Acer 11.6" Chromebook Laptop 2GB 16GB | C720-2802

I bought this to replace an aging laptop that I bought in 2004. The old laptop was slow, it ran hot, and it barely got over 2 hours of battery life.I was skeptical of the Chromebook idea from the start. After all, what good *is* a device whose operating system is "just" a web browser, anyway?Even though the Chromebook is a relatively recent thing, the idea of an operating system centered around the web is not. In fact, in the late 1990s, Netscape Communications Corporation (the predecessor of Mozilla) envisioned the exact same thing.Microsoft, fearing what such an innovation could do to their stodgy, bloated, malware-riddled, and error-prone Windows operating system, developed Internet Explorer and made it an irremovable part of the "Windows experience".Although support for the web was bolted onto Windows after-the-fact, and Microsoft products "just aren't engineered for security" (-Brian Valentine, senior vice-president in charge of Microsoft's Windows development, 2002), people used this awful system with the web, even though its bloat always requires expensive and incredibly powerful hardware, just to keep up with the poorly designed operating system.Enter Chrome OS....Chrome OS is an operating system designed by Google, from the ground up, and based on a stripped down GNU/Linux operating system. It is very lightweight, stable, free of malicious software, and it doesn't require fast and expensive hardware in order to run its apps, which are all based on the Google Chrome platform.In Chrome OS, you have super fast web browsing, excellent extensions, support for video games, an office suite, etc. It really doesn't feel like "just a web browser", because it's not.Who is Chrome OS for?Google says "everyone", and that seems to be the case. I'm a techie, and I feel right at home in Chrome OS, and do not feel like I'm missing the functionality of my desktop PC for most tasks.But, Chrome OS is also the easiest operating system to use that I have ever seen. You literally just take it out of the box, turn it on, and sign in using your Google account. It's simple enough for your grandmother.Best of all, since your apps, settings, preferences, and extensions are all stored in the cloud, the settings you already have for your Chrome browser on your computer are imported automatically. Anything you do on your Chromebook will just be there any time you sign in on any other Chromebook, or into any other Chrome web browser.This Acer Chromebook has a very solid construction considering the price point. It doesn't feel like a cheap laptop at all. It is very thin and light. The battery life is 8-9 hours of normal use. The system boots in under 7 seconds, but there's really no need to turn it off. Just close the lid, and it goes into a deep sleep mode. The Haswell-based Celeron and 2 GB of RAM really packs a punch running Chrome OS. On Windows, this would be a bad experience, but Chrome OS is light and efficient. The Solid State Drive contributes greatly to the incredible battery life, the fast boot up, and the almost entirely silent operation. Chrome and its apps launch instantly.The screen is fairly bright, and easy on the eyes.The only learning curve for me with this laptop was getting used to the touchpad. I really recommend going over the "New user" guide that pops up the first time you sign in.Although Google and Acer state that the "free goodies" (60 days of Google Music All Access, 100 GB of free Google Drive Cloud Storage for two years, and 12 in-flight GoGo internet passes) are not included on refurbished Chromebooks, I got lucky. When I visited the following link, Google gave me all of these perks.[...]All in all, I don't think you can ask more from this device at the $149.99 price from Acer's refurbishment outlet. I also put it on my Amazon.com Rewards Visa and got an additional 3% off, making it $145.49.You're not going to get a Windows laptop anywhere near this price. The cheapest Windows laptops that do anything useful are nearly $400, and they get terrible battery life thanks to their sluggish hard disk drives, and run hot because the processor has to run at full speed all the time just to keep up with Windows, which is obese, and to run antivirus software that Chrome OS doesn't need, which slows down your Windows computer even more.

This was sold as refurbished, but seemed brand new.I only gave this 3 stars because I couldn't figure out anything useful to with it. I tried installing Ubuntu, and it worked well, but, this Chromebook is (at least to me) just a toy. I eventually sold it to a friend that wanted it to use at work to kill time.On the plus side, the touchpad rivals a Mac, it's truly glorious in it's design. The keyboard is nice enough to type on, and the screen was clear and easy to read. It's super light and portable; the screen was small, but that's what was expected.If you needed something for a child or grandparent this would likely be perfect. Not running Windows MAY decrease the chance of viruses, it feels like a Macbook Air, and the chassis build quality is nice. It'd be hard for someone to get in to much trouble with this device.

PROS: Cheap, thin/light, portable, & fast. I was able to install a full Linux OS (Elementary), in addition to the included Chrome OS, with no problem. Excellent integration with Google Drive/Docs. Works perfect with Chromecast. Good processor and battery life. Full charge only takes @ an hour and twenty minutes. Automatic updates. Little to no chance of acquiring malware/viruses.CONS: The build feels cheap and the matte display lacks sharpness but, hey, - it costs next to nothing.

Buyer beware. The unit I purchased came set up in Russian and password protected. The Chromebook also had a hairline crack which gradually worsened over time. It did not appear that anyone spent any time evaluating the unit when it was turned in to Acer. I eventually got the Chromebook operational but eventually lost the screen. Unfortunately the warranty was expired so I was told that I was out of luck. I maybe got four hours of usage out of it. Basically, it was a complete waste of a purchase.

I ordered two of these as Christmas gifts for my kids. The first one I opened looked brand new - brand new! - no scratches, dings, dents, smudges, nothing. It looked like we took it out of the original packaging. The second one was a serious disappointment. There were small scratches all over the cover and a huge gash as well (like it had been carved into the cover with a screwdriver). The keyboard was filthy, dirty, and smudged. We were unable to clean it up.Both came with power cords and powered right up and appeared to work great; however, we were able to figure out quickly that the chromebook that was in bad condition also did not have any sound (we used ear buds, headphones, and the chromebook speaker - - none worked).I was leery of buying a refurbished / used item and I'm not certain that I would buy these again given the chance that I might get one that was in bad condition and did not work properly.