Following complaints from Eee PC 900 owners about the lacklustre performance of its battery, Asus has finally announced the details of its battery upgrade programme it’s been hinting at for the last few weeks. Billed as a “special summer promotion” by Asus (cue angry cries from irate Eee PC owners), it consists of three parts – full details after the cut.

First, Asus has posted a BIOS update (v601) on its support site that, it claims, will add around 30 minutes to the life of the standard 4400mAh battery. 

Second, Eee PC 900 owners can buy a high-capacity 5800mAh battery for £29 Inc VAT (5200mAh batteries cost around £44 online) – owners do not need to return the original 4400mAh battery to Asus. Batteries will be available from Asus dealers at this price from July 1st to July 31st, while stocks last.

Finally, owners has the option of returning their original 4400mAh battery to an Asus service centre, where it will be exchanged for a 5800mAh battery for £10 inc VAT. Owners must pay for outgoing postage, but Asus will cover the cost of return postage. The turnaround time is expected to be around 5 working days. This upgrade offer will be available from June 23rd to July 31st 2008, while stock last.

At the moment, it looks like 5800mAh battery sales and upgrades can only be handled over the phone and the procedure, as described by Asus, is below:

If customers are interested in the paid battery upgrade service for the eeePC 900 (8.9”LCD panel), customers can call the ASUS UK service help desk at 0870 1208340

Then customers will be given a case ID number to register the RMA information in ASUS RMA website, then customers will be given an RMA number to return the original 4400mAH battery to the ASUS service centre in UK.

Customers will ship the original 4400mAH battery to ASUS service centre in UK at customers’ own costs.

After receiving the original battery pack from customer, the ASUS service centre in UK will get in contact with customer on the phone to get the credit card details.

ASUS service centre in UK will accept only credit cards for payment (therefore the cheque, bank transfer payments will not be accepted.)

Customers will pay £10 (VAT included) for this paid battery upgrade service. Then ASUS service centre will ship a new 5800mAH battery to customer at ASUS’s costs.

The turn around time is expected to be around 5 working days, excluding the transportation time from customer to ASUS service centre, and the transportation time from ASUS service centre to customer. It also depends on if ASUS service centre receives the customer’s credit card payment smoothly.

We have to say that the procedure sounds a little long-winded and it would make far more sense for Asus to take someone’s credit details first, ship them a new battery and then charge the full £29 unless the old battery is returned within a set time limit. As it stands, Eee PC 900 owners are going to be battery-less for at least five working days, which is hardly ideal.

Finally, we’ve been conducting a little research into the situation regarding disgruntled owners. As you may recall, an anonymous source at Asus told us a couple of weeks ago that the battery upgrade programme was only put in place as a result of emails of complaint from a “handful” of people.

We have copies of emails from 21 people who contacted Asus to complain about the battery before this comment was made – rather more than a handful, but, we concede, hardly a torrent. Asus is under no legal obligation to take any steps to address complaints from buyers – we're not aware of any UK reviews that categorically stated that the Eee PC would come with a 5800mAh battery, nor have we seen specifications listed at online resellers that showed anything other than a 4400mAh battery.

So, we think this discounted upgrade offer is a fair one from Asus – let us know in the comments if you think otherwise, or can point us at a UK site that shows the Eee PC 900 with a bigger battery.

Nb. We've been running a few battery tests on the Eee PC 900 over the last few days and we get around 2 hours 50 minutes of use on a full charge, with screen brightness set to 50% and three web pages set to autorefresh every five minutes. The new BIOS makes no difference at all to this figure with our 4400mAh battery – does it make any difference to your Eee PC 900?

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Disheee  - POOR!!!   |11/06/08 9:56 AM I think the Eee 900 will probably be the last thing I ever buy that is produced by ASUS. This whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth. ASUS... .SHAME ON YOU!!!! Reply | Quote

StumpyPete  - not good   |11/06/08 10:09 AM Perhaps I am a cynic - but is this designed to make it as difficult as possible to upgrade. How are we supposed to live without a battery for 5 days? Poor customer service ASUS UK! Reply | Quote

Jassen Payen  - Treating the UK as low class,     |11/06/08 10:23 AM It's funny, when i've done replacement schemes with companies like Apple or Nintendo in the past, they take your credit/debit card details and send you out the replacement first, pay for all postage, and collect the faulty/substand ard part. If the part isn't returned, the card is charged extra. This is the way ASUS should have done it. It's not enough that we have to pay costs for everything (the part about ASUS return cost is coblers!), we're left without any battery waiting for another to ship, total lack of trust and professionalism . Very bad business practice!! T he way Asus have done things is so backwards that i've lost a lot of confidence in the way they operate. They've lost a customer for any future products here. Reply | Quote

Kradlum  - Shameful   |11/06/08 10:29 AM Appalling customer service. I won't be buying an Asus again and I won't be singing the praises of the Eee as I had been. Reply | Quote

eee-bow  - Speechless   |11/06/08 10:30 AM Shocked, appalled, gobsmacked, horribly let down... I've run out of words to describe how I feel about ASUS' handling of this situation. S ix months ago I had never even heard of ASUS. I now wish I never had. Reply | Quote

Red death  - Shocking   |11/06/08 10:35 AM Jules - you state that no UK reviews said that the UK would get the 5800mAh battery, but equally we were told by Asus that the battery life would be 3 hours. (I am not sure in what circumstances you got 2h50, but in normal use with Wifi Off and the screen turned down to 30% I rarely get more than 1h30). Equally Asus were hardly honest in telling people in advance that the UK would get smaller batteries.   Then we had a variety of excuses including smaller battery = longer warranty, despite Italy getting same warranty and larger battery. Final ly we appeared to be getting somewhere and yet Asus seem to be making this as difficult (and expensive) as possible for people to take up the offer. Disgrac eful. Reply | Quote

Disheee   |11/06/08 10:42 AM Dude, I rang that number listed in your article. You get the two options presented to you. When you specify the exchange you get a pause and a reiteration that they recommend you paying £29 for a new battery. When I spoke to Gladys( Gladys_mellema& #64;asus.com) I specified an exchange is my preference and I'd like an RMA number please. She told me to send my details to her. She will then contact me with the procedure for the exchange. They don't expect to start this process untill the 23rd of June. Customer Service, what Customer Service? Reply | Quote

Red death  - PS   |11/06/08 10:52 AM Jules - according to folk who have rung Asus after your posting what they have told you and what they are actually offering is different. Peo ple have been told £10 for battery + £7 postage. By the time you add in return of old battery nearly £29. Folk are also being pushed by Asus to go for the £29 upgrade rather than the exchange. This absolutely stinks. A shockingly stupid way to treat customers. Reply | Quote

Kapper   |11/06/08 11:43 AM I just rang that number and the poor (very nervous) girl on the end of the phone had no idea what I was talking about. When she asked a colleague, she informed me that that will know more on the 1st of July. I asked whether it was 23rd June or 1st July.. 1st July was the response. Some bad internal communications going on within Asus UK. This whole process and level of customer care for this product is remarkably poor. It really is a shame as the 900 is a great little machine let down by a very poor battery life. Reply | Quote

looopz  - Snatching defeat from the jaws   |11/06/08 11:44 AM I don't know why anything is surprising in this situation anymore. I doubt Asus could have handled the situation any more unprofessionall y if they had tried. I certainly wont be buying anything from them again (I had aleady bought three products from them this year), never again. Reply | Quote

Paulando   |11/06/08 12:32 PM It's all a bit of a joke really. I have a returns label on its way from PC World as we speak, and my EEE 900 is going back for a refund. Not long ago the EEE brand was seen by me as the UMPC of choice, but I doubt I'll look at one again. Reply | Quote

Adam Elphick  - It Stinks   |11/06/08 2:06 PM This process STINKS - it is NOT what Asus UK themselves said would happen - it is just another way to discourage complainants from making use of the offer. When has a company ever asked for a battery back BEFORE it supplied the replacement? Every other company has done it by taking credit card details and then billing if it is not returned.... I for one will NEVER patronise such a crappy company ever again... and neither will any customers who have enough brain to search internet sites and forums. This has caused such a bad taste in almost all eee900 owners... customer service - they do not know what it means! Reply | Quote

Anonymous   |11/06/08 2:54 PM "We have copies of emails from 21 people who contacted Asus to complain about the battery before this comment was made ? rather more than a handful, but, we concede, hardly a torrent" - Julian Prokaza Juli an, what makes you think that all those that contacted Asus about this matter forwarded their corresponence to you? I would expect that the number of comaplaints would be many times that forwarded to you. The poll is indicative of much wider dipleasure, but again, your poll will only contain a fraction of those that are unhappy with battery supplied with eee900 to the UK. Addition ally, when people call up Asus about the offer, they are quoted £17, not £10. I am not surprised by this, as this is typical of their behaviour all along. I understand that the thread is VERY longer over at eeeuser.com, but you would be wise to read through it. The behaviour of Asus UK is bizarre in the extreme. Reply | Quote

Eggie   |11/06/08 4:06 PM What an extremely convoluted process just to return a battery! Anyone would think Asus want people not to take it up or something? O k you've had emails of complaints from 21 people but that doesn't mean that everyone who's complained... I wouldn't have known about this website if others hadn't told me about it, so I wouldn't go placing too much emphasis on there only being 21. The polls show many more people think their battery life is extremely poor.  UK Reviews indicating a bigger battery...  http://www. tracyandmatt.co .uk/blogs/index .php/2008/05/05 /asus_eee_pc_90 0_unboxed Re viewed on 5th May - Battery size: 4 Cell battery: 5200 mAh, 2.5hrs  http://www. mobilecomputerm ag.co.uk/200804 17425/asus-eee- pc-900/page-3.h tml Your own review states... Our review model came with a 4400mAh battery, though ? the final production model will come with a higher capacity cell !! Asus are making a complete pigs ear of this to prevent people taking the offer up.... Reply | Quote

Adam Elphick   |11/06/08 5:13 PM Actually Jules your review does say: Battery life hasn?t changed dramatically and the Eee PC 900 lasted just 10 minutes less than the 701. Our review model came with a 4400mAh battery, though ? the final production model will come with a higher capacity cell (though Asus isn?t sure what just yet, we suspect it will be 5400mAh). So you MUST have got that information from Asus we presume? Therefore they DID tell a UK site at least that the battery would not be 4400 - i.e. YOUR SITE!! I think you need to find out who at Asus gave you that information. Reply | Quote

spookie   |11/06/08 9:58 PM I have to say the whole process has been a shambles. What a way to kill off any interest in an innovative product.... Li nux, compact product and SSD I suspect a lot of people will now steer clear. Reply | Quote

Gareth Jones  - Eee PC Battery offer   |12/06/08 8:04 AM Those of you expecting a major increase in usage time under the larger battery are in for a rude awakening. I f you're getting, as some claim - just 90 mins from yourr usage of the 4.4Ah battery, replacing it with the 5.8Ah battery is going to give you just 30-35 mins more - around 2 hours. Those getting 120 mins from their usage of the 4.4Ah battery will get around 40-45 mins more - around 2.75 hours. If you doubt these figures and are expecting significantly more. Just do the Ohm's Law calculation for yourself. Reply | Quote

Anonymous   |12/06/08 1:00 PM Hi Gareth, Thos e numbers have been discussed at eeeuser.com. The 4400 battery does indeed seem to perform even less well than would be expected by the stated capacity. I don't have an explanation, there is only speculation. Reply | Quote

eeearwolf  - Pathetic   |13/06/08 11:53 AM Asus clearly do not have a clue. They have thrown away their golden opportunity with a catalogue of disastrous marketing blunders. They blew it on price, misinformation, poor communication, and ridiculously late and lame offers of appeasement over the battery blunder. I am happy to look at, and to advise others to look at, the Acer Aspire One and the Dell E. Reply | Quote

Adam Elphick  - More proof they dont care!   |13/06/08 7:49 PM This comment was left attached to a reply regarding the battery offer to a customer! **** * Please try to convince the customer to go for option 2. At the moment option 1 still needs to be finalized but don?t tell this to the customer. For option 1 they pay 10 pounds plus shipping of about 7 pounds and they have to return their current battery. For option 2 they pay 29 pounds including VAT and they can keep the old one. ***** Reply | Quote

Anonymous  - re: More proof they dont care!   |18/06/08 12:46 PM Adam Elphick wrote: This comment was left attached to a reply regarding the battery offer to a customer! ** *** Please try to convince the customer to go for option 2. At the moment option 1 still needs to be finalized but don?t tell this to the customer. For option 1 they pay 10 pounds plus shipping of about 7 pounds and they have to return their current battery. For option 2 they pay 29 pounds including VAT and they can keep the old one. ***** Sounds like a hoax to me...  :roll: Reply | Quote

adam elphick   |18/06/08 1:46 PM Tell the person who got it on eeeuser.com forum that! It doesn't surprise me at all to be honest. Some have even checked now with the stores Asus say IS stocking the battery for £29 and NONE of them know anything about it yet - even though it starts in less than 2 weeks! The hwole process STINKS. Reply | Quote

EJP  - Exchange - Delayed     |23/06/08 8:41 AM 23 June 9.05 am - I've just spoken to a rather weary lady at Asus Support who said the exchange has been postponed. She said she was told this 5 minutes before the support lines were opened today. This is due to delivery problems, apparently. They do not know when the exchange offer will be rescheduled. The option to puchase date (1 July) hasn't changed, but I suspect that will be delayed too. They are taking telephone numbers down so they can contact customers when the batteries have arrived Reply | Quote

Jonathan   |23/06/08 9:39 AM Just spoke to the ASUS service people, and they said they can't start the battery exchange yet. The lady took my details, gave me a service number, and said they'd be in touch when they're starting. Here's hoping! Reply | Quote

Richard  - Battery Exchange delayed until further notice   |23/06/08 10:13 AM I too have contacted the Asus UK service centre, to be told that the exchange programme has been postponed until further notice - this sucks as my machine will barley last 2 hrs with Wi-Fi on with the screen brightness down as low as it will go, sound off etc. When I asked if the supply problem with high capacity batteries was due to the launch of the new 901 / 1000 series, the lady replied "yes" Reply | Quote

Simon  - Surprise surprise   |23/06/08 3:48 PM Just been told the same thing by the Asus support lady. She took my email and gave me a number and said she could not say when or if the battery replacement programme would go ahead. Surprise surprise. Kind of what I had expected really. Big promises from Asus in the press to keep up their PR appearance; promises that don't materialise for their disgruntled customers. Reply | Quote

Rod Reed   |01/07/08 9:48 AM We are a reseller and I bought the EEE PC from a distributor and it was DOA. The distributor told us that it had to be returned to ASUS not them. A week later I am still waiting for it to be assessed. When I tried calling the board is swamped with replacement battery enquiries and the calls trip over to holland who do not want to know. Operators tell me that there is no complaints department and no one is responsible for complaints. They are not allowed to give out the name of their suppervisor and cannot put me through. Guys do you really want to be delaing with a company that deals with issues like this? Asus Customer Care is very poor. Reply | Quote

EJP  - Asus called me today     |01/07/08 2:55 PM Asus called me today to ask for my address - "to start the process". I gave them my address, they said "thanks" ; and I now wait to see what happens next. Reply | Quote

Jonathan  - Action?   |02/07/08 6:57 AM Had a call yesterday from Howard Penning at ASUS UK; gave me a RMA number. Half an hour later, received an email with the return address, so I'm sending the old battery back this morning. The only odd thing is that no mention has so far been made about paying the £10; we'll see. Reply | Quote

Paul   |02/07/08 8:12 AM Hmm no first come first served eh? Oh well nothing more than I expected. Reply | Quote

EJP  - Posted battery off to Inovo   |04/07/08 12:52 PM I posted my battery off yesterday. They promised a day turnaround, so hopefully the new battery will arrive next week. A woman called me to take my credit card details, so the £10 charge still stands. Reply | Quote

Mike  - Has ASUS started replacing batteries?   |12/07/08 9:10 PM Has anyone been able to exchange their battery yet? Reply | Quote

Jonathan  - Success!   |15/07/08 2:54 PM I'm pleased - OK it would have been good to start off with the 5800 battery, but I received the new one about a week ago, and they did what they said they would, albeit a couple of days later than they said. So thanks ASUS. Reply | Quote

Jeff  - Replaced   |18/07/08 9:47 AM Sent mine off Friday 11th and the 5800mAh replacement arrived today, the 18th. £10 including postage. Good service. Just a pity it was not supplied as standard as it is in the USA where the buying price of the EEE PC900 is cheaper. Good old Rip Off Britain. Reply | Quote

Stefan Fergus  - What if we missed the offer?   |20/08/08 10:49 PM I ordered my EeePC 900 pretty early. One month after it was delivered, the 901 is announced, and details of the battery upgrade were few and far between. Now I find out I've completely missed out on it! Wonderful! S o, my "mobile" ; PC is limited to not very mobile use, attached to a wall-socket... Reply | Quote

Chris Thomas  - I had to buy one!     |09/09/08 4:20 PM I had my Eee PC when it was launched, and I kept up with the story of the battery being replaced, put on hold and so on and so......so I rang Asus today, and they said the battery replacement scheme was only running until 31st July! I was like WTF??!?? So I enquired as to whether I could buy one from them, and they said that I could get them from Ebuyer or Misco. So I had to pay £29.99, but I still have my original one. I get the new one tomorrow! I hope its good! Does anyone know how long the new batteries last? Reply | Quote

Jeff  - Battery drains even when switched off   |15/09/08 3:20 PM There is a problem with the EEE PC 900, the battery drains even when switched off. I understand from Asus that this is now fixable with a motherboard modification under warranty. Reply | Quote

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