For some reason Asus has decided to release some Asus Eee PC laptops with a RAM access panel on the back of the unit, while others lack that easy access panel. Otherwise, there are few differences between the machines.

As I demonstrated a few months ago, upgrading your RAM is an incredibly easy process if you have an access panel on the back. You just unscrew two screws holding the panel in place, pop out your old RAM and pop in a new stick. That's it. The whole thing takes less than 60 seconds.

But if you don't have a RAM access panel, the process can be a bit more complicated. Not impossible, just more complicated. Fortunately, I recently came across this video on YouTube which does a great job of laying out step by step instructions.

If you're not comfortable taking your computer apart, then you'd better get comfortable with 512MB of RAM. Keep in mind that disassembling your computer case and poking around on the insides is likely to void your warranty. But if you follow the instructions in the video closely, you should be able to upgrade your RAM.

Note that these instructions apparently do not work if you have an Eee PC 2G. They are only for the 4G models.

I'd been toying with the idea of picking up a 1GB RAM stick sometime soon. But then CNet goes and posts a tip letting me know I could get 2GB for just $27 after rebate and shipping from Newegg. So I went ahead and hit the order button, and less than 24 hours later a friendly UPS driver dropped rang my doorbell.

Installations was incredibly easy. All you have to do is break that scary but meaningless (if you live in the US) yellow label on the bottom of your unit, undo some screws, pop out the old RAM and pop in the new one. Here, have a look for yourself:



So now my Eee PC has twice the RAM of my full sized laptop.

It's also running at 900MHz, which is a bit faster than a stock unit. Asus ships the Eee PC with a 900MHz celeron processor but underclocks it to 630MHz. It's not clear if this is for stability purposes or to prolong battery life. The company issued a BIOS update a while back that lets users run at 900MHz, but the 8804 BIOS includes a couple of bugs that do things like draw wavy lines on your display.

The other day some members of the EeeUser forum found an unofficial BIOS update that may or may not be a beta release. The 0511 BIOS (sometimes called the EeePC Super.ROM) provides you with the option of running at either 630MHz or 900MHz and also seems to make your screen an awful lot brighter. The only problem is you have to jump through some hoops if you get scared of running an unofficial BIOS and want to downgrade to a previous version. Fortunately, Asus has since released a newer BIOS and there's no restriction against upgrading to a newer BIOS, even if the latest release from Asus actually has fewer features than 0511.

Anyway, so long story short my Eee PC now runs at 900MHz and has 2GB of RAM and runs like a dream. The fan kicks in a bit more often than it used to and runs louder than I'd like. But in terms of performance, my Eee PC is now officially a tiny bit more awesome than it was yesterday.

I don't want to provide a link to an unofficial ROM udpate here, but if you check out the EeeUser forum you can probably find it, or you can just Google the name of the ROM.

Asus seems to have delivered an early Christmas present to new Eee PC owners. Asus began selling the $299 2G Surf model this week, and at least one new Eee PC owner found a surprise waiting in his package - twice the RAM he was expecting.

Asus had said there would be a handful of differences between the 2G Surf and the 4G model. The 2G Surf would have no webcam, a 2.8 hour battery (as opposed to 3.5), 2GB of RAM (instead of 4GB), and 256MB of RAM (rather than 512MB).

But if you can believe what you read on the box cover, Eee User forum member Theicom picked up a 2G Surf with 512MB. He hasn't posed any pictures of the unit powered up displaying it has 512MB, and he hasn't taken the unit apart to show the RAM stick. But the box clearly states that the 2G Surf has 512MB of RAM.

There's no access panel on the back of the unit, so if you want to upgrade the RAM or make other tweaks you'll need to disassemble your unit. But you can find a bunch of pictures showing how to do that on Flickr.

Every Eee PC comes with a little sticker on the back that claims you'll void your warranty if you break the sticker. That wouldn't be so bad, but the sticker covers one of the two screws that you need to remove if you want to take off the back panel and upgrade your RAM, which by all reports is incredibly easy to do. You know, if you want to void your warranty.

There's been a lot of discussion lately over whether or not Asus can legally void your warranty if you perform a procedure as simple as upgrading your RAM. Now it turns out the company will honor warranty claims made by users who have damaged that sticker. Although Asus would prefer you get a certified technician to perform any upgrades for you (thus minimizing the risk of damage and ticked off customers), the sticker apparently serves no legal purpose.

So what's it there for? My best guess is to discourage users from opening up their computers on their own. The vast majority of people who buy an Eee PC will not bother calling Asus support of hunting around the interwebs to find out if they really void their warranty by removing the sticker. After all, it says so right on the sticker, doesn't it?

The moral of this story. Never trust anything you read on a yellow sticker. You know, unless it says Police: Do not cross.

Update: It's official. Asus has released a statement letting you know that you can upgrade your unit without violating your warranty.