Acer - 14" Chromebook - Intel Celeron - 4GB Memory - 32GB eMMC Flash Memory - Sparkly silver

I purchased this laptop after being a Windows user for the last ten years. I was hesitant because of its limited capabilities, but was pleasantly surprised when I found that I actually didn't mind it. I went from an $800+ laptop that had excessive storage and crazy amounts of ram to a chromebook.... and barely noticed a difference. Overall, this is a great value and feels like a huge upgrade, even though it costs way less than most laptops on the market today. Pros: -This computer is the best rated chromebook on the market right now and it's rated that way for a reason -The battery life: It has an advertised 12 hours of battery life, but I've gotten closer to 8-9 while using netflix, social media sites, and doing random web browsing. -It doesn't make any noise. -The F1+ keys are replaced with screen brightness adjustment keys, sound adjustment keys, etc -The 14" screen and the macbook-air imitation look makes it the most portable and awesome looking laptop that I have ever used -You can "pin" apps to the bottom of the screen (I have chrome, google docs, my email app, netflix, and hulu there, so it's all in once place) Cons: -The storage: you wont realize how tiny it is until you start saving photos. Someone suggested getting a tiny flash drive that barely sticks out of the USB port, so that seems like an excellent alternative to spending $$$ on a different computer for a ton of storage -The speakers are on the bottom of it - which is the only design flaw that I have seen. It won't get incredibly loud, but it still has great sound. -You're going to need a WiFi connection if you want to get the most out of it -Right clicking isn't really a thing on the touch-pad. You have to hold down the ALT key and tap it to get the right click functions. -It doesn't really come with a user manual, so figuring out how to use certain functions will need to be googled. Things You Should Know: -Suck it up and buy an Office 365 subscription, you'll thank me later. I thought I'd be okay using google docs, but it seems like a super minimal program if you need to be using it for classes. Office 365 is literally an online version of the Office Suite - it has word, excel, and powerpoint (all the things you could need for school) -When I was trying this chromebook out in the store, I couldn't read the top part of google chrome for the life of me because the font was so small. Hold down CTRL, Shift, & the plus sign at the same time to adjust the screen size. - If you've used google chrome before and had your google account signed in with it, sync it with this computer. It transferred 600 bookmarks and all of my saved passwords in a few short seconds. -This is an awesome alternative to spending oogles of money on the macbook air. It looks the same, is super fast and lightweight, and can do all the things you need it to do (as long as you won't need special programs like CAD). -It's priced at $299 currently and feels like a computer that should be hundreds of dollars more.

This is not my first Chromebook, but in fact one that I purchased for a family member who is starting their own business. I am helping them build their technology stack on Google Apps for Business and subsequent web/cloud-based storage and applications for simplicity and included backup/sync functionality if local data loss was to occur. This family member isn't very high-tech and wanted a very simple user experience and a zero-config/management set up so ChromeOS was perfect. This Acer Chromebook will no doubt be one of the best Chromebooks of 2016! Amazing WiFi range and 802.11AC compatibility. Build quality (all aluminum chassis and body) is superb. I evaluate $2500 Ultrabooks at work that could learn from Acer on this one. Dell used to be my go-to but I'm going to have to give Acer a second look if they keep making machines like this. The keyboard has perfect tactile response and the touchpad is excellent for this price bracket. No backlot keyboard would be my only wish list item to make this thing a perfect user experience. My only other complaint, one common to Chromebooks and other value PCs is the AC adapter type. Such a small, skinny DC jack that it looks like it'll break off inside the machine without much force. At any price point, a more robust power cord connector would have been easy and given some peace of mind. This seems like an unnecessary cut. Back to the positives (so many more than the two annoying negatives that are more about the segment and are really picky). The screen: EXCELLENT! - This thing is better than most full-price business laptops when it comes to screen contrast, clarity, brightness and resolution. It's not a touchscreen but in a Chromebook those are still considered luxury items. It has a wonderful matte anti-glare finish but does not get washed out by it. Unlike most matte displays the black point is deep and the contrast is very even across the display. This is surely a quality IPS panel and not one of those value TN displays with funky backlighting and uneven color/contrast. Finally, this thing is fast and efficient. I ran for almost 4 hours unplugged last night doing all of the Google Apps, Wave accounting, and Google Cloud Print setup and teaching my excited relative about all the bells and whistles that took very little retraining of his current computer skills. We only used 17% of our fully charged battery. This thing will definitely go all day and then some. We're talking an easy 10-12 hours of daily use and what seems like very good LiPo chemistry as this is not a heavy laptop so it's not due to a huge heavy battery inside. All in all I'll be telling everyone about this thing. This will either be 2016s top Chromebook, or I'm excited to see what beats it!!

I've been looking around for a chrome book for a few weeks now. The particular Best Buy where I live only carries 2 and neither are ones I wanted. So I drove an hour north to another best buy that had 6 in stock. I had debated on getting the Asus 2 n 1, but noticed this Acer was on sale for $50 off retail, plus it had 32 gb's of memory rather than the standard 16. The one on display worked really well and the 14" screen was a big plus. I couldn't wait to get home and try it out! Boy was I in for a shocker. Got it unpacked, plugged in, turned on and once it booted (which was fast), I logged in with my credentials, connected to my network, then launched the chrome browser. Everything was working great then BOOM! The mouse pointer disappeared. I tried everything. Considering the Chrome Books and Chrome Boxes pretty much require a mouse of some kind to navigate with, I was pretty crippled. I had to search on my phone for shortcuts on how to restart the chrome book. I did a restart a few times. I did a hard reset and power wash 3 times. After pressing Esc + refresh + power - I got the message that the chrome OS was either missing or damaged. So I created a USB recovery stick and did that. It worked! I was so happy! I went ahead and checked for updates and it updated the browser to the latest version. Played around on chrome a bit. Then decided to open up a solitaire game that's in my chrome for my mac mini. Sure enough, not 10 seconds after the game loaded, the mouse cursor disappeared. Again, I did the hard reset but this time the mouse didn't come back. After the power wash, a screen appeared asking me to connect a mouse to the chrome book (apparently it wouldn't detect it's own trackpad). I just finished reloading the recover USB drive again. Why you ask? It was the only way to "sign me out" before I pack it up and return it to the store on Tuesday. No "new" computer...whether it be a Windows based, Mac Based, or ChromeOS based....none should have any kind of hardware failures within the first 10 mins. I have 3 Acer laptops going back to 2006 and have always been impressed by them. Almost every monitor I've purchased in the last 10 years has been made by Acer. I'm typing this review from my Mac Mini and I'm using a 24" widescreen Acer monitor. This is the first Acer product I've purchased that didn't work right out of the box. Hopefully this is an isolated issue...but based on a few group message boards I've been to before writing this review, it's been an ongoing problem with chrome books from all manufactures for some time now, especially Acer. Also, I never write reviews. This is the first product I've bought from best buy in years that I've felt compelled to write a review about. So for the rest of you out there....based on the specs of this unit, if you're lucky enough for it to work for you right out of the box, it looks like a good product. Just beware that there's a chance the trackpad will fail on you, so have a spare mouse laying around. PS: if someone from Acer decides to reply to this review, think about it - why would I send it back to you for repair, when I can just return it to the store for a full refund OR exchange it for the ASUS 2 n 1 unit? I can understand if I had it for 6 months or so...but 1 day?

Let's start this review with a couple of caveats. If you are looking for a laptop to do serious gaming on, this is not it, but then no sub $500 laptop will work for you. If you are a big time photoshop editor, you probably aren't looking at sub $500 laptops either. Now if you are looking for a good looking laptop to take to the coffee shop to surf the web and edit some documents for work/school/fun, this is it. It is a little more expensive than your average Chromebook, but the fit and finish of this machine is well worth it. The aluminum body is good looking and feels great. Is it a MacBook Air? No, but close. It feels substantial, in a good way, in your hands while you hold it. The laptop hinges don't wobble and the body sits nicely on a table or your lap. The keyboard travel is a little shallow, but I like it. The keys have a nice positive feedback. The keyboard also doesn't feel cramped and is easy to type on for extended periods of time. I never miss the space bar and the trackpad is good at ignoring random brushes from my hands as I type. If you use Chrome Browsers already then the Chromebook is the perfect extension of that. Everything gets synced across, between your desktops, laptops, Android Phone, etc. You can almost pick up where you left off. Google Docs and Sheets (Word and Excel) work great and are a great sub for the Microsoft versions. The screen on this laptop is beautiful and is a pleasure to use, the HD is crisp and the colors are accurate. Grab this laptop while you can, it is a flagship level Chromebook without the cost of the Dell Chromebook 13 or the Pixel, which are the standard bearers of the family.

A few months before this Chromebook was released I had purchased the Toshiba Chromebook 2 which most people seemed to regard as the best Chromebook. I returned it within a few days because the body was painted plastic, the trackpad squeaked, the keyboard felt squishy, and the screen had so much glare. This Acer Chromebook fixed all of those problems for me. I love that this has a full metal body, I love the feel of the keyboard and the screen is matte. For $300 (though I purchased on sale for $269) this is probably the best Chromebook out there. It's a terrific looking machine that looks more expensive than it actually is, the battery lasts a very long time, and it's the perfect size; a 14" screen is not too small, nor too large. My reasoning for not giving this 5 stars is that there is no micro SD storage slot which is something I use in my Acer Chromebook 11 100% of the time to make up for the small amount of storage in these computers. I also had to exchange my first Acer Chromebook 14 because after three weeks the trackpad was starting to stick. Thankfully Best Buy exchanged the device with no hassle and I'm hoping for the best from this Chromebook that I was excited about even prior to it's release. Chromebooks are terrific because they start up immediately upon opening the device and are ready to use in seconds. They download updates in the background and you do not have to sit through anywhere from 5-20 minutes of updates like you do with a Windows laptop. This machine never lags on me and I am a person who frequently has 8 or more tabs open.

If you're considering a Chromebook, do some research to determine if it will meet your needs. I've been using one for the past couple of years and have found no limitations (although photo/video editing is time-consuming due to processing in the cloud). Now as far as this machine goes... Solid build quality. The aluminum case looks and feels very nice. After 90 days it is still squeak-free and appears as new, no scratches, etc. The display is very crisp and the colors accurate. As some other reviews noted, it has darker values than some other Chromebook displays, but compared side-by-side with other Chromebooks, i could not find a nicer display. This particular machine got noticeably "lighter" after 20-30 hours of use, so give it some time if you think your display looks a bit different than in the store! Keyboard is "chiclet" style and the keys have good travel. Trackpad is nice and solid. Never really thought about the keyboard/trackpad, which means no issues with performance. Only used the camera a few times to post ads and such, and it's perfectly adequate. Battery life is stellar. I stream video extensively (got rid of my tv years ago) and I've never run the battery down even after several hours streaming during the day. Performance is as you would expect from a Chromebook - Fast boot, fast browsing, and I've only experienced dropped streams and audio a couple of times. Both of which were on less than optimum streaming sites and connections, so maybe not even attributable to this machine. Having had some issues with an Acer product in the past, I was hesitant to say the least about this purchase, but after 90 days, really couldn't be happier, and I hope this helps you make your decision. Thanks for reading!

So, I was looking for a laptop to do online schooling with. I looked at everything from tablets with keyboards, to desktop computers, then back to laptops. I finally decided on getting the Chromebook over any other laptop that Best Buy had. Nothing against the other laptops, but this one was the best option for me, and I'll tell you why. Like I said, I needed it for online schooling. So, I knew i need a computer that was decently fast, capable to do my assignments, and something that wouldn't break the bank. This Chromebook is plenty fast if you're using it for school. I usually have anywhere from 2-10 pages open at a time and it always runs fine (including pandora running in the background). Its also very capable for my assignments. The wifi is quick. No issues with pages loading. Some people complain that doesn't have Microsoft Officer for word and whatnot. Yes and no. Although it is not installed directly on the laptop, you can still use Microsoft Online. Its the same thing but its webpage rather than installed. So thats not a problem. And to my bank account. I got this on sale at 269$ and it was awesome. Can't complain about what I purchased at such a low price. The chromebook also has a built in anti-virus so you dont have to buy one. The speakers aren't anything immaculate, but they are fine as long as you're not extremely picky. Nice sleek aluminum shell and the screen is great quality. All in all, this chromebook is awesome. I highly recommend this Chromebook to anyone who is taking online courses or just needs a laptop to surf the net.

Very pleased with this purchase. I did a lot of research before purchasing so I knew I would have something that would fit my needs. As a nerd, I wanted some additional features, like a touchscreen and a 2 in 1 tablet flippy thing. I made the concession that I would not need those, and am very happy I made that choice. It does exactly what I wanted it to do and I have not found myself getting frustrated at it (as it was sold in the store). I did enable developer mode, and installed a lightweight version of Linux which gave me some headaches, but both ChromeOS and Linux run simultaneously and smoothly (can switch with a press of a button!). I am still having issues getting the Google Play store to work, but I am confident that my nerdy determination will eventually prevail... or I will be the proud owner of a new cutting board if I brick it. (Came close a couple of times, but it has a VERY robust recovery system and despite running into several 'no os found' boot ups, I was able to restore the system with no data loss. My jaw hit the floor the first time I restored with everything in tact. Good job Google. I'm happy you do what you do.) I knew what to expect for performance, but found it to be a lot more malleable than anticipated while messing around with it. It's not a gaming machine, but that was not my intent. It is great for surfing the web, and managing my Google cloud storage. I do not have Chromecast or anything of the sort, but I am considering it. The case does feel a little cheap, but i get why they did it, it's not supposed to be an expensive machine to outperform all the rest. Its not built to be a ststus symbol. It's a relatively inexpensive and portable tool to connect you to the internet. If that's what you're looking for, you will not be disappointed.