Acer Chromebook 516 GE CBG516-1H-53SL

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Reviews for the Acer Chromebook 516 GE CBG516-1H-53SL

80% Acer Chromebook 516 GE review: great for gamers?
Source: T3
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE makes cloud gaming on a laptop affordable, and does a decent job of playing AAA games via Nvidia's GeForce Now service. The 16-inch 2K screen is both large and detailed, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes for a smooth gaming experience, as long as your internet can keep up. Away from gaming, this well-specced Chromebook does a good job in general, with fast processors and impressive connectivity, although it doesn't have a touchscreen or customisable keys, and the backlit keyboard is a bit underwhelming.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/14/2023
Rating: Total score: 80%

90% Acer Chromebook 516 GE review
Source: Techradar
Though the title of the first gaming Chromebook is a bit overstated, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE is an excellent gaming machine when paired with streaming services. However, it's still not capable of direct Steam gaming, which is unfortunate.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/13/2023
Rating: Total score: 90%

80% Acer Chromebook 516 GE review: All fun and games
Source: Pocket Lint
Taken on its own terms the Chromebook 516 GE proves to be surprisingly successful at bringing gaming to the Chromebook market. Its reliance on subscription-based streaming services for gaming won’t suit everyone - after all, you’re paying a monthly subscription in order to play games that you’ve already paid for. But, if you do have a library of games that you can use with GeForce Now - and a fast enough broadband connection - then the affordable Chromebook 516 GE could provide a genuine alternative to an expensive PC gaming rig.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/28/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%

100% Acer Chromebook 516GE review: The best Chromebook for gaming (and almost everything else)
Source: Expert Reviews
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE isn’t going to be everyone’s dream games machine. In fact, if you’re a serious PC gamer, you’d still be better off with a budget gaming laptop, where performance and game support is going to be more predictable. However, the 516GE has two things going for it. First, it’s a great companion laptop if your main gaming device is an Xbox Console or a desktop games PC; you can stream through GeForce Now or Xbox Game Streaming, or even from your own system using Steam Link. You’ll also have access to plenty of games right off the bat, as I can’t imagine anyone buying a subscription to either service without an existing Xbox console or PC, or having some existing PC games to run. Second, it’s just a great Chromebook and, arguably, one of the best for use around the home. You might want thinner or lighter for travel or working on the move but you won’t get a better screen or specification for this money anywhere else. Sure, it’s expensive by Chromebook standards, but it is worth every penny.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 12/09/2022
Rating: Total score: 100%

80% Acer Chromebook 516 GE Review
Source: PC Mag
As a gaming Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE combines powerful hardware and helpful features, creating not only a purpose-built machine for game streaming, but also a top-flight Chromebook in general. The design is excellent, the performance is among the best we've seen, and the feature set is surprisingly premium given the price. It's a very good Chromebook on its own; the cloud gaming is just the hot new feature it's made to showcase. We can recommend regardless of whether you're interested in the cloud gaming features. Ultimately, the first of any new type of device is going to define the category it helps create. Sometimes that's a moot point, as new innovations wither from lack of interest or manufacturer support. But others help reshape the industry. With this being among the first gaming Chromebooks, we're confident in saying that cloud-gaming-capable Chromebooks will be here for the long haul—provided the cloud services themselves can keep up with user expectations.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 11/29/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%

88% Acer Chromebook 516 GE review: As good as cloud gaming gets
Source: Zdnet.com
Just like all Chromebooks, gaming Chromebooks live or die on the quality of cloud-based services. When they work well, as GeForce Now did thanks to Acer's optimization, they're a massive money saver and convenience. But, when you start running to laggy, uneven performance, like what Xbox Cloud Gaming provided, you might begin wishing you'd spent the extra cash on a Windows-based gaming laptop and local games. The saving grace here is that Acer and Nvidia have proven that cloud-based gaming is at the point where relatively inexpensive devices, like a high-end Chromebook, can compete with $1,000-plus machines, at least for just about everyone aside from ultra-competitive, first-person shooter fans. Now we just have to see how long it takes everyone else to catch up or surpass them.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 11/10/2022
Rating: Total score: 88%

80% Acer Chromebook 516 GE review: a Chromebook for gaming?
Source: Digital Trends
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE has plenty of real-world performance to keep cloud gamers happy. The power and endurance complement the smooth, accurate display. So long as you have fast internet speeds, gaming on the 516 GE is a joy. As a Chromebook for all other functions, it’s fantastic as well, although it would be great to see a touchscreen or 2-in-1 version in the future. Competition is pretty straightforward right now, with literally only three stream-gaming models to choose from: the 516 GE from Acer, the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip ($700), and Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook ($550). Lenovo is probably the closest specs-wise to the Acer, whereas the Asus offers a 2-in-1 solution and a 144 Hz refresh rate FHD screen. Just as importantly, this new genre of Chromebooks is a nice surprise from Google. Following the failure of Stadia, it’s good to see Chromebooks specifically designed to run Nvidia GeForce Now (you get three months free with the 516 GE), Steam (now on the beta channel), Amazon Luna+, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Most of these services can stream at 120Hz 1600p, which is in line with the hardware of these new models. It seems like such a natural progression that it makes you wonder why there wasn’t a push for these devices sooner.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 11/09/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%

Acer Chromebook 516 GE review: great at gaming and basically everything else
Source: Chrome Unboxed
Sometimes, things just line up the right way when you weren’t expecting them to. That’s basically the story with the Acer Chrombook 516 GE, a Chromebook that is built for cloud gaming, marketed as such, and does a great job at that task. But in building a Chromebook suited for gaming, Acer went and created something far more attractive: a Chromebook that’s good at just about everything you could want. On the surface, you may look at photos, videos, and spec sheets on this Chromebook and think things like that’s too big of a Chromebook for me or I’m not really that into gaming, but I’d tell you to stick around for this one. While not the perfect Chromebook all around – there will never be one – this Chromebook gets so much right and is such an absolute delight to use that even if you’ve not been into bigger Chromebooks before or you don’t consider yourself a gamer (I know I don’t), this device still has a whole lot to offer.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 11/04/2022

80% Acer Chromebook 516 GE Review: A Worthwhile, But Niche, Investment
Source: Slashgear
I think the fact of the matter is that a cloud gaming laptop will only be as good as the service it's streaming. For instance, the 516 GE standard refresh rate allows for 120 frames per second on the display — which is exactly the maximum that GeForce NOW is capable of, too. So, if we are waiting and hoping for cloud gaming laptops to improve, we should expect cloud gaming services to grow and develop first. That said, if you fit the description of someone solely seeking out a cloud gaming laptop, then I'd say it's a resounding yes — this laptop is very much worth it for you. The question becomes which GeForce NOW tier is going to best serve your needs. You could spend $200 per year (and that's strictly just for the cloud gaming, not for any actual game purchases or distribution platforms) for 120 FPS, and 4K resolution, but the 516 GE isn't capable of 4K. However, at this tier, you get eight-hour sessions on servers dedicated to the top tier, so that'll be an easy answer for the most dedicated cloud gaming individual. But if you're new to the cloud gaming realm or just want to make sure this fits you before you spend the cash, GeForce Now's free, basic setup will at least help you answer that question. No matter what you choose, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a great instrument to get you there.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 11/01/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%

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Intel Iris Xe G7 80EUs: Integrated graphics card in Intel Tiger Lake G7 SoCs based on the new Gen. 12 architecture with 80 EUs (Execution Units / Shader Cluster). The clock rate depends on the processor model. The Tiger Lake chips are produced in the modern 10nm+ process at Intel.

Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

i5-1240P: A mid-range 28 W Alder Lake family CPU featuring 4 performance cores and 8 efficient cores. This SoC is designed for use in ultra-light (yet actively cooled) laptops. The i5's performance cores are Hyper-Threading-enabled for a total of 16 threads. Core i5-1240P runs at 1.2 GHz to 4.4 GHz; it has a built-in 80 EU Iris Xe GPU and supports "Essentials" tier vPro features.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

16.00":

15-16 inch is a standard display size for laptops and offers the biggest variety of products.

1.7 kg:

This weight is typical for very old and big tablets, subnotebooks, ultrabooks and convertibles with a 11-13 inch display-diagonal; nowadays, rather typical for 15 inch laptops.

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.

84.75%: This rating should be considered to be average. This is because the proportion of notebooks which have a higher rating is approximately equal to the proportion which have a lower rating.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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