Would you recommend the product? yes | Price you paid?: $1,000.00 | Rating: 8
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Kernel (uname -r):
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2.6.20-15-generic+2.6.25.9
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Distribution:
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Kubuntu 7.04+SMGL
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I bought this laptop in the summer of 2006 from CompUSA for about $1000, it came with a bag of worthless Windows applications and a DLINK wireless router. The notebook itself is made of plastic, and a bit too flexible for my tastes, but fine for desk usage and light travel. I tried several different Linux distros on it over the last year before settling with Kubuntu 7.04. Reasons for this include my love for KDE, the fact that Kubuntu uses Apt for easy software management, and the fact that many features of my hardware worked out of the box. Bluetooth, Optical Drive, Sound, and Ethernet worked out of the box perfectly. The webcam works with gspca (included with the distro) but has some issues with white balancing and colors. The touchpad worked too, but Kubuntu had Xorg using only the standard drivers. I changed my xorg.conf file to use the Synaptics driver allowing more precise control over the touchpad and the use of the 4 way scroller. The WiFi sort of worked with NetworkManager, but I could not get it to work with the PEAP (MSCHAPv2) WPA I need to use. I uninstalled NetworkManager and started using wpa_supplicant and iwconfig to control the interface. This fixed the problem, but GUI control would be nice. The graphics card only runs in VESA mode out of the box, resulting in a stretched image. There is a driver in Apt for it, but it did not work correctly for me, so used the one from ATI. I did not test the 5-in-1 reader, since my digicam uses CF. I also did not test the firewire (should work, listed in lspci) or the winmodem (might not work, but who cares?)
==update==
I can confirm that the firewire and card readers work. After owning this computer for 2 years and since moving away from Kubuntu, I can still recommend this computer, but with a few reservations. The reason Acer seems like a good deal is that they comprise the overlooked features to boost the specs. The webcam's internal USB connection tends to work it's way out every few month or so, requiring disassembly of the computer to reattach it. The system is flimsy. My motherboard literally cracked in half while it was under warranty. Acer replaced it for no charge. The keyboard is squishy, its bottom 50% but not awful. My audio/touchpad board is flaky, so I bought a new one off eBay for $20+s/h.
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