What is the real story behind laptops with FreeDOS installed? Aspire 3 A315-42G

Hi,

I'm starting this topic hoping to get the facts, not speculations or "maybe"s or opinions.

I bought a brand-new Acer Aspire 3 A315-42G-R4EN notebook in Feb 2020 from an Internet store in Turkey with so-called FreeDOS operating system installed, at a discounted price. However, the discount was much higher than the price of a typical Windows OEM license. There was also no FreeDOS installed, just something called UEFI Shell with a small set of commands unrelated to those in a typical DOS. The box and everything looked brand-new, the silver seal was intact and I believe I was the first to break it. But there were no "Q.C. passed" or "Warranty void if removed" stickers anywhere on notebook or the box.

Anyway, I installed Windows 10 (legitimate product key) and have been using it for 10 months. I can't say I'm happy with it so far; the screen contrast is awful, the NVMe SSD exceeds 70 C under heavy load and starts throttling and also causes intermittent USB device disconnections, Windows crashed regularly which could only be resolved after a BIOS upgrade, and nowadays the battery seems to be malfunctioning.

So,

What is the real story behind these Windows-less products released to "certain" retail channels? Why is the discount higher than the price of a Windows OEM License?
Have they skipped some quality control tests on the production line?
I checked a few online retailers in USA and Germany and have not seen any notebook with so-called FreeDOS installed. Are these products only shipped to developing countries? If yes, why?

Please note that I'm not trying to defame anyone or any company here, I just want to get the truth. I think it is my right as a consumer to know what I'm paying for.

Accepted answers

All comments

JackE

>>>Internet store in Turkey >>>

The Turkish internet store is where the truth lies about your particular machine. Some regions have re-sellers that only supply barebones laptops from any manufacturer (Dell, HP, Asus, Acer, etc) without any operating system at all like yours with just a BIOS shell. They can sell them at deep discounts because they're basically useless without an operating system with either command-line interface(CLI) like DOSclones & Linpus Lite or graphical user interface(GUI) like Windows or Ubuntu. Other regions sell mostly CLI machines. Some regions mostly GUI. Still other regions like India sell all 3 types in sizeable quantities. Jack E/NJ

Teksal

Ok, let me rephrase the important point I'm mostly intereted in:

Does an Acer laptop without Windows imply that it skipped some quality control tests on production line?

JackE

The hardware should be the same with a power on self test of the laptop's installed basic input and output devices (like storage, screen, & keyboard). Jack E/NJ

Coqui13

so u bought a discounted price unit and want to find blame on someone else but you cuz u cant figure it out? JackE explained very simple, it is discounted because they don't come with Windows or an O.S, hardware its the same, that u might got one bad from batch? maybe idk, but theirs nothing else to it

Teksal

Hello,

I'm not here to start arguments, and not interested in anyone who needs to argue with random people on the Internet.

Is this an offiial Acer forum or not? Are you guys official representetives of the said company, or not? If you're official, then present your real identities, your titles, otherwise be gone.

I've particularly mentioned the discount was MUCH HIGHER THAN a typical Windows license fee, but the first answer was some opinion based on lack of Windows.