There are small vent holes on the bottom, and there is a main vent located on the left side. It becomes a little worse when you use it on your lap and block the vent holes. But if the CPU has to do plenty of work, such as process Flash-based video, then the amount of heat can get annoying, especially because the heat can be felt through the palm rest. If you're just using it to browse basic Web pages or write documents, it won't uncomfortably warm. We managed to get just over four hours out of it when just using it for Google Docs, reading news sites and browsing a few photos, and by keeping the screen brightness just below the halfway point.įlash-based video consumes almost half of the CPU power.ĭepending on how you use the Chromebook, it can get noticeably warm. A lot more life can be extracted from its battery if a medium screen brightness is used and if you only undertake tasks that don't need too much CPU time (that is, if you don't watch videos or play Flash-based games). We're not completely mad though because the extra performance that the Acer supplies is noticeable, especially during streaming video tasks. It's one of those things where battery life seems to have been compromised in order to supply better performance. The Samsung Chromebook recorded over four hours in the same test.
#Want brighter screen on acer chrome mp4
It has a removable, 37 Watt-hour battery that recorded only 1hr 44min in our rundown test, in which we played MP4 videos non-stop until the unit conked out, with the screen brightness at maximum and with Wi-Fi enabled. For a small device that's designed to be mobile, its battery life isn't great (especially when video playback is involved). This was also noticeable when we ran the NBA.TV (NBA LeaguePass) streaming video services, which did not run as smoothly on the Dell (using Chrome) as it did on the Acer.īut there is one area in which the Acer Chromebook isn't as good, and that is battery life.
#Want brighter screen on acer chrome windows 8
It recorded the best marks in all of the browser benchmarks that we ran on it, and you can also see in the table below how its Chrome browser performance even fares better than Chrome running on an Intel Atom-based Windows 8 tablet from Dell. While the Acer felt quicker than the Samsung during everyday usage, Web browser-based benchmarks also confirmed that it is indeed a faster performer. The Acer relies on an x86-based Intel Celeron CPU for its processing power, along with 2GB of RAM the Samsung has an ARM-based Samsung Exynos 5 Dual system on chip (SoC), and the same amount of RAM. (See the Samsung's review for a few more details on what the Chrome OS offers, and also what you can do with it as far as playing local files). Working on Google Docs, browsing the Web and even watching streaming video are things that Acer's Chromebook is good for and its performance during our test period was comparatively fast against Samsung's Chromebook.
Acer says that a new model in three to six months will have broadband built in to it. We tried using it with an Optus USB broadband dongle to get online, but it wasn't recognised by the operating system. The benefits of the Chromebook are maximised if you use it in an environment that has Wi-Fi, be it at home, in the office or on school grounds, but for other places you will need to tether it to your phone in order to get online (it has dual-band Wi-Fi). It's of limited use when you aren't online, meaning that without an Internet connection you can only use Google Docs (Drive syncs all Docs locally and allows you to also make other file types, such as images available offline), in addition to reading and writing emails and playing with locally-stored media files. If you're used to this browser, you'll have no problems at all using this laptop, but you might need to get used to the concept.īecause it's designed to run Google's Drive, Docs, Gmail and other services, the Chromebook isn't all that useful when it doesn't have an Internet connection. Even all the system settings show up in the Web browser. The Chromebook's interface looks like a standard desktop at first glance, but it's basically a system that has been devised to run Google's services within the Chrome Web browser. The best part is, if you're already entrenched in the Google apps environment for your productivity and communications, then it's a laptop that has been designed specifically for you. At $299, the Acer C710 (Q1VZC) is $50 less than the Samsung model, and it's the type of gadget you could pick up just out of curiosity (assuming you have the spare cash).