Asustek washes hands of exploding non-certified batteries

7 May 2008 | 19:37 BST

By Sylvie Barak

Boom and bust

MAKER OF THE Eee PC, Asustek Computer, has warned customers that shoving third party batteries into its tiny laptops is not a great idea, and that the company’s warranty will not cover any damage caused by doing so.

Asustek’s warning that it will not take responsibility for hardware damage caused by non-certified batteries, comes after as of yet unconfirmed rumours, in China, that a third party battery exploded.

Of late, second and third-tier battery manufacturers have been ramping up production of copycat batteries that can be used inside the Eee, with some even offering batteries with 10,400mAh, or five and a half hours of battery life.

But it seems that the super long life batteries may not be all they’re charged up to be, with some people claiming that they overheat whilst charging, or even explode.

Asustek has said that it hasn’t heard anything at all about exploding batteries, but that if it happened, repairing a damaged laptop would have to be at the customer’s own expense, as Asustek refuses to pick up the shattered pieces of exploding non certified batteries.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese ‘non-certified’ battery maker has vehemently denied that its 10,400mAh battery has ever caused any damage to anyone, or anything.

Due to global battery shortages, the unofficial battery company’s sales have been skyrocketing, and it believes that allegations about exploding batteries are just vicious rumours started by rivals to hurt its business. µ

L’Inq
Digitimes

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