Good afternoon, everyone. Inspired by a current "Request" post, I've realized that perhaps I can help someone with an extra Chromebook I have (it won't fill the needs of the OP in the post I'm referring to). It's about a year old, but used for only three months, and in excellent condition. You can see the specs . I'll ship it anywhere in the United States.

I'd like it to go to someone who doesn't presently have access to a computer at home. Please, make sure you're registered, tell me how it would help you, and follow all sub rules when applying. My son (who's donating it) will choose someone in about 24 hours at 8:00pm EST today, 02/05/2023 (to allow mods time to manually review some entries).

8:00pm: My son has chosen to receive the Chromebook. He empathizes with her situation, as he had to extricate himself from a DV situation as well. , he wants you to know how proud he is of you, and he hopes that the Chromebook makes things a bit easier for you. 💜

No unsolicited PMs/Chats will be read or accepted.

It would be considered under-powered (arm chip, 4gb ram, 64gb ssd) but as I write this I have twenty tabs open over three windows (all responsive) and streaming radio to a bluetooth speaker. No stutters or delays, it's very impressive. Oh, and insane battery life

Hi folks, since I need a 2nd "Laptop/Tablet" for school and work (coding) I decided to get a Chromebook. Primary use is note taking, web surfing, office, watching videos/movies, coding and possibly music production/gaming. I'm planning to remotely connect to my work/private laptop for windows applications (Music Daw's, Steam...) and because I cannot use my own laptop at work, I need a good keyboard, CPU (i5) and preferably a 3:2 uhd display. I'm eyeballing the Acer spin 713 3w with 3:2 IPS uhd Panel, 5i 12th gen and 8gb Ram. It's basically everything I'm asking for seemingly at a good price point, but after a little research I've found many threads about Problems with the fan always being on and other issues. Making me wonder if it's really as good as reviews claim. Any help or suggestion is really appreciated, thanks! :)

It's gonna take some getting used to coming from the Spin 15. Just opened it up and set it up a few minutes ago, so bare with me.

First Impressions:

- The fan - as soon as you turn it on, it sounds like a vacuum, but it dies down after a few seconds. You can still hear it in the background, but it's not at an annoying level and can easily be drowned out over time.

- They Keyboard - Keys feel nice and sturdy, but again, it's gonna take some getting used to, coming from a bigger model and also using the Duet keyboard as well. But the backlight looks great and it doesn't feel cramped at all.

- The screen is nice and vibrant, major upgrade from the Spin 15. I am now realizing how washed out my previous device was.

- I am running it with 2 monitors and it looks awesome. Very snappy. Hmm, just as i type that, i can no longer hear the fan. I have dock plugged into the USB-C port which also connects one of the monitors via hdmi. I have the other monitor plugged into the hdmi port, and my charger for the chromebook is plugged into the dock.

- The weight is not too bad, feels pretty good holding in tablet mode.

I watched a little bit of YTTV and played a 1080p 2.2gb movie via VLC and it played flawlessly, no hiccups at all. The sound is great as well.

I haven't installed Linux yet, but probably will sometime during the week.

So far i am pretty impressed. Tomorrow i will boot up Citrix for work and see how smooth that runs. I was experiencing some slowness on 15 when in webex meetings.

If you have any questions, let me know and i will do my best to answer. Someone had asked me to check and see if the ram and hard drive were upgrade-able. Not sure how i would check, but if anyone does, let me know.

edit: pretty decent to read comics on while, maybe 1 or 2, but i don't think it will be comfortable to read too many back to back.

I have spoken to someone else who got theirs today, and they have confirmed they are experiencing the same issues. It runs a 32bit build of Chrome OS, which I believe has something to do with some weirdness from Qualcomm, who don't provide 64bit builds by default. This in and of itself does not explain the extremely poor performance, but there are certain instructions that simply can't be accessed when compiling a 32bit binary.

Don't believe any benchmarks given in reviews, as the benchmarks do run well, and provide the kinds of numbers you would expect, but the real world performance is a disaster. I have an old N4200 Intel based Chromebook (far from a powerhouse) and it absolutely blitzes this new machine with a Snapdragon 7c.

I now understand why the rumours of it having been cancelled were flying about. I think that was on the cards, but instead, Acer decided to release it, hoping future software updates will fix things. All I'd say is, the base board for this machine has been in development for over 2 years, if they haven't managed to get it to perform acceptably well in that time, it seems unlikely they ever will.

I've just bought a refurb Acer 513 with LTE and have been running with it for a week. the first thing that strikes me is almost every review I read on the device was wrong.. So much for so called professional reviewers who are either Windows or Mac users..

Note

• These opinions are my own

• I buy the kit I'm not given it

• I make no money or affiliation from the above link

• I've put this link here to provide advice from my personal use case and am happy to answer questions.

It's time for a new Chromebook. I've been running the Samsung Chromebook Pro for almost 3 years.

After much research, I have narrowed down my choices to just these two models:

1. Google Pixelbook Go i5-8200 model ($850)

2. Acer Spin 713 CP713-1WN-53NF i5-8250U model ($899 but on sale on Amazon right now!)

These both seem like great machines, comparable in many ways... 8GB RAM, 8th-gen i5 processors, 13" screens, good battery life.

But, there are some major differences.

I like that the the Acer Spin has the full tablet-convertible mode, and has a built-in stylus -- but I do NOT like that it has a fan, and it seems a bit heavy at 3.5 lbs.

I like that the Pixelbook Go has an even longer battery life than the Spin (12 hrs vs. 10), and that it is fanless, and is lighter than the Acer at only 2.3 lbs, and I also like that it has a better webcam (Pixelbook Go has a 1080p / 60 fps camera while the Acer is only 720p).

I've been a ChromeOS enthusiast ever since 2014 when I started with the Acer C720P. I had the Acer Chromebase 24 as well, so I know Acer makes great stuff. But I also like Google's work, I have a Pixel 4XL phone...

Help!

Oh man, am I blown away with this, now, iv used many a touchscreen laptop before, and my current daily is a w11 10 inch convertible, but the Acer 713 is a premium product, featuring a full alu shell, 2 thunderbolt ports, and that insane, 2k, 4x3 screen.

As for specs, all the buzzwords are there, thunderbolt 4, wifi 6, hdmi 2.1, USB 3.1, bluetooth 5.1, nvme.

They come in i3, i5 and i7 flavours, 128 or 256, and 8 to 16gb.

Storage is upgradable, but not the ram.

Gpu wise, from 48 units to 98, and your looking at XE for the i3, and Iris Pro for the i5 and i7.

I have found both the trackpad, and screen response spot on, and the build quality is up there with apple devices, its a real, solid product, with milspec rating, designed to drop edge on from 4 feet onto a hard surface and survive.

Out of the box, I found the laptop to be really snappy, almost instant wake, and lock unlock with the fingerprint reader is smooth, and quick.

Performance wise, its simply jaw dropping to see how responsive the Chrome OS is on an Intel platform, and I feel the biggest change here is the support for larger ram buffers, and the model featuring fast nvme storage.

Running 3D mark reports the device places in the top 10% of chrome OS results.

Now I find myself wondering what to do with all this power, these premium chromebooks seem overpowered, BUT, when you factor in that google will update this device until 2029, its futureproofing a device that costs several hundreds dollars.

I can easily see a future where the apps, and programs take advantage, already I can see developers starting to support AMD and Intel chipsets more and more, although APP compatability can still be a major issue on the Play Store due to the intel chipset on this model, this can be offset with finding a linux powered solution instead, software snobbery really grinds my gears, and really is not an issue when you can VM anything these days.

The future looks exciting, and I am glad to be onboard properly, after spending the last 2 years experimenting with Brunch, and other such chrome and linux distros.

As for my Acer, well, its running my whole music studio with ease, and, as an alpha for REMIXLIVE, you can be sure I will be pushing them to take advantage that premium chromebooks can offer.

Now, for price, new, these will cost anywhere from £550 to £799 depending on spec.

Keep an eye out for Open box deals, I got my i3 256/8gb for just £239.

And, in that regards, its a bloody bargain.

Hi all! A couple weeks ago, the screen on my one-year-old Acer Chromebook Spin 713 started to go out, and my warranty carrier (asurion) has just declared it a wash and refunded my money. Now I'm in the market for a new chromebook, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding anything.

The biggest thing is that I would really like to stick with a 3:2 aspect ratio, and there just don't seem to be a lot of those on the market. Also, because I bought mine through Amazon, my refund was issued as store credit (which sucks) so whatever I get will have to come from there.

Other than those two things, I'm not very picky. I'd like a backlit keyboard if possible, but it's not a deal breaker. I wouldn't mind getting another 713, but the listings on Amazon aren't very clear as to whether they're for the 2021 or 2020 version.

Had this a couple of days, having returned a Lenovo i5 with constant fan noise. This model is currently £399.99 on Argos, and it seems Argos and Amazon are about the only UK retailers stocking this.

1. Build quality is very good. The deck is plastic, but has little to no flex, and the finish on the plastic is not like the cheap silver paint that wears off after 5 minutes Acer is so fond of, this finish is much better. Base and lid are anodised aluminium.

2. Keyboard is good but not great. The actuation force is a little low for my liking, but this is more a case of what you are used to. Backlighting is fine, not the brightest, but does the job well enough.

3. Camera is pretty decent, and handles low light better than most. There is no privacy switch though, if that's a thing you look for.

4. Trackpad is finely textured glass. Nice firm click, no sloppiness.

5. Screen is excellent, bonded to the glass touchscreen, and has very good contrast, uniformity and colour reproduction. I have not been able to detect any PWM, and I am very sensitive to it, so if it is present, the rate must be sufficiently high to not be an issue. I measured the screen at just over 400 nits at maximum.

6. Hinge is good, and has a small degree of lift (ergo-lift)

7. Speakers are pretty poor out of the box, but after a period of use that improves significantly. They are very clear and detailed, but bass is largely absent.

8. Performance is very solid, roughly equivalent to a 10th gen i3. On the GPU side, it is similarly close to the i3 10th gen.

Overall, the main point to note here is that the performance deficiencies which plagued the Snapdragon 7c (despite solid benchmarks) are not present here. Video playback is fine, and the random laginess which the 7c exhibited are not issues here. This Kompanio ARM SoC actually feels like it belongs in a laptop, rather than a low end tablet or smartphone.

I see this device is frequently 100$ off at BB, but happened to look today and it was 200$ off today only, comes to 429$ which is less than the refurbished price I was looking at!

I'm confused about the Acer 713. Here's acer's page:

They don't seem to list the version that is for sale at Best Buy (i5/8 GB Ram/ 128 SSD). They do list a "not yet for sale" i5/16GB Ram/256 SSD for $899 and another i5 (with a slightly different processor) for $1099.

I've heard a lot of great things about the BestBuy version, but I was hoping to be able to get 16 GB RAM.

Does anyone know when the 16GB version will come out? I'm hoping that once it comes out it will be cheaper than the $899 list price. I'm not sure the extra RAM and Storage is worth $250.

I keep hearing about Enterprise Editions. Is that what all of these are (on Acer's Website I linked to)? I don't see the 713 (10th Gen Intel) listed on Acer's website.

I'm trying to decide whether to just get the i5/8GB, wait for Acer to come out with a 16GB version, or wait for something else. Thanks for any insights or information.

Had my Acer spin 713 a month and today noticed a weird issue that I assumed was a fault. Plugged mm mams book reader in Via the USB port.. however the Chromebook wouldn't register it as external drive...then tried a USB mouse and that was fine...tried book reader in another Chromebook and it was fine.

Took it back to Currys and they tried my book reader and agreed it didn't work.. they then said it's possible that the USB is underpowered as they expect everyone to use USB c these days.

Now i was convinced this was me just being fobbed of so I said can I try it in the one that's on display..sure enough..same thing.. reader was not recognised.

So just in case anyone else comes across this issue in the future

In my search for my first Chromebook, I picked up the Acer Spin 713 3W (2021 model). This is the 4th (and hopefully final) one I've picked up - , the , and the . Being these are my first experiences with chromebooks and a lot of people seem interested in them, I figured I'd type up my thoughts.

As with the other ones, I won't cover everything in here...but here are a few things that were either really good, really bad, or just surprised me.

Supporting YouTube Video:

I've already evaluated the 2020 model, but I want this "review" to stand on it's own, so I won't do much of a comparison here. I'll probably do another direct comparison thread between the 2 though.

Purchase Type: I got this as "Open-Box: Excellent" from Best Buy for $434. It's missing documentation and original box, but other than that it feels/looks brand new.

Construction Wise it's pretty good. The only negative marks I'd really give it are for the keyboard (more on that later), and the screen. It's not the screen itself, as much as it is the housing. It's a VERY thin "lid", and a taller screen. Because of this, it is more susceptible to flexing. The primary place I notice this is when it's shut, due to the the gap between the screen and the keyboard/body. Applying a light amount of pressure will allow the screen to flex/bow down. Most chromebooks that I've tried do this to some extent, but the aspect ratio and thinness of this one exaggerate it a bit. Not too concerning, but not the best that I've seen.

Again, this one has Ergo Lift tabs. They're right next to the hinge, so maybe it won't be an issue. I'm just always afraid that they'll break off.

Tablet Mode isn't fantastic, but it's the best of the 3 I've tried so far due to it's smaller size. Because of the aspect ratio, it's actually somewhat usable in either direction which is kinda cool. Due to the magnet that helps keep it closed in clam-shell mode, it somewhat helps hold it shut in tablet mode as well. I wish the magnet was a tad stronger, but it's at least strong enough to keep it from wobbling when using it as a tablet.

The Hinges are super smooth and it's easy to open. The hinges in combination with the taller screen allowing a larger moment arm give this the the ability to have a 1-hand open. I said the same thing for the 2020 model, but this takes it even further...basically macbook level. I think it's the same hinge smoothness, but now the magnet is a bit weaker, so the initial opening easier now.

I wish the USB-C ports were on opposite sides. I don't know why they'd put them both together. Most probably won't mind, but at my desk and on my couch, the outlet for my charger comes in from the right. It would have been nice to be able to charge from either side.

The Speakers are MUCH better than expected. I could use this on a table or on my lap - even covering the speakers, and I could still watch videos just fine. They're by no means amazing speakers, but with them being the primary negative aspect in my online reviews, I was expecting pure garbage. These are more than acceptable for my use.

It has a 11th Gen i5 processor. I haven't been able to put it through it's paces, but it should be more than capable. I mean, this is the most powerful processor you're going to get in this price range.

Having 256GB of NVMe SSD space is great. I really only wanted 128 min and would have gotten one with 128 if it was cheaper. But hey, I won't complain about extra drive space.

The Keyboard is decent. Size/Placement are good, backlighting is okay, but the construction is just "good". The keys have a bit of rattle/wobble (which I don't like), but other than that they feel fine. At this price point (reg $699), I would have expected a bit more. It's a big improvement over last year though, and I find it perfectly acceptable.

The Trackpad feels great. I love the larger vertical room that it offers. It's super smooth and has a nice click to it. As with others I've tested it's not super accurate (compared to my windows devices), but it's acceptable, and certainly tied for the best of the 4 Chromebooks I've tested (tied with 2020 model).

It's unfortunate that The Charger needs to have a brick/adapter. That said, the cable is nice and long. I may look at picking up a different charger to use when traveling.

The Fan is something that I'll be paying attention to - it's one of the common complaints I've read. This more powerful processor is going to generate more heat, so I'm hoping they have good thermal management. With some light use, I haven't heard the fan kick on at all. When I was done for the night though, I held it up to my ear, and I could certainly hear it spinning. So it's good & bad I guess. It's good that it wasn't audible unless I held it up. It's bad because well, for 1 it could always get louder when doing more intensive tasks, and 2 being on will drain the battery.

The Battery is also something I'll be paying attention to in the coming days. After my usage last night the drain didn't seem any more/less than expected, so I'm not too worried. But as I said, I'll be monitoring it.

Okay, time for The Screen. That's always the highlight when people talk about this device. I'll break it into a few sub categories:

• The Aspect Ratio is something I read people loved or hated. It's unfortunate that it makes for a smaller screen when watching videos. Luckily for things like YouTube, it actually uses the top black bar for the title and the bottom black bar for the controls, thus leaving the video clean. For web browsing, I didn't notice any advantage at first, but after switching back to a normal device, it was quite apparent. I really do like that nice aspect ratio.

• The Brightness is nice I guess, but not something I care too much about. Maybe if I used it outside I'd see the benefit. But inside where I was using it, I kept it down at the ~2/3 mark.

• The Mouse Cursor was actually quite annoying. Maybe it has to do with the resolution. By default the cursor is fairly larger. If I scale the screen down to 90%, the cursor becomes very small. It sucks that there's no in-between. Keeping it on 90% has been the solution I've stuck with.

• The Resolution is much nicer than the other devices. It's more pixels & smaller screen, making for a very pixel-dense 2k display. That said, on screens this size, I'm not one to notice a difference between 1080p, 2k, or 4k. On my TV, sure...but not on this.

Conclusions:

Wow, just wow! This thing is amazing at it's price point. I can totally recommend this to anyone looking for a premium chromebook. I'll be looking into things a bit more to compare this to the 713-2W and the HP X360 14c, but based on initial impressions, this thing is a beast.

What's Next?

I plan on doing 2 more reviews:

1. Comparing the 713-2W to the 713-3WThis is something that I wish I could find more direct comparisons of when doing my researching...so I figured someone out there may appreciate seeing it

2. My decision/process for down-selecting my final choice

When starting my chromebook research, I narrowed it down to 11 devices. Five I was able to cross off based on research. I have 4 of them in-hand to evaluate, and 2 of them aren't likely to be available for the sub-450 price range in new or open-box-excellent condition.

Because of this, I feel that I've now got all of the info I need to make an informed decision. I don't really plan on getting more devices to do more reviews. That said, I really enjoyed this, and hopefully people found these write-ups helpful.

As a hobby, I've got a YT channel where I post Gears of War videos. I've been thinking about expanding that and creating to post reviews (like this) and videos about DIY projects around the house. I think these reviews were the kick-in-the-butt I needed to pull the trigger. So I think I'm gonna end up doing a video-format for these past threads...just for people who don't wanna read.

This was a heck of a deal! It's sold so low because the screen has some damage to it, but besides that this thing is perfect. I primarily use an old Chromebook in my bedroom as a smart source for the TV, and this speed and power is amazing now.

Has anyone seen any indication when this laptop will actually be available to purchase (in the US)? I've only seen