2014年9月4日星期四

Acer Chromebook 13 have another look at : Full-size promises, not full-size execution

Acer Chromebook 13 have another look at : Full-size promises, not full-size execution

The top Chromebooks all give single idea featuring in nothing special: They’re slight. The nearly everyone common Chromebooks give slight, low-resolution 11.6-inch displays. They may perhaps offer a low assess, stellar battery life, and fast performance — but from time to time you in the past few minutes hunger a better central processing unit.

Acer’s original Chromebook 13 appears to survive in the past few minutes with the aim of central processing unit, by the side of smallest amount on paper. It’s got a 13.3-inch put on show, same size because the 13-inch MacBook Air, with an elective 1080p declaration. The $299 1080p Chromebook 13 is both better and further pixel-dense than Dell’s Chromebook 11 or else Acer’s own C720, while still being a low-cost central processing unit. The bigger size put on show gives Acer space in place of a full-size the ivories and a bigger trackpad, things we in no way complain on the subject of being better.

Not solitary does the Chromebook 13 give a bigger, better put on show than almost each other Chromebook passй near (the $1,300 Chromebook Pixel excepted), it’s besides the leading Chromebook to work an Nvidia Tegra K1 mainframe. The Tegra K1 lets the Chromebook 13 drip the fan and keep a slim profile, while promising performance on par with or else better than the Intel processors featuring in other Chromebooks. It besides lets Acer boast of up to 13 hours of battery life (11 hours with the 1080p display), further than some other Chromebook on the marketplace.

Near give been a destiny of promises featuring in the Chromebook humankind, but not many laptops give been able to track through. Acer (and by expansion, Nvidia) is basically motto it’s finished away with the usual compromises you acquire with a Chromebook. I’ve been putting it through its paces in place of the times of yore combine of weeks to refer to if folks promises give importance or else if the Chromebook 13 is in the past few minutes round of searing air.

Leading, the lovely news: The Chromebook 13 is the nicest designed Chromebook Acer has still made. It’s even fine to say with the aim of it’s the nicest designed Chromebook this edge of the ridiculously expensive Chromebook Pixel. It’s a slim, svelte design — 0.71-inches thick and 3.31 pounds — that’s both delightful and well situate jointly. It’s still plastic featuring in each place, but it’s not the cheap-feeling plastic with the aim of Acer uses on the C720 and other Chromebooks. It’s because well built because the clearing Chromebook 11, but slimmer and not because stumpy looking. The all-white be over is striking and doesn’t pick up dirt and smudges because undoubtedly because I would give likely it to.

Alongside the Chromebook 13’s sides are the standard ports: USB (2 USB 3.0 ports, single on the gone, single on the rear), HDMI, earphone, and power. There’s besides a built-in SD tag bookworm on the gone interface. The full-size the ivories is a joyfulness to type on: It’s further hard work and much nicer feeling than the C720’s clacky, cramped the ivories. The solitary idea it’s missing is a backlight in place of typing featuring in the dark, but I’ve yet to refer to an inexpensive Chromebook with the aim of offers with the aim of.

THE CHROMEBOOK 13 HAS THE top DESIGN THIS edge OF THE PIXEL
Similarly, the Chromebook 13’s trackpad is smooth and hard work, with accurate tracking and quick response. It’s not the same because using a MacBook’s goblet trackpad, but you’d survive hard-pressed to get back a better single on an extra laptop featuring in this assess range. The Chromebook 13’s floor mounted speakers are louder than I likely, but they watch over to break up and distort as soon as pressed to ceiling volume.

But despite the polite design, spacious, comfortable the ivories, and lovely trackpad, the Chromebook 13’s put on show is come again? Matters at this point. The 1080p option is solitary $20 further than the standard 720p screen, and it’s the solitary single you ought to consider. Having a higher-resolution put on show really changes the usefulness of a Chromebook: I can undoubtedly situate two windows side-by-side to browse the jungle and keep an eye on my Tweetdeck run by the side of the same while, something that’s tiring to work out with a 1366 x 768 put on show. On the flip edge of with the aim of coin, everything is lesser on the 1080p screen, since Chrome OS doesn’t climb over its user interface to accommodate the upper declaration. Perhaps this is my age viewing, but I found text tiring to read featuring in many spaces and ended up zooming featuring in on websites often. (My default is to encourage the zoom to 120 percent because soon because I visit a webpage, which makes the situate easier to refer to, but still leaves Chrome OS’ user interface a crumb too tiny.)

Though the Chromebook 13’s put on show has further pixels, it’s not really some better featuring in quality than the screens on Acer’s other Chromebooks. Viewing angles are terrible, ensign are a crumb washed, and the screen is in the past few minutes harsh to look by the side of gone a while. That’s something I’ve further or else a smaller amount turn up to expect from a bargain basement priced Chromebook, but HP has been able to incorporate brilliant IPS displays featuring in particular of its models, so I yearn for other manufacturers would track suit. (And it looks like they are, Toshiba in the past few minutes announced a 13-inch, 1080p Chromebook with an IPS screen this week.)

While Acer got the outside design of the Chromebook 13 mostly remedy, I’m not so definite the Nvidia Tegra K1 mainframe was the remedy move on the inside. Nvidia has a prolonged history featuring in making graphics cards and powerful gaming computers, and it’s quick to boast on the subject of the Tegra K1’s many cores (it has five featuring in the highest processor) and thickset graphics flaw (which has 192 cores of its own).

All of folks cores are invented to confer the Chromebook 13 further power than we’ve turn up to expect from Chromebooks and enable better gaming and deeper, 3D jungle experiences. But featuring in practice, the Chromebook 13 doesn’t feel some earlier or else further receptive than the Intel-powered models I’ve used. Featuring in statement, it feels a beat or else two behind nearly everyone of the while, and it doesn’t touch multitasking practically because well because I hoped it would.

THE CHROMEBOOK 13 ISN'T some earlier THAN AN INTEL-POWERED classic
With the aim of may well survive due to the 2GB of RAM featuring in my have another look at piece (a 4GB classic is to be had in place of an $80 premium), but I don’t think further RAM would solve all of the performance hiccups I aphorism. Like we’ve seen with Samsung’s Chromebook 2, annoying to work out further than single idea by the side of a while wasn’t at ease on the Chromebook 13, and even trouble-free things like browsing a not many sites while streaming tune proved to survive tiring. Streaming tune shouldn’t stutter each while you release a original tab or else launch a Chrome app, but it does on the Chromebook 13. Other time, the Chromebook 13 would curiously freeze up in place of a not many seconds by the side of a while, interrupting my workflow and driving me crazy. Switching back to Acer’s C720 with an Intel interior i3 mainframe felt like wounding the parachute inedible of a drag racing car and stepping on the chat.

The K1 does give its remuneration, however. The Chromebook 13’s fanless design wealth it’s continually finished silent all of the while and it in no way gets searing on my splash. And Acer’s insinuate of prolonged battery life proves to survive constant: The Chromebook 13 lasted a stunning 11 hours and 50 minutes on our rundown test and undoubtedly coasted through a round generation of run exclusive of needing to survive plugged featuring in.

The Chromebook humankind is suitable an increasingly crowded interim, and the top options keep it trouble-free with lovely performance and lovely battery life. The Chromebook 13 solitary hits single of folks lettersrs.

The hardware is important and I’m a full-size fan of the the ivories and trackpad. The high-res put on show is an polite idea to give too, though it without doubt may well still survive improved featuring in provisions of color and viewing angles.

But I’m greatly agree to down by the Chromebook 13’s weak performance, despite the promises made by Nvidia and Acer. Like we assumed featuring in our have another look at of the Samsung Chromebook 2, it is likely to acquire a destiny of run finished on a Chromebook, but not if it can’t keep up with you. Unfortunately, despite its important battery life, the Chromebook 13 spray brisk on the nearly everyone worthy insinuate of all: Only if the top jungle browsing experience you can acquire on a Chromebook.

Tags : Acer , Chromebook


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