One Day Deal

[acer-man]

EduGeek Outlet has a 1 day offer on this Dual Core Vista Business PC for £210

 

Veriton M464 Midi Desktop

 

Key Features:

Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 (2.2Ghz)

Microsoft Windows Vista Business

XP Pro Recovery Media Included

nVidia GeForce 7 Series Integrated Graphics Solution

2048mb (2*1024mb) RAM

320gb HDD

CD/DVD ReWriter

High Definition 7.1 Audio

8 USB2.0 Ports

Gigabit Ethernet

Standard PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse

 

Was £265.28 TODAY ONLY £210!! (Enter code EGTODAY for discount)

 

Link: Veriton M464 - 2gb - 320gb - Vista Business - No Monitor - Intel - PS.M44C1.U22 - Business - Acer Outlet

 

Maximum avaliable 40 units

 

Offer finishes 7pm tonight.

[FN-GM]

Sorry to burst the bubble....

 

If you are thinking about getting one they are not powerfull enough to power a smartboard. When you power one up with a smartboard in it just sticks on the acer splash screen.

 

Good points..

 

Quiet machine and all XP drivers come with it.

[acer-man]

Sorry to burst the bubble....

 

If you are thinking about getting one they are not powerfull enough to power a smartboard. When you power one up with a smartboard in it just sticks on the acer splash screen.

 

Good points..

 

Quiet machine and all XP drivers come with it.

 

Sorry to hear that was it the same model as I have been using these in schools without complaint?

 

Is it just one PC or do you have several with the same problem?

 

If you would like to demo one as a test I could arrange to get a demo unit sent to you, or we could swap the model you have and both test each others.

 

Acer Outlet is determined to solve problems customers have and I would not want you to have kit you are not happy with.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[PeterW]

If you are thinking about getting one they are not powerfull enough to power a smartboard. When you power one up with a smartboard in it just sticks on the acer splash screen.

 

Is a smart board actually powered from the USB though? Its probably more likley a BIOS bug where the machine is detecting it as a mass storage device, expect a BIOS update to fix that.

[Dos_Box]

I don't think that's anything to do with the power of the machine. It's plenty beefy enough. If it is an issue with powered\unpowered USB ports however, which I shouldn't think a desktop will have......

Was that just the one or all of them, and what were the BIOS boot settings? I'd like to see a system boot from a Smart board!

[FN-GM]

Hi

 

We had 100 in mty last school with the problem. Someone from acer come down to fix them and he couldn't do it. He swaped a PSU and played in the BIOS.

 

In the end Acer sent some Powered USB hubs for each machine, if you plug the hub into the PC then the smartbaord into the hub its fine.

 

Z

[acer-man]

Update:

 

Just asked our senior engineer and he confirms your findings:

 

When pluging in to serial everything works fine but when plugging into a USB then it does hang.

 

Two solutions are plug in Smartboard after boot up or plug smartboard into powered USB hub.

 

Don't like problems so I will speak to the Acer Desktops Manager for Acer UK and tell him about the problem.

 

Thanks

[FN-GM]

or plug smartboard into powered USB hub.

 

Not really practicle though

 

another thing it took me ages to find the ghost drivers for the NIC then they where dodgy. We but a realtek 8139 in each of them

[acer-man]

Sounds like we all agree that a powered USB hub will solve the problem, so anyone buying one for use with a Smart board can have a powered USB hub for 10p!

 

Sound fair?

[plexer]

Well certainly sounds like something is not obeying usb specs in that case, and if it's the smartboard that isn't can't blame the pc.

 

Ben

[Haptic]

you cant say fairer than that!

[PeterW]

Well certainly sounds like something is not obeying usb specs in that case, and if it's the smartboard that isn't can't blame the pc.

 

I was going to say its got to be one or the other.

[acer-man]

I have just phoned the technical manger at Steljes (Smartboard suppliers) and Acer Desktops manger. As you would expect both their mobiles went to voicemail but when they get back to me I will post any information I find on here.

[acer-man]

Just spoke to Steljes and they said it is a known problem with some PCs of which the M464 is one of them, Dell is another manufacturer with the same problem.

 

Solution is a BIOS upgrade or firmware upgrade from Steljes:

 

SMART Technologies, industry leader in interactive whiteboard technology, the SMART Board

 

Download the latest firmware for the board version 4.4 and the problem (according to Steljes) is gone.

 

Hope that helps.

[tech_guy]

I think it looks like an okay deal seeing as you get Vista Biz with it. I need a test rig for home so will this baby be okay with a KVM switch?

 

And is the Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 the one that can be significantly overclocked?

Edited February 11, 2009 by tech_guy

[FN-GM]

Just spoke to Steljes and they said it is a known problem with some PCs of which the M464 is one of them, Dell is another manufacturer with the same problem.

 

Solution is a BIOS upgrade or firmware upgrade from Steljes:

 

SMART Technologies, industry leader in interactive whiteboard technology, the SMART Board

 

Download the latest firmware for the board version 4.4 and the problem (according to Steljes) is gone.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Tried that, still had a problem

[acer-man]

Tried that, still had a problem

 

Sorry! I'll tell them.

 

Then it is a BIOS upgrade which is dependant on Motherboard manufacturer.

 

Please leave it with me and I will get back to you when I have an answer.

[FN-GM]

It doesnt really matter anymore, im no longer at the school

 

ps: i tried a bios update.

 

Z

[acer-man]

Due to interest today and after discussion with Acer this promotion will last until Friday 20th February.

[Guru]

Sorry! I'll tell them.

 

Then it is a BIOS upgrade which is dependant on Motherboard manufacturer.

 

Please leave it with me and I will get back to you when I have an answer.

 

 

Hi Acer-man,

 

Is there any progress on this issue? I have 6 AcerPower F6 machines to rollout. 3 of them will be OK as they connect to Mimio whiteboard devices which do not have this problem, but the other three will connect to Smart Board SB680 devices which do exhibit this problem. I could not find the firmware upgrades on the Steljes url you previously published in this thread. I have written to Smart support desk but they have yet to come back with a solution. The workaround is to unplug the Smartboard during the boot-up process and to plug it back in, but this is tiresome for the teaching staff.

 

How do I go about getting the powered hubs at 10p each?

 

Regards

 

Guru

[plexer]

The powered hubs for 10p each were being sold as part of this promo.

 

Did you buy your machines from this promo?

 

Ben

[Guru]

Due to interest today and after discussion with Acer this promotion will last until Friday 20th February.

 

 

Hi Acer-man,

 

Looks like this deal ran out early!!! Tried this but the voucher code is not valid!

 

Regards

 

Guru

[apoth0r]

Last look on the calendar it was March?!!?

[acer-man]

Sorry offer ran out at the end of Feb. New offers are now on the site.

 

As for the BIOS update no progess and I don't think we are going to get a solution. Sorry.

 

Sorry!

[Guru]

Sorry offer ran out at the end of Feb. New offers are now on the site.

 

As for the BIOS update no progess and I don't think we are going to get a solution. Sorry.

 

Sorry!

 

Opps!!! Sorry.. I was so focused on the issue about Smart boards that I never even looked at the dates on the posts!! My apologies and thanks for the very prompt response!!

 

Regarding the Smartboard issue, is the powered hub the only solution right now?

 

Regards

 

Guru