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The Acer Chromebook 13 (CB5-311-T9B0) ($299.99 as tested) is on the cutting edge of the Chromebook category, thanks to a new Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, the first Nvidia CPU in a Chrome-based laptop. Acer has been toward the front of the Chromebook trend since late 2012, when it started repurposing old netbook designs for the new Google-powered category, and has stayed ahead with features like touch functionality, as seen on the Editors’ Choice Acer Chromebook C720P-2600($299.00 at Acer)(Opens in a new window). But staying out front isn’t always easy, and while the Tegra-based Chromebook 13 does have some great features, like a 1080p display and excellent battery life, the overall experience winds up feeling like more of the same.
Design
The Chromebook 13 ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) mimics Acer’s other standout Chromebook, the Acer C720P-2600, with a white polycarbonate chassis that looks pretty sharp. The only downside to a laptop made of white plastic is that it scuffs easily, and shows every smudge and grime spot. The slim, fanless design measures just 0.71 by 12.9 by 9 inches (HWD), and weighs 3.31 pounds. That’s a full pound heavier than the HP Chromebook 11($130.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) (2.3 pounds), but it’s not close in weight to the similarly sized Toshiba CB35-A3120 Chromebook (3.17 pounds).
Unlike the many 11-inch Chromebooks we’ve reviewed, this system boasts a 13-inch display. It’s not without competition—Toshiba has the CB35-A3120 Chromebook (and has recently announced its successor), while HP has the Pavilion Chromebook 14( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window)—but the majority of Chrome systems have much smaller displays. It boasts Full HD (1,920-by-1,080) resolution. The display isn’t perfect, by any means, with slightly washed-out colors and narrow viewing angles, and I’d have liked to see the same sort of In-Plane Switching (IPS) display that the HP Chromebook 11 has.
Despite the larger chassis, the 
Chromebook 13 has the same-size keyboard as the 11-inch Acer C720P, with the same comfortable, but shallow typing action and Chrome layout. A decently sized touchpad sits just below the spacebar, and is the same white color as the laptop chassis. The touch sensor is clickable, and supports Chrome gestures, like two-finger tapping and scrolling.
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Acer Chromebook C720P-2600
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Features
Chromebooks aren’t known for offering extensive port selection, and this is no exception. On the right of the system is a headset jack. On the left are a USB 3.0 port and an SD card slot. On the back, there are a second USB 3.0 port and an HDMI-out port. Inside, the device boasts 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless connectivity.
For local storage, there’s a 16GB solid-state drive (SSD), which is the common allotment for Chromebooks—the exception being the Acer C270P, which boasts 32GB. 
Google expects Web-connected Chrome users to use cloud storage, and there’s free 100GB of Google Drive storage included with the laptop. Like other Chromebooks, you’ll have links and shortcuts to Gmail, Google Drive, and other Google services like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Play Music, Hangouts, and others. Sign in with your Google account, and it will automatically sync all of your bookmarks and extensions. You can add further functionality with any of the thousands of apps and plugins Google offers for Chrome. Acer covers the Chromebook 13 with a one-year warranty.
The Tegra K1 CPU
The Acer Chromebook 13 is notable not only for being Acer’s first 13-inch Chromebook, but also for being the first Chrome device to use the Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, a quad-core ARM processor that combine four Cortex A15 CPUs into one and adds a fifth low-power processing module, a configuration that Nvidia calls 4+1. The four primary cores can be revved up independently as needed, while the low-power “+1” is used to handle basic tasks, like checking email.
But it’s not just the raw processing capability that’s so important. The Tegra K1 also boasts 192 Kepler GPU cores, promising better graphics processing than any other Chromebook we’ve seen, and boasting WebGL and Unity 5 3D capability. It’s the same processor used in Nvidia’s Shield Tablet($299.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window). Translation: This is the first Chromebook that can support 3D gaming. There’s not a huge library of titles in the Chrome store yet, though there are a few, like SKiD Racer, Trigger Rally, and HexGL. There are sure to be more over time as more Chromebooks include this capability.
We did find the occasional compatibility issues when attempting to run some popular Chrome games—Bastion, From Dust, and Jump’n’Bump. All three use Native Client, which is not supported by Nvidia’s 32-bit ARM processor. Both From Dust and Bastion gave us error messages when we tried to start them up after installation, and Bump’n’Jump wasn’t available for installation, saying that the app is incompatible with the CPU architecture. That said, these apps won’t run on most other Chromebooks either, since they also rely upon 32-bit processors, and are primarily for use in Chrome on other PCs.
Performance
Not only does the new processor offer improved gaming support, it also has improved graphics support for applications like Google Hangouts, and streaming media services like Netflix and YouTube. Boot times are still fast, taking you from a cold start to login screen in 7 seconds, and waking from sleep in just 5 seconds.
The K1 allows better multitasking as well. At one point, I was browsing with more than a dozen tabs open, which is usually enough to slow a Chromebook to a stuttering crawl. I checked my email, typed up notes for this review, and browsed through several other websites. While you will find yourself limited by the speed of your Internet connection, the extra horsepower provided by the Tegra K1 allows for pretty good basic multitasking performance.
This worked very well, so long as I stuck to plain, text-heavy Web pages. Adding media to the mix was another matter; whether I was watching YouTube videos, streaming a show on Hulu, or listening to music on Pandora, there was a noticeable drop in performance. Pages stopped scrolling smoothly, media would buffer, then stall, then start buffering all over again.
See How We Test Laptops
Battery life is one area where the Tegra processor delivers on its promises. In our rundown test, the Chromebook 13 lasted 8 hours 12 minutes, well ahead of both the HP Chromebook 11 (5:13) and the Acer C270P (7:20). That makes it one of the longest-lasting batteries we’ve seen in a Chromebook, second only to the category-leading Asus C200 Chromebook( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) (11:14). This is particularly impressive, since the Chromebook 13 is powering a larger display with higher resolution, which chews through a lot of power all on its own.
Conclusion
The Acer Chromebook 13 (CB5-311-T9B0) is definitely notable among its peers, if only for its new processor and larger full HD display, but it doesn’t offer a significantly improved experience, and the experience is everything when dealing with Chromebooks. The new CPU may promise better gaming support, but there’s not much out there now that takes advantage of it, and the laggy media performance didn’t leave us too thrilled. The smaller Acer Chromebook C720P-2600 remains our Editors’ Choice, due to its smoother performance and touch screen, but if you want a larger Chromebook with a nice display, the Chromebook 13 is a pretty good bet.
3.5
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The Acer Chromebook 13 is on the cutting edge, with an Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, advanced gaming support, and a 13-inch full HD display. But even with all these advancements, it doesn’t seem much better than most of the competition.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/acer-chromebook-13-cb5-311-t9b0