Asus EeePC 900 Battery Drain Woes

A thread on the EeeUser forum details how some (or most?) EeePC 900 units drain battery even when turned off.

I was just wondering if anyone else has been having this same problem. Now when my eee pc 900 is fully charged and i leave it for a couple of days not using it the battery still drains when even not in use.

And I agree that this is a serious reliability issue. For many people, the Eee serves as a mobile work machine, and for some, as a travel companion. Some just turn on their Eee for a few minutes to check on email and read news, and then off again. But if you lose 10% to 20% of your charge each day then you’d have to plug it in often, which beats the purpose of having a portable computer with a three-plus hours battery life.

I have yet to test this on my machine, but I’m curious to know how Asus will deal with this. Is this perhaps just a BIOS issue? Or is this a battery issue?

July 12, 2008 · Filed by jangelo under Hardware, Mobility

Comments

12 Responses to “Asus EeePC 900 Battery Drain Woes”

  1. axel on August 13th, 2008 8:22 pm

    I have experienced the same issue with my brand new eeePC 900.
    Battery drains even when switched off.
    Does anybody have a remedy. Any settings to be changed.

  2. Chestnut on August 14th, 2008 6:39 am

    I have an eeepc 900 running Linux, and my battery drains on average 10% per day when not in use. I have tried installing the latest BIOS, but this does not help. I believe the issue is with the USB ports remaining active after shutdown. I have tried disabling the USB in the BIOS you loose the camera and SD card functionality. Not a very useful solution….

  3. Nikolas on August 17th, 2008 6:40 am

    Guys i think the problem is on battery. I fully recharged the battery and removed it from the laptop. after 2 days i plug in again the battery and still has the same problem. it was at 80% remaining.

  4. Twain on August 21st, 2008 6:11 am

    There are long threads in german and english EEE PC forums about this issue. It seems as the motherboard is faulty since there is a current leak of about 14mA while beeing switched off. This leads to the experienced situation. At least in Switzerland the EEE PC gets a new motherboard with the issue fixed on guarantee if sent back to Asus. Rgds, Twain

  5. John on August 24th, 2008 7:27 am

    Many eee pc users (all?) are having the same problem:

    http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=358651

    For many, it’s not a battery issue. Removing it from thee eeepc stops the battery drain. Some users have sent it for repair to Asus. They change the battery or the motherboard, but the problem remains. So far, I haven’t seen any user at all who has had this problem solved.

  6. Ivan on September 18th, 2008 12:30 am

    Same problem with my 900.
    The only way to deal with this is to start sending back your PCs, get an RMA and force Asus to fix the problem. If it takes three attempts then make them do it. If they fail demand a refund as the pc is not fit for use as intended.
    They seem to be quite happy to have everyone talking about this problem as long as it does not cost them money.They appear to have fixed the problem with the 901 and 1000, use that as an example when they try and tell you that it is normal for your battery to discharge 10% per day.
    A Li-ion battery should hold its charge longer than 2 weeks. Normal self discharge should not be more than 5-10% per month.Don’t let them tell you that the cmos/bios is sucking it down the draw from this would be minute.

  7. Chris Parker on September 29th, 2008 11:55 pm

    Same problem with my 900/XP. Battery goes flat after about 3 days when left switched off and not connected to external power. Bought mine to use on my canal boat where power supply is a real issue. A notebook with 25% the power consumption of my full size laptop was to have been a major help, but this makes it worse than the laptop, and no use at all for what I bought it for! Won’t be buying from Asus again unless they fix it fast, and nor will anyone I know. Will tell you how I get on with them.

  8. Arvi on October 3rd, 2008 9:05 am

    Wish I had read this before. Had I know the battery self-discharges, I wouldn’t have put on storage with the battery attached.

    My battery is now DEAD probably due to over discharging. And the warranty just expired.

    The least ASUS could have done was put a warning NOT to do this. Oh well.

  9. roel on October 17th, 2008 6:43 pm

    i have the same problem as well..

    i have fully charged my eeepc 900, but once i removed it from the charger and started using it, it only took me about 2 - 3 hours using its battery, eventhough i already decreased its volume and light.. any advice how to prolong its battery life?

    thanks.. ^__^

  10. lorena r. villareal on October 31st, 2008 2:54 pm

    my asus eee pc900 was bought a month ago and yet my battery last for only 30 minutes. it takes long for it to be fully charge but when i use it i can’t even finished a document, it goes off.

  11. Ben on November 1st, 2008 8:08 pm

    I have a problem were when I charge my eee I have to hold the charger in and really push does anybody have a solution for that?

  12. Hans on November 15th, 2008 3:31 am

    No Ben, no solution, my eepc 900 battery drains quickly too. I bought an expensive new 4-cell bat from Expansys Belgium, received it after FIVE months, and the result is just te same: 10% loss every day.
    You won’t see me buying another Asus or any cheap Notebook, for that matter. And send it towards an Asus Service Point? Rather not, thanks, I need this working tool. Just look for a quality replacement: Apple Aero perhaps?

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