 = 2370g
      eee pc = 990g
      I'm guessing that the eee pc battery weighs ~250g.
      Given that each battery gives the eee pc ~3 hours of battery life, that gives the eee pc about 18 hours of battery life before it exceeds those weight specifications.

    11. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by quinks · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well, the original iBook had an advertised battery life of 6 hours. And I'd really like to know shadow-isohunt's OS if he can get 7 hours of battery life. To convert, that's 9.2 Watts of Power that shadow-isohunt's laptop draws. I've never managed to get it much below 11 Watts. What I'd like to know is where he can get 2 less Watt on the same Hardware with mostly the same software.

      For reference, 12 Watt is standard under light use. With a bit of Googling I see that the Eee PC draws up to 22-or-so Watt, with 12 Watt probably also being standard.

      What I'm trying to say is that there's a laptop out there for $300 that's basically got the same CPU speed, as much RAM, twice the screen diagonal, a HDD and draws not one Watt more power than the eeePC. I've anything, then unless you really are looking for a computer exactly as small as the eeePC, which due to the fiddly keyboard I don't always believe, I've already got a superior (but oldish) alternative that runs Windows XP without troubles.

    12. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by MrMr · · Score: 1

      You redefine 'real work'.
      It's a '1+1=3, for sufficiently large values of 1'- type of thing

    13. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Well, my full sized laptop, with actual spinning platter hard drive, and 14 inch screen only draws around 18 watts. And on a single battery lasts about 2.5 hours. The biggest advantage of the eeePC is the size, and the fact that it's solid state. You could easily get a laptop with a lot more battery life.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    14. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by MrMr · · Score: 1

      Perhaps the widget is actually correct?
      Check out the discharge behaviour of NiMH under serious load for instance:
      http://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htm#nimh

    15. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't be an asshat. His post is interesting and contributes to the discussion. Yours, on the other hand, does not.

    16. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Shadow-isoHunt · · Score: 1

      The batteries are 8 cell 66whrs intended for the c640(the p4 version of the c610), the screen was on it's lowest brightness level during that time and was left alone a few times so I could use the bathroom and do some other things. At the time I was running speedswitch XP w/ it set to dynamic switching. I've never done a full drain running linux, but being that it's simple speedstep I've got a feeling linux would do fine. Backtrack was running in vmware at this time, and winamp was playing(I have it set to cache the whole song to RAM to cut down on battery.)

      One thing I will say though is that the laptop gets *hot*, even with AS5 on the CPU expect to get 140f idle and 160f running temperature @ 1.2ghz(less at 800mhz), and the ram(1gb of PC133) gets quite hot too.


      PS: There's nothing *to* change in the bios(A12), you can set the default speeds on power or battery, and turn off speedstep all together, but if you turn off speedstep it defaults to the lowest clock possible for the CPU. While it'd gain you some time, you're better off w/ speedswitch XP or anyone of the multiple daemons for linux.

      --
      www.isoHunt.com
    17. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Shadow-isoHunt · · Score: 1

      Oh, and, i8kfangui to keep the big fan on low at all times.

      --
      www.isoHunt.com
    18. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by The_Wilschon · · Score: 1

      It might not get so hot if you didn't turn the fan all the way down all the time. I'd rather lose a little bit of battery life than a little bit of CPU life...

      --
      SIGSEGV caught, terminating

      wait... not that kind of sig.
    19. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by Shadow-isoHunt · · Score: 1

      No, you don't get it. The c610 will keep it's fan off until like 160f, and then turn 1 and 2 on high until like 130f, then they go off. Using i8kfangui I keep the big fan (2) on at all times, so I idle at 140 instead of reaching that 160f idle. If the temperature increases, the fan speed increases(as I8K allows you to set thresholds) and I kick on the second fan.

      --
      www.isoHunt.com
    20. Re:MiyEee PC runs just fine by You+ain't+seen+me! · · Score: 1

      And being able to have two batteries in there in place of the CD/DVD-drive slot is just badass. I did the same, but in use the first battery was constantly being used whilst the second was just idle. Eventually the second battery became an overcooked brick. I could have got round this by swapping the batteries between slots now and again, but unless you intend running both batteries down completely between recharge it can end up as a waste of a battery.
  5. Something fishy inthe state of Asus by JohnBailey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems that Asus have been mucking about with the pricing and spec on the 900 in different countries. The higher price for Australian Eee users who want Linux defended as a charge for the extra capacity drive, but the same price for both models elsewhere, the lower battery power in the UK being justified by the two year warranty, who knows what is next.

    Perhaps they do this with all their products, and the Eee is just so carefully watched that it gets much more attention. But it looks like they have a product they haven't quite figured out how to price.

    --
    It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
  6. Kudos to Asus by capnkr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...for hearing what the customers and public are saying, and...

    Paying Attention to us.

    It's a win-win situation; we get happy, they get good street cred - we stay happy, they keep making money.

    Refreshing, when most manufacturers like to backpedal and deny.

    Kudos to Asus.

    --
    "...there are some things that can beat smartness and foresight. Awkwardness and stupidity can." ~ Mark Twain
    1. Re:Kudos to Asus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Don't

      You think

      That

      Was a little

      Draw out?

      Or is your productivity measured in lines per hour?

    2. Re:Kudos to Asus by frosty_tsm · · Score: 2, Funny

      I measure productivity by check-ins per hour. It's way more effective.

      (I really wished I could have done separate posts, but I feared the mods / admins would strike me down)

    3. Re:Kudos to Asus by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      I just spent all of my mod points, so here's a virtual +1 Hilarious.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
  7. Reasonable Compromise by blank89 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think they've done a pretty good job in general with the Eee. I would be happy to get 2 hours of battery life on my shitty hp laptop with Linux on it.

    1. Re:Reasonable Compromise by ipsi · · Score: 1

      I'd be happy to get 2 pages of printing out of my battery.

      It's four years old, and spends most of its time plugged into AC, which can't be doing good things for the battery.

  8. Too Damn Late over here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here I was wondering why those brits would want to add 10lb to a ultra-portable...

    Shit. I think I need to go to sleep now...

  9. A Whinger Is You! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Never underestimate the power of complaining!

  10. Re:Let me guess... by Slashdot+Suxxors · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And what's the price on a brand new one of those?

  11. Re:Let me guess... by frosty_tsm · · Score: 1

    And doesn't it weigh a lot more?

  12. what we really want to know... by advocate_one · · Score: 3, Interesting

    is just how many of those little beauties they've actually sold... after all, there has to be some real reason why Microsoft suddenly blinked and allowed the OEMs to carry on making devices with XP on them...

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
    1. Re:what we really want to know... by cp.tar · · Score: 2, Funny

      You mean, besides the fact that by the time Vista booted on one of them, the battery would have died...
      Oh, so is that the reason for the battery upgrade?

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    2. Re:what we really want to know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That sounds like a title for the sequel to Atlas Shrugged - Microsoft Blinked.

    3. Re:what we really want to know... by replicant108 · · Score: 1

      "The company has forecast Eee PC shipments at around 5 million units this year. Based on the 6-to-4 ratio the company predicts, Asus could ship around 3 million Windows Eee PCs and 2 million Linux ones."

      http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9068258

    4. Re:what we really want to know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wtf?

    5. Re:what we really want to know... by SoTerrified · · Score: 1

      "Based on the 6-to-4 ratio the company predicts" I have an insider, a buddy who works at ASUS. And he swears to me that despite the media quoting a "6-to-4 ratio", inside the company they really expect a 3 to 2 ratio. But you didn't hear that from me...
  13. Well, it's got a 10 Pound battery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So... more than 10 pounds.

    hhh

  14. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At first I thought I would pay £10 and they would send me a new battery. That would be good because then I will have a spare battery.

    However, I have to post my current battery to Asus, pay £10 (+VAT!) for them to swap it with the one I should have got anyway and spend time with no battery for my laptop.

    This makes me feel like taking this thing back to the shop.

  15. Return the battery? by kernowyon · · Score: 2, Informative

    I cannot see why Asus don't simply ask the 900 owners to send in proof of purchase (receipt or whatever) and £10 to get the new battery pack. What is the idea behind requesting owners to send back their original battery to get an exchange? It would end up with Asus having a stockpile of old, "pre-used" batteries which they then need to dispose of. Or are they planning to re-sell these in "refurbished" machines at some point?
    At the moment, Asus have a great lead in the market - the other cheap UMPCs are only now starting to appear and Asus could have kept up their lead by allowing users to keep their old battery and simply send in the proof of purchase and the cash. Hell, they *could* have simply asked for proof of purchase and soaked up the tenner price themselves!
    Whatever, the Asus EeePC is still a great little machine for the money. I don't have the 900, mine is the 701, with a 5200 battery pack. The Panasonic astroturfers who have posted to this thread need to look at the cost of each machine before claiming that the Panasonic is somehow miles better! Yes, the Toughbooks are amazing, but they cost several times the price of the EeePC - they are also designed with a different user in mind. The Panasonic is specifically designed for harsh working conditions (building sites, garages etc), where the EeePC is not. Having said that, mine spends a lot of evenings outside in damp conditions connected to my telescope!

    --
    Awful UID - but I have been here ages...
  16. Re:Let me guess... by MrMr · · Score: 1

    Oh, did I tell you it's waterproof, shockproof and crush resistant, too?
    Ok, I'll take up your challenge; hand over your Panasonic CF-M34 now.

  17. Limited battery capacity is good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not that enthused about improvements in laptop
    batteries, because battery life puts pressure on developing more efficient components. Bigger batteries ,like for UPSes, are welcomed.

      (Yes, I'm out of ganja).