Perhaps you read my ‘It’s Time to Consider a ChromeBook’ post from July. If not, please take a moment to read it here. Since I wrote the post, I’ve become even more fond of my Samsung XE303C12 ChromeBook. It is a great product, and it’s still available for $243 at Amazon (new), or $179 at Newegg (refurbished, and if you act right away). It seems the $179 refurb deals come and go. Over the holidays they were nowhere to be found.
But now there’s a new kid on the block. The Acer C720 ChromeBook (model 2848) is my latest acquisition and is every bit as good as the Samsung. And if you’re in the market for a ChromeBook, the $199 price at Amazon trumps the higher price for a new Samsung. And since this ChromeBook is so popular, your going to have to wait in line. I ordered when the site said the product was ‘temporarily unavailable’, but in a few days it shipped. My order placed on Dec. 31st arrived Jan. 8. Not bad for an out of stock item.
Since I only got the Acer today, it’s hard to do a valid comparison, but here’s what I think so far:
The Acer is a little thicker, sturdier, and heavier than the Samsung, and I expect battery life will be a bit better. I don’t know how much better since I have only used the Acer for about an hour and the battery reads 92% and 11 and a half hours remaining. Too good to be true? Perhaps. Time will tell just how good this ChromeBook is…
Here are the Acer’s key features:
One other point I’d like to make about ChromeBooks is the ease of bringing a second ChromeBook online. My Samsung had been fully configured, apps added, task bar populated, etc. When I powered up the new Acer ChromeBook, everything, including the apps, task bar, and settings automatically installed on the new ChromeBook. How cool is that? Within minutes I was rockin’ and rollin’. Thank you Google! You’re doing a really great thing here…
