Asus Eee PC RAM Upgrade Restriction Still Applies in Philippines

Per punkrocker of the Eee Philippine Users Group forum, Asus has confirmed that the warranty seal that prevents users from doing DIY RAM upgrade still applies in the Philippines. As posted in the thread, Asus' reply re the warranty is as follows -

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.

My name is Kitty and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.

Sincerely sorry for bringing you any trouble and inconvenience!

For your question, I am sorry to tell you that it will void the warrany [sic] to upgrade RAM in Philippines at present. Asus will promulgate it if there is any news, and please refer to the official website: http://www.asus.com.tw/. You can select the country or area on the left.

Best regards and have a nice day!

If you have any other problems, please be free to let me know.

Thank you for using ASUS products and enjoying ASUS services!

Welcome to refer FAQ for ASUS products in ASUS website:

http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us


Kitty

ASUS Customer Service Center (Shanghai , China)

If you have any suggestions or complaints about our technical support service, please e-mail your feedback to support@asus.com.cn

We will then arrange for a specialist to work on your issue.

Your suggestions and feedback are most appreciated and allow us to serve you better.

Breaking Seal no longer voids Asus Eee PC Warranty

From the Asus Official website -

"ASUS Computer International (“ASUS”) recently received feedback from one of its valued customers with questions concerning the purpose of a seal stating, “Warranty Void If Removed” over the access door to the single SODIMM slot on some models of the ASUS Eee PC. ASUS wishes to assure its customers that merely breaking or removing this kind of seal will not void the ASUS Limited Warranty. Although ASUS recommends that customers use ASUS-approved service facilities and components, ASUS is committed to honoring the terms of its Limited Warranty and making sure that its customers are free to make appropriate hardware and software modifications and upgrades, regardless of whether the service is performed by an approved facility, a non-approved service provider, or by the customers themselves. ASUS will replace the warranty label with a label to warn users that ASUS will not be responsible for the damage caused by improper hardware change.

ASUS is taking steps to make sure that the seals in question are no longer used in its products that are intended to be sold in any country where these stickers are not permitted.

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Note last paragraph. This revised warranty may not apply in your country. :(

Asus Eee PC RAM Upgrade Policy Upsets Users

From the Asus Support Page -

Question:

How do I upgrade the memory and SSD modules of Eee PC on my own?

Would disassembling the bottom cases affect the warranty?

Answer:

Since the product positioning and service terms of Eee PC is different from notebooks, Asus is unable to provide any upgrade for the internal hardware (including the SSD and memory modules).

Customers disassembling the outer cases (including the keyboard) of Eee PC products or tearing off the warranty label is considered as customer induced destruction (CID), which will lead to voiding the warranty.

If you have demands for higher capacity of memory and storage, you may select various models of notebooks from Asus for your suitable purchase.

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It seems ridiculous for Asus to design the Eee PC with access to the RAM and then prevent users from doing such a simple DIY thing of upgrading the RAM without voiding the warranty.

As I have written before, if Asus wants to position the Eee PC as a consumer product, it should package it that way and sell it via the consumer electronics/appliances of retail stores. They shouldn't even discuss what OS it uses, or processor is inside. Just promote the functionality. Period.

For more user discussion on this topic, you can read the Eeeuser forum thread here.

Asus Eee PC not covered by Asus Accidental Damage Warranty

Submitted by reader Bluberry -

According to Asus' Accidental Damage Warranty as listed on its site -

...To notebook users, we know accidents are unavoidable, and the costs associated with them can really add up. Whether you drop your ASUS notebook computer or spill coffee on your notebook keyboard, you’re now covered. And you will always enjoy the convenience of assistance 24/7* from ASUS technical representatives. And rest-assured your product will be up and running quickly.

ASUS currently provides the best notebook product warranty in the industry – ASUS 360 with “20224” protection**, including 2-year global warranty, zero bright dot (ZBD) guarantee for LCD display, free two-way standard overnight shipping for repair, 24 hours tech support. Now, ASUS is leading the industry again to provide ASUS notebook users with one year Accidental Damage Warranty (ADW) Program free of charge**, if your ASUS notebook computer is purchased on or after Sept. 10, 2007.

** The ASUS 360 Notebook Service Program and Accidental Damage Warranty covers “ASUS” brand notebooks only, and does NOT extend to:

+ “Built on ASUS,” “ASMobile,” “Powered by ASUS,” the Eee PC, or some other models....