Forget the old cheap computers, all of them, including those that already had the Chrome OS you have used up to now as their operating system. Forget them, because if you want to spend very little and have an excellent device, you have to orient yourself towards the Acer Chromebook 514, an absolutely amazing machine.
This writer has never been a fan of Chrome OS computers, but this PC was able to change my mind. Let’s start with the appearance: the Chromebook 514 is beautiful, large and well built, solid and convincing. The structure is metallic, the screen does not flex, despite being sufficiently thin, neither does the keyboard, large and large, and in general the look and feel it is that of a much more expensive car. Also because it is beautiful, gray like a Mac, and elegant. So well done that you don’t notice that the bezels surrounding the 14-inch panel are plastic, it looks all metal. Then just turn it on to get satisfaction from the display, with FullHD resolution (1920×1080 and 2,073,600 pixels), bright, sharp and with bright colors, anti-glare and able to react well to any external lighting conditions. Everything looks good and in some cases even very well, the rendering of HD movies is even excellent. It is comfortable, although of course it is not able to compete with more portable devices, because it weighs 1.5kg, but it is light enough, given its large size, to be “friendly” even when traveling.
Those who write a lot will be pleasantly surprised by the response of the keys and by the general comfort of the keyboard, which has a well-organized layout, is comfortable even after a long typing. ‘you get used to using the Alt + Del combination and the problem is solved, just as the enter key is perhaps a bit tight, but as in the other case after a while you don’t notice it anymore. Instead of the function keys there are those for controlling volume, brightness and navigation and as in other similar products instead of the Caps Lock there is the search key. But once you’re familiar with the keyboard, typing is simple and satisfying in every respect. And finally, the touchpad is also comfortable, covered with Gorilla Glass, which can also be used with four fingers.
The CPU is Intel Pentium N4200, and the Intel HD Graphics 505 GPU, but the results in terms of performance are such as to make the machine much better than what the data sheet might describe. The response to the commands is quick, the functions excellent, the speed more than satisfactory.
There are two USB-C ports and both support charging up to 45W and allow connection, if needed, to an external display. But there are also two USB 3.0 ports, an earphone and headphone jack input and a microSD slot, as well as a socket for connecting the Kensington Lock security cable. There is of course a necessary HD video camera, which does its duty very well.
There are 4GB of Ram, so the limits are clear, but what happens when using it is that you often don’t notice that there is only 4GB. Obviously, therefore, some things cannot be done at their best, but I don’t think that those who want or need to spend little expect to do complex video editing with such a machine. The internal memory is in two versions, 64Gb and 128GB, there is obviously a price difference, the first makes the PC very cheap, the second costs slightly more but offers enough memory for most uses.
But let’s go to the facts that matter: it is a PC that does everything a PC has to do, not only with Google apps, as is natural and predictable, but also with the apps of others and in particular with the Windows ones, I mean especially to Word and the Office tools, which run very well, without any kind of problem, such as Android and Linux applications that are officially supported. Last but not least the battery, which lasts well over ten hours, which means that you rarely stay dry even when you work a lot.
The only really negative note is the audio, which will also be stereo, but with the speakers it is really terrible, boxes, ferrigno, really not up to the rest. To hear well you need headphones or earphones, because otherwise the result is very mediocre.
But, all in all, if you look at the price, the total result is absolutely positive, indeed, more than positive, especially if you look at the concept of the Chromebook, which in this new form offered by Acer not only makes sense but competes on equal terms with the other operating systems that are on board the other PCs, winning very often hands down. A beautiful surprise and a highly recommended device.
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