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Break That Warranty Sticker: ASUS Says It’s OK! (Eee PC)

eeeuser.com — ASUS released a press release yesterday clarifying their position on the yellow “Warranty void if removed” sticker on the bottom of the Eee PC devices that covers the RAM slot

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  • ptFoe, on 12/10/2007, -32/+4Asus is being too nice something is up.
    • martalli, on 12/10/2007, -2/+19It's fairly simple. At least in America, it is apparently illegal to void a warranty for a user to upgrade their memory. I believe this is based on court interpretation of an older (pre-pc) law. I was surprised about the sticker being placed directly over a hatch apparently intended for user memory upgrades...
    • haiduz, on 12/10/2007, -0/+11I love how they word it:
      "ASUS Computer International (“ASUS”) recently received feedback from one of its valued customers with questions concerning the purpose of a seal ".
      Those PR people really make it sound like they listen to their individual customers (even if they just listen to their lawyers as martalli pointed out).
    • Elranzer, on 12/10/2007, -7/+2Can we replace the flash memory once the writes are used up?
      • sqrt7744, on 12/10/2007, -0/+7the warranty will have expired by then.
      • rootneg2, on 12/10/2007, -0/+3the internal SSD is soldered-on. Some of the models have a semi-mysterious mini-PCIe slot that you could possibly use to add an additional SSD, or you could use the SD/MMC slot (although I'm not sure if it will boot from the SD/MMC if the internal SSD is kaput).

        but it's really not a big deal, sqrt7744 (nice username btw...) is correct, for "normal" usage it will probably be a decade or so before the first bit failure, thanks to load-spreading done on-chip. even worst-case-scenario (you must be doing *very* silly things with your laptop...) it would probably take a year or so.
        • happycube, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1Earlier 4GB eee's have the mini-PCI slot. The 4GB onboard flash is basically a CompactFlash card hardwired on the mainboard so it can't be replaced.
          It appears that at least the first 8GB models are actually using USB-based mini-PCI-E SSD's...
          As for lifetime... it should last the warranty period unless you do silly things. One's allowed to even put XP on the flash, so there should be at least some wear leveling going on... ;)
  • nanostream, on 12/10/2007, -9/+91asus@asus-desktop:~$ cd eeePC_sale_obstacles
    asus@asus-desktop:~$ ls
    sticker screens price name
    asus@asus-desktop:~$ rm sticker
    $$$ - This is how it happened; I kid you not.
    • Iwantawii, on 12/10/2007, -10/+41I get the error message "cd: eeePC_sale_obstacles: No such file or directory"

      I don't get it, how do I remove the damn sticker? Is it because I'm on a Macbook Pro?
      • Nicksname1, on 12/10/2007, -0/+27I think you need to use the Steve Jobs switch, try putting a -sj at the end. That should do the trick.
  • z0mbie2099, on 12/10/2007, -3/+52go Asus, show them how it's done.
  • schestowitz, on 12/10/2007, -8/+26First GPL compliance, then the other issue raised by the same critic (violation of warranty rules/act). What's next? Getting a real GNU/Linux distribution that is not taxed by software patents? Either way, well done, Asus.
    • martalli, on 12/10/2007, -0/+6Maybe their next version the of eee will come with something like geubuntu (ubuntu with enlightenment/e17)
    • ja1217, on 12/10/2007, -0/+10I'm pretty sure they're just covering their asses from Microsoft's FUD. But It's not like its very hard to get a different distribution of your choice on the machine either.
      • rpgmaker, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1That's why we need to STOP supporting those 'sold out' distros.
        • schestowitz, on 12/12/2007, -5/+1Yes, it's akin to Windows tax, which becomes Xandros/Turbolinux/Linspire/Novell tax. Why pay Microsoft /anything/ for Free software?
  • Hellman109, on 12/10/2007, -3/+46If you have laws forbidding you to open the case WTF is your consumer associations doing?

    Here in Australia we have a basic right to inspect what we are given, this means we can break all the warranty seals we want, and if the company refuses it on warranty on that alone you report them to the ACCC (Australian consumer and competition commission) and that company gets its ass kicked. if in the process of opening or inspecting you damage the components, then thats your fault (wilful damage), but otherwise they cant do anything. I freely ignore these stickers at will as they literally mean nothing here, just like most EULAs and such, they break local laws (as we have good consumer laws) and therefore you can ignore large swarths of them.

    So if they said they put a certain type of memory in, and you got a crappy ripoff, you literally cant do anything because you have no right to inspect it? What if they sold you a 'V12' that was a 4 cylinder engine? you cant open the hood if they put a sticker on it?
    • heavyd14, on 12/10/2007, -0/+21Actually, in the US the law says Asus was in the wrong, their sticker was illegal.
    • metamorfoza, on 12/10/2007, -9/+1Its not a case ffs, Its a stick that covers memory slot. In other words, if you want to change your memory you warranty becomes void because you've tampered with a supplied equipment that initally worked (i.e. there is no reason why you should remove the memory - you can 'inspect it' using software tools) or FTFA: "ASUS customers are reminded that ASUS computer systems, like all other computer systems, contain delicate and complex components that may be easily damaged if not handled correctly" .

      I am in Australia also and no matter how stupid this sticker issue is I can tell you that ACCC can do ***** about it if Auss decided not to remove the sticker.

      don't delude yourself in thinking that Australia is more consumer friendly than any other 'consumer focused' country.
      • databoy, on 12/10/2007, -1/+2The ACCC is an Australian Federal Government consumer authority. The actual consumer laws are legally administered by the State Government in the Australian state you reside in. The ACCC will refer you to your state consumer authority and only intervene in the public good when a corporation has blatantly broken Australian consumer laws.

        Basically the laws states that the product you purchased is deemed to work as advertised. Computer manufacturers design expansion slots to be accessible. Where there are provisions for expansion, a competent technician can carry out the required work. Service houses carry public liability insurance. If the technician damages the computer, the insurance company covers the repairs. Unfortunately there are too many back yard non technical personnel who think that they can repair and install expansion peripherals. You can not expect a manufacturer to honour a warranty when the computer is damaged by incompetence. The consumer authority will tell you the same.
  • shuster420, on 12/10/2007, -11/+1This thing is the product of the year, no doubt. I mean throw a 16GB Memory stick o nthis thing and it is off the hook
    NExt year maybe a 11 inch widescreen for slightly more?
    • prophetpimp, on 12/10/2007, -4/+210inch and no more. i dont mind 7inch either but the 800 pixel width is a put off. the whole web is now based around larger screens. gone are the days where websites were optimised for 800x600.
    • flamingmb, on 12/10/2007, -2/+3you do realize that an 11" screen would no longer make it as portable dont you? They would have to redesign and enlarge the eee to do that, thus making it no longer as portable.
    • TacticalPenguin, on 12/10/2007, -0/+3You do realize that the whole thing diagonal measures only 10 1/4", right? That means they can only fit about a 9.5" screen in it unless they want to make the border REALLY thin and make the screen easy to break.
    • rootneg2, on 12/10/2007, -0/+2ASUS has already said they have no plans to offer models with different screen sizes (they had at one point, but quickly changed their minds)

      The LCD is typically one of the most expensive components of a laptop, and keeping it small is one of the reasons that this machine is so affordable. Anything bigger than a 10" or so would raise the price about a hundred bucks (to >$500 probably). Also, a larger screen would increase power consumption, weight, and system loads (for rendering more pixels).

      For the market and purpose of this machine, the current screen size is more than adequate.
  • sajnikanth, on 12/10/2007, -2/+57Take notes, Jobs ;-)
    • prophetpimp, on 12/10/2007, -2/+41he is. he is gonna make some exactly like that and charge you 200% extra and its gonna sell like hotcakes because some people are retards.
    • algoseek, on 12/10/2007, -1/+5Sony should too, with their warranty policies...
    • JonLatane, on 12/10/2007, -5/+1They're a step behind Apple, actually; you can upgrade your MacBook RAM and hard drive without violating the warranty at all, and everything else is really pretty much impossible to mess with because of the system's design (I'm not familiar with the official policy on this, though).
  • Alexio, on 12/10/2007, -0/+11They have only said that this applies to america, canada and countries where it is illegal to use these stickers. What about the UK? I want to be able to upgrade my eee too :(
  • propagandhi, on 12/10/2007, -0/+16Actual press release from ASUS.

    http://usa.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=9223
  • flamingmb, on 12/10/2007, -2/+5***** yeah. My eee pc is on its way so this is great news! Hello 1gb of ram without warranty void!
  • jcmagnus, on 12/10/2007, -2/+5Its a great thing they did this.

    I just got my EEE less than a week ago and I love it. I will definitely upgrade RAM now and probably switch to another OS. This is seriously a great Christmas gift for any college student (my purpose for getting it) or someone new to PCs, so get one now!
  • Ub3rg33k, on 12/10/2007, -2/+19Dear Santa,

    I promise I've been really good this year. Please bring this broke ass geek an EEE for Christmas.

    Sincerely,
    Ub3rg33k
    • victimofkratina, on 12/10/2007, -1/+2Dear Ub3rg33k,

      Not after you masturbated to furry porn.

      Sincerely,
      Santa
  • Threlly1, on 12/10/2007, -4/+86Mine begged for it, 'rip off my sticker' it said inbetween gasps, 'stick your hot dirty ram in me' it said.
    "what about Asus" I said "won't they get jealous ?".
    "No, you hot hot bastard" she said, "They've given me the green card" she gushed.
    So, I stuck my firm juicy stick in, she gasped as my Ram filled her up.
    Within a few hours I was out of there, and left her with a drive full of new seedy repositories.....
    • omgwthlol, on 12/10/2007, -1/+7lol
      • ShrimpCrackers, on 12/10/2007, -1/+1I lolled too.

        Threlly, when not on Digg must write for someone like Woot.com.
    • childprey, on 12/10/2007, -0/+21Rule 34 conquers the EEE.
      • djGentoo, on 12/10/2007, -4/+1For those who don't read XKCD: http://xkcd.com/305/
        That should clear things up.
        • missingnoh4x, on 12/10/2007, -0/+9Rule 34 predates XKCD by several hundred years.
          Also, /r/ing some images to go with this 34 story.
    • mypreciousss, on 12/10/2007, -0/+6Nicely done...
    • meez, on 12/10/2007, -0/+5I don't think upgrading my RAM will ever be the same again, thanks a lot!
    • freff, on 12/10/2007, -0/+8Hours? Good God man...
  • andycr512, on 12/10/2007, -1/+4I have to say, I really like the direction ASUS is taking this, both from a legal perspective (GPL compliance) and now this. I would likely get one sometime if it weren't for my huge hands... (My main laptop is a 17" and feels about "right" if a tiny bit too big, so I can't even picture myself with a 7")
  • rootneg2, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1I wonder what they are planning for the mini-PCIe slot...
    Some of the laptops have the mount soldered on, some do not; either way, asus isn't using it, so it's a bit mysterious. Will consumers be able to add their own mini-PCIe cards, with Asus taking the same stance as for RAM upgrades? or will they quietly start shipping eeepcs without the connector soldered on? or do they have some proprietary mini-PCIe expansion planned for future models? (here's hoping for the first option....)
  • rootneg2, on 12/10/2007, -0/+5...also, on an unrelated note, Asus is going to release an eeepc model featuring the Intel Merom (dual-core, x86_64, 7w (down from 11w) power consumption) in April 2008. I think I'm gonna wait, but very very very anxiously and impatiently.
    • onefix, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1Will the new model be able to take a hard drive? I have to say I love the idea of these small, light, cheap notebooks, but the available disk space is a huge turnoff. I would love to use one of these to do software development, but it doesn't have enough space for everything that I want. A 20GB or 30GB hard drive should be fine, but at 8GB max, it's too small to do much with. I realize that the intent it to allow for basic functionality (web browsing, word processing, etc), but with a larger storage capacity they could open up a whole new market.
      • rootneg2, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1If you mean a physical, magnetic, spinning hard drive, then no.

        The purely solid-state, no-moving-parts aspect of the eeepc is one of it's primary distinctive features. They will extend the internal SSD size up to 16G (maybe 32G, and you can always add your own, via the SD/MMC slot, or (hopefully) through the mini-pcie) but right now flash memory in those sizes is prohibitively expensive.
    • d2812, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1do you have a link to info about the memrom version about the eee?
  • omgwthlol, on 12/10/2007, -0/+2i love asus
    • CodBlack, on 12/10/2007, -1/+0I bought an ASUS video card (AX1650) that can't be updated, I will never buy another ASUS product.
  • 8270369, on 12/10/2007, -0/+4Asus has been trying to do all the right things with this product. It's almost scary.

    Personally I am impressed with the fact that the black one was released at about the same time as the white one, at the same price. Apple wouldn't do that.
  • onefix, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1Was it just me or did the press release give no good reason as to why this sticker was initially placed on the case to begin with?

    They have essentially said that you can disregard the sticker...

    They also stated that they would remove it in countries where the sticker is not permitted. So, I have to ask, why put it on any of the machines if you don't intend to deny coverage because its been removed?
    • rootneg2, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Probably because they were just a bit lazy (same as with the whole GPL thing). They said that they were not getting rid of the stickers entirely, but replacing them with a similar sticker with more explicit wording. They were probably just initially cutting corners ("warranty void if removed" stickers are pretty common, and so a little cheaper and easier to make than "ASUS will not be responsible for damage caused by improper hardware change")
  • xevidentx, on 12/10/2007, -1/+3eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
  • happysong, on 03/20/2008, -0/+0I have to say, I really like the direction ASUS is taking this, both from a legal perspective (GPL compliance) and now this. I would likely get one sometime if it weren't for my huge hands... (My main laptop is a 17" and feels about "right" if a tiny bit too big, so I can't even picture myself with a 7")
    http://dir.paramegsoft.com/
    http://download.paramegsoft.com/
  • jhonyorah, on 05/13/2008, -0/+0http://myblogmart.com/buy_dvd/asus-eee-pc-12g-89-s ...
    Ever feel that most notebooks are still too large to travel with? The new Eee PC 900 offers you more options for your mobile computing needs. Incorporating a shockproof design and weighing 2.18 pounds, you will find it “Easy to learn, work and play” - making it your best outdoor companion anywhere, anytime.
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