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mrjawapa

Corn Man 🌽

From: Ohio, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 5,840

Website

[Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

This is my final review on ChromeOS.  More specifically ChromeOS on the Acer C720.

Here are some specs for it:
Screen Size: 11.6"
Weight: 3lbs
Processor: 1.4 GHz Intel
Ram: 2GB
Hard Drive: 16GB
Battery Life: Roughly 2 hours of solid use

I've had this for a little over 2 years.  This OS is very different from Windows.  I would say it's similar to Ubuntu (being that it's linux based).  When I first got it, a couple things annoyed me.  One being that you don't have desktop icons.  If you want shortcuts, they have to on the task bar.   Later I found that it wasn't really an issue.  It's not a huge nuisance, and it makes everything look nice.  Another issue was the inability to run EXE files.  Unless a program was web-based, or an android app, you couldn't use it.  If it had an android app, it was debatable if it could be ran.  That was a huge set back.

One of the things that I love about this OS, is how clean it looks.  ChromeOS uses a material design, which I absolutely love.  Everything on here is beautiful.

With the laptop only being 3lbs, it obvious that some things were not made to be the most durable.  Over time the space below the keys began to wear down where my hands would rest.  Also, the casing around the screen cracked and I had to glue/duct-tape it back together because the whole thing was falling apart.  Since it was made 2 years ago, I assume that the durability has been improved.

After about a year, some issues started to arise with the OS.  One issue was the random freezing of the screen.  The screen would lock up, but everything else was still working (I could close a tab that had music playing, that's how I know this).  Last month or two, an issue with the CPU has arose.  It would use around 85% of the CPU just on Everybody Edits, nothing else open.  Trying to do a few things at once would drag it down severely, and things would crash.  There have been a few crashes since I've had it.  But most of those were because I was on the Beta Channel for updates, not the stable version.

Overall, this laptop isn't bad.  It's not great, but it isn't bad.  If you just surf the web, check your email, etc., then it would be great for you.  If you wanted something to do some video editing, hard gaming, or run programs for that matter, then this would be a terrible choice for a laptop.  If you want something that you can tinker with, without worrying about messing stuff up, then this would also be good.  I haven't gone full on hax-mode on here, but I've managed to run Android apps, Customize Apps, and run Crouton (ubuntu).

I would give it 6.5/10.  It's biggest downfall is the inability to run EXE files.

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JadElClemens

Member

From: Colorado, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 4,559

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

To be honest, I find that 98% of what I do on my computer is done in my browser, and another 1% is done in the terminal. There's literally nothing I personally need to run Windows for, and I'd probably get along fine with ChromeOS. If I got a Chromebook I'd just install Arch on it anyways, but whatever.
(To be nitpicky, Linux is not incapable of running Windows binaries. WINE is not a perfect solution, but works well enough most of the time, even for things like earlier versions of Adobe CS and Microsoft Office, which in all four years of my high school career I've never actually needed.)

I'd really encourage you to play around with Linux some more. It's incredibly powerful, and I've enjoyed it so much more than I ever did using Windows. YMMV, obviously.

By the way, if anyone wants to kindly donate to me a gen 2 Chromebook Pixel, I'd much appreciate it.

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Anch

Member

Joined: 2015-02-16

Posts: 5,447

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

I think I have the same laptop as you and I agree. The ability to not run .exe files can get annoying.

BuzzerBee

Forum Admin

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 4,575

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

I have way too many programs on my computer that I couldn't afford to lose. I need the ability to run .EXEs

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mrjawapa

Corn Man 🌽

From: Ohio, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 5,840

Website

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

I have way too many programs on my computer that I couldn't afford to lose. I need the ability to run .EXEs

It brought a lot of things I used to a halt.

I wasn't aware of it at the time that I bought it, but I was in desperate need of a laptop.  I bought for $50-60 new, because it was being tested and whatnot.

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Discord: jawp#5123

ewoke

Member

Joined: 2015-02-20

Posts: 412

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

but only 16gb of hard disk space? i would need to cary usb sticks to get my stuff

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JadElClemens

Member

From: Colorado, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 4,559

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

Please enlighten me, how does Drive integration work within ChromeOS? Does Google just expect you to work with all of your Drive storage within the browser, or does the native ChromeOS file explorer have Drive integration?

If the latter, Google needs to get their stuff together and release that for Linux. I'm tired of Insync.

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mrjawapa

Corn Man 🌽

From: Ohio, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 5,840

Website

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

It has drive integration, but nothing useful.

It automatically has Google Drive, but that's the only decent one.

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JadElClemens

Member

From: Colorado, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 4,559

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

It has drive integration, but nothing useful.

It automatically has Google Drive, but that's the only decent one.

Right, yes, but what form does it take? Is it just, like, a "webapp" link to the Drive website, or is it integrated somehow?

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mrjawapa

Corn Man 🌽

From: Ohio, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 5,840

Website

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

It's not in the browser.  It's all in the file thing.

One sec, ill show you some screenies.

▼Hidden text

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JadElClemens

Member

From: Colorado, USA

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 4,559

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

Guess I'll just have to get a ChromeOS VM up and running or something. Regardless, Google needs to get on Drive for Linux, seriously.

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Michele

Formerly AntonioS300

From: EE world

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 1,351

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

ChromeOS stinks.

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Pingohits

Banned

From: aids lizard

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 7,591

Re: [Review] ChromeOS/Acer C720

ChromeOS stinks.

i kind of agree with you

I only like ChromeOS because of its simplicity

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