The Acer C7 has a very upward battle to fight among the Google community and in people's mind. The Samsung that just came out before it has been getting excellent reviews and has been labeled the better computer, but is it really?
I was a bit shocked when I got my Acer at the small size of the product. Let it be stated that these are possibly the most portable computers when it comes to wanting a real keyboard. This computers weighs in at a little over 3 lbs but honestly you wouldn't think so as my wife can lift it easily with one hand. The overall casing is solid enough to give you enough confidence to carry it around without the feeling of breaking it but still not a full laptop/macbook quality when it comes to overall durability.
What stands out when you open it first is the keyboard. People have made this statement over and over but this little $200 system has the keyboard of a decent laptop. The keys are really responsive and nicely spaced, honestly it feels like a full keyboard most of the time. Two of the place where the laptop falls short is the track-pad and camera. The camera is very good compared to the Samsung but really doesn't give you any options when taking pictures (adjusting brightness, contrast, etc) this can be done on the back end with a photo editing program but not during. The track-pad is okay at best. You won't be raving over it but your not going to be giving it praise either. The screen resolution is overall very good, I watched Netflix this morning on it and I was very happy with the overall look and sharpness of the screen.
Differences between this and the Samsung are simple. This computer carries a 320 gig spinning hard drive and the Samsung has a solid state 16 gig hard drive. Both come with 2 years of Google Drive 100 gig service for free which is more than enough for most people. The Google community as a whole prefers a solid state as it has no moving parts and it follows Google's overall vision of the machine. But unlike the Samsung the Acer has a removable hard drive and can be installed with an SSD (same with ram and battery).
This computer also uses and Intel chip which means it can run things that the Samsung can not just yet. Example NETFLIX. The Samsung machine will eventually be able to but currently can not. This computer also has a fan as the ARM process runs cool enough to not need it, however if you are used to the fan of a full sized laptop then unless you are in a completely quiet place you'll never notice this fan.
The Google's OS works about as good as expected. There are many things that you will not be able to do that you could do on a Windows/Mac/Linux Machine that is a given. They are working very hard on resolving these issues. Right now I would say you if you buy this machine you are pretty much a beta tester. I could easily recommend Google chrome for writers, children, people who travel a lot, and people who generally work on the web (you know who you are). I am happy enough with the OS as it's fast and just works. I use it for both personal and business and I have encountered very few issues that couldn't be resolved with a Google Search.
PRO's
Removable RAM, Hard drive and Battery which can lead to replacements or upgrades after/during warranty cycle.
Glossy Screen (better for movies not better for outside)
Ethernet and VGA ports (the Samsung does not have this it is only WIFI/3g)
Quick Start-up (22 seconds on average for me not as fast as the Samsung but Windows users know this is fast!)
Netflix works (Samsung still being worked on)
Con's
Not the fastest Chromebook (Samsung is faster start up, 550 is the best performance.)
Small Webstore (Chrome's web store is pretty small with that being said they still have many programs that you would normally find on windows. Quality will get better as more people purchase the systems.)
Netbook Size (this computer is small, that doesn't mean it's bad but I'd like to see a big computer down the road)
OS Development (The OS is still being worked out so you should be prepared for things to change however if you like change there is nothing more exciting than being part of the process.)
Battery (4 hours max 3:30 to 3 on average needs better battery life or extended battery option)
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Fast & Cheap:
This is offered by Google on their Play store, and will undoubtedly be offered directly by Amazon later, at a list price of $199. When it is offered by Amazon directly, you will save on shipping since Google charged me roughly $13 for shipping. That's cheap.
Unlike the original CR48 "googlers only" Chromebook, and the first Samsung and Acer Chromebooks which ran Intel Atom chips, a truly mouse-power processor, this one runs on a much, much more powerful in both CPU and GPU terms Celeron processor based on former "Core" technology ("Sandy Bridge" generation) and in fact has been rebranded by Intel recently as a "Core" processor, even though it is based on the prior generation design and has most advanced "Core" "Ivy Bridge" functions disabled. Nevertheless this is a pretty good processor with pretty good graphics (for streaming video, not for games), and is supposedly marginally faster than the ARM processor in the equivalent Samsung "fast and cheap" Chromebook introduced last month but that Samsung "ARM" Chromebook has an SSD (solid state drive instead of spinning mechanical platters) and SSD's have been known to perk up overall system performance by a substantial margin. But all you need to _really_ know is that this isn't the slug that the Atom-powered Chromebooks were, and that with either the new Samsung or this one, you will have a good browser and streaming video experience.
Since this Acer runs a "standard" Intel chip instead of the "smartphone" chip found in the new Samsung Chromebook, software doesn't have to be "ported over" from "Intel code" to "ARM code." This means you can run Netflix etc. out of the box, right now. However, most pundits believe ARM chips are the wave of the future (some forecasting them even for entry level MacBook Airs) since they are much, much more power efficient than anything Intel offers of similar processing and graphics power. What this means today, is that the Samsung Chromebook on the ARM chip can run for roughly twice as long as this one, based on published manufacturer specs, and given Google's good history of updating the Chrome operating system automatically, any application hiccups should be sorted out quickly.
Samsung's last generation Chromebook (12.1") runs an even faster Intel chip, and has an SSD. It is unlikely it will stay in the market place since it is not nearly as thin and light as the new Samsung Chromebook and costs roughly twice as much.
Where this Acer excels over the Samsung is in its "upgradeability" if you are willing to deal with potential warranty issues. It only takes a single screw to remove the bottom panel to access memory and hard drive. I have already placed a second 2gb memory stick in mine to bring memory up to 4gb DDR3, PC 10600, 1333, 204 pin. A commenter on an earlier review states that the maximum memory the machine can accept is 4gb total, but I have no way to confirm this. Their are published reports of users swapping hard drives on Chromebooks (by first making a recovery USB) and so at some point I may replace the conventional hard drive with an SSD but I am not sure how much incremental speed I would get since I now have 4gb of memory and will only be using the Chromebook for relatively light web tasks and occasional streaming video.
I have made good use of the large hard drive, loading (very easy to do) 100 gb of videos (instructional dvd's ripped with Handbrake to h.264 for Apple devices) and 40 gb of music. So the Chromebook won't just be a "brick" when I am away from wifi (since any writing I do is online anyway, the ability to write in Google Docs offline is nice, but not part of what I use a computer for).
So all in all, this Acer Chromebook is "fast and cheap" and, in addition, has a nice screen and good keyboard. It is a real travel/cafe/kitchen computer (or workshop, or anyplace you want to haul a small laptop around to watch YouTube instructions etc.).
Very Secure with a caveat:
Google is pretty renowned for their attention to security, and it shows in the Chromebook. All user information is encrypted, so short of NSA level decryption it is unlikely anyone can "brute force" your hard disk to read off passwords. There is an admin procedure for gaining access to a locked device, but when it is used, user data is first erased. In addition, the Chrome browser safe-lists websites, and spots and warns you of compromised websites faster than any other browser (thanks to Google's constant web-crawling). Chrome is also sand-boxed, etc. etc. boring technical details, but experts seem to agree that the Chrome browser on any platform is the most secure, and Chrome OS is perhaps the most secure operating system out there. So yes you can use the Chromebook for your banking.
The problem I have with Google's security system is that you use your Google Gmail/Chrome password to log onto the laptop. This means physical surveillance could grab your password, and if your email account is known, any computer could be used after that to access your email. Since many people store passwords in their archived emails, and since email is the first route for password recovery, and since Chrome kindly remembers passwords for you (if you let it), this is a potential big security risk. The only two solutions that come to mind are carefully shielding the keyboard when you first log in, and not letting Google remember any banking or other sensitive passwords for you.
A perhaps better solution is to have two Gmail accounts, and log in under two different accounts for your Chromebook. One Gmail address for banking and only use that log in for banking; and one Gmail address for social and everything else, and use that log in for everything but banking.
The Chromebook settings, which are easy to find and change, allow you to freely let other Gmail users log into your Chromebook, or lock down the Chromebook to only the previous people logging in. You can also allow, or turn off, the Guest account. You may wish to lock down the Chromebook in settings if you are worried about other people using it. Remember, unlike other computers, the only credentials required to log onto any Chromebook are a Gmail account you don't set up accounts in the conventional sense, the Chromebook is a lot like a public library terminal, open to everyone if you don't lock it down. This isn't a big negative for your personal security, since your information is always in the cloud not on the computer (except for downloaded or very limited local files which are encrypted anyway), but I wouldn't want a Bad Egg using my laptop. For a purely home computer, not a problem, for a travel computer, lock down the users.
All in all, it is really, really hard to mess up a Chromebook. It updates itself automatically and antivirus is built in. It is encrypted. Enough said! You can't find a more secure laptop for travel or cafes, for banking. If you go to "bad" websites you are less likely to get your computer infected than under any other operating system.
Excellent Browser:
Before you buy one of these, you should really spend a few days or even a week and analyze what you use your computer most for. If you live in the browser, as I do, if you have immersed yourself in the Google-verse, as I have, it's a little scary but once you take the step there is no problem at all. I use Google Docs for all my created documents; Google+ Hangout for video chats; Google Voice (free telephone number, place calls from the Gmail window); all my music was uploaded to Google Pay for free and can be played anywhere I have a browser and wifi (including on tablets). Netflix works. In terms of non-Google stuff, I shop a lot on Amazon, I post a lot on FaceBook, and I read newspapers and articles online. My browser of choice on Windows, Mac, iPad, and Nexus 7 is Chrome, my mail is Gmail.
So far the only negative I have encountered is the inability to use iTunes and FaceTime. FaceTime has become enormously popular with my family. My kid is on her iPad and my wife has an iPhone, so while I don't have an iPhone, when I travel I use an iPod Touch to FaceTime home. It will ring my wife's phone, which is always on, or my kid's iPad, which is usually on, so reaching them is easy. It is less easy to reach them on Google+ Hangouts unless I send them a text first, it either doesn't have, or I haven't learned how to use, or I don't want to leave it on (and suck resources) Google + all the time.
Note that if you are Skype user, Chromebook does not have a Skype app. This isn't a Google problem, so much as a Skype problem when Skype first came out, it decided to market itself as a stand-alone application, not as a web application. They chose to do this so they could run in the background so you could get calls on your computer all the time if it had been browser based, it would have only been available when you had a browser window opened to their website. (It is actually HARD to turn Skype off, once you log in unlike other programs that terminate by clicking the x in the corner of the app window, it keeps running unless you figure out how to really, really close it). For security reasons, Google naturally prefers to run EVERYTHING in its very secure browser, because to run in a browser window, a web-based app has to conform to web standards and Google can scan that website for malware. It Google were to allow Skype and other companies to write stand-alone apps for Chrome OS like Skype, or Adobe Acrobat they would open their very secure OS to security issues for the past several years, for example, Adobe Acrobat has been one of the biggest security holes on Mac and Windows computers. Flash and Java follow closely (Java was even a problem for Apple this years). Google includes Flash directly in Chrome, and Java as well, but Google vets all that code and updates it immediately. So given the security issues with Skype (or any other 3rd party app) and the fact that Google has its own videoconferencing solution, it is unlikely Skype will come to Chrome OS or Chromebooks.
Right now Google is pitching Chrome OS and Chromebooks as the "simple" solution because its hard for the average user to understand the importance of security. The average user pays lip service to security (mainly by hobbling their machines with resource hungry overblown 3rd party antivirus programs), but at the end of the day they want Flash to run their video content and commercials, Adobe to read documents, Word (which had many security exploits over the years) to process documents, etc. If you really want a secure device, though, Google and Chrome OS are the best on the marketplace, and the Chrome browser works fine.
BTW if your grandmother is looking for secure email yes this will run Comcast and other ISP emails, Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. Not just Gmail. No, if they open a Gmail account to use a Chromebook, they DON'T have to really use that for their email. They can keep using their regular old email. Short of "phishing" attacks which use psychological ploys, not computer hacking, to gain personal information, it is next to impossible to infect a Chromebook by opening a bad email or downloading a bad attachment or by visiting a "bad" website. In short, this is a perfect granny (and kids) web browsing computer.
As for the 320 gb hard drive on this vs. the 16gb on the Samsung and "traditional" Chromebooks -
given that Google is uploading all my photos taken with my Android phone (Galaxy Nexus) and wants to download them to my other Google connected devices (besides keeping them in the cloud) it is probably a good thing to have 320 gb of Chromebook space instead of 16gb. That allows some room for saving all those pictures! (My Apple devices have been trying to "push" my photos taken with my Touch to ALL my Apple devices nice for access, but not all my devices have the same amount of memory nor so I want this seemingly senseless duplication.)
If you absolutely, positively need the lightest, thinnest (MacBook Air territory) Chromebook, get the new Samsung (Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch)). But I think this Acer is a better buy, and I like the large local hard disk.
BTW one reviewer felt the trackpad wasn't very responsive. In the Settings section, I just increased the trackpad speed and it made a great improvement in "feel". Much closer to MacBook Air standards (I am using a Mac mini with a Magic TrackPad to type this tonight so I know how good a trackpad should be). Also I "reversed" the scroll direction on the Chromebook to match the swipe-to-scroll direction on the Apple TrackPad a neat adjustment.
Hope you enjoy your future Chromebook. Buy it for minimalist efficiency, and enjoy the security. Or buy it for the security, and be amazed by how much you have been doing all along, just in a browser window.
Best Deals for Acer C7 Chromebook 11.6" Intel Dual Core B847 1.1 GHz 2GB DDR3
The major problems that this device seems to face aren't that it doesn't live up to it's potential, it's that most people seem to get stuck on 'but for a couple hundred more dollars I could get a real computer'. Or 'get a tablet'. Google probably should have rethought their marketing (from what I've seen they present the Chromebooks as being capable of 'everything' when that's not quite true). And not everyone jumped on board the tablet train.
The easiest way to explain a Chromebook is: it's a tablet with a built in keyboad. Yes it doesn't have Android OS and it's got a web store instead of Google Play, but it's close. Or you could call it a light computer without program functionality, sounds bad, but I like that it's not bogged down.
I've been dealing with tablets for the past year or so and it's always come down to the same problem for me--no keyboard. The keyboard stands out there never fit right for typing on my lap. I love tablets, I've had a few different ones before I settled. I enjoy Android, but since I'm a big one for typing--whether it's reviews, emails, or anything else-nothing makes up for the lack of keyboard.
I needed something with a keyboard that was smaller and lighter than my heavy Acer Aspire. I fully intended to replace that laptop with whatever I purchased. Also, it needed to be relatively cheap since I'm one of the many people not made out of money.
I thought about what I needed the device to be capable and what I could live without. I checked out Chrome's web store and was surprised at the options (compared to the Play store it's lacking, but it has some useful stuff if you weed through the not-so-useful). I don't have a need for Microsoft Office Word, I find it to be a very expensive frustration, and I didn't have many other programs installed in my laptop. The one program I thought I'd miss was a photo editing one, but they've got alternatives at the web store.
I was looking into the Samsung Chromebook just a day before Google announced the Acer C7. Not being a full convert to Cloud storage I quickly decided that saving $50 and getting 320GB was a fair exchange for slightly slower boot time and slightly more weight (unlike many people, I've never had a problem with Acer products).
I purchased it directly from Google (where it is $199 plus shipping) and received it the next day (I had been informed that I paid $13 dollars for 2 day shipping).
I unboxed it, turned it on, and logged in. I haven't touched my old laptop since. Though to be perfectly honest my household has another computer, which I have used a couple of times for non personal things.
First off your touchpad will probably be slow and need to be adjusted, mine was way too slow.
If you rely on Office or Paint, Photoshop or any other program--you don't want this device to be your sole computer. But if you've got the $200 and you don't think tablets are for you, maybe you'd like to have a keyboard, or you'd just like something lighter to carry around, this baby is well worth the money.
I'd read about the battery performance before I'd purchased and it doesn't feel like it's as bad as they say, though I haven't timed it. Plus the power cord is pretty long--unlike the itty bitty one that came with my tablet, so if I go to another room and there's an outlet nearby I can just plug it in. I've always kept my Aspire plugged in (it hasn't moved from my room since I purchased it). I suppose if you're on a long flight you might be out of luck...
My Drive suits my needs just fine when it comes to typing--I love the awesome auto save--and I appreciate the screen size versus my 7 inch tablet when I'm shopping on Amazon or going through forums.
Like many others, I've had a hard time adjusting to the location of the page up and down buttons and the home and end buttons, it is a little annoying, but I don't find myself using those keys very often.
I still prefer my tablet for reading, I'll check my email on it, and other simple tasks, but this little machine is better than I'd hoped.
So the biggest thing to keep in mind is that, for most of you, this will not work as a replacement for your computer-it could be an alternative to a tablet, for someone too young to have their own computer, someone's first computer, for a writer who doesn't need major formatting at their finger tips, a big blogger, a perfect traveling device...
Just do a little thinking about what you need out of it before making the decision to buy.
If there are any questions I'd be happy to try to answer them.
UPDATE Jan. 5th:
The 3.5mm headphone jack doesn't consistently work, it appears to be an annoying problem for many of the c7 chromebooks. People have suggested wiggling your headphone plug until it works, I've found the only solution for me is a mixture of; unplug and replug/ mute and umute (sometimes switching to different headphones/earbuds makes it work also). It's a little time consuming, but once the audio comes through your headphones it should stay that way until you unplug them.
Printing: I've hit a dead end here. Which is a bummer since the major reason I bought the C7 was for a light, typing machine. If you've got a Google Cloud Print Ready Printer you should be good (although I've read that you may need a computer for a firmware update?), otherwise it seems you have to be signed in on Chrome with a computer that's already got a printer. That kind of set up doesn't work for me since the available computer is a shared one. So, taking the long route, I've found myself either logging in to Google Drive on the REAL computer (being sure to sign out after) and printing docs from there, or emailing things to myself so that I can print later. It's a little time consuming, but it works. If you use a shared computer--and are printing Top Secret documents--make sure you clear the clipboard if you've used it.
I think the printer issue highlights the fact that a Chromebook is not a FULL computer, but if you have access to a real computer you should be able to work around it.
Honest reviews on Acer C7 Chromebook 11.6" Intel Dual Core B847 1.1 GHz 2GB DDR3
I have no idea why Amazon is charging so much money for this thing, I got mine for the Google advertised price of $199 at Best Buy.
Here is my review:
This little computer is fantastic. We purchased it for my mother in law who is not great with computers. All she cares about is going online to shop and play facebook games and sometimes video chat.
Speed:
The computer is very very fast with everything it does. Web sites load fast.
The comuter boots up and is ready to surf the web in 30 seconds or less.
Opening pictures and other files go very fast as well.
Chrome Operating System:
Yes it will take a little getting used to if you use windows every day, but trust me its not bad.
I was able to hook up my external Hard drive and copy over some family pictures very easily and quickly. You just have to use the "files" app.
There is no support for Skype, however, this is a google computer, so you will need a G mail account which means you can use Google Hangouts to video chat, I actually like it better than skype. (skype will eventually launch a chrome app).
Other notes:
The battery is very small, around 3 hours of usage, so make sure you are someone who is always going to have it plugged in, if not, you may need to spend the extra $50 and get the Samsung Chromebook which has a 6 hour battery.
The computer comes free with 100GB of google drive cloud storage which is great if you are an Android device user.
supports normal plug and use USB mice and other devices. I purchased a $15 wireless mouse and it works without any set up or tinkering.
Summary:
If you are someone who needs a simple laptop to do video chatting, web surfing, shopping, and play online games, this is perfect for you. I cannot over-state how fast this computer is at everything it does, its amazing. There is no waiting (provided you have a decent internet speed).
What more needs to be said? If you need a cheap computer which is blazing fast, buy this thing!!
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Acer C7 Chromebook 11.6" Intel Dual Core B847 1.1 GHz 2GB DDR3
I just got mine yesterday so I'll add some thoughts.
First: Chrome OS is fantastic. It's a very elegant OS with few features, which I feel is the exact opposite of Android. It's almost iOS-like in its purposeful simplicity. In its simplicity, it's lacking some features that I'm used to but it remains to be seen whether they're deal-breakers or if they're mostly things I can get used to doing without. It's mostly minor-ish things I wish I could do, like being able to upload mp3s to Google Music, which requires the Music Manager application. Or maybe just zoom-in on a downloaded photo in the Files utility. For the most part though, getting used to Chrome OS feels similar to using OS X for the first time.
As for the C7, if you're coming from a cheap windows computer to begin with, or if you're not very picky about computers, you'll probably be satisfied with the quality of the machine. However, if you're used to more expensive computers, you may find the C7 to seem downright cheap. The major gripes I have with the C7 are the keyboard and the screen.
My primary computer is a white 2010 Apple Macbook and it was the cheapest laptop that Apple sold and thus had the lowest quality screen of all of Apple's computers. But even that screen is lightyears ahead of the C7 and to be fair, a majority of windows computers. If there's one thing that Apple unequivocally does correctly, it is the screen. The screen on C7 on the other hand looks a bit washed out, blue, and dull. It has poor vertical viewing angles and I can see faint vertical lines between adjacent pixels. To be frank, it just looks cheap to me. I realize this is THE budget machine and that there are people out there that find no issues with this screen but I'm just not sure I'll ever get used to this screen. As for the keyboard, it's sized correctly and doesn't feel cramped but the keys feel very mushy to me.
As for the rest of the machine, the performance feels perfectly acceptable and the claimed 4hr battery life is adequate in my opinion. In comparison to the Samsung, I've seen complaints about the fan noise but so far, they haven't been that much of a bother. The fan is definitely spinning most of the time but I wouldn't say it's as bad as some of the other laptops I've seen.
All in all, I think the C7 is great deal for the price point. I think current chromebooks compete with tablets like the Microsoft Surface and even the iPad extremely favorably for many use-cases because of price, full keyboard, and full-fledged Chrome browser.
