I don't understand this forum

I've been doing a lot of reading throughout this forum, and I can honestly say that I don't understand what you guys are up to.

It seems like a lot of people (here, anyway) are buying the Aspire One (which comes with an OS pre-installed) and then nuking the entire system to put something else on.

Now I can understand if you want Vista, you need to wipe the hard drive clean and install Vista yourself.
But what's up with this? Why buy the XP version of the Aspire One, delete the OS, and then reinstall the exact same OS?
If you bought your Aspire One with Linux pre-installed and you want XP, why didn't you just buy the XP version?

It seems that a lot of people are having problems after formatting the hard drive and then blaming the problems on the Aspire One itself. Take it from me, I heard from the guy at theacerguy.com that the Aspire One is a "closed system" and that you cannot install another OS on it. For those who have managed to install another OS, maybe this is why you're having all the problems? I don't know what the truth to the "closed system" statement it but, meh.

Don't understand...

I bought my Aspire One with XP, and that's what I wanted. I can't see myself ever needing to format. At the most, I might need to restore to factory settings, but then again, I also have a backup created by Acronis 11.

 

I can't speak for everyone so the answers I give are just for my situation.

I got the Linux version because I had extra XP licenses and did not feel like paying another $50-60 (at the time of purchase, the linux version was $320 and the XP version was closer to $380-390) for something I did not require. Also, it's common for OEM's to preload garbage apps on the systems so redoing the OS clean provides a clean slate. Of course, it helps if you are prepared for it ahead of time (getting all necessary drivers, etc).

It's not a "closed system" per se. What do you mean by "another OS" though? do you mean something other than Windows/Linplus?

That's good, and that's what you want from your system. We all have different expectations and reasons for buying the AAO. Enjoy your AAO.

 

First the XP model here in Portugal its the one with 120GB HDD and 1Gig Ram its costs another 100€...so for another 100€ i can buy external hdd 160GB and another RAM stick and get 1.5GB ram and still got money left...
Second...it ain't out yet here....

The closed system comment its sh#t, the Windows version it has the same base hardware has the Linux version (more ram and HDD) so i can put Windows in it with no worries...and if it was a closed system i would lose my guarantee when installing another OS.
Last i love my AAO with SSD, XP and 3 Cell battery (6 cell not bad but to big), Being able to carry the AAO everywhere without the worry if i'm gonna mess up my hdd while its ON its very good...first day i was installing XP i did it on the fly...got it installing inside the bag and went to work with it installing...
If people are having problems installing XP (bricking) in it its cause ACER is still twinging with BIOS, and haven't corrected every little bug.
If you want to install XP without worries just get an External CD/DVD, otherwise follow the 3 tons of guides out there to install from USB (which worked very nice with me.)
Or you can for the last buy one pre-installed...
I dont know why people buy XP and reinstall it then but normally the OS that comes with notebooks is filled with Bloatware (software you dont need) and sometimes even some spyware, thats why many times the notebooks are so slow...

 

The Aspire One is in fact a normal PC, just without optical drive - and compared to other PC on the market a slow CPU. It is no "closed system". Netbook is just a marketing buzzword. Because it is a normal PC you can install whatever you want. Because of the missing optical drive its just a little bit more difficult.

 

Many folks will wipe the standard XP off and install a lightened XP (using nLite), which will make it snappier and smaller. I did this with my EEE 701 4G and managed to make XP fit with office and itunes in 4GB of SSD with 1.5GB to spare - and it ran quite well!.

I resized the XP partition to 30GB and installed OS/X on the remaining space. I keep all my data on the OS/X HFS+ partition and use MacDrive in XP to access it (OS/X can only read NTFS, so didn't want to keep my data on the NTFS partition).

-steve

 

In my case, I wanted the SSD version since I wanted my netbook w/out a hardrive. And the price differential in my location for a 120gb 6 cell xp version is $200 more than the 8gb SSD 1gb RAM Linpus version. And since I already have an XP license from an a previous laptop, I don't need to get another copy of XP. Makes sense now? And oh btw, I didnt have any problems installing XP on my SSD version. I've installed the OS literally hundreds of times on different systems, and part of the fun is getting everything to work right. Got mine working smoothly within a few hours, mostly due to tweaking. Didnt encounter any problems on the install at all. Do it right, and XP on the AAO SSD is fine.

 

The acer aspire one is a laptop.
A COMPUTER. Several components connected to a screen.
People can install what they want, they bought it.
XP version is more expensive and as I have a LEGAL windows xp disc I saved £40 by installing it.
I dont understand your point... you're saying people should buy something but not WANT to run it to its fullest capabilities?

 

the aspire one that comes with a hard drive built in as actually a thicker netbook than the one that comes the the SSD. This is one reason a lot of people want the sleeker one.

Also, this is a computer, just like any other computer. And a lot of people here aren't normal computer users, they are more techie people. So messing with a computer is half the reason for this purchase.

I got rid of the Linpus system so that I could install Xubuntu, a distribution of linux I am more familiar with.

 

I can see where your coming from.

But for me I wanted the 120gb Linux version for two reasons. One, it had 12gb, and two it had linux (lol). Couldnt have just 20gb, way not enough. And I might as well get used to a new OS because, well jsut because. And I knew if i wanted i could just get rid of linux and put xp on (saving me a few quid as I already have 2 xp licenses anyway).

Now that ive use linux and like it (its soo fast!) I've decided to keep it and add xp also on a seperate partition (dual boot), so best of both worlds really, saved some money, plus a new OS to play with which I wouldnt have installed otherwise.

I guess the main reason is, we like to customize our machines, get rid of the crap were given and make it our own. And its fun to play around. I personally like to have a fresh install of xp and keep it as standard as I can, just installing a few programs, changin the wallpaper and a few other things keeping it tidy and new and quick for as long as possible

But obviously you like to get a computer and have it working out of the box and keep it like that untill something forces you to start fresh, which is probably what 90% computer users want.

 

My reason to buy AA1 was simple. I CAN DO MODS - that's my free will, my choice. It's real freedom when I can do what I want with my stuff... It does not making any difference what system I've got - It's just small and pretty machine. And cheap enough to buy another one when I'll really break something...

 

Ai! Why install all kinds of crap and custom the entire thing with leaving nothing standard? Because it's FUN! That pretty much sums it all up, huh...

 

Can someone confirm this? From what I understood, the HDD and SSD are the same size, and even interchangeable, so why would the size of the laptop be any different?

To keep on-topic though, my reason for eventually formatting my AAO (when I actually obtain one...) is pretty much the same as has been said above. Fresh install, multiple partitions, dual/tri-boot, etc.

-John

 

SSD and HDD are two different products, two different sizes, two different connector types. They have nothing in common... HDD version is a bit thicker then SSD...

 

Damn... you learn something new every day... :|

 

Don't worry. I bet you have seen SSD SATA drives available on the market. They are interchangeable with standard HDD. But in case of AA1 SSD drive is completely different. It looks like that:

http://picasaweb.google.it/FFurcas/AA1# ... 6267641154
http://picasaweb.google.it/FFurcas/AA1# ... 1399694994
http://picasaweb.google.it/FFurcas/AA1# ... 1512827986

 

Why buy it and upgrade?

Because I want my P.C. my way.

I wanted SSD for durability.
XP for compatability.
1.5 GB RAM

Acer doesn't sell that model.


What I don't understand is why people think the RAM upgrade is so painfull.

It was maybe 15-20 minutes start to finish.
This is the easiest laptop I've ever taken apart.

 

I think for those of us who've built and taken apart any number of computers, such a task would be simple, but there are a lot of people buying these that probably never have, and never will take apart a computer. I have friends that didn't even realize you could build a computer by buying individual parts and putting them together like Legos, which, at least to me, is pretty much how easy it is.

That being said, in comparison to any other laptop ever built... it is painful... And why Acer hasn't fixed the problem with the new models being released is beyond me...

Well that's definitely what I'll be getting then. I wanted to use my PS3's 60GB drive on an SSD model originally. I guess I'll probably just put it into an external USB case instead.

 

Your basic premise is faulty. I bought the SSD/Linpus model because that's what I wanted (and, truth be told, could afford). I haven't changed it at all, and it suits my needs perfectly.

So not _everybody_ is tearing down the OS and building another one. Having said that, it seems to be pretty straightforward to install more-or-less any PC OS on the AA1, from the reports I'm hearing. Should I ever find a need to do it, I shall do so with some confidence that it will work.