ASUS: Reviewers & Users Get Different Battery
ASUS officially admitted that it provided better batteries to reviewers of its popular Eee PC 900 than those it shipped to actual customers. According to reports flowing in from Hong Kong, customers who purchased the new UMPCs on launch day complained that ASUS mislead consumers and reviewers. The batteries that were given to reviewers were 5800mAh batteries while consumers were given 4800mAh.
Officials at ASUS told reporters that the standard for the Eee PC 900 is a 4800mAh battery. The company said that it had plans to introduce a higher capacity 5800mAh model at a later date, but accidentally shipped those to reviewers instead.
Company representatives state that due to the confusion, it will consider a exchange program for users who have 4800mAh batteries — currently all of them at the moment. However, ASUS did not indicate to reporters if it will follow through with this program or when it would be available.
This is not the first time that companies have shipped "special edition" equipment to reviewers, which ends up skewing overall impressions of the product from actual models that are for sale.
Found: Gizmodo
The only way to test any product is to get -retail samples- from different venders/shops over a period of a few weeks and insure all tests are run the exact same way.
LOL
I disagree i think it's stealing.
Priceless.
LOL!!!
Sorta reminds me of several recent companies, i.e. Enron, Global, Worldcom, etc.
First of all, you should have read the computer's specs at the hardware/internet store before you bought it. If they would sell/ship you the PC with inferior specs, you could argue about scamming and you could just RM that.
You can't really classify this as stealing. Fraud, deception, misdirection yes but stealing, no.
Take a look at the EEE PC 900 page http://eeepc.asus.com/global/news04152008.htm - there is no information there about the battery. Rarely do you get much information about the battery, reviewers had no reason to suspect they were getting a bigger battery. The blame is 100% on ASUS for being scumbags.
This happens with a lot of products. When Toms gave the Viewsonic VP930 a glowing review I went out and bought one. When 6 months later it died, I got a replacement unit which was terribly inferior to the original. Nothing I can do about it. What can anyone do about it?
And no, I don't and have never worked for Asus. I haven't used an Asus mobo in too long to remember, although a pair of Asus EAH3850 video cards I bought for different systems (mine and one for my niece) have worked well.
A failure to think for oneself is NEVER someone else's fault, even if that someone else could have been more clear.
It should have sent red flags at the beginning when a brand new 5800mAh battery was in the 900. The 4G and 8G both use the 4 cell 4400mAh and 4 cell 5200mAh. If I get a laptop for review and it has a different battery than all the previous models, isn't the prudent first question to ask Why?
Any reviewer that didn't note this change failed. Its also funny that the reviewer now get to write the counter and claim ignorance as a defense and watch as all the sheeple readers jump on the Asus hate bandwagon.