CES 2016 has seen its share of high end product unveilings, but in addition to its premium hardware, Acer is launching a very budget-friendly PC in the form of the Chromebook 11. The new Chromebook 11 is a surprising product that does not compromise aesthetics in order to hit it’s $179 price tag.
Running Chrome OS, the budget 11.6” notebook features an aluminum alloy top cover with crosshatch pattern that helps to give it a more high end look. The rest of the laptop is plastic though The Verge claims that the build quality feels nice with a comfortable keyboard and a body that does not flex while typing. The top cover and hinges are a metallic silver while the bottom and area surrounding the keyboard is white. The keys are black with white lettering, and the package (at least from the photos) looks like it belongs to a more expensive laptop! A webcam sits above the display and a large trackpad is nestled below the keyboard. It measures 0.73 inches thick and weighs 2.42 pounds. Acer claims it can withstand corner drops from a height of 60cm (just under 2 ft).
The Verge got hands-on time with the new Chromebook at CES 2016.
The left side of the Chromebook 11 holds the DC power input, HDMI output, USB 3.0 port, and a SD card slot while the right side has a SIM card slot, headphone jack, USB 2.0 port, and a Kensington lock slot.
The Chromebook 11 had me excited, but it is not perfect. Acer did not compromise looks, but compromises had to be made somewhere and in the case of the Chromebook 11 it is, unfortunately, in the display which has a mere 720p resolution. That is the big drawback in this notebook, made slightly livable due to it having a matte finish with enough backlight that it can be used outdoors.
Internally, Acer is using a quad core Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal flash storage.
The Chromebook 11 will be available at the end of January starting at $179 in the US and 229 Euros across the pond.
I think this would be a good PC for younger students or as a second PC. I was excited about this for $179 while reading about it, but it was tempered by the revelation that the display resolution is stuck at 720p which isn’t horrible but I was expecting a bit more there (at least give me 1366×768…). What do you think about Acer’s newest Chromebook?
PC Perspective's CES 2016 coverage is sponsored by Logitech.
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720p? 2006 called they
720p? 2006 called they wan……
This made me laugh because
This made me laugh because the laptop I bought in 2006 had a 1920 by 1200 display, which is harder to find now than it was in 2006. I guess people just don’t care about vertical screen space enough…
Yep, my first laptop had a
Yep, my first laptop had a 720p screen back in the old days of 2008. That resolution really kills the device for anything outside of school deployments imo. I wouldn’t even want my computer illiterate parents to have to use that type of screen.
It has a worse screen than
It has a worse screen than many netbooks from 2010 had, less storage space, and a useless OS…if you are this budget constrained, eBay is a better option than buying this crap.
You can go to Microcenter,
You can go to Microcenter, ebay, etc. and find a full laptop, older/last years model new and on sale for around $300-350 with way more features and usually a core i3, or even AMD quad core. And the features on the regular laptop will be worth the little extra money spent. why would anyone want somthing like this chromebook. And the good news about the older modle laptops is that you can get them with windows 7, and windows 8.1(get 8.1 pro with windows 7 pro downgrade rights) and still have control over your device. Dual booting with Linux is another option if you want, and after 2020 remove the windows 7 partition, or with windows 8.1 and third party software to turn off all that TIFKAM crap. But a celeron processor no thanks, and an AMD laptop(new on sale) SKU with a previous generation SOC will offer better graphics than this celeron, or a core i3, at around the same price point!
Ah so spending ~70% more,
Ah so spending ~70% more, will get me a better laptop? No shit.
Ah so spending ~70% more,
Ah so spending ~70% more, will get me a better laptop? No shit.