Acer C720 Google Chromebook – Good laptop for browsing the web, and most other tasks

The Acer C720 Chromebook is an affordable,easy to use, reliable, and fast laptop computer which starts up and shutdowns in seconds. I like how the Chromebook does not slow down, and I do not need to run disk defrag, scan disk, disk cleanup, install drivers for my sound and video adapter like my old laptop, and other routine maintenance tasks like Windows based laptops because the C720 uses a 16GB SSD which does not need disk defrags, scan disks, and disk clean ups. The Chromebook also comes with built-in virus protection, and security, so it is easy to safely use the Chromebook without the need to manually install an Antivirus, install updates, and run scans with the antivirus like Windows or Mac. Google Chrome automatically updates itself, so there is no need to manually install updates. Chromebooks also come with 2 years free of online 100GB Google Drive storage for storing and backing up your files online.

The Chromebook turns on in a few second once you open the lid, or press the power on button. It also turns on from sleep in a few seconds as well.

There are offline apps like Google Drive, Gmail, Google Docs, and tons of offline Apps which you can download from the Chrome Web App store which let you use a lot of apps offline once you download, and install them on your Chromebook. There are also games like Angry Birds which you can play offline after you installed them from the Chrome Apps Store in the Offline section for Chrome Web Apps store. You can plug in a USB to Wired Ethernet Adapter if you do not have Wi-Fi internet in your home, or prefer a wired ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi.

Using Chromebooks are also very easy. I just need to login to my gmail account after I login to my wifi, and start using Google Chrome, or a Chrome web app which is like a program inside a pop-up window or web browser. You can also install Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux with the Google Chrome browser installed on it. There is a launcher menu on the bottom right of the desktop which has shortcuts/bookmarks to apps like Google Docs, Hangouts, and YouTube by clicking on the icons in the launcher to launch the apps. The Chrome browser is easy to use like other web browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera which is now very similar to Chrome. There is an incognito mode which let you open a private tab in Chrome to browse privately.

There is also a guest account built-into Google Chrome OS for letting your friends or family use the Chromebook without using in your account. You can also easily add their Gmail/Google account to your Chromebook if they use your Chromebook often.

For a $199 laptop, the Acer C720 Chromebook is pretty good since it has the latest Intel Celeron 1.4 GHz (Haswell micro-architecture) CPU Processor. It comes with 2 GB DDR3 RAM which is pretty good for a Chrome base laptop. 2GB of RAM may not sound like a lot of RAM, but it is enough RAM for the Chromebook to run smoothly since Chrome OS is a very lightweight operating system which does not use up a lot of RAM like other lightweight operating system like Windows XP, Lubuntu, and PuppyLinux which run very quickly on computers with only 1-2GB of RAM unlike Windows 7 which sometimes needs 3GB of RAM just to run smoothly when an Antivirus, Antispyware, Web browser, and other programs like an Office Suite is running in the background. The CPU, and amount of RAM on the C720 Chromebook is good enough for having many browser tabs, windows, and a web apps open at the same time in my experience because Chrome OS is a very light operating system which does not use a lot of RAM, or CPU cycles.

There are also 4GB versions of the Chromebook from Acer, HP, and other companies, but I recommend the 2GB version because it is cheaper, and should be enough RAM for doing most tasks like web browsing, office work, 3D flash games, and watching online videos in my experience.

It also has 16 GB Solid-State Drive which makes it boots up very quickly. The C720 also has 1 SD card slot, 1 USB 3.0 port, and 1 USB 2.0 port, so you can plug in a USB flash drive, or memory card with the SD card reader to expand the storage. There is also 2 years of 100GB Google Drive online storage, You can also use the USB ports to plug in USB keyboards, and mouse to improve your typing, and mousing experience.

The C720 has a 11.6-Inch Anti-Glare matte Screen is good for doing most tasks like typing, web browsing, and online video. I like that the screen is matte, and not shiny, so I can use the C720 near a Window, or bright light source like a lamp without seeing my reflection of myself and the room on the screen, and I don’t need to turn up the brightness when the room is too bright. The Intel HD 128MB Graphics chip on the Chromebook also can play 3D flash games, HTML5 games, playback HD video on YouTube very well without slowing down, or skipping. There is also an HDMI port for pluging the C720 with an HDMI cable into a HDTV or monitor with HDMI ports. The 8.5-hour battery life is also very good, and last me for most of the day, or multiple days if I only use the Chromebook 2 hours a day to check e-mail, type documents, and read websites.

It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack for plugging in headphones, headsets, and desktop computer speakers.

The Chromebook C720 has 802.11N dual band wireless, so the wireless adapter is pretty fast even when paired with an 802.11N single band wireless router, and 802.11G router.

There is a HD webcam with microphone for video chatting. The speakers on the Chromebook are pretty loud, and easy to hear in a crowded room.

The Chromebook is easy to carry around since it is only 11.6 inches in size, very thin, and weighs only 2.76 pounds. The power adapter also fits in a small purse, or bag.

The Google Chromebook is a good laptop to use along side tablets which are good for playing games like Angry Birds,Cut The Rope and Reading the News on Apps like Flipboard, Feedly, but not as good for media creation like typing blog posts, documents, spreadsheets, presentations and desktop web tasks like Flash games, messaging, video chat, web browsing on desktop sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Webmail like Gmail.The Chromebook is also a lot cheaper than a Gaming Laptop, iPad, Apple Macbooks, and Desktop PC, so using the Chromebook would extend the life of your more expensive computers because you use them less for tasks like e-mail, Word Processing, Web Browsing, and Online video which the Chromebook can easily handle. The Chromebook also use less electricity than most Windows and Apple laptop, so you’ll also save money by using less electricity to charge, and use the Chromebook. You also save money on computer repairs since the Chromebook is cheaper to replace than repairing an expensive computer like an Apple computers, Gaming PC or Laptop, or Workstation which could cost hundreds of dollars to repair expensive parts like a video card, Solid State Drive, and CPU, and thousands of dollars to replace the entire computer vs $199 which is the price of a Chromebook.

A Chromebook can also do some tasks better than a older computer with Windows XP-Vista which can freeze or crash when surfing the web because of a flash animation, Java, Javascript, or too many widgets, and pop-ups/open tab browsers making a computer run slowly while on certain websites with a lot of games, animations, and scripts. But, you may still need your old Windows or Mac PC to run exclusive software which only work with either Windows, and Mac like Microsoft Office, Visual Studios, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop. But, you don’t want to use your slow pc for web browsing, so a Chromebook is a good laptop for using for web browser and basic tasks like e-mail while you use your Windows, Mac, or Linux PC for using specific software like Photoshop, PC Games, and Microsoft Office which Chrome OS cannot run.

Most of this post was typed from a Google Chromebook, Windows, and Lubuntu Linux PC because WordPress blogging software is compatible with all operating systems which support browsers like Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.

Plus, the Chromebook requires no maintenance unlike Windows and Mac which require weekly updates for both the operating system, and installed programs, and for Windows, users need to run disk defrag, scan disk, virus scans and disk cleanup to keep Windows running well. You can also use Chrome’s Remote desktop program to use the internet to login to your Windows, and Mac computer at home to use programs like Photoshop, MS Word, and exclusive software only available for Windows and Mac .

Websites in Google Chrome load very quickly after I click enter on the address bar after entering in the address like mycomputerhelp.net. Big websites like YouTube, Facebook, social networks, and blogs only take a few seconds to load when I’m connected to my home wi-fi wireless internet connection connected to my Cable Modem internet plan.

The Chromebooks Wi-Fi signal is reliable, and it rarely disconnects. It can also pick up signals far away which my tablet, and older laptop can’t pick up. I also like that the Chromebook connects to my home Wi-Fi quickly after I turn it on, or wake it from sleep. Logging into a Wi-Fi network is also very easy with the Chromebook.

My Speedtest.net Chromebook internet speedtest are 8.40MB/s download speed, 0.48 MB/s upload speed, and 11 MS Pingtime from my 802.11N 2.4 GHz Wireless Router connected to my basic Cable Internet plan.

The Chromebook rarely freezes when loading very big sites which sometimes freezes my Windows based computers. Scrolling up and down long websites is also very smooth in my experience. There are also a lot of free web apps like Evernote, Gmail, and Google drive which work for Chromebooks, and some even work when your Chromebook is not connected to the internet. The Chromebook works well for browsing sites like Facebook with Adobe flash video and games, HTML5 games, JavaScript, and web apps. YouTube HD video playback, and playing 3D flash games, and HTML5 games on the C720 is also pretty smooth.

It is also possible to have 2 or more Chrome web browsers, and Chrome Apps open at the same time if I want to do some multitasking like having Gmail, and Google Docs open at the same time on the same desktop.

For tasks like Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations, and notes, I use Google Docs which is a free online office suite with offline document creation support for creating, editing, sharing and viewing documents in Google Chrome with a Google Account.

I recommend a USB computer mouse with a scroll wheel, and left and right click buttons if you play a lot of flash games, use paint/photo editing web apps and do other tasks where you need good mouse accuracy, and it makes tasks like moving the mouse cursor, right-click, left-click, and scrolling up, and down websites easier on the Chromebook since a Touchpad is not as easy to use as a mouse in my experience.

The keyboard and touchpad on the Acer C720 is comfortable to use to type out e-mails, blog posts, and documents in Google Docs. On the Keyboard, there are also useful keys like Search, Brightness, volume up and down, mute sound, full screen, back a website, foward a website, reload, so you can keep both hands on the keyboard instead of taking your hand off the keyboard to use a mouse or touchpad on the C720.

The speakers on the Acer C720 is also loud enough where I can hear it in a crowded room, or room where a stereo or TV is playing sound unlike some tablets I own where the speakers audio is not as loud, so it is hard to hear the sound in louder rooms like the living room.

The 11.6 inch screen on the Chromebook is also big enough where reading text is easy, and the screen is not too big, so it is easy to carry a Chromebook in a small back pack or laptop bag. The C720 is also very light, so it is easy to hold with one hand. I like that the screen is light as well, so it is easy to flip it up and down with very little effort. I can also turn off the screen by folding down the screen, and turn on the laptop by folding up the screen.

The webcam on the Acer C720 is also a HD webcam which is pretty good for video chatting on Google Hangouts, or taking self-portraits to upload to Facebook, Twitter, and Photobucket.

The noise level of the Acer C720 is also very quiet. I can barely hear it running, and the keyboard typing sounds are not loud when I press on the keys while I type.

The battery life on the Chromebook is also very good, and last for 8.5 hours or more, and it only takes an hour or two to charge the battery. The Charger is small, and easy to carry in a small bag like a purse.

The Chromebook also uses less electricity than a typical laptop because Chromebooks don’t need fast spinning cooling fans, a lot of RAM, a power hungry CPU because it uses the latest Intel Haswell CPU, and uses a SSD instead of a hard drive which uses a lot of power on regular laptops compared to a Chromebook. The Chromebook fan noise level is also virtually silent, so it uses less power to spin the fan because I can barely hear the fan running most of the time unlike more power hungry laptops which have lots of fan noise when it gets hot. The SSD drive on the Chromebook makes no noise because it has no moving parts like hard drives found on most laptops which make clicking sounds when reading and writing files. Your files are also safer on the Chromebook because it is backed up to your Google Drive when you are connected to the internet, and SSD are less likely to fail because you dropped it on the floor.

Chromebooks also don’t create a lot of heat like regular laptops, and desktops, so it won’t heat up your room while it is on, so you won’t need to turn on the air conditioner, or fans in your room to cool down the room if you have many Chromebooks in one room like a typical computer lab which may have more hot running computers. The Acer C720 not creating a lot of heat makes it more comfortable to use because it does not heat up the keyboard which can make typing less comfortable on hot summer days,and the bottom of the C720 is warm, but not hot, so I don’t feel the heat on my fingers and laps when I am using it.

For web browsing, and everyday tasks like e-mail, documents, and video chatting with Hangouts/Google Talk, the Acer C720 Google Chromebook is a nice $199 laptop which is fast, reliable, and easy to use.

If you need a more feature-rich Linux desktop operating system like Ubuntu, there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube, and websites on how to install Ubuntu onto a Google Chromebooks, so you can use non-web apps like Steam, Linux Games, Firefox, LibreOffice, and Gimp on Ubuntu installed on your Chromebook. There is also remote desktop available for the Chromebook to login to your Windows, and Mac computer remotely by using the internet, so you can use Windows, and Mac remotely from the internet with the remote access app in the Chromebook.

I think if you are a less tech savvy user sticking with ChromeOS would be best because it is easiest to use, and requires no manual maintenance except for occasionally restarting your computer when ChromeOS has automatically updated. Chrome OS also won’t nag you to restart your computer like Windows when you need to restart it, so you can finish your Work, and restart your computer. Your work is also automatically saved on Google Drive if you use Google Docs, so you won’t lose your work if you did not save your work. Restarting a Chromebook only takes a few seconds, and installing updates for Apps, Chrome OS, and your Chromebook only take a few seconds as well.

Acer C720 Chromebook is a great laptop for someone who mainly use their computer for web browsing, e-mail, homework, office work at home, flash games, online videos, and using web apps. It is also pretty good for using offline apps like Google Drive, Google Docs, and offline games like Angry Birds which either come with the Google Chromebook, or you can download and install from the Google Chrome App store. Best of all, Chromebooks don’t require much maintenance except for occasionally restarting it to install the latest version of Chrome OS. You do not need to run disk defrag, scan disk, disk cleanup, virus scans, spyware scans, operating system updates, and other maintenance programs on a Chromebook like Windows, Mac, and Linux which requires more maintenance tasks like disk cleanup, scan disk and manual operating system updates.