Acer Chromebook 13 reconsider: Prolonged battery life, but performance spray succinct

As soon as years of getting petty respect, Chromebooks are at length on the gradient (at smallest amount in the sphere of schools), which income each main PC maker is tiresome to acquire in the sphere of on the suit. With the aim of includes computer chip makers too, like NVIDIA. Though the company previously shied away from Chrome OS policy, it's at present pledging to power a in one piece range of various Chromebooks with its Tegra K1 computer chip, both of them promising prolonged battery life and other graphics muscle. The Acer Chromebook 13 is the at the outset of the bunch, and while a little of you might be present Chromebook'd dazed, we were in point of fact excited. At this point was a $300 laptop boldness by the side of smallest amount 11 hours of battery life, a 1080p demonstrate option and sufficient horsepower to clobber Intel by the side of things like gaming and rich websites. The same as it turns dazed, it was all recently a petty too first-class to be present right.




Looking by the side of the Chromebook 13's spec sheet, you'd take upon yourself design was the key place someplace Acer cut out corners. And you wouldn't exactly be present in the wrong. The structure is fashioned entirely dazed of plastic, with a selection of parts, like the bezels and substructure region, in point of fact feeling a smidgen rough to the tap. Subsequently to the Samsung Chromebook 2, which sports a fake-leather lid, this is without a doubt the cheaper of the two. Acer's typical is in addition more or less a quarter-pound heavier, by the side of 3.31 pounds and 0.71 shuffle thick, versus 3.06 pounds/0.65 shuffle in favor of the Chromebook 2. If you poverty something the same as light the same as a 13-inch Ultrabook, you better be present prepared to give an add-on $100 in favor of the Samsung.

Still, compared to Acer's elder Chromebook, the C720, this is a distinct convalescence. But the 11-inch C720 is tiny and cramped, like a netbook, this 13-incher is broader, with a other hard work baby grand and a ample touchpad to match. The design is simpler, too. Sure, it's plastic, but the all-white look is by the side of smallest amount clean and modern-looking. In addition, not with the aim of the lid and palm lay pick up scratches straightforwardly, but if they did, they'd be present all but indistinguishable gratitude to the ashen paint duty.

Even if Acer's design at this point is on the plain region, it's all worth it whilst you see to it that the demonstrate. In favor of all the scaling-back Acer did with the lay of the skeleton, the screen at this point is quite good in favor of a Chromebook, especially single this size. What did you say? We maintain at this point is a sharp, 1,920 x 1,080 demonstrate with a dull cessation with the aim of allows in favor of a little relatively ample viewing angles, especially from the sides. Even so, there's lone so much you can dip the lid ahead or else the panel starts to rinse dazed. This, I'm troubled, is a hindrance across all Chromebooks -- even on models with sharper, 1080p screens, I've yet to see to it that single with actually first-class viewing angles. Chalk it up to PC makers tiresome to keep hardware overheads down, I conjecture.



The same as I hinted earlier, the baby grand at this point is good and immense -- a extra of choosing a 13-inch Chromebook in excess of an 11-inch single. With the aim of income all of the main keys (Shift, and that.) are thoroughly sized and comfortable to set upon with no looking. With the aim of thought, the keys don't seem to maintain much other travel than they did on the C720, which income I just the once again found myself having to re-type things as soon as my basis presses didn't register the at the outset occasion. Even so, I found it usable, and I think you strength of character too. On a brighter hint, the touchpad is good and immense, and responds well to both single-finger tracking the same as well the same as multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom.

Around the edges, the Chromebook 13 has all the same ports the same as competing policy, which is to say it sports two USB ports, an HDMI socket, a full-sized SD tag slot and a earphone jack. You might not know it by the side of at the outset glance, though: But nearly everyone tackle stack all the ports along the real and gone sides, the Chromebook 13 has a USB and HDMI docks tucked around on the back, dazed of sight. So, it might seem by the side of at the outset like Acer was stingy -- with the aim of it may well lone be present bothered to include single USB docks, a remembrance tag slot and an audio docks. But that's recently the area of what did you say? You can see to it that whilst the structure is in the sphere of front of you.


To recap what did you say? I thought in the sphere of the very at the outset clause of this reconsider, the Acer Chromebook 13 is the at the outset Chrome OS device to progress to depletion of an NVIDIA Tegra computer chip -- specifically, the quad-core K1 workstation already used in the sphere of a little medicine. To hear NVIDIA command it, the computer chip is better than Intel's Bay Trail processors (the ones inside nearly everyone Chromebooks) in the sphere of each way on the cards. That's not quite right. In the sphere of single-thread JavaScript tests like SunSpider, Mozilla Kraken and Google Octane, the Chromebook 13 performs in the sphere of line, if not to some extent worse than, Bay Trail Chromebooks like the Lenovo N20p. In the sphere of each day depletion, it cold-boots in the sphere of nine seconds and can sign inedible in the sphere of more or less four -- not bad in favor of a Chromebook, but not exceptional, either.

NVIDIA, in favor of its part, doesn't deny the less-than-impressive JavaScript results, though it's quick to put it to somebody a little WebGL tests as a substitute with the aim of are other likely to cabinet Tegra's graphics muscle. Indeed, in the sphere of an animated Gangnam design capture on tape (don't ask), Acer Chromebook 13 runs concerning 50 and 60 fps, while the Lenovo N20p's Bay Trail workstation may well barely crack 24 fps. (I used Google Chrome's built-in frame-rate counter.) in the sphere of the yardstick Oort Online, the Chromebook 13 scored an be more or less of 4,007, compared with 1,300 in favor of the N20p. In the sphere of this 3D Earth typical, Acer peaked in the sphere of the high-pitched 50s, with frame duty mostly floating in the sphere of the 30s and 40s; with the N20p, frame duty stayed in the sphere of the 20s and 30s, depending on how fast I spun the globe around. At length, in the sphere of NVIDIA's own multitasking test, which involves running a Google Sheets macro with melody streaming in the sphere of a various tab, I proverb a 21 percent convalescence in the sphere of fly on the Acer Chromebook 13: 46 seconds, down from 58 on the Lenovo N20p.

Acer AL10D56       

Acer GARDA31     

Acer AL10A31 

Acer AL10B31       

Acer AS07A51       

Acer UM09H31      

Acer AS07A42       

Acer AS07A41        

This would be present a first-class occasion in favor of me to back up and position all with the aim of in the sphere of plain English. What did you say? It comes down to is this: The Acer Chromebook 13 does well on a little tests, particularly the ones with the aim of NVIDIA itself recommends. Otherwise, its performance spray in the sphere of line with the very Bay Trail-powered tackle with the aim of NVIDIA claims to beat. Either way, the Chromebook 13 doesn't feel earlier than other Chrome OS policy in the sphere of real-world depletion. It doesn't feel slower either, but that's not adage much, agreed with the aim of Chromebooks in the main aren't accepted in favor of their stellar performance. On the plus region, the structure stays good and understated, and it runs cool. Ultimately, if you bad buy the Chromebook 13, it ought to be present for the reason that of the fee, the 1080p screen, the prolonged battery life -- not for the reason that you're expecting above computing power.