Details: Acer America has reached a class action lawsuit settlement over allegations it knowingly installed a lesser-equipped version of Microsoft Windows without full recovery options. As a result, anyone who purchased an Acer computer within the past six years can file a claim to receive free software, hardware, service and/or cash refunds from the Acer computer class action settlement.
 
The Acer settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit, entitled Embry v. Acer America Corporation, that alleges Acer marketed its computers as including a specified version of Windows, but that Acer's version of Windows did not contain all the features and functions of the retail version, including recovery options.
 
The Acer computer class action lawsuit also alleges Acer did not provide any system or recovery CDs in the box. As a result, if the hard drive failed, and the preinstalled version of Windows became inaccessible, users would lose all their data.
 
Acer denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to a class action lawsuit settlement to avoid ongoing litigation.
 
Class Members of the Acer computer class action settlement include anyone who purchased an Acer computer in the U.S. between March 24, 2005 and May 1, 2011, excluding government entities, resale purchasers and Acer employees.
 
Class Members can select one of three sets of benefits from the Acer class action settlement:
 
(1) Obtain a free CD-rom, designed for their particular Windows operating system, that contains all the Windows recovery features that are allegedly inaccessible from the Acer eRecovery disks (estimated value $20). If Class Members replaced their hard drives and were unable to recover their operating system to the new drive, thy can also send their computers to Acer, which will reinstall the OS on the new drive for free (estimated value $99).
 
(2) Obtain a free 8GB USB drive, 720HD webcam, or mini optical mouse, if they were previously affected by the types of problems at issue in the case (estimated value between $11 and $16).  
 
(3) Obtain reimbursement of money they spent to repair their computers due to a recovery issue, up to $50.
 
To claim any of these settlement benefits, you must submit a claim form to the Settlement Administrator no later than March 14, 2012, or 30 days after the Court grants Final Approval of the settlement, whichever is later.
 
Claim forms can be downloaded online at www.AcerRecoverySettlement.com.