Acer Chromebook 13 Experience

Tencent Digital Message (compiled: Chenzai) After years of painstaking, Chromebook finally ushered in the rise (at least in the school), which means that mainstream PC manufacturers and chip manufacturers also intend to participate in it, such as Nvidia. Although the company has previously shied away from Chrome OS devices, they have now provided their own Tegra K1 chips for a variety of Chromebook, and are committed to delivering strong endurance and graphic performance. Acer Chromebook 13 is the first of its kind, and the 300-dollar notebook offers 11-hour endurance, 1080p screen selection, and enough performance to cope with gaming and web browsing. What about its actual performance?

　Hardware

After looking at the Chromebook 13 configuration list, you might think that design is the place where Acer "cut corners", which is basically true. The whole body of the device is plastic, the border and the bottom feel a little rough. Compared with Samsung Chromebook 2, the cheap sense of Acer's device is obvious. The fuselage weight of Chromebook 13 is 1.5 kg, the fuselage thickness is 18 mm, compared with Chromebook 2, there is a certain degree of increase. If you want a 13-inch Chromebook, you'd better spend 100 more dollars on Samsung's products.

But compared with Acer's older model C720, Chromebook 13 's ascension is obvious. The 11-inch C720 fuselage is cramped, like a netbook, while the 13-inch Chromebook 13 is wide, with more room for keyboards and touch panels. The latter design is also more concise, although it is still plastic, but the full white appearance at least looks very clean and modern. In addition, the lid and palmrest of the Chromebook 13 are not easily scratched, but even scratches are not noticeable under white paint.

Even if Acer's design doesn't look good, it's worth it in terms of the display's elevation. For a Chromebook, the display quality of this device has been pretty good, especially under the 13-inch size. Chromebook 13 has a bright 1920x1080 resolution screen, and the fog surface treatment also brings a relatively broad visual angle, especially from the side view. However, if the screen flips forward slightly, the display will fade. But this is probably the fault of all Chromebook-even in 1080p-resolution models. At present, there is not a Chromebook has a really good visual angle, this may be the manufacturer out of cost-saving considerations.

As mentioned above, Chromebook 13 has an excellent, wide keyboard, and all the key keys (shift, and so on) are large enough to be easily touched without looking at it. In spite of this, these keys are not as deep as C720, typing may occur when some keys are not recognized problems. The Chromebook 13 touch screen is also excellent and wide, and can be accurately identified either by single finger tracking or by multiple finger gestures.

Above the interface settings, Chromebook 13 is the same as other similar devices, including 2 USB ports, 1 HDMI connectors, 1 full-size SD slots and one headphone jack. But unlike most devices, the Chromebook 13 's 1 USB ports and HDMI interfaces are hidden behind the device.

　　Performance and Endurance

Chromebook 13 is the first Chrome OS device equipped with Nvdia Tegra K1 chip. Nvidia claims that the chip is better in all respects than Intel's Bay Trail processor (which most Chromebook uses), but this is not true. In single-threaded JavaScript tests such as Sunspider, Mozilla Kraken, and Google Octane, the performance of Chromebook 13 was flat with the bay Trail n20p such as Lenovo Chromebook, Even slightly worse. In daily use, Chromebook 13 of the switching time is 9 seconds and 4 seconds-although not bad, but it is not particularly good.

Nvidia did not deny the less-than-brilliant JavaScript scores, but they quickly pointed to WEBGL tests that better show Tegra K1 graphics performance. Indeed, in the animated "Jiangnan style" playback, Chromebook 13 can reach the 50-60fps frame number, and Lenovo N20p's Bay Trail can barely reach 24fps. In the Oort online run score test, the average score of Chromebook 13 is 4007,n20p only 1300. In the 3D Earth model, the frame rate of Chromebook 13 is up to 50s and stays between 30s-40s, and n20p only 20s-30s, depending on the speed at which it rotates. Finally, in Nvidia's own multitasking tests, including running Google sheets macros and music streaming in different tabs, Chromebook 13 (46 seconds) compared Lenovo n20p (58 seconds) faster 21%.

All in all, Chromebook 13 performed well in some tests, especially those recommended by Nvidia. But beyond that, it does not have much of a gap with other Bay trail devices. In practical use, Chromebook 13 is no faster than other Chrome OS devices. Although it is no slower than these devices, this does not explain anything, because Chromebook is not known for its superior performance. On the bright side, the Chromebook 13 is quiet at the time of operation, and the fever is not serious. If you choose this device, it should be because of its architecture, 1080p display and excellent endurance, rather than you want to get superior processing performance.

While performance promises are somewhat discredited, the endurance of Tegra K1 for Chromebook 13 does conform to Nvidia's claims. The 1080p model of the device is said to provide a maximum of 11 hours of endurance, and it has maintained a 10-hour, 7-minute continuous video playback in the actual test. And if the use is not so heavy, at the same time the screen brightness is lower, this model adhere to 11 hours of use is certainly not a problem. As for the lower-end model (1366x768 resolution), Acer says it can deliver up to 13 hours of endurance.

　　Software

Although Chromebook models are available on the market, their experience in software is no different. If you have not yet used chrome OS, the following introduction will give you a rudimentary understanding.

Chrome OS's offline capabilities are being fully upgraded, and users can already use Gmail and Google Drive even without a network connection. In the recent past, Google has also brought the system the ability to broadcast Google Play films and TV programs offline. Other improvements include pinch zooming, better file management, and the ability to upload Google + images backstage.

　Configuration options and Competition

The starting price for Chromebook 13 is $280 and there are 4 configurations to choose from. The lowest-end model provides the 1366x768 resolution display, 2GB memory and 13-hour endurance, and a total of two options for the 300 dollar file: 1080p display +2GB memory, or 1366x768 resolution screen +4GB memory. and the highest configuration model price 380 USD, can bring 1080p display and 4GB memory. As for storage, these models are all 16GB, but the highest configuration version is 32GB.

If you are looking for a product that is equivalent to Chromebook 13, the most obvious choice is Samsung's 13-inch Chromebook 2, which uses ARM chips and 1080p displays, with a clear screen effect, a comfortable keyboard and a relatively high-end design.

But the Chromebook 2 is priced at $400 and is already comparable to a cheap Windows notebook, but its performance is not as good as the price of its rivals. If you think that arm chips are enough to handle everyday use, you might like the Chromebook 13. It provides similar performance and the same clear display, but the price is 100 dollars lower. Although its design is not so good-looking, but it is not ugly.

In addition to Samsung and Acer, Toshiba also has its own full HD Chromebook, priced at $330. Toshiba's Chromebook 2 uses the Intel Bay Trail chip, which should be slightly better than the first two devices, but may be a bit worse.

If performance is a big concern for you, you may still have to choose Acer's products. Their C720 Chromebook is a favorite of many people, and this device is the first to use the Intel Core i3 Chromebook, which can lead to significant performance improvements. At the same time, it is also the most cost-effective models. With just 199 dollars, you'll get the same excellent equipment with the Intel Haswell chip. But the thing to be aware of, C720 's endurance is a few hours shorter than Chromebook 13.

　Windows competitor

On the Windows platform, the 300 dollar price range is the battlefield for cheap windows notebooks. They are generally 15-inch models with processors either Intel Celeron or AMD E-series. In other words, the performance of these devices is similar to the price Chromebook. Even so, you can see several Chromebook 13 of the same compact and portable devices, including 11-inch Lenovo S215 (349 dollars), 11-inch Acer Aspire ES1 (250 dollars), and HP Pavilion 10z Touch (250 USD).

In addition, HP is about to launch its first stream notebook, which is also a low-cost Windows book, and sees Chromebook as the most direct competitor. The device uses a 14-inch display (1366x768 resolution) and AMD chips, priced at $300. This device will be a good choice for consumers who want to still be able to use Windows on cheap devices.

Summarize

Chromebook 13 didn't bring everything that Acer and Nvidia promised, but it is still a valuable product. Although the device does not perform better than the Intel Bay Trail Machine, it is the best of its kind, even with a 1080p display that can reach 10 hours.

Chromebook 13 is one of the few models that offer a 1080p display, and although there is room for improvement in the visual angle of the screen, it's almost a common problem for all Chromebook, so it's hard to blame it on Acer. At the start of the 280 dollar price (Full HD version of 300 U.S. dollars), we can easily forgive this device defects. Even if the performance is not outstanding, Chromebook 13 is still a good screen effect, excellent endurance and keyboard wide comfort of the outstanding Chrome OS devices.

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