Acer Chromebook CB3-131-C3SZ 11.6-Inch Laptop (Intel Celeron N2840 Dual-Core Processor,2 GB RAM,16 GB Solid State Drive,Chrome), White
- Intel Celeron N2840 2.16 GHz
- 2 GB DDR3L SDRAM
- 16 GB Internal Storage
- 11.6-Inch HD IPS Screen, Intel HD Graphics
- Patterned Aluminum Cover, Google Chrome, Up to 9-hour battery life
Acer CB3-131-C3SZ Chromebook comes with these high level specs: Intel Celeron N2840 Dual-Core Processor 2.16GHz with Intel Burst Technology up to 2.58GHz, Google Chrome Operating System, 11.6″ HD ComfyViewTM Widescreen IPS LED-backlit Display, Intel HD Graphics, 2048MB DDR3L SDRAM Memory, 16GB Internal Storage, Secure Digital (SD) card reader, 802.11AC Wi-Fi featuring MIMO technology (Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, Built-In HD Webcam, 1 – USB 3.0 Port, 1-USB 2.0 Port, 1 – HDMI Port, 3-Cell Li-Polymer Battery (3220 mAh), Up to 9-hours Battery Life, 2.43 lbs. | 1.1 kg (system unit only) (NX.G85AA.001)
List Price: $ 179.99
Price:
|
254 of 262 people found the following review helpful
 New to Chromebooks, but becoming a convert. Acer packs value into a small package, By
Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Acer Chromebook CB3-131-C3SZ 11.6-Inch Laptop (Intel Celeron N2840 Dual-Core Processor,2 GB RAM,16 GB Solid State Drive,Chrome), White (Personal Computers)
I want to give a brief background of where I’m coming from and what I think about the new Acer Chromebook 11. In the past I have owned a Thinkpad laptop, a Dell notebook with a touchscreen and pen, and a couple of tower desktop computers. I have also owned two Android devices. These days I mostly use an Ipad for web browsing and apps, and a desktop for word processing, printing, Microsoft office needs, the occasional game, etc. I needed something at my work that was small and light and did not need a lot of computing power. I didn’t want to spend much money. After hearing about Chromebooks for a while, I did as much research as I could and decided a Chromebook fit the bill. First impressions: Build quality – It is not as tightly put together as say a tablet or a high end laptop, but it feels very well made. The screen articulates well and the lid feels sturdy. The keyboard has a nice feel to it, much better than my Logitech for my iPad, and I’d say just about as good as any laptop I’ve used. It does have a strip of plastic between the track-pad and the space bard which is somewhat flimsy, though, and when I press down with moderate pressure, the whole middle of the keyboard flexes. Overall, though, I am impressed, especially for 9. Haven’t dropped it yet, but I think it would survive. Ergonomics – The keyboard feels like a full size; the volume and power buttons are in a good place, and the keyboard is comfortable to type on. The trackpad is larger than I’m used to and even the fastest setting doesn’t feel fast enough for me as I usually have to lift my finger off the trackpad to get from one side of the screen to the other. I like the “no buttons” choice of the trackpad though, and how the whole pad just clicks down if you feel you need a click. The SIZE and WEIGHT are incredible! I guess most chrome books are this way, but I am amazed. It feels lightweight but not cheap. The keys are not backlit. Webcam is stationary, and I doubt I will ever use this with Facetime on the ipad / iphone so simple and easy. Maybe they could do a version without this and drop another ? Display – The display looks very bright, crisp; just what you’d expect from an IPS screen. Now if I can only manage to stop poking it with my touch-screen trained fingers, I expect it to last. The fact that it is not a touch-screen makes this feel more like a laptop to me. Color – It looks good in white casing with black keys (kind of like a piano), but white would not be my first choice due to the inevitability to show dirt and oil after a while. Also the exterior it textured, which feels cool, but will probably attract more dirt that way. Sound — Volume is pretty loud. Not sure the decibels, but is is louder than an laptop, phone, or tablet I’ve had. I was surprised to hear what sounded like stereo Left and Right sound coming from a video, when I looked on the bottom and noticed it had two speakers. Only realistic improvement would be if they could have mounted the speakers on the front instead of the bottom. I could imagine it getting muffled if on a blanket or other soft surface. But the sound exceeded my expectations for the price for sure. Software – having no background in Chrome OS, I find this software simple and easy to understand. You can’t really screw it up. Somewhat disappointed with the app store. Does not seem like a lot of high quality apps to pick from, but that is coming from an apple user (and previously android). UPDATE: the "OK Google" feature which allows voice searches and commands was not working. I spent an hour on a help chat with google, and they couldn’t determine the problem, but finally asked me to "Powerwash" the machine, essentially wiping it and returning it back to factory state. It took about 2 minutes to powerwash and set it up again, and the "OK Google" feature miraculously worked again. I have had no other OS issues. Speed – The computer starts almost as instantly as a phone. Clicking on anything gives no lag. It is snappy, and I think it will stay that way. Youtube streams beautifully. Webpages load fast. If they had had the 4 GB version, I would have considered it, but 2 GB is not too slow for me right now…
142 of 145 people found the following review helpful
Best display on a sub 0 Chromebook., By
Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Acer Chromebook CB3-131-C3SZ 11.6-Inch Laptop (Intel Celeron N2840 Dual-Core Processor,2 GB RAM,16 GB Solid State Drive,Chrome), White (Personal Computers)
Customer Video Review Length:: 8:34 Mins The Acer Chromebook 11 is probably my pick now for sub 0 Chromebooks. The reason is that it has the nicest display (IPS) you’ll see at this price point on any platform from any brand.This is not a full HD display but rather a lower resolution 1366×768 display. Nevertheless it looks much better than the TN panels you’ll see on other similarly priced devices. It’s powered by last year’s Intel N2840 Celeron processor at 2.16ghz and has 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 gigabytes of on board storage. The Acer Chromebook 11’s SD card slot does sit flush to the side of the computer though, so it does provide some opportunities for expanded storage. Performance is decent for basic web browsing tasks and on par with other devices from Acer and others at this 0 price point. The hardware overall is well constructed and it’s very comfortable to type on. My only gripe is with its trackpad that requires a little too much of a push to register clicks. This is an exceptional value for 9. I do suggest that you watch my ChromeOS 101 video to learn more about what Chromebooks are and what they are not:
132 of 140 people found the following review helpful
 Not what I expected, but pleasantly surprising. UPDATED MAY 2016, By
Voltron00x (Audubon, PA) – See all my reviews
This review is from: Acer Chromebook R11 Convertible, 11.6″ HD Touch, Intel Celeron, 2GB Memory, 32GB Storage, Google Chrome, CB5-132T-C32M (Personal Computers)
UPDATE: As of May 2016 Google has announced they are bringing the Android Google Play Store to Chrome OS, allowing Chromebooks access to the full library of Android applications. This will be a phased rollout beginning with three devices in June 2016: The Asus C100P "Flip", The Google Chromebook Pixel 2015, and the Acer R11 Chromebook. Because the R11 is an Intel-powered device, it will be interesting to see if there are any compatibility issues as compared to the ARM-architecture Rockchip 3288 in the Flip. Regardless, as a device with 32GB of local storage and 4GB of RAM, plus an IPS touchscreen, the ability to use Android apps potentially adds a TON of value to the R11. Definitely something to consider when making a purchase decision. The Acer R11 Chromebook is a product with something of an identity crisis, but one that I still quite like, for reasons I’ll explain in detail below. In brief, the R11 is much better for people who want a Chromebook that is often used with its keyboard for content creation of any kind, but also want an IPS touchscreen display, whereas the Flip is much better for people who often use it as a touchscreen device and use it less frequently as a content creation device. The Chromebook a lot of people expected to compare this to is the Asus C100P "Chromebook Flip", which is another touchscreen Chromebook with four different use modes. However, outside of their use of IPS touchscreen displays, these Chromebooks could not be more different. The Flip is a sleek, light device with a metal case, which feels just about small enough to be used as a pseudo-tablet, but just large enough to be a laptop when you need one. Inside, it is powered by an ARM-based Rockchip SoC. The R11, on the other hand, is an 11.6" laptop, which may not sound all that much larger than the Flip’s 10.1", but in actuality it is substantially larger, with a thick bezel and a relatively chunky design. Where the Flip feels slim and sleek with its modern design and metal case, the R11 is a more typical Acer plastic slab. It isn’t so much that it is an unattractive design, as it just feels familiar at this point, similar to both the Acer Chromebook 11 and 13, neither of which felt particularly fresh when they released over a year ago. The lid is aluminum but has a non-metallic textured finish, which does help give a degree of faith that it will not stain. Where the Flip punches above its cost in the looks department, the R11 looks like a budget Chromebook. The R11’s reinforced hinges allow for full rotation of the display, granting access to a variety of modes, and as with the Flip, Chrome OS will disable the keyboard past 180 degrees and switch to an on-screen keyboard instead. Speaking of the display, it is terrific to see an IPS display here on an Acer device, and while the resolution of 1366×768 may not below you away, this is a quality screen with great viewing angles and bright colors. Note that it does suffer from quite a bit of glare, which is the downside to a display like this. There’s no doubt that the Flip is a significantly more attractive device than the R11, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone, given Acer’s tendency to favor function over form in some of their best Chromebooks, like the C720. Fortunately, the R11 delivers in a number of critical areas, and continues that "ugly duckling" trend. The keyboard is full-size, and while it isn’t back-lit, it still is pleasing to type on. I find it to be fairly similar to the Acer Chromebook 13 keyboard. While this isn’t a best-in-class keyboard, it is significantly better to use than the smaller keyboard of the Chromebook Flip. The R11 also has surprisingly loud speakers, a rarity among Chromebooks this year, and one that I think is actually important in a device that lends itself to use as a media device. The R11 is also the first Chromebook to use Intel’s N3150 "Braswell" Celeron, a quad-core processor at 1.6 GHz. I was highly concerned about how this processor would perform, coming from quite negative experiences with the N3050 dual-core processor in the Acer Cloudbook 11 and HP Stream 11 2015. Fortunately, the quad-core version used here, likely combined with the lower demands of Chrome OS, alleviated all my concerns. While I’d always prefer the 4 GB version, the 2 GB version – which is what I used for the purposes of this review – has performance that is perfectly acceptable and is sufficient for how most people will use a Chromebook. As an example, this version has no problem running YouTube in one window, and loading complex pages like CNN.com in another window, without stuttering on the video or problems rendering the webpage. The dual-core N3050 processor fails this test, which is part of the reason why I don’t recommend the Acer Cloudbook 11, but do recommend this Chromebook. I also found that… |
Gamer
New to Chromebooks, but becoming a convert. Acer packs value into a small package,
I want to give a brief background of where I’m coming from and what I think about the new Acer Chromebook 11. In the past I have owned a Thinkpad laptop, a Dell notebook with a touchscreen and pen, and a couple of tower desktop computers. I have also owned two Android devices. These days I mostly use an Ipad for web browsing and apps, and a desktop for word processing, printing, Microsoft office needs, the occasional game, etc. I needed something at my work that was small and light and did not need a lot of computing power. I didn’t want to spend much money. After hearing about Chromebooks for a while, I did as much research as I could and decided a Chromebook fit the bill.
Amazon has a ton of Chromebooks, and I was about to buy the Chromebook 11 from last year, then found an article that was 1 day old saying that Acer had just released their new 2016 version of the 2 GB Chromebook 11. They explained that this one was built to be quite durable with an aluminum lid, and that it would feature an IPS screen, for only $179. They said a 4 GB version was bound to be released soon, and I wish it were available, but I figured 2 GB is adequate for my needs. I followed the link to Amazon, and found it here.
First impressions:
Build quality – It is not as tightly put together as say a tablet or a high end laptop, but it feels very well made. The screen articulates well and the lid feels sturdy. The keyboard has a nice feel to it, much better than my Logitech for my iPad, and I’d say just about as good as any laptop I’ve used. It does have a strip of plastic between the track-pad and the space bard which is somewhat flimsy, though, and when I press down with moderate pressure, the whole middle of the keyboard flexes. Overall, though, I am impressed, especially for $179. Haven’t dropped it yet, but I think it would survive.
Ergonomics – The keyboard feels like a full size; the volume and power buttons are in a good place, and the keyboard is comfortable to type on. The trackpad is larger than I’m used to and even the fastest setting doesn’t feel fast enough for me as I usually have to lift my finger off the trackpad to get from one side of the screen to the other. I like the “no buttons” choice of the trackpad though, and how the whole pad just clicks down if you feel you need a click. The SIZE and WEIGHT are incredible! I guess most chrome books are this way, but I am amazed. It feels lightweight but not cheap. The keys are not backlit. Webcam is stationary, and I doubt I will ever use this with Facetime on the ipad / iphone so simple and easy. Maybe they could do a version without this and drop another $20?
Display – The display looks very bright, crisp; just what you’d expect from an IPS screen. Now if I can only manage to stop poking it with my touch-screen trained fingers, I expect it to last. The fact that it is not a touch-screen makes this feel more like a laptop to me.
Color – It looks good in white casing with black keys (kind of like a piano), but white would not be my first choice due to the inevitability to show dirt and oil after a while. Also the exterior it textured, which feels cool, but will probably attract more dirt that way.
Sound — Volume is pretty loud. Not sure the decibels, but is is louder than an laptop, phone, or tablet I’ve had. I was surprised to hear what sounded like stereo Left and Right sound coming from a video, when I looked on the bottom and noticed it had two speakers. Only realistic improvement would be if they could have mounted the speakers on the front instead of the bottom. I could imagine it getting muffled if on a blanket or other soft surface. But the sound exceeded my expectations for the price for sure.
Software – having no background in Chrome OS, I find this software simple and easy to understand. You can’t really screw it up. Somewhat disappointed with the app store. Does not seem like a lot of high quality apps to pick from, but that is coming from an apple user (and previously android). UPDATE: the “OK Google” feature which allows voice searches and commands was not working. I spent an hour on a help chat with google, and they couldn’t determine the problem, but finally asked me to “Powerwash” the machine, essentially wiping it and returning it back to factory state. It took about 2 minutes to powerwash and set it up again, and the “OK Google” feature miraculously worked again. I have had no other OS issues.
Speed – The computer starts almost as instantly as a phone. Clicking on anything gives no lag. It is snappy, and I think it will stay that way. Youtube streams beautifully. Webpages load fast. If they had had the 4 GB version, I would have considered it, but 2 GB is not too slow for me right now…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Best display on a sub $200 Chromebook.,
Customer Video Review Length:: 8:34 Mins
The Acer Chromebook 11 is probably my pick now for sub $200 Chromebooks. The reason is that it has the nicest display (IPS) you’ll see at this price point on any platform from any brand.This is not a full HD display but rather a lower resolution 1366×768 display. Nevertheless it looks much better than the TN panels you’ll see on other similarly priced devices.
It’s powered by last year’s Intel N2840 Celeron processor at 2.16ghz and has 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 gigabytes of on board storage. The Acer Chromebook 11’s SD card slot does sit flush to the side of the computer though, so it does provide some opportunities for expanded storage.
Performance is decent for basic web browsing tasks and on par with other devices from Acer and others at this $180 price point.
The hardware overall is well constructed and it’s very comfortable to type on. My only gripe is with its trackpad that requires a little too much of a push to register clicks. This is an exceptional value for $179.
I do suggest that you watch my ChromeOS 101 video to learn more about what Chromebooks are and what they are not:
Was this review helpful to you?
|