u/coffeemoneyass

You wouldn't believe the level of bullshit I've gone through trying to give goodntoes web a shot. When that didn't work, I switched to xournal++ which admittedly wasn't bad but it definitely was lacking. Starnote was like a godsend 😭🙏 I think it only took me like five minutes of trying it after buying a tablet to finalize on getting the absurdly inexpensive lifetime subscription for it. Genuinely the best note taking app out there, can't change my mind. GoodNotes does NOT hold a candle to it.

Thank you so much for developing an app this amazing 😭😭😭

The italicized text is the backstory, skip if it you don't want to waste your time on unnecessary build-up.

I got myself an Acer Swift X SFX14-71-55SR two years back. The first year or so with it went splendidly. However, my windows got corrupted once and AcerSense stopped working, so I had to reinstall a version of windows with the media creation tool. Everything worked for a while.

A few weeks ago, AcerSense (the software used to control fan speeds and enable/disable the charging limit as well as basic screen customization options) stopped working. Wondering what the issue was, I tried to solve them, be it uninstalling AcerSense from my laptop fully then reinstalling it, or whatever else I could do. To my shock, though? Nothing worked.

As a last resort I decided to calm my nerves and install windows anew in order to reset any system corruption I may have caused by using CTT and O&OShutupp.

AcerSense is fucked.

After restarting/booting my laptop, fan controls take at least a minute to initialize. This means, that during that time I can not change my fan speeds with fn+f. Furthermore, after opening AcerSense, I can't click around and change fan modes from there either. I can use fn+f after a while, but the app itself doesn't let me change anything. I also can't see any Screen settings other than the blue light reduction modes, as well as the battery limiter and power-off USB charger and everything.

AcerSense is the reason I reinstalled windows, actually; the app was behaving like shit and thinking that it was my fault, I went ahead and tried to fix it. When it didn't work, I reinstalled windows. However, finding out that it was Acer's app that was at fault all along and not me (I didn't mess with my system since my windows reinstall almost a week back), I was infuriated. It's pretty much the most important app on any Acer laptop that comes with it preinstalled, and for it not to work is just unprofessional.

I had another scare yesterday; after disabling the battery limiter, my battery readings decided to play games with me. I used my laptop for an hour unplugged, and the battery reading as at 99% throughout. Do you know how much of a scare that gave me? Probably not.

That being said, this rant is just a whole mess of my emotions and stress regarding my laptop. This is quite literally one of the most expensive devices I own and I cherish it like it's my child, and it's definitely not a cheap one. So, when something this important to me (I use this thing like crazy for university, too) starts having problems, my stress levels rise to the ceiling.

This laptop has brought me a fuckton of joy, but even more stress in the last half year. The fact that I cannot rely on Acer itself to support me properly through this due to their faulty and practically dysfunctional staff, does not make my case better. I know that there are many users that are completely satisfied with their Acer devices and face zero issues, but the fact that I'm seeing so many of you in the subreddit and other forums complaining about the software, it really just is saddening to see Acer not caring enough about their consumers.

TL;DR:

I bought an Acer laptop, and it worked well for the first little while, but then the software shit the bed. Acer's customer support and their software (like AcerSense) isn't reliable either. I would stay away from Acer and buy myself a Lenovo or Dell laptop if I could go back. Looking into the future, I probably will.

P.S.; There some issues that I didn't mention here in my rant, because it would've just been way too convoluted. If you are facing some issues with your own Acer device and have a similar one to mine, feel free to message me. I know how horridly stressful it is to have a machine that doesn't work, especially one that's important to you. I don't like Acer, but for those of us who do have Acer devices, we've gotta make do for now. So again, please message me if you can't find any answers and I will try my best to help you solve your problems (though I'm very unsure if I can help you or not). If you are facing issues, I really do pray that they get solved. I know the feeling, and it sucks. You're not alone though, we're all facing such issues, if that's any consolation.

To anyone who reads this, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.