The latest thing to come into my shop: A laptop that came with no operating system.

I had a client bring in an Aspire 4520G. Seems they're now selling this model in southeast Asia without WINDOWS. Little did she know when she bought it, she had to go shell out another $200 for Windows. According to Acer's website, this model should come with Vista Home Premium, but all of the Acer shops here now sell it with nothing. No drivers, no Windows, nothing. Not even Linux.

Well, that's a lesson learned for her.Did the seller also claim that it came with an OS? What country is this? Any governmental agencies there that deal with consumer protection laws? If so, I'd be contacting them.

I'd also contact Acer to inquire about whether they are aware that that laptop is being sold in certain areas with no OS. If they RUNS counter to their policy, they may have some power to stop this practice by sellers.If she contacts Acer they may be receptive to helping since they probably be very interested in this place of business...It's in Thailand.

The way things are with piracy here, it doesn't surprise me.

I've already e-mailed Acer and asked them for advice. Waiting for a reply.

I spoke to the dealer, and he said he told her that before she bought it. That may be true and she might not have realized it. She doesn't know anything about computers.

While the system is designed for Vista, I have managed to get all the drivers she needs for XP which she has an original disc and COA for. I had to go through the parts MANUFACTURERS directly, since Acer doesn't supply XP drivers for this model, only Vista drivers. It'll keep her system running until Acer gets back to me about the OS. The only thing I can't get a driver for is the IR unit, but from what I've read that won't work under XP.You can call Acer, and they may send you a disk with the operating system, and all its drivers, for a LOW price (it will only work on the Acer computer, they will ask you for some sort of serial number probably located on the bottom of the laptop. Since they will know if its really from their company using number, and that it must be yours, they should send you the restore CD without charging the same price for the OS)
It may cost less to do this then to buy Windows XP, and go through the trouble of finding drivers. The XP CD she already had, but we thought she WOULD have to shell out a bunch of money for Vista, since Acer only supplies the Vista drivers from their website. Where the CD came from is not my business to ask as long as she has the COA for it.

However, since everything is now 100% operational except for the IR sensor, it's fine. She said she won't use it anyway. Still waiting for Acer to contact me back, but it might be a few days.