I got mine 2 weeks ago and the performance has been incredible. Opted for this one instead of the Surface Pro for 500$ more.

Has anybody else purchased one? If so, how has your experience been?

This post is to chronicle the experience I had with ACER's "out of warranty" customer support, to hopefully discourage others from purchasing ACER products in the future, and (on an off chance) find an actual solution to my problem.

First, the problem I contacted them about: I purchased the V5-552PG-X809-US a few years ago. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't the best laptop I had ever had either. A few months back the HDD failed - I don't fault ACER for this as I am an active student who may have jostled the device one too many times. I recently replaced the HDD with a new SSD and booted Linux Ubuntu onto it using a flash drive. Computer worked great with the SSD and Linux. Recently I have wanted to boot a Windows OS onto an external HDD so I can more readily and seamlessly use Windows applications (yes I know about WINE). So, wanting to do this legitimately and not through piracy, I knew I needed my Windows product key. Since the ACER came with Windows 8.1 pre-installed, I knew that I already had a license, I just didn't know the key itself.

What I did about it: First I went straight to Microsoft tech support and opted to use the chat feature. The tech was nice enough and instructed me to find the key printed on my laptop or the battery. After much searching and no success - the laptop doesn't have a removable battery and there were no stickers or printed labels with relevant information - the Tech instructed me to contact ACER customer support so they could tell me my Windows product key.

The ACER part: So I head on over to the ACER website, I kinda like the chat option so I opt for this again. ACER has both "warranty" and "out of warranty" options. Having had this laptop for so long, I had to choose the latter, which was a third party service provider, "Gateway" - not a hopeful sign. Here are some excerpts from my conversation with "Kevin Kumar":

Me: Yes, I have an ACER Aspire V. I need it's Windows 8 license information. Kevin: Please call this number for product key 18009102237 they work monday to friday , 8 am to 5 pm , CST time. Me: Is there anything I can do now? Today is Saturday. Kevin: May I know why you need it so urgently please ? Me: explains situation Additionally, this is a product that I purchased and I don't see why I should be denied (or postponed) help if it is indeed available.

Kevin: May I have the SN ID of your computer please? Me: gives S/N Kevin: gives stock description of the device, name, country, warranty type, warranty end date, etc Me: Looks accurate. Kevin: Because its your computer. maybe it's just me but that seemed super dickish Me: What I don't see is the Windows product key...

Kevin: What I will do here is I will assign a personal technician , who will go ahead and take care of all the issues in your computer personally and give the best Trouble shooting with best efforts. However there will be a nominal fee involved in this as your computer is out of warranty.  Me: What is that fee? Kevin: One time support for this issue alone will be $69.99. One year support for all your computers is $119.99. well that's just fucking insane

Me: asks if it is just somewhere on my computer Kevin: It is hidden in a part of your computer which will be used again. Me: So if I take off the back plastic, will it be on the battery. Kevin: It is not on your Battery, Only our technicians know where it is.  Me: Why is that? This is my laptop, there shouldn't be any secrets.

What I've done since: I've done some research since and found that if I would have just installed Windows back on the laptop, the key would have been automatically applied. That's what every website I find about finding the key says. But since I've already installed Linux on the SSD am I just fucked? If I did try to install Windows on an external HDD would the laptop still apply it's Windows key?

tl;dr: ACER either does not care for providing long term support for their devices, or don't even plan on their products lasting long enough to provide that level of service.

I have an Acer D255-N55DQkk that came with a confusing Chinese version of Windows 7. I switched it out for Ubuntu which is when the loss of touchpad began. Just went to Mint hoping it would gain me a better access to a solution... Touchpad doesn't work. Not even after using the F7 attempted solution. Needing suggestions Thanks in advance.

So I tried to wipe the data on my Acer One 10 laptop by doing a factory reset, but it seems that said factory reset ruined the PC, windows installation kept freezing at 43% even after 5 days. I have tried changing the boot setting but none of them seem to work, is there any way I can make it boot from USB so I can reinstall windows?

Hello, on my acer projector the fan heats up very fast and eventually shuts down after receiving a 'fan fail' message. I tried opening the projector, but I can't seem to get the thing open. You will probably say it's dust, but I don't see a lot of it. Does anyone know how to fix this ?

I have this tiny piece right here,and the hardware is pretty much ok for a basic phone,but the software kills me,has anyone found a custom rom for this phone?

I recently purchased a 2-1 tablet from amazon which (adverstised a keyboard) however it did not come with one. I did not hold this against acer and went to website to purchase one. Under both the keyboard and the tablet it showed taht this keyboard would work for it. However after ordering it I found out it would not work. So not only did it waste my time but now I have to pay 25% of the cost + shipping to get it to me and back to them for their error on their website. NEVER buying acer again and I will repost this on every site I can.