We had a very hard time pinpointing whom this netbook/notebook might actually be for. There are a lot of devices out there that can offer more, even for the same price point as the Acer C7. But then we had a revelation: Chrome OS is not a major productivity operating system, it’s mostly relevant for those that operate with (sometimes important) data, data which Chrome protects from being lost by keeping it tugged neatly in the cloud: term papers, documents, etc. However, that data will not be extensively manipulated; it will either be text files and the like which will only need light editing on the go, most of the times being produced on a more serious machine, a desktop or a ”meatier” laptop. No heavy duty image manipulation, no video editing, rendering can be done properly in Chrome OS, so why bother coming up with a powerful, expensive machine for it?
Forthis light user types, the C7 here is the best Chromebook ever (with a few issues which we will detail later on): It is small, it is portable, it’s a no frills, no nonsense machine. You will not think twice about just tossing it in a bag and take it places where you would wouldn’t take, say, a $2000 MacBook.
For those that simply need access to the cloud from anywhere but don’t want to worry about the actual device they’re using, this is it.
So, in our opinion, this is the best machine a student can have without saving for long periods, a machine for those that need to shuffle documents within the Google Drive, or for those that want a relatively lightweight netbook to have around.
Screen Issues
Now, as we mentioned above, there are a couple of issues that might draw you away from the C7. The most important is the screen. It’s not the resolution, which, at 1366×768 is better than many other similarly priced netbooks. It’s the colors and it’s the visibility angles. The colors look faded seem to refresh very laggy and also, the TFT is a bit shadowy, especially when dealing with small fonts and text. For video playback however, if the quality is standard, the TFT won’t bother you, as it sort of adds a nice patina with its less than responsive response times.
Keyboard issues
Now, another point of contention is the keyboard which, even if enough for typing a few words for a search or for finding a document, now and then will prove a little too laggy/muddy for larger workloads. We don’t advise you purchase the C7 if you’re in need of a machine with which to produce a lot of typed materials. The need to go back and press a key you’ve already pressed might prove too frustrating. But, then again, if you’re a heavy typer, pressing the keys very hard, this might not bother you. So, to be completely sure, if you buy from a brick and mortar store, try it out before you purchase.
Conclusions
We would recommend the C7 wholeheartedly were it not for the 2 issues described above. Otherwise, since you’ve settled for a Chrome OS device, you’re not likely to be looking for overwhelming performance. We hope for a similar priced Chromebook that will be more generous with the screen quality, and also, maybe up the ante with a more reliable keyboard. Otherwise, this small netbook reaches the market with a great price point at only$199, being produced exactly for the kind of audience that stands to be satisfied with the Chrome OS limitations, which, to a point, make purchasing a more powerful machine a non issue.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome, so please leave a comment down below.