Laptops

Acer's new Chromebook has MacBook Air-inspired looks and 14-hour battery life

Acer's new Chromebook has MacBook Air-inspired looks and 14-hour battery life
The lower-resolution model of the new notebook has up to 14-hour (advertised) battery life
The lower-resolution model of the new notebook has up to 14-hour (advertised) battery life
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The lower-resolution model of the new notebook has up to 14-hour (advertised) battery life
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The lower-resolution model of the new notebook has up to 14-hour (advertised) battery life
The Chromebook 14 measures 0.67 in (17mm) at its thickest point, and could be mistaken for a MacBook Air at a glance
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The Chromebook 14 measures 0.67 in (17mm) at its thickest point, and could be mistaken for a MacBook Air at a glance
The lower-resolution model of the new notebook has up to 14-hour (advertised) battery life
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The lower-resolution model of the new notebook has up to 14-hour (advertised) battery life
The Chromebook 14 measures 0.67 in (17mm) at its thickest point, and could be mistaken for a MacBook Air at a glance
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The Chromebook 14 measures 0.67 in (17mm) at its thickest point, and could be mistaken for a MacBook Air at a glance
View gallery - 4 images

With one exception, Chromebooks are entry-level laptops, and that hasn't really changed with Acer's new 14-inch model. But there are a few more highish-end features creeping into the low-end product line – in this case that means a (not so original) metal design and advertised 14-hour battery life.

The Acer Chromebook 14 is the company's first14-inch notebook running Google's Chrome OS, which runs online apps inside the Chrome browser. The machine comes with achoice of 1,920 x 1080 or 1,366 x 768 IPS displays, each with 170-degree viewing angles.

One of the two biggest draws is the notebook's brushed aluminum case, which makes it the only metal-built Chrome OS devices in this price range (the Chromebook Pixel is much more expensive). Acer's model measures 0.67 in (17mm) at its thickestpoint and, like many of today's copycat laptops, could easily be mistaken for a MacBook Air at a glance. It would be nice to see more laptop makers not equate all-metal with make it look as much like a MacBook Air as possible.

The Chromebook 14 measures 0.67 in (17mm) at its thickest point, and could be mistaken for a MacBook Air at a glance
The Chromebook 14 measures 0.67 in (17mm) at its thickest point, and could be mistaken for a MacBook Air at a glance

The other killer feature is, if estimates hold up, impressive 14-hour battery life. That estimate is, however, only for the lower-res 768p model. The 1080p one drops down to a still impressive 12-hour estimate.

The design is fanless, so system noise should be minimal.

As with most Chromebooks, there's not much power under the hood. The Chromebook 14 runs an Intel Celeron processor – dual-core and quad-core options areavailable – paired with either 2 or 4 GB of RAM and a choice of 16 and 32 GB internal storage. In terms ofconnectivity, there are two USB 3.1 ports on offer, as well as anHDMI-out.

The new device is set to hit shelves inApril, with prices starting at US$300.

Source: Acer

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5 comments
5 comments
Keith Reeder
"which makes it the only metal-built Chrome OS devices in this price range"
Apart from this one:
https://www.asus.com/uk/Notebooks/ASUS_Chromebook_Flip_C100PA/
rhY
Why? I'm sorry, but Chrome OS is pointless. Now, if it can be reformatted and used as a Linux Mint machine, this could be awesome. But then why not just sell that out of the box? Imagine a sweet little laptop like this with Linux Mint Mate edition out of the box. I would be suggesting that for almost every single client I have.
Buellrider
I bought my mother an Acer Chromebook this past Christmas and she loves it. She had a 9 year old Apple Mac and it was long in tooth. People that disparage Chromebooks have to realize that many folks only use computers for email, videos, and looking around the internet and the Chromebook does that on the cheap. Why pay a grand or more for an Apple when a Chromebook does want you want for under 300 bucks.
Jeff Goldstein
I have a low end Acer Chromebook and it is a great machine for checking email, web browsing and facebook. Much better than an Acer Windows 10 laptop with similar specs and price. I couldn't care less if it had a metal case or not. Its thin, simple, white, light weight case is fine. The only things it needs are a touch screen and better Youtube performance.
Calson
Difficult to think how a netbook with only 32GB of internal storage will be useful.