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Comment by dstaley | Hacker News Reader

Before we all grab our pitchforks, maybe we should take a moment and realize that this is a single review on Amazon that's lacking in important details. The headline here reads "Acer disables BIOS for laptops sold through Amazon", but the review mentions that they're able to get into the BIOS. They're only unable to change the boot order, which is a lot different from "disables BIOS". Furthermore, I don't entirely understand why the reviewer tried to get a refund from Acer when they purchased it from Amazon. I bet there's a non-nefarious explanation for the disabled setting that the reviewer saw. Sadly with a $1,530 cost, I don't expect anyone here to buy the laptop just for research purposes!

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> I bet there's a non-nefarious explanation for the disabled setting [..]

Citation needed?

There was once a time when you purchased a product you owned it, and were allowed to do devious stuff like "Change The Boot Order".

Apparently that's now out of bounds.

I despair.

> Citation needed?

Op is making a bet not a claim.

I'll take that bet. Unfortunately we'd never agree when it's settled.

A better bet would be to provide a non-nefarious answer as to why this isn't part of the product description.

Another commenter has confirmed this. Grab pitchforks.

Or an attorney.

I’m the OP. I can get into the BIOS, set passwords, etc, but the options to turn off Secure Boot are disabled and it is impossible to add anything to the boot order other than the drive that ships with the machine. Acer likely are the only folks who can flash/change that.

Have you considered paying them to unlock it and then doing a chargeback?

I might do that but also might be able to use a credit card extended warranty perk to have it fixed or replaced.

> They're only unable to change the boot order

According to the review, they are also unable to turn off Secure Boot and UEFI.

Many new computers don't let you turn off Secure Boot but do let you delete all the keys... which then sets the machine in a mode where any OS can be loaded

Do you think the review is false or misleading or do you just think it might be? For a $1500 product often you will have to make purchasing decisions based off just one review.

Amazon reviews are gamed in such a manner that its difficult to trust them anymore.

https://www.skitsolutionbd.com/Services/buy-negative-amazon-...

There was a time when people would make trustworthy Amazon reviews, but... one bad apple spoils the bunch. If I don't know if the review I'm reading is manipulated crap, then I need to go elsewhere.

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For better or worse, "Best Buy" and "Walmart" have solid non-comingled supply chains. There's also the option of buying directly from some manufacturers (although I've had bad luck with say... HP from their website. So I prefer having a trusted 3rd party retailer to handle returns in the worst-case scenario. Best Buy handles returns fine, and I trust that an 'HP' laptop is indeed from HP from them. Good enough for me).

I also live near a Microcenter, which would be my primary computer store. But Best Buy isn't bad for prefab and/or laptops, I take my friends there to check out some merchandise when they're looking for new laptops.

I've earned hundreds in Amazon gift cards by just doing as instructed on the review cards that come with parcels. Trust not one word in the reviews, particularly the ones with videos or pictures.

Why do you buy all those junk products with fake reviews?

I bought the computer and had the same problem.

Sorry, after what happened with Apple and iOS I'm unwilling to trust that hardware manufacturers ever do things like this in good faith.

What happened with Apple and iOS?

See "Epic v. Apple"

[removed] - The original headline or comments I read as Amazon locks bios of Acer laptops sold through Amazon. Clearly incorrect!

> The idea that Amazon would even spend the time specially configuring a laptop to lock the boot order?

That's not what's claimed?

Read the review again.

Four problems with your post:

First, Acer (the manufacturer) is doing it, not Amazon.

Second, it does appear to be systematic.

Third, refund policy is irrelevant and implies (falsely) that the issue is simply a consumer choice problem.

Fourth, you ignore what is troubling: it represents the loss of general purpose computing devices as a product category, even in that last bastion of "freedom", the personal computer. Acer is a major manufacturer, and this shift is ominous.

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