Comments on: Eee PC’s Dirty Little Secret (Updated)

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:28:58 +0000

Just imagine how long that PC would last if you left it on in an “extremely hot state” 24 hours a day.

Like I said, the Eee PC will overheat eventually if running at full speed. It will die within the warranty period probably, certainly within three years (the average time of an extended warranty).

ASUS is trying to cover up an overheat problem, and they’re letting retailers use false advertising to do it.

By: zerk

zerk — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:30:23 +0000

i forgot to mention that i mistakenly put the machine at 900mhz in his bag for an hour with full on.
(i had turned off the lid switch before in xp)
when i realized it was extremely hot, the fan was running at 100% but everything worked.

By: zerk

zerk — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:16:20 +0000

i use it @ 900mhz a lot and just dont give a sht about warranty, it was so cheap. (4g w xp) and I live in a country which is not amongst the richest in europe. ok, i was surprised when i see that it runs only at 630mhz, but i was surprised too when i see the xp installing, i just expect the linux OS for the price. actually i find it so cheap that I plan to mod it as seen on youtube (integrate hsdpa modem).

my only complaint is the battery time. the factory battery (4400mh) runs only 2 hrs at 630mhz. so i need a bigger battery wich cost a relatively lot

By: ASUS, Amazon.com, Best Buy Keep Quiet over Eee | Christopher Price .net

ASUS, Amazon.com, Best Buy Keep Quiet over Eee | Christopher Price .net — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:38:32 +0000

[...] & Internet, Retail Despite initial promises of fixing the typos in their specifications, Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Eee PC maker ASUS now refuse to respond to any form of [...]

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:43:30 +0000

Yes, you can overheat a CPU when running at the full speed… if the computer surrounding it does not manage heat properly. That’s very possible considering the Eee PC’s small footprint, and may explain the downclocking. It may also explain why ASUS is willing to void the warranty if you chose to clock the CPU back up to full speed.

Intel does not attach clock speeds with their marketing. The surf models may be using CPUs originally rated at 800 MHz, but it’s the same situation… you void the warranty if you clock the CPU back up to the speed rated by Intel, according to ASUS.

By: Sascha

Sascha — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:35:17 +0000

well it’s a 900Mhz CPU downclocked to 630Mhz…
There are no heat issues but Asus had problems with a BIOS that is supporting the 100Mhz FSB.
You can’t overheat a cpu that is running at it’s normal speed, so your Eee win run at 900 Mhz without any problems….
The 701 surf is using the 800Mhz Celeron-M.. so it should be downclocked to around 570 Mhz

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:47:04 +0000

There is no way to bypass that “power saving” setting without voiding the warranty. That’s according to ASUS. Calling me stupid, and posting incorrect info, is a bad combination. Perhaps you missed where ASUS confirmed everything I’ve written in this post.

(Note: I disagree that the 630 MHz CPU restriction is meant to save power at all. I suspect ASUS encountered overheating and CPU burnout issues with long-term use. Hence, the downclocking).

Advertising the system as having a 630 MHz CPU would be correct, because that is the maximum speed the system can run without having the warranty voided… and that is according to ASUS. ASUS says they do not advertise a processor speed, but they provided Best Buy the specifications rating the system as being 900 MHz. Not “900 MHz CPU downclocked to 630 MHz”.

Clearly, advertising the system with only the billing of a 900 MHz CPU is false. If I sell you a car, write “speeds up to 200 MPH” on it, and then it stops going faster at 150 MPH, you would be able to sue me… it’s that simple.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:26:39 +0000

You must be a little stupid, the EeePC does have a 900 MHz processor, it is set to 630MHz as a thermal/battery saver setting. It is fairly simple to change the setting to 900MHz if you want (well it would be fairly simple to anyone with some brain power).

If they advertised it as a 630MHz processor it would be false advertising, as it obviously isn’t.

What next, you want to sue them for hurt feelings now as well?

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:18:12 +0000

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