The Acer C720 Chromebook

Chromebooks are the new “hot picks” in the market right now, so the arrival of Acer’s C720 Chromebook had been well-received and stirred the excitement of many. Especially for those who are wary of the amount that they will have to spend for the new device, consumers are looking for more budget-friendly options that are still of good quality. The Acer C720 is one such device that fits the $199 to $299 range, and everyone wants to know if it will live up to the expectations.

 

So what can you expect of Acer’s new offering in the low-budget market?

Hardware

What it offers:

• The laptop is sized at 11.3 inches by 8 inches; 0.8-inch thick; and weighs 2.76 pounds
• The Acer C720 Chromebook has a grey plastic for its lid, aliong with a matte plastic for the bottom
• The bottom has intake grilles for the laptop fans and one vent located at the hinge.
• The display of the laptop is surrounded with a black glossy plastic
• It has a VGA Webcam located at the top of the screen

 

 

 

The good points:

• The display hinge is solid and has a satisfying sound as you close the lid of the laptop
• The Acer C720 Chromebook is not a fingerprint magnet. This is largely attributed to its grey plastic lid
• The laptop looks solidly build despite the cheap plastic, and it does not obviously creak or emit those ridiculous sounds when used
• The keyboard of the C720 Chromebook has great texture and are very easy to press
• The Acer C720 Chromebook is fun to use and does not give its user too many headaches. The hardware in itself is remarkable and would allow you to have a smooth performance, and the extras that came with this laptop (fan vents and the like) defniitely make up for a better experience.

The points to improve:

• There is nothing that makes the C720 Chromebook stand out in terms of design
• The touchpad is too small and does not have much use apart from the usual
• The touchpad is also too inaccurate and lacks smoothness.
• The headphone port are a little to tight – it holds your headphone/earphone too snugly that makes it difficult to plug in and remove. Be ready to exert some effort on this one.
• The CPU fans of the Acer C720 Chromebook can sometimes be too noisy and be bothersome. This problem comes depending on the angle at which you are using your Chromebook

 

Display and speakers

What it offers:

• Acer C720 Chromebook has an 11.6 inch LCD panel
• The device’s resolution is 1366×768
• The Chromebook has speaker grilles located at the bottom edge

 

 

The good points:

• The laptop has amazing viewing angles
• Colors are not too vivid but is still great
• It also has a remarkable brightness capacity that can easily compete with other laptops

The points to improve:

• The speakers do not do their job properly… which is what you should expect of a low-budget device. You would be better off using earphones for this one.

 

Software

What it offers:

• The Acer C720 Chromebook comes with a dual core 1.4GHz Intel processor
• It has 16gb of storage and 4gb RAM
• The Chromebook is powered by a three cell 3,950mAh lithium polymer battery that is not removable.
• The laptop comes with 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 full HDMI out, 1 Sdcard slot,1 microphone jack, and 1 headphone jack
• Being a Chomebook… expect the OS to be more limited. Regardless, it still provides for a great user experience.

 

                                   

 

The good points:

• Device performance is fast, even as you open multiple tabs on your browser while multitasking (listening to music, etc.)
• The laptop performs almost as excellently as the Macbook Air – there are no unexpected stutters and lags even as you use it rapidly. THAT is saying something.
• The battery life is excellent – twice as much as what the competition has to offer. The laptop is tagged to have 8.5 hours of use, and that’s what it delivers. Even for heavy power users, the laptop lasts up to six hours.
• The Acer C720 Chromebook comes with a microUSB charger and an Exynos CPU. Some people might complain about this little fact, but it is something that you will eventually get used to. Plus, the fact that you only need to charge it a few times (even just once a day) makes up largely for this.

• The ports, especially the USB 3.0 port and the slot for an SDcard are a wonderful installment for the Acer C720 Chromebook.

 

The verdict

For a low-budget Chromebook, the Acer C720 Chromebook certainly stands out of its competition. At a very affordable price of $249, there is no major complaint to be said of it, both in terms of aesthetics and performance. While the screen and the touchpad may provide some slight issues, the amazing performance and exceptional battery life of the C720 Chromebook makes up well for it.

 

 

If you are looking for a Chromebook that would perform admirably and is within the $199 to $299, the Acer C720 Chromebook is the perfect one to buy. The user experience that it provides is worth more than what it costs – and you would be happy with what it can give you.

 

Have you tried using the Acer C720 Chromebook? What can you say about its performance?

 

SC

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKow9w0frk0[/embedyt]