After experiencing various issues/problems on my old P4 desktop I decided it was time to move to newer hardware and my first experience with a modern laptop. I decided on an Acer Aspire 5750 which came preloaded with W7 with the following specs;
Now I hadn't used windows with any regularity since W98, and hence missed using all the versions that followed.
I was willing to give W7 a fair chance to impress me and decided to do all the usual; update, customize etc.
"Free" as in cost's you...
My first objective was to "activate" anti-virus via Mc Afee. The link opened with a link "Click to Update". So I clicked, waited, and the software apparently updated, closing with a message something like "Your anti-virus is up-to-date".
Intuitive...
Next I decided to explore the system, looking for hardware/settings/details. By the time I'd found something vaguely resembling my intent I had 7 windows open. Not a good start...
Sound's Annoying...
In this opening 10-15minutes of exploration I think I'd heard every possible sound file contained in W7. A sound for everything... like an audible version of windings!
I rebooted the system (I'm not sure why, I think just to get away for a minute) only to find the same anti-virus warning to "update'. I updated again, opened a few programs while I waited; media player, explorer (lol) and knew there and then. Immediately I felt guilty or was it embarrassed? but declared if on the next reboot I was met with the now familiar anti-virus greeting, my now nearly 30 min experience would come to a sudden end.
And I couldn't reboot quick enough. I think I caught the av pop-up mid-stream when I opened the dvd draw... and in went Kubuntu...
When less is more...
Because of issues with my previous desktop hardware I hadn't used much of 11.10. Post-install I came across a number of application crashes but after installing the latest updates, these are fewer and far between. Kudos as always to those responsible for putting out a solid release. I don't use my computer for anything more than email and the web, and while I'm no Linux guru by any stretch thank you to Microsoft for confirming that I am at least, a Linux guy
Kubuntu 11.10 on this particular laptop...
For the most part as I said 11.10 works well on my laptop; fast, stable, and clean.
Kwin default effects with no issues.
While I don't use a web cam ordinarily, I did catch sight of my ugly mug in kopete so I'm guessing this works.
I have the known issues of amarok not recognizing/playing cd's.
Screen brightness does not seem to work at all but I believe this too is a known issue with Acer laptops.
Sound tends to be lower than expected even at full 100%.
Plymouth splash screen struggles with what seems a CLI screen ("Kubuntu 11.10") text in upper left corner. Shut down splash works as expected though?
Error message on boot, acer_wmi not recognized or unusable I believe is causing the corrupt plymouth splash.
Wireless working 100% with no issues.
Keyboard functions all work with the exception of screen brightness.
Code:
H/W path Device Class Description ======================================================= system Aspire 5750 () /0 bus JE50_HR /0/0 memory 1MiB BIOS /0/1b memory 4GiB System Memory /0/1b/0 memory DIMM [empty] /0/1b/1 memory DIMM [empty] /0/1b/2 memory 4GiB SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1333 MH /0/1b/3 memory DIMM [empty] /0/2c processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2410M CPU @ 2.3 /0/2c/2e memory 32KiB L1 cache /0/2c/2f memory 256KiB L2 cache /0/2c/30 memory 3MiB L3 cache /0/2d memory 32KiB L1 cache /0/100 bridge 2nd Generation Core Processor Family /0/100/2 display 2nd Generation Core Processor Family /0/100/16 communication 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1a bus 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1b multimedia 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1c bridge 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1c/0 eth0 network NetLink BCM57785 Gigabit Ethernet PC /0/100/1c/0.1 generic NetXtreme BCM57765 Memory Card Reade /0/100/1c/0.2 generic Broadcom Corporation /0/100/1c/0.3 generic Broadcom Corporation /0/100/1c.1 bridge 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1c.1/0 wlan0 network AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI /0/100/1c.3 bridge 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1c.3/0 bus uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller /0/100/1d bus 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1f bridge HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Cont /0/100/1f.2 scsi0 storage 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /0/100/1f.2/0 /dev/sda disk 500GB Hitachi HTS54505 /0/100/1f.2/0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 7628MiB EXT4 volume /0/100/1f.2/0/2 /dev/sda2 volume 454GiB EXT4 volume /0/100/1f.2/0/3 /dev/sda3 volume 3907MiB Linux swap volume /0/100/1f.2/1 /dev/cdrom disk DVD-RAM UJ8A0AS /0/100/1f.3 bus 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family /1 power OEM_Define5 /2 power CRB Battery 0
I was willing to give W7 a fair chance to impress me and decided to do all the usual; update, customize etc.
"Free" as in cost's you...
My first objective was to "activate" anti-virus via Mc Afee. The link opened with a link "Click to Update". So I clicked, waited, and the software apparently updated, closing with a message something like "Your anti-virus is up-to-date".
Intuitive...
Next I decided to explore the system, looking for hardware/settings/details. By the time I'd found something vaguely resembling my intent I had 7 windows open. Not a good start...
Sound's Annoying...
In this opening 10-15minutes of exploration I think I'd heard every possible sound file contained in W7. A sound for everything... like an audible version of windings!
I rebooted the system (I'm not sure why, I think just to get away for a minute) only to find the same anti-virus warning to "update'. I updated again, opened a few programs while I waited; media player, explorer (lol) and knew there and then. Immediately I felt guilty or was it embarrassed? but declared if on the next reboot I was met with the now familiar anti-virus greeting, my now nearly 30 min experience would come to a sudden end.
And I couldn't reboot quick enough. I think I caught the av pop-up mid-stream when I opened the dvd draw... and in went Kubuntu...
When less is more...
Because of issues with my previous desktop hardware I hadn't used much of 11.10. Post-install I came across a number of application crashes but after installing the latest updates, these are fewer and far between. Kudos as always to those responsible for putting out a solid release. I don't use my computer for anything more than email and the web, and while I'm no Linux guru by any stretch thank you to Microsoft for confirming that I am at least, a Linux guy

Kubuntu 11.10 on this particular laptop...
For the most part as I said 11.10 works well on my laptop; fast, stable, and clean.
Kwin default effects with no issues.
While I don't use a web cam ordinarily, I did catch sight of my ugly mug in kopete so I'm guessing this works.
I have the known issues of amarok not recognizing/playing cd's.
Screen brightness does not seem to work at all but I believe this too is a known issue with Acer laptops.
Sound tends to be lower than expected even at full 100%.
Plymouth splash screen struggles with what seems a CLI screen ("Kubuntu 11.10") text in upper left corner. Shut down splash works as expected though?
Error message on boot, acer_wmi not recognized or unusable I believe is causing the corrupt plymouth splash.
Wireless working 100% with no issues.
Keyboard functions all work with the exception of screen brightness.
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