Are Acer laptops good for Linux these days?

SylverReZ

GBATemp's Meme Lord
Member
GBAtemp Patron
Joined
Sep 13, 2022
Messages
7,442
Trophies
3
Location
The Wired
Website
m4x1mumrez87.neocities.org
XP
21,092
Country
United Kingdom
I want to get a laptop to install Linux Mint onto, but I have one question: are Acer laptops a good option for Linux these days?
Need something far more powerful to run Linux these days. An Intel Core i5 and 8GB of RAM is the bare minimum you can go for.
 

console

Elvira fans ❤ :-) I'm rocking Windows 7 for 11 yrs
Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
404
Trophies
1
Location
In heart of Windows XP, 7. I ❤ 👠! 🥰
Website
www.startpage.com
XP
3,457
Country
United States
I heard new Acer laptop have something new BIOS have hidden feature not show to unlock something like secure boot or something. Check Acer model on internet which everyone can turn off secure boot, etc to install Linux operating system.

I heard about System76 and never try it. I don't know what desktop have different kind of motherboard brand names. But sad don't have 5.25 inches to put DVD/Blu-ray drive in front of desktop. Price is pretty higher.

That's why I force to build my own custom desktop computer with three 5.25 inches to put DVD and Blu-ray drives in them then make future proof like that. I heard some companies are going to make world's first 1 TB disc and 2 TB disc (both burn and read data) that have new laser technology over CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs. I guess it's not backward compatible with CD, DVD and Blu-ray. We have to buy separate drive in desktop and not know when will release out in near future. I always love all my physical disc collection like CD, DVD and Blu-ray since Windows 95 to Windows XP. Reason why I hate all new computers come without disc drive to save money, Shame on most of companies for rip our money off. :(
 

Ryab

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
3,286
Trophies
1
XP
4,562
Country
United States
Need something far more powerful to run Linux these days. An Intel Core i5 and 8GB of RAM is the bare minimum you can go for.
What are you talking about? Idle ram usage could literally be less than 1gb on some distros.
Post automatically merged:

I want to get a laptop to install Linux Mint onto, but I have one question: are Acer laptops a good option for Linux these days?
I mean most devices can. The main think you have to worry about are drivers. If the Wifi card manufacturer offers drivers natively then you are good. There are some though where you would need to manually install the drivers. This could be an issue if you don't have Ethernet access.
 

Ryab

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
3,286
Trophies
1
XP
4,562
Country
United States
Anything from 2011 with 4GB runs extremely slow for me with Linux Mint.
I mean I use a linux box from 2009 for lots of stuff. It's slow but still miles faster than what I would get on Windows.

I could probably make it even better if I switched away from a desktop to just a window manager, but I just don't use the device enough.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SylverReZ

pojes

Active Member
Newcomer
Joined
Jun 6, 2023
Messages
41
Trophies
0
Age
26
XP
110
Country
United States
I heard new Acer laptop have something new BIOS have hidden feature not show to unlock something like secure boot or something. Check Acer model on internet which everyone can turn off secure boot, etc to install Linux operating system.

I heard about System76 and never try it. I don't know what desktop have different kind of motherboard brand names. But sad don't have 5.25 inches to put DVD/Blu-ray drive in front of desktop. Price is pretty higher.

That's why I force to build my own custom desktop computer with three 5.25 inches to put DVD and Blu-ray drives in them then make future proof like that. I heard some companies are going to make world's first 1 TB disc and 2 TB disc (both burn and read data) that have new laser technology over CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs. I guess it's not backward compatible with CD, DVD and Blu-ray. We have to buy separate drive in desktop and not know when will release out in near future. I always love all my physical disc collection like CD, DVD and Blu-ray since Windows 95 to Windows XP. Reason why I hate all new computers come without disc drive to save money with Home Remodel Bellevue, Shame on most of companies for rip our money off. :(
Acer laptops hang and don't perform well on the Linux distro. It's the reason may vary from BIOS version to the mismatch of kernel version and Nvidia driver.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: console

Marc_LFD

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
5,768
Trophies
1
Age
34
XP
9,343
Country
United States
My family bought two Acer (3610 / 9410) laptops years ago which the screens themselves became loose and then broke so certainly not built to last, but I still do like Acer Aspire 9410 (or whatever model number it is) to run Windows XP, even if just for nostalgia's sake.

That said, it only has 1GB or 2GB RAM (which can be upgraded to 4GB RAM but it's still far from ideal) so you really can't do much with it even if I'd install Linux Mint on it it wouldn't be a smooth experience.

Concurrently, I'm using a Samsung laptop from 2012 with 8GB RAM, AMD E E2-1800 1.7 GHz, with Linux Mint XFCE Edition and I'm happy with it, the only downside to it is that it can't handle x265 videos so I convert them to x264 and then they run fine on it.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    @Veho, where's the poll at?
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    they're giving the internet an open text box?
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    I never played or own any of they devices, but I like small style, but with a somewhat grip
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    oh man, that always goes great!
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    im sure half the responses won't be literal racial slurs or "drop table" jokes
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Look, it's China. They know what it's like when you give a poll to half a billion trolls.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    How much dollar do you think it is?
  • Veho @ Veho:
    ONE MILLION DOLLA
  • Veho @ Veho:
    I know the pricing of electronics nowadays isn't "how much it actually costs" but "how much we can get away with", but putting up a poll is just cynical.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Probably $150 someone said Anbernic said around the same price as rg556
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    you know which game i wish they would rerelease
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    sonic unleashed
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Make it a happy meal toy
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    that game's engine is really fucking intensive so it runs like literal shit on xbox 360 and ps3
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Nah I'm getting value creep again. I look at a $50 console "but for just a few more dollars you could get XYZ" and I end up considering the Steam Deck.
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    like the lighting in that game was genuinely so good
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Not getting dragged into that again.
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    i dont get why they didn't port the one game that ran the worst on consoles, to pc
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    like you port everything to pc except the one game where it would make the most sense. why. what do you gain from this
  • Julie_Pilgrim @ Julie_Pilgrim:
    is sega just personally fucking with me? are they laughing while watching me through my kinect camera as i get up to restart my xbox for the third time because the game froze again
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Buy handhelds from five below better quality
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Valve probably going to do another refresh of the deck this fall with rog ally like specs tbh
  • Veho @ Veho:
    A smaller form factor would be nice too.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    A shield portable 2 would be nice aye Nvidia
    K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2: A shield portable 2 would be nice aye Nvidia