Acer Chromebook Serving the Needs of Jason and His Family

Jason writes:

I had been looking at Chromebooks for a while. My main laptop is an HP running Windows 7 and I just wanted something a bit more portable and an operating system that was a bit "lighter" than Windows, if that makes sense.

I went with the Acer C720-2800 just a couple of weeks ago. Acer was selling them refurbished on eBay for $189. This model gives you 4GB of RAM vs. the typical 2GB. I have 16GB of storage space but I barely have anything stored on it.

So far, I'm very pleased. The kids use it for their homework since they already use Chromebooks at school. Battery life is fantastic - I'm getting 8 hours between charges with room to spare. Video playback is smooth. The speakers sound great.

The keyboard is very nice to type on. I prefer it over my HP. It's a draw between typing on it and the Dell Latitude E5530 I have at work which is backlit. I wish every keyboard I had was backlit and a backlit Chromebook seems to be a rarity!

I'm using it more than my HP laptop and even my Nexus 7 lately.

I use Office at work all day so I enjoy the break from that at home and have started using Google Drive to create and print personal documents. You do have to use Google Cloud Printing since there are no printer drivers in Chrome OS so make sure you have a compatible printer. Most wireless printers work, I think. I have found that it is sometimes quite slow to print. I waited five minutes one day before the job made it to the printer! But, sometimes it prints almost immediately. I believe the random delays might be network issues on my end or between me and Google.

The screen is also a bit of a downside - it's not as nice as the glossy screen on my HP. It seems to me that they cut costs using a cheaper display.

I wrote a bit about it and posted some pictures on my blog at http://upinthisbrain.blogspot.com/2014/01/review-acer-c720-2800-chromebook.html

I think you'll like it. Let us know what you end up with.

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Comments

[Angelo]

Time for more manly subject matter----yes, radios and watches are primarily guy things, but I'm planning to get even more basic than that. I'm going to send Jeff a review that will get things back on a manly track, as soon as I receive the item(s). It's not a computer notebook, watch or radio. It's far more destructive and I dare say, far more manly.

[Doug]

Jason,

I've had my Acer C720 for a week and agree with everything you say, other than your assessment of the screen. I like the absence of glare and reflection which are endemic to glossy screens (my iPad included). For ease of navigation and hyper quick processor speed, it's amazing what $200 delivers here.

Angelo, if you are craving more manly than computer chatter, buy a chromebook and read some Hemingway on it. That should cover both bases.

[Angelo]

Doug: Wait until you see (if Jeff posts). No, it's not a gun either. I'm going to say, more manly than a gun. It might take a while to receive----but I'll photograph and send to Jeff when it arrives. The "notebook" computer talk has me thinking of my nine year old playing Minecraft and Plants vs. Zombies. We need to get back to basics here!

[Doug]

Re, your final line. Exactly, Angelo. Hence, my purchase of a chromebook. When it comes to computers, a near necessity today, the chromebook is as elemental, as frills-free as it gets.

I am eager to see what your surprise is. "More manly than a gun" is certainly a grabber of a line!

Doug

[Angelo]

Doug: I love guns (particularly the Dan Wesson line) but my surprise is much more medieval.

[Doug]

Medieval. So . . . a Morning star?