Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2017
PROS:
- Lightweight
- Great Price
- Good Battery Life
- Quick
CONS:
- Small Screen
- "Cheap" Feel
- Quiet Speakers
---- MOSTLY UNNECESSARY BACKSTORY ----
I purchased a Certified Refurbished Acer Chromebook that arrived on New Year's Eve, but unfortunately it would not charge no matter what I did. I even contacted the company, and their solution was to have me send in the product for repairs. I didn't want to do that -- it would take quite some time, and if they did manage to fix the issue, who's to say it would occur again at a point when repairs wouldn't be covered by the warranty? So I returned the product and got a refund. I still wanted a Chromebook though, but this time I did quite a bit more research.
I have this bad habit of obsessively researching tech products, especially computers, so when I say research, I mean days upon days of scouring Amazon and various other websites for the best deal, the best specs, the best reviews, and then looking at what OTHER websites say about the Chromebooks that caught my eye.
I knew what I wanted: a lightweight Chromebook with 4 GB of RAM, an aesthetically pleasing design, and a MicroSD slot, all for under $170. I was first drawn to the Asus C201PA-DS02 (which at the time was priced around $159), but it was temporarily out of stock, and I'm an impatient person who already had to return one Chromebook. I didn't want to wait, especially since there was no estimated date when the product would come back into stock. Since the defective Chromebook I got had zero reviews when I purchased it, I also narrowed to search to Chromebooks with numerous and mostly positive reviews. At this point, I successfully narrowed down the possibilities.
I was originally not that interested in this Samsung Chromebook because I didn't think it looked that nice -- it reminded me of the Lenovo Chromebooks, which are rather... clunky. I wanted something with a bit more elegance (hence my initial interest in the Asus Chromebook). I decided to take a look at the customer-submitted pictures in the reviews (which always give one a better idea of what the product looks like) and found that it was actually a fair more lovely Chromebook than I originally thought. As I sit here writing this review on my new Chromebook, I must say it really is an elegantly simple machine. It's nothing fancy, but it's clear some thought was put into the design.
At this point I had pretty much decided on this Samsung Chromebook.There was an issue, however: the price. The 4 GB model (when I purchased this) was $179, $9 over-budget. I know that doesn't seem like much, but it more than I wanted to pay. So I reluctantly looked at other buying options. The cheapest option was a Used - Very Good Chromebook from Amazon Warehouse for around $152. I had just been burned by a refurbished Chromebook, so I was extremely reluctant to purchase a used one, but I looked at the description anyhow.
Quote of the description: "Item is in original, pristine packaging. Small (less than 1/4" x 1/4") cosmetic imperfection on front of item."
It was the "original, pristine packaging" bit that sold me. I didn't mind a minor imperfection on the Chromebook as my gaming laptop I purchased from eBay has a rather nasty dent on its front. So I decided to go for it and throw caution to the wind and purchase a used Chromebook.
---- ACTUAL REVIEW STARTS HERE ----
I am very happy I did. This Chromebook seems brand new. In fact, I've looked all over the front, and I honestly cannot find the cosmetic imperfection anywhere. Beginning to think they just saw a hair on it or had weird lighting or something. Also, when they said "pristine" original packaging, they meant PRISTINE. The only way I can tell anyone has opened the box before is that this tiny bit of tape was cut. That's it. No dents, no tears, no marks, no anything. I really lucked out.
11.6" is small, probably smaller than you think, but I wanted small. Only downside about the size (for me) is that I have terrible eyesight and a small screen means small text which is a little hard for me to read. The product is made of a lot of plastic (contributing to its diminutive weight), which truthfully I don't mind, but some may find that it feels rather cheap. I don't disagree -- this Chromebook seems like it'd be fairly easy to break, thought I'm not too terribly concerned about it.
I don't exactly know what it is about the keyboard, but when I first started using it, I made a lot of typos, which is very out of character for me. (Side note: if there are typos in this review, it's not because of the keyboard but rather because I'm exhausted.) The keyboard seems to be full-sized, so perhaps it's the lack of a keypad that made my hands want to offset to the side instead of dead center? I'm not quite sure, but a few minutes of typing was all it took to get me acclimated to it. I think the keyboard is the perfect size; for me, in any case. I like how the keys feel -- they don't make much noise but enough they pressing them gives me that weird satisfying feeling I want in a laptop. Other writers may understand what I'm talking about. Objectively, the keyboard could be considered cheap, I suppose, but it's definitely better than some keyboards I've used on far more expensive laptops.
This could be a major problem for some of you, but it didn't bother me: the speakers are EXTREMELY QUIET. Almost comically so. I turn the volume all the way on the Chromebook and on the video player I was using, and it was barely audible. Granted, I don't have the best hearing, and the room I tested the speakers in had a lot of white noise, but regardless, the speakers are very quiet. Again, I don't personally mind this as I intended to use headphones anyway. If you hate headphones and intend on listening to videos or music, I'd recommend not purchasing this laptop.
This Chromebook is certainly lightweight... yet I anticipated it being lighter. It's not heavy by any means, but I suppose I imagined it weighing about the same as my mother's Kindle or any other relatively heavy tablet. It's absolutely lighter than my father's ancient laptop or my gaming laptop and light enough to be easy to transport in my purse without any fuss, and that's what matters to me. It just could have been a tad bit lighter, in my opinion.
I'm impressed by the battery life! It wouldn't take much to impress me, though, seeing as my gaming laptop dies after being off the charger for ten minutes (which isn't a big deal since I keep on my desk because it's hooked up to a second monitor). It took a little over two hours, I believe, to fully charge the battery. I thought that since I bought a used Chromebook, the battery wouldn't last as long as a new one, but it seems like this Chromebook was barely used. I've been using this extensively for nearly two hours with the brightness quite high, and I still have eight hours of battery life left. Not bad, in my opinion.
As with all Chromebooks, this boots up really fast. It's a huge difference from a PC. Even better, Chrome OS updates in the background -- I think I read somewhere that there are two Chrome OS's, but you only use one at a time and the one not in use is updated in the background as necessary, and the newly updated one is what boots up next time you restart. Might've come up with that in a dream, though. I have weirdly vivid dreams. My point is, there's no hassle with updating like there is with PCs, and booting up takes mere seconds. Also, since I got the 4 GB model, having multiple tabs open at once doesn't slow anything down, which was important to me as I often have many tabs open as I research things. 4 GB is honestly what I consider the minimum amount of RAM one should have, but I suppose since Chrome OS is a minimalist OS, 2 GB could be enough for basic tasks. I wouldn't expect to be able to do much multitasking, however.
The Chromebook comes with a webcam, but I couldn't find a pre-installed camera app, so I had to get one from the Web Store. Not a big deal, but if you get this for an older relative, you may want to help them install a camera app if you plan on Skyping. Speaking of Skype, Skype for web is a thing, though also not pre-installed. Skype for web is still in beta, so it may be buggy or slow, but I personally haven't experience any problems as of yet. Setting up the Chromebook otherwise is quite simple -- all you need is a gmail/Google account and an internet connection. It takes seconds, and a technologically challenged individual should be able to handle it without any help.
I think I covered everything! If I remember, I'll come back in a couple of weeks or so and update the review with how I feel about the Chromebook after using it some more, and I may upload pictures then.
