I received one with a wiped hard drive and 1 GB of RAM. The battery would charge for a few seconds and then the battery icon would turn off. The N100 would not turn on without a connected AC adapter. This battery has 85% charge according to Windows 7, but the laptop is not charging the battery. After a few sessions using this battery for e- mail and web-surfing, the laptop would abruptly turn off, as if all power got cut off to the laptop. Turning it on again (with battery and AC adapter connected) would replicate the behavior after a few minutes of usage. I was also able to replicate this behavior without loading Windows (7) - I navigated through the BIOS setup when I replicated the condition.
I'm able to change the behavior by removing the battery and only using the AC adapter.
I bought another battery with the same FRU/ASM P/N with the same amount of charge and was able to replicate the condition.
I bought yet another battery with a DIFFERENT FRU/ASM P/N. This battery had a minimal amount of charge. Attempting to turn it out generated the battery icon LED, telling me there's not enough charge to turn on the laptop. After a few seconds of charging, the battery icon also turned off. While I haven't loaded WIndows with this battery, I suspect it will also fail to charge and abruptly shut off.
I'm at a point where I can now say the system board is defective. I'm aware of the program that replaced certain N100 batteries and I'm aware this program has expired. I can't update the BIOS because WinFlash works only in a 32-bit operating system (according to the TXT file), and my Windows 7 is 64-bit.
I have considered replacing the system board, but would much rather repair it with a soldering iron. The risk to me is minimal, as I received the laptop in a barebones state at no cost. I'm presuming the battery connector is attached to the system board, and no stand alone battery connector exists for the N100.
I'd love to hear from anyone who's attempted to repair power problems on this laptop with a soldering iron.
Thanks for reading.