This would make a good Plex transcoder box if needed. 11th gen has HEVC 12-bit decode which provides some future proofing, as I doubt anyone has that type of media commonly.
It's a decent machine as long as you don't need much in the way of upgrades. It's pretty much a laptop in a mini desktop case. I wish they had a cheap 12-series Intel CPU version.
* There may be errors in my description, I've been awake for like 48 hours so check the threads posted above, lots of info in there.
I took a few pictures of the insides:
...
This is NOT a laptop in a mini desktop case! No No NO
If you want to buy an Acer Refurb for 88 dollars, that has the celeron chip in it, THAT IS A LAPTOP put in a mini desktop case. I own the model in this thread and the celeron one too. The 88 dollar one even has a laptop brick external to power the 88 celeron. The model in this thread has a 300 watt power supply, like regular desktop. The 88 celeron has a 65 watt external power brick outside the unit. The model in this thread is a legit 11th gen Intel with PCI-4th gen slot.
I understand how you could think the model in this thread is a laptop in a mini destop case, .... until you get the 88 celeron model, and see WOW, this is REALLY a laptop in a mini desktop case.
...
This is NOT a laptop in a mini desktop case! No No NO
The motherboard is a laptop chipset. It has a laptop BIOS/EFI. It has a laptop wifi card. It has a laptop DVD drive. It only has 2 memory slots. It doesn't have any case fans. It only uses 15W power when idle.
It has nothing to do with with CPU/performance and such, that's not what I'm talking about. You can get 11400 laptops.
The motherboard is a laptop chipset. It has a laptop BIOS/EFI. It has a laptop wifi card. It has a laptop DVD drive. It only has 2 memory slots. It doesn't have any case fans. It only uses 15W power when idle.
It has nothing to do with with CPU/performance and such, that's not what I'm talking about. You can get 11400 laptops.
I guess we can agree to disagree. I own all 3 of the Acer refurbs, i5-11th gen, i3-10gen and the celeron model too. Shouldn't I know because I own all 3!
Well, if you actually read my whole post, I said I could understand why you would think it is laptop in desktop case. And I showed how my Celeron model for 88 dollars has the same motherboard and uses external power brick to power it and the power supply is 65 watts , ...same as laptop uses. That celeron is a laptop in a PC case, and I love it for 88 dollars!
To prove my point is ask you did you put DESKTOP Ram in your i5-11th gen or did you put Laptop memory in your i5-11th gen.
I put Desktop Ram in my i5-11th gen and I put Laptop memory in my acer celeron desktop, along with external power brick.
I wrote that I can understand why you feel like it is laptop in a pc desktop case, but if you got the celeron 88 dollar model, it would change your mind.
But who cares, really, if you want to believe it is laptop in a desktop, ok. That is your experience, and mine is different.
I love my ACER i5-11th gen PC , but FOR ME, it is a desktop with real 300 watt PC power supply, and real Desktop Ram! And the celeron is actually, really a laptop in a PC case (and I love it for 88 dollars) I like the celeron 88 because truly is uses 6 watts idle and averages 15 watts on youtube or browser.
Any way, how are you enjoying your Acer i5-11th gen PC. I thought it was funny actually when you compared this to laptop in a desktop case (since I have the celeron 88 which is exactly what would be laptop in a desktop.) The real reason I like my Celeron is for hobby type stuff and also super low watts, and NO laptop battery in it that would degrade if it was kept plugged in 24/7.
The motherboard is a laptop chipset. It has a laptop BIOS/EFI. It has a laptop wifi card. It has a laptop DVD drive. It only has 2 memory slots. It doesn't have any case fans. It only uses 15W power when idle.
It has nothing to do with with CPU/performance and such, that's not what I'm talking about. You can get 11400 laptops.
It has a desktop CPU and uses desktop RAM. No such thing as a "laptop wifi card" or a "laptop DVD drive". Those slim drives have been used in desktops for years, and the Wi-Fi card is a standard form factor. And no, you can't get "11400 laptops".
Help Please, can you check if your Aspire XC i5 has a digital product key?
My refurb XC five worked fine for a couple of days, and then I noticed Windows 11 was shown as not activated. It would not let me activate, with an 0XC004C008 error code which means too many computers are using this key. I tried all the Microsoft recommended methods, it will not activate
What is odd is that using the CMD and Powershell methods described in this article[techrepublic.com], my XC-1660G has no embedded product key. I would appreciate it if someone can check if their XC-1660G shows an embedded key using the CMD or Powershell methods. Mine shows no key, just blank.
Acer provided me with what they say is the correct key, but I still get the "too many computers" error.
Help Please, can you check if your Aspire XC i5 has a digital product key?
My refurb XC five worked fine for a couple of days, and then I noticed Windows 11 was shown as not activated. It would not let me activate, with an 0XC004C008 error code which means too many computers are using this key. I tried all the Microsoft recommended methods, it will not activate
What is odd is that using the CMD and Powershell methods described in this article[techrepublic.com], my XC-1660G has no embedded product key. I would appreciate it if someone can check if their XC-1660G shows an embedded key using the CMD or Powershell methods. Mine shows no key, just blank.
Acer provided me with what they say is the correct key, but I still get the "too many computers" error.
Was able to pick this up last week (deal still appears to be available). Wanted to chime in that for my Ubuntu installer on my thumb drive to detect the SSD, I needed to enable AHCI in the BIOS (some guides I used to do this are here[triplescomputers.com] and here[tenforums.com]). Afterwards I was able to install Ubuntu just fine.
And regarding memory, I noticed the brand on my 8GB stick is ADATA but also saw what was previously recommended in one comment is this one[amazon.com] by Crucial. Bought the 8GB stick, popped it in, and it was detected so no issue there.
I'm been trying Plex with a Plex Pass which allows hardware acceleration[plex.tv] (Settings > Transcoder > Use hardware acceleration when available) and is able to utilize QuickSync[wikipedia.org] from the i5, and so far this machine is great!
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It's a decent machine as long as you don't need much in the way of upgrades. It's pretty much a laptop in a mini desktop case. I wish they had a cheap 12-series Intel CPU version.
* There may be errors in my description, I've been awake for like 48 hours so check the threads posted above, lots of info in there.
I took a few pictures of the insides:
This is NOT a laptop in a mini desktop case! No No NO
If you want to buy an Acer Refurb for 88 dollars, that has the celeron chip in it, THAT IS A LAPTOP put in a mini desktop case. I own the model in this thread and the celeron one too. The 88 dollar one even has a laptop brick external to power the 88 celeron. The model in this thread has a 300 watt power supply, like regular desktop. The 88 celeron has a 65 watt external power brick outside the unit. The model in this thread is a legit 11th gen Intel with PCI-4th gen slot.
I understand how you could think the model in this thread is a laptop in a mini destop case, .... until you get the 88 celeron model, and see WOW, this is REALLY a laptop in a mini desktop case.
This is NOT a laptop in a mini desktop case! No No NO
It has nothing to do with with CPU/performance and such, that's not what I'm talking about. You can get 11400 laptops.
It has nothing to do with with CPU/performance and such, that's not what I'm talking about. You can get 11400 laptops.
https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...ies2/peace.gif
Well, if you actually read my whole post, I said I could understand why you would think it is laptop in desktop case. And I showed how my Celeron model for 88 dollars has the same motherboard and uses external power brick to power it and the power supply is 65 watts , ...same as laptop uses. That celeron is a laptop in a PC case, and I love it for 88 dollars!
To prove my point is ask you did you put DESKTOP Ram in your i5-11th gen or did you put Laptop memory in your i5-11th gen.
I put Desktop Ram in my i5-11th gen and I put Laptop memory in my acer celeron desktop, along with external power brick.
I wrote that I can understand why you feel like it is laptop in a pc desktop case, but if you got the celeron 88 dollar model, it would change your mind.
But who cares, really, if you want to believe it is laptop in a desktop, ok. That is your experience, and mine is different.
I love my ACER i5-11th gen PC , but FOR ME, it is a desktop with real 300 watt PC power supply, and real Desktop Ram! And the celeron is actually, really a laptop in a PC case (and I love it for 88 dollars) I like the celeron 88 because truly is uses 6 watts idle and averages 15 watts on youtube or browser.
Any way, how are you enjoying your Acer i5-11th gen PC. I thought it was funny actually when you compared this to laptop in a desktop case (since I have the celeron 88 which is exactly what would be laptop in a desktop.) The real reason I like my Celeron is for hobby type stuff and also super low watts, and NO laptop battery in it that would degrade if it was kept plugged in 24/7.
It has nothing to do with with CPU/performance and such, that's not what I'm talking about. You can get 11400 laptops.
My refurb XC five worked fine for a couple of days, and then I noticed Windows 11 was shown as not activated. It would not let me activate, with an 0XC004C008 error code which means too many computers are using this key. I tried all the Microsoft recommended methods, it will not activate
What is odd is that using the CMD and Powershell methods described in this article [techrepublic.com], my XC-1660G has no embedded product key. I would appreciate it if someone can check if their XC-1660G shows an embedded key using the CMD or Powershell methods. Mine shows no key, just blank.
Acer provided me with what they say is the correct key, but I still get the "too many computers" error.
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My refurb XC five worked fine for a couple of days, and then I noticed Windows 11 was shown as not activated. It would not let me activate, with an 0XC004C008 error code which means too many computers are using this key. I tried all the Microsoft recommended methods, it will not activate
What is odd is that using the CMD and Powershell methods described in this article [techrepublic.com], my XC-1660G has no embedded product key. I would appreciate it if someone can check if their XC-1660G shows an embedded key using the CMD or Powershell methods. Mine shows no key, just blank.
Acer provided me with what they say is the correct key, but I still get the "too many computers" error.
I see availability again.
And regarding memory, I noticed the brand on my 8GB stick is ADATA but also saw what was previously recommended in one comment is this one [amazon.com] by Crucial. Bought the 8GB stick, popped it in, and it was detected so no issue there.
I'm been trying Plex with a Plex Pass which allows hardware acceleration [plex.tv] (Settings > Transcoder > Use hardware acceleration when available) and is able to utilize QuickSync [wikipedia.org] from the i5, and so far this machine is great!