Eee PC 900: battery bait and switch?

Digitimes is reporting that early adopters of the Eee PC 900 are finding weaker batteries than those provided to the media for review:

Asustek Computer is considering plans to give a free Eee PC 900 battery upgrade to consumers in Hong Kong who purchased their machines on the first day of launch following complaints that the company had mislead customers and early reviewers.

Several consumers in Hong Kong who purchased Eee PC 900s on the first day have complained that the battery that came with their system (4-cell, 4400mAh) does not have the same capacity as that of review samples supplied to the Hong Kong media (4-cell, 5800mAh) before the launch.

Asustek explained that the 4400mAh battery is currently the standard for the Eee PC 900, while it plans to introduce the 5800mAh battery in later products. It said 5800mAh batteries were provided to the media for testing by mistake.

The company said it is currently evaluating procedures to instigate a replacement program, details of which it will announce at a later time.

(via digitimes