Beware of Asus eee PC Dubious Marketing Tactics

Beware of Asus eee PC 1000, S101 Dubious Marketing Tactics

Wandered by the store the other day, and had a good look at the brand new, premium priced Asus S101 netbook.

What amazed me is that no one has called them on the carpet for marketing tactics that are deceptive and borders on fraud.


STICKER ON eee PC S101 SAYS “80gb STORAGE”

I saw the S101 (32gb model) with a sticker on it that proclaimed that it has “80gb of storage”.

Online, the spec sheet shows 2 models: 32gb and 64gb SSD models as follows:

http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=12994

I made a Pdf copy of this in case Asus decide to change it on us.


So how does Asus get 80gb of storage out of a 32gb SSD model?

Well, what they don’t tell you is that only 16gb of that 32gb is usable as a SSD, that is, the write speed is not so molasses slow that render running programs that write to disk (as oppose to just read) impossible.

The second 16gb SSD is a SD card that is substantially slower. Asus did the same on the eee PC 1000, which was advertised as having a 40gb SSD drive, when only 8gb was usable as an SSD, the other 32gb is a SDHC card that is only usable as storage.

Then there is 30gb of “eee Storage” which is an online service they allow you to sign up for “free” for 24 months.

http://www.eeestorage.com/

See detailed terms here: http://www.eeestorage.com/service/

What is more interesting is how does 16gb (real SSD) + 16gb (SD card) + 30gb (online storage for 24 months) = 80gb???

Well, the way they got 80gb is to use the scam that hard drive makers use to count the actual bytes.

OK, everyone does that, fine, but what abou the fact that the online storage is only good for 18 – 24 months?

Well, it strikes me to lump these three kinds of storage together to get 80gb of “storage”, the majority (16gb + 30gb) not being usable for running programs that require any amount of reasonable speed writing to disk, or in the latter case, access to the web, is basically misleading consistent with Asus’s status as a third rate contractor for other people.

Oh… don’t forget, the eee Storage service is offered by a company that operates based on law in Taiwan, so if you ever have a problem, note this clause: # Governing Law and Jurisdiction

“The governing law of interpretation or application is the laws of Republic of China (Taiwan). Disputes between members and eCareme resulting from using of the Service should be settled by following the principle of good faith. Where litigation should be deemed necessary, both parties agree the Taipei District Court to be the principle instance court of competent jurisdiction. In addition, invalidility [sic] of any part of this agreement does not affect the effectiveness of other parts of this agreement.”


In other words, don’t even think of trying to sue --- even if they shut down the service 3 hours after you bought your Asus eee PC --- they have the right to do so by just unilaterally amending the agreement. Try suing them in Taiwan.



Now, the story gets better.

HOW FAST IS THE DRAM IF THEY DON’T SAY?

Read the specs carefully, and you will notice that the speed of the DRAM is not specified. So if they put in a 400mhz DDR2 SODIMM module, that meets their published specs.

Asus wouldn’t do that? Right. Well that is exactly what they did on my Asus eee PC 1000 --- it came with a slow 400mhz DDR2 SODIMM module. Other luckier people got a real 533mhz DDR2 module. Thanks a lot, ASUS.


802.11n GOOD?

What they don’t tell you is they use a cut rate card that operates in the 2.4ghz band only. Notwithstanding the legions of complaints about the wifi card on the eee 1000 that keeps dropping signal, it is “within spec”.


WARRANTY?

Notice that they are real coy about what warranty the eee PCs come with? Well, if it is a $300 box, sure, we can understand that. But the S101 is pushing $700. It ought to have a good warranty.

Well, first, apparently the warranties are different by country. In my case, my eee PC 1000 came with a one year warranty, but it is only good in the country you bought it from. No International warranty, no coverage if you are abroad. Great if you don’t travel and treat your $500 or $700 eee PC as a disposable. Bad if you think for that kind of money, they should be able to manage a real warranty.

Even more fun. Look at how they void your coverage: There is a sticker on the access door (to RAM etc.) that if removed (i.e. to upgrade the RAM) voids your warranty.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/10/asus-sez-eee-pc-warranty-still-valid-if-you-break-seals/

They got called to the carpet on it in the USA:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Asus-Patches-the-Eee-Warranty-Policy-73291.shtml

Now, supposedly Asus fixed that, at least in the USA by changing its policy:

http://usa.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=9223

The question is, does this apply to every other country? Again, if Asus doesn't say, and say, you are in France... good luck.


Or, reading the warranty terms for the USA, what do you do if you are outside of the USA?

http://support.asus.com/repair/repair.aspx?no=506&SLanguage=en-us


The kind of business practices that Asus is using is great for $300 throwaway, low margin toys.

But when customers start paying $500 to $700, they have a right to expect more.

Asus need to do a lot better or stick to making sub $400 netbooks where nobody can complain much.


All of this kind of shenanigans may be fine when there was no competition in the netbook space. But in the next 6 months, there are going to be some real capable machines backed with solid warranties at the same price points.

Watch out... Asus.

 

When you say the next 6 months, you really do mean the previous 12 months, where the market has been saturated with the netbook phenomena. Nearly ever major manufauter has at least 1 model, ranging from nearly every chipset available, Intel, Via, AMD, and the less known ones as well, containing everything from hdd, ssd, to online only. Currently the options are nearly endless. Dual Core Atom, the thing everyone, I used to included my self in this, thought will come and revolutionize the market and bring so many more makers in will truly not. If intel ever allows it to happen, or even if VIA or AMD beats them to it, the market will see existing models upgraded. Performance wise, you will run Word and FF just about the same, the original purpose for this $500 computer. If I wanted to play Crysis while encoding HD video, I would buy a gaming notebook. There are more models both Asus and others have put at than can be imagined. It filled in a market that people needed. This information is very interesting as I have learned from your post, but can be found after doing research into the specific machine you purchase. Some of it pertains to these devices, some to other Asus models. Before buying my 1000H, I put in 2 hours and found out every possible issue, error, fix, etc. and bought it knowing these things. At the 30 minute mark I knew the major issues; what I am trying to say here is that a little bit of consumer responsibility is needed. You constantly refer to entitlement, which the consumer, is entitled to what they buy, nothing more. Things can always be better, faster, and more user friendly. Asus has no responsibility as a business to let you know any of this, thus the whole category of marketing and business arise. I feel this consumer ownership needed if not vital in today's market. It is all about how to take your dollar...this is no different across any other manufacturer or good, you have just exposed one of the many. I feel this post should be stickied after some toning down for future reference for 1000 or S101 prospective buyers.

 

Doing research is what it is about.

The problem is, most manufacturers stopped playing the kind of games Asus is playing with their customers.

Great games to play for people buying $300 boxes.

Do it to someone who just paid $700 for an S101 that is hardly any different than the eee PC 1000 except it cost $200 more, and you have one irate customer.

Imagine how ticked off a MacBook Air customer will be when they find their SSD only have 1/4 or 1/2 the capacity actually usable? That is what Asus is doing.

Tell me how annoyed you would be if you found that your service station intentionally blended down the octane of your premium fuel, say by 10%? Or quietly adjusted the pumps to give you 3% less?

That kind of games is passe --- just as it would be real tacky if Asus counted the DRAM and on board BIOS as "Storage", which it technically is. Hmmmm going along that path, they could count the user purchased SD card(s), a user provided DVD Drive(s), or USB Hard Drive / Thumb Drive as "storage".

I don't think very many buyers in the USA would be happy if a vendor did that.


FYI, the word entitl(ed) (ment) was never used, directly or indirectly, or implied in the post. Where did you get it from?

 

This is indeed good information. Sure, if we really look at it closely, marketing = shameless lying, but if ASUS lies more than other manufs, it should be known.

I do not have the time to read carefully now, so I cannot guarantee anything -- but if the post is toned down and stated from an objective point of view, also integrating any caveats that may arise from the discussion (such as the "do your research" warning in the 2nd post), I may add it to the Info Booth sticky.

 

I will be delighted if you can amend / modify it and then sticky it at your discretion.

I am sure having spent lots of hours fixing ASUS's problems (like the SDHC card that is called SSD, working bugs out of it like replacing the wireless card with an Intel card, fixing a badly laid out keyboard, touchpad buttons that are too stiff, etc. probably have an impact on how objective I am about Asus.

Feel free to edit / amend it...

 

All the SSD's for all brand netbooks are slow. They use cheap SSD's because they are low price units.

Get a physical hard drive model and be happy, more speed, more storage, less cost.

The online storage is a great thing IMO, good way to keep some files safe and extend the limited size of SSD's.

 

The US models are only 16gb. originally they came with a 16gb sd card but not anymore. 32 and 64gb are for linux version that are not offered in the US. so for the US with windows, its 16GBssd and 30gig online storage. please clarify this on your post

 

dont trust the global site, look at the site that fits your country. the US will not get everything the global site says or has on it. its just like cars, we dont get every cool car model from japan, only a few, and they are usually watered down.

 

Not sure if I'll have the time to do it, also my editing it may not reflect reality... maybe in a couple of days when you are more relaxed about it you can return and make any needed edits.

I think his first point was that the sticker on the actual machine said 80GB, regardless of what the website said...

 

yes but those models are not the final products. even when magazine or reviewers get their sample units, its not the FINAL production model or the FINAL model the US will be selling. different specs are made for different regions.

until it is physically sold in stores, that is the final specs sheet.

if the store is displaying a prototype model or dummy unit that shows incorrect specs, then thats their bad or asus needs to update them with the new specs.

 

Wow. D111, thanks for the post! BTW, in what store did you see S101? I wanted to get one, but now I'm, obviosly, hesitating...