Hewlett Packard whose local subsidiary was fined $3M by the Federal Court for making false and misleading warranty claims has been forced to withdraw their new Chromebook 11 notebook after several users reported overheating with the HP device. The problem does not apply to the Acer and Samsung Chromebooks.
HP who are currently under pressure after reporting record losses in Australia has not commented on the withdrawal of their Chromebook from the Google Playstore.
Google said that they were suspending sales of the laptop which is currently on sale at JB Hi Fi and Harvey Norman in Australia.
The device has already been withdrawn from sale at Best Buy in the USA and Amazon.com.
Google has cautioned customers who have bought the laptop to avoid using the charger which customers claim is overheating and in some cases melting.
Google, which didn’t sell the Chromebook 11 on its Australian Play store, but did sell it on the US one for $US279, doesn’t mention the overheating problems on the store, instead telling users that the device is “not currently available” without specifying why. “Please check back soon,” it states.
“We are working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to identify the appropriate corrective action, and will provide additional information and instructions as soon as we can,” the companies said in a blog post, without elaborating on when they would begin selling the device again. “We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Bloomberg said that Chromebooks, often priced at less than $US500, run Google’s Chrome operating system, which is software that emphasises web browsing, video and the company’s online software for word processing and other tasks. Google has been adding new manufacturing partners as demand rises for the laptops.
