Aspire One memory upgrade and warranty issues

I was really wondering how they would handle this, so I decided to call Acer:

here's what happens:

support: May I have your first and last name,
I replied,
support: Is this regarding laptop or desktop,
me: laptop
support: can i have the serial # please
me: I just have a general question before my purchase
me: I am interested in buying an aspire one, and wondered about memory upgrade and warranty.
support: so what is the model # of the laptop?
me: the Aspire ONE
support: ok, but what is the model #
me: um, the Aspire ONE< the new one that just came out,
support: yes sir, I need the model #....
me............... its the Aspire ONE, I don't know any other model #... ( I know they do have there #'s... like A110L, but really sholdn't matter as its a general question and it IS the ONLY aspire ONE available at the moment...)
support: ok can you please hold for one min....
--- on hold
support: thank you for holding.
support: ok, it comes with 512mb upgradeable to ... etc (reading specs)
support: ok sir, it does show its upgradeable so therefore there should be a door on the bottom of the laptop
me: The laptop just arrived here, but elsewhere in the world, people have already had this laptop and there is no door, to upgrade memory one would have to take it apart.
support: well, anything that requires taking the laptop apart would void the warranty, um, can you hold on a min (realizing that sounds silly)
me: ok....
----on hold for 5 mins...
---- still holding ( I am on the phone as I type this.... so far its 13 mins on my cell phone ... and getting no where fast )
---- another min go by... and another... ( I guess I really stumped them? )

support: sorry about the wait
support: since we don't have a production model yet, we cannot confirm if there is going to be a door on the bottom of the laptop
me: um, but Its already here, I am picking mine up tonight, what do you mean there's no production model
support: would you like me to transfer you (raising his voice)
me: sure, if that will help
support: They are GOING TO TELL YOU THE SAME THING I JUST TOLD YOU (almost yelling...)
me: same thing, you mean that they tell will tell me that it's pre-production?
support: hold on one moment pls
--- hold --- or so i thought, then i was cold transfered to someone else.
support: my name is blah blah blah, I am aware of the question you are asking...
and then he just goes on to explain that its pre-production and theres no definite answer
etc... then he says they generally (as in current / past policy) is that they will not void warranty if someone opens the laptop
carefully without damaging any parts.... etc,

I said maybe you should pass this question along the proper channel and have the answer posted as FAQ as most likely you guys will
be getting lots of calls regarding this (I am sure many people will want to know)
thanked him for his time etc etc.

end of conv.

SO...... bottom line is I am getting my ONE but no idea yet about their view on the warranty issue with memory upgrade...
I guess I'll see if theres any stickers etc on the bottom once i've picked it up.

 

lmfao nice post, sounds about right for any manufacture techincal support lines
tell them to go here and take a look at the picture were u can add the ram on the base of the mainboard :lol:

I find it amazing though, that you can upgrade the ram but you have to take the entire thing apart to do it, at least its only a one off job
I can see Acer getting into warranty problems with customers, if the laptops are security sealed in anyway.

 

to be fair, they have never been too bad with warranty...
I mean some of these laptops i've seen looks like they ahve been dropped, etc and they still cover it.
so upgrading the memory really shouldn't cause any issues. but then again, would've been nice to get something more "official" then just saying it "should" be ok

i am feeling a bit lazy don't feel like searching..., anyone know if it'll take a 2gb stick from experience? (making it 2.5gb total)?

thanks,

 

ive got a 2gb stick here ready to go into mine when its released here in the UK, i'll be surpised it if didn't work, I have read that 1.5GB is the max including the built in ram, but no one yet has tried it yet wether is this a limation to the chipset, or the operating system.
You know you want too

 

Interesting, I'm still undecided about buying a 512Mb or 1Gb due to the warranty issues, have one of each on order with Play.com, I looked at the internal photos but its not clear how you actually dismantle the Acer. Can anyone confirm the procedure accessing the memory slot, ie how do you remove the keyboard are there clips or screws, etc etc.

Thanks

 

According to Acer Germany: warranty void when you disassemble the unit to replace the memory.

I have the feeling they don't want you to upgrade the RAM.

 

replace or adding memory :lol:
be a hard job replacing the ram in it; its soildered to the mainboard

 

Well, the "upgraded" units theoretically have the same 512MB soldered-on RAM, and come with the slot pre-populated. So they can get away with saying that.

 

Acer thailand just upgraded the memory for me it too 15 minutes and cost 800 baht for an extra 1 Gb

 

going by memory, but thats about $20 usd ? pretty good price . hope acer canada would do the same.

 

Yeah
It's amazing what actually just walking into a service centre will do.... much better than trying to get answers via telephone or email.

 

Would have been nice to have mine last month..haha, I was in Bangkok for a week and I have 1Gb of RAM waiting (DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 533 PC2 4200, for those not in the know). That would have been an easy job without wasting my time and 800 baht is cheap. Oh well, looks like I'm stuck doing it myself. I plan to upgrade the HDD as well when I pop it's cherry..haha. I have a 60Gb 1.8" Hitachi waiting.

 

i remember there was some netbook company that actually sends you another one of those "warranty void if removed" type stickers if you call and ask for one and tell them you're going to upgrade the ram.
sounds a bit far-fetched though.

 

In the UK at least, I don't believe that they could refuse to honour the warranty if you partially disassembled your One but didn't damage anything. Clearly if you do some damage, you are rightly out of luck.

 

I had thought the same thing as KiNG about the memory upgrade. I had thought that a 2 GB stick would work without issue, now I am losing confidence. (Still going try, once the A1 gets here)

Link to intel 945GSE (the chipset used with the Atom).

Notice it states that Max Memory is 2GB total. So even if you put a 2GB stick in, plus the 0.5GB on the mainboard, only a max of 2GB would be available.

 

Is there any way to disable the built-in memory in BIOS? If so, maybe that would allow a 2GB chip to work...

 

NCIX in Canada is now selling the ONE with upgraded memory. Their techs will add the memory to your machine before shipping it. Wish that was available before I got mine.

 

Hi There ... found a good installation instruction (to upgrade RAM with 1 GB Module) at aaowiki.de (for those, who speak german, but there is a real good picture story also included).

I did it myself in the same 15 minutes; had to do it twice, as the SSD cable was not properly inserted first.

TAKE CARE - you really have to work carefully when working inside your One !!! You will need a good set of tiny screwdrivers

... and it will display 1,5 GB in BIOS and 2046 in SYSTEM INFORMATION when it was successfully upgraded ...

 

Not saying I don't believe you (and I've also seen pictures showing 2046), but my system information shows the correct 1536 (same as the bios). Not sure why (my bios version is 0.3109)