Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
My old PC was starting to really show its age. It was so old I don’t even remember when I got it, or how I got it. It was time for an upgrade, and I wanted to support Linux PC suppliers. But I didn’t want a laptop. The screens are too small for my aging eyes. Eventually, I went with Entroware.
Entroware Ares
Entroware doesn’t have a large choice of machines. They have an all-in-one unit and two desktop tower machines. Since I’m not gaming, and looking to save space, I went with the Ares. It’s an all-in-one unit. The only thing I customised in my Ares was to up the RAM from 8GB to 16GB. I stuck with the 240GB SSD drive as I have other plans for my storage. I did add a keyboard and mouse, but more on that later.
The final spec: • Core i3-10100 4.3GHz [4 cores, 8 threads] • 16GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM • 240GB SSD • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS • UK Power Lead • 3 year warranty • Logitech keyboard & mouse = £774.97
One negative thing I do want to highlight here is their way of taking payment. I paid using my regular bank/credit card. I use this same card with Amazon, eBay, etc, and everyone gets their money instantly. For some reason, Entroware needs 7 days to process a payment. It does tell you this on their ‘Ordering Information’ page, but really… it should tell you this on the page when you’re about to click to pay. I thought something was wrong when my order said ‘processing payment’ for a couple of days. But for some reason PayPal is almost instant. Very strange.
The Eagle Has Landed
The machine arrived via DPD in a big box. Plenty of padding. In the box was the Ares, and required cables. But, also a nice little sheet of Ubuntu stickers, an Entroware pen, and Entroware branded pad. Nice!
As you’d expect for an all-in-one it has a base to allow it to stand on your desk, but I mounted mine on a wall bracket with an arm.
On the left side of the screen is the on/off button. Right side has two USB ports. The on/off button does baffle me a bit. If you press it, you immediately get the option to shut the machine down. There doesn’t seem to be any way to keep it running but turn the screen off!
One downside I have to mention about the hardware is the placement of the other ports. There are two USB ports on one side of the screen. Which is good for easy access. The remaining USB ports, HDMI, network port and power are at the bottom of the screen, but two inches up. So you have to tilt the screen WAY back to even hope of seeing the ports. So plugging things in at the bottom of the screen takes a fair bit of fumbling around.
Keyboard & Mouse
I checked the box to include a Logitech keyboard and mouse. This added £25 to my order. I was gobsmacked to see that they’ve included a WIRED keyboard and mouse! Why not include a Bluetooth or wireless keyboard and mouse? I mean I did pay £25! It takes up two USB ports when it could have been Bluetooth and used none. And at £25 it was a total rip off. I could have bought a wired set off Amazon for less than half that.
First Boot
When the machine is first switched on you are presented with the first of several Ubuntu installer screens. It’s all easy, basic, stuff. Set your language, region, username and password, the usual stuff. I won’t bore you with screens of every step. If you’ve installed Ubuntu, then you’ve seen these screens before.
Once you’re into Ubuntu it’s time to do a bit of Ubuntu setup. First is to connect any online accounts. I did add my Google account.
Next, you set up Livepatch. Which, being honest, I’d never seen before. So I activated that.
Ready To Go
With all that done, it’s now into the desktop. Time to check and make sure I got what I ordered.
While looking through the preinstalled stuff, I did notice that Entroware has a nice little support hub app which is nice.
There doesn’t seem to be any bloatware, just the basic Ubuntu installed software.
SNAP TIP: one thing I noticed when installing software in Ubuntu these days is that it installs a lot of snaps. This gave me grief (not Entroware’s fault) when I tried to open files from external drives in things like GIMP. When you install something in the Ubuntu Software app, it finishes installing and the buttons at the top say ‘Open’ and ‘Permissions’, then make sure you click Permissions and set it how you like with regards to read/write external drives and with/without print access.
For storage, what I’ve done is put all my files on a USB external 1TB hard drive and have another 1TB drive to hold backups. The only thing stored on the Ares is my Dropbox and Spideroak files. Dropbox doesn’t like being installed on the external drives (for some reason), and Spideroak plops its folder on the machine by default and trying to move it is more hassle than it’s worth. Of course, to clarify, none of that is Entroware’s fault.
Conclusion
I’m very happy with the Entroware Ares. The screen is lovely and big and bright. It whizzes along and I reckon Ubuntu boots within about 12 seconds (give or take an Entroware screen where I’ve no idea what it’s doing). I’ve used the HDMI port on the Ares (shown right in the photo) for a second monitor (left in the photo) which works perfectly.
Make no mistake, I could have gone with an £800 desktop machine with a nice graphics card which would have been more than capable of playing modern games, but I really don’t play any games these days. My Ares can easily handle Minetest and that’s good enough for me.
Pros: • Ubuntu pre-installed • Screen is lovely and big and bright • Free stickers, pen and pad! • Entroware support hub to help with any issues
Cons: • Extra 7 days wait for card payment • Keyboard and mouse is daylight robbery! • Placement of the bottom ports is a bit fiddly • No way to turn just the screen off? Really?