Acer Chromebook 11 N7 C731-C8VE

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Reviews for the Acer Chromebook 11 N7 C731-C8VE

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Chromebooks are gaining momentum as a standard for education technology and the Acer Chromebook 11 is one such Chromebook designed mainly as a solution for classrooms. One might easily second guess its capacity from the Chromebook 11’s average-looking façade. It is nevertheless MIL-STD 810G standard compliant, which affords it with an impact resistant body. This is a significant shift away from earlier Acer Google Chrome machines, which are not known for their ruggedness. However, with this Chromebook 11, student users are assured of more durability as this laptop is able to withstand accidental falls and downward forces. The corner-shield structure and rubber bumper keyboard provide added protection to this Chromebook. Its dimensions measure at 22.9 x 297 x 211mm and it weighs 1.3kg. It is not the lightest or the thinnest laptop around, but its size is good enough for carrying around. Students can slip this device into their bags and carry it about easily. It is fitted with an 11.6" HD (1366 x 768 resolution) 16:9 IPS display. Visuals and images appear clear and the lower resolution doesn’t really impact the experience mainly due to the small screen size. The 180-degree hinge system allows the display panel to lie flat, which makes this laptop ideal for collaboration and discussion.

 

The C731T models further provides a touchscreen option. Furthermore, it is also decked with a spill resistant keyboard, thus keeping the components safe from inadvertent seepages, something that needs to be adopted as a standard by other manufacturers as well. The touchpad is wide and sensitive. Another feature of the Chromebook 11 N7 is its keyboard design with recessed keys that prevent the key caps from being easily removed. This Chromebook also has a fan-less design that provides cool and quiet operation, while at the same time keeping the profile of this laptop compact and lightweight. This device is powered by the Intel Celeron N3060 processor with Intel HD Graphics 400 graphics adapter and 4GB ram. With these specs, it is sufficient for learning and education purposes. Serious multitasking, on the other hand, might not fare too well. Audio quality is pretty decent and adequately loud. Storage available is 16GB and is expandable via an SD card, something that all Chromebooks have to consider changing. Connectivity includes two USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI port as well as a 3.5mm combo audio port. Network connectivity is supported by fast dual-band 2x2 MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. It also comes with a webcam on board. Students are assured of prolonged productivity on this Chromebook as its long battery life is capable of up to 12 hours. It outlasts the performance of its rivals from the likes of Dell and Asus. All in all, this Chromebook is deal for classroom administrators and students who are looking for a rugged laptop with long battery life.  

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam

 

Intel HD Graphics 400 (Braswell): Integrated graphics card in the Intel Braswell series (2016 Celeron) processors. Based on the Broadwell architecture (Intel Gen8) supporting DirectX 11.2. Depending on the processor offers 12 shader cores (EU) and different clock speeds. Non demanding games should be playable with these graphics cards. » Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
N3060: SoC with an integrated dual core Atom processor clocked at 1.6 - 2.48 GHz, an Intel HD Graphics GPU and a dual channel DDR3L-1600 memory controller.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
11.6":

This screen diagoal is quite large for tablets but small for subnotebooks. Some convertibles are also represented with that size.

Large display-sizes allow higher resolutions. So, details like letters are bigger. On the other hand, the power consumption is lower with small screen diagonals and the devices are smaller, more lightweight and cheaper.

» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.
1.3 kg:

This weight is typical for big tablets, small subnotebooks, ultrabooks and convertibles with a 10-11 inch display-diagonal.

Acer: The company was founded under the name of Multitech in Taiwan in 1976 and renamed to Acer or Acer Group in 1987. The product range includes, for example, laptops, tablets, smartphones, desktops, monitors and televisions. Gateway Inc. and Packard Bell also belong to the Group and sell their own laptops.

While Acer still had the third largest global market share in the notebook segment in 2008, it ranked 6th in 2016 with a market share of 6% after they had continuously lost market shares.

There are dozens of Acer laptop reviews per month, the ratings are average (as of 2016). Gateway, which has an own laptop line-up, has also belonged to the Acer Group since 2007.

75%: This rating is bad. Most notebooks are better rated. This is not a recommendation for purchase.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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