Acer Chromebook 15 Review

Figured I’d do a quick review of the Acer Chromebook 15 i5 edition after having for about a week now. Overall I’m really impressed by this sub $500 Chromebook, and would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t need much storage space and doesn’t have to boot into Windows. If there is anything you feel that I left out of this review, feel free to comment down below. If there are grammatical issues, (I’m sure there are) then feel free to PM me.

Display
The Acer Chromebook 15 i5 edition has a 1080p 15.6’ IPS display that is pretty impressive for the price point. The screen has wide viewing angles and text is crisp and easy to read. Colours are rich and vibrant. Blacks are deep, a bit too deep sometimes. Some details in dark images are lost or harder to distinguish. The display also has a bit of a glare issue that can be annoying at times in an environment with a lot of light. Both of these issues aren’t a deal breaker for me, as the display is far more impressive than any other laptop I’ve owned. Just don’t expect Macbook level screen quality.

Build Quality
Despite being all plastic, this Chromebook feels sturdy, with a nice textured finish on the top and bottom. There isn’t any of the creaking or bending that is prevalent in other chromebooks. The laptop is a bit heavier than most Chromebooks, coming in at a little under 5 lbs. However, you’ll barely notice it, as the laptop has it’s weight well distributed, making it easy to carry. Unfortunately, the space at the bottom where you’ll likely rest your palms is a bit of a fingerprint magnet, but you won’t notice it unless you are looking for it.

Track pad/Keyboard
The track pad is rather impressive, with features like 2 finger scroll and 3 finger swipes. It took a bit to get used to, as my laptop had two physical buttons on the button for left and right click. Instead, you can either tap one finger for left click, two fingers for right click, or do a hard press on the touch pad for a right click. The track pad is very spacious and responsive, and is one of the best I’ve used on a laptop.

Noise/Heat
The Acer Chromebook 15 is quiet and cool, as long as you are only running Chromeos. If you decide to run Crouton, the fan gets a bit louder and the laptop gets a bit hotter. Unless you are in a quiet environment, and have the laptop sitting in your lap, it’s hard to notice. Even running Torchlight 2 in Linux, I was perfectly comfortable with the laptop sitting in my lap.

Usability
The laptop boots up lightning quick, and is a very smooth experience in both Chromeos and Linux. Even with only 4GB of ram, I had no issues running 15+ tabs and Crouton at the same time. I even managed a bit of light gaming, running Torchlight 2 at playable frame rates on Linux.

Battery Life
Just using ChromeOS, I get around 7-9 hours of battery life. Running Crouton, I get around 5-7, depending on what I am doing. Running Torchlight 2, I got around 3 or 4 hours.

Sound
The speakers on this laptop are a lot better than I’ve experienced on most laptops. There are speakers on both sides of the keyboard, and they can get pretty loud. They are a little tinny at louder volumes, but are pretty good for laptop speakers.

Major/Minor Issues
Unfortunately this laptop freezes every few hours while running Crouton, requiring me to hold down the power button to shut it off. Linux users should be aware of this to avoid losing important data. It’s also worth noting that most of the buttons on top of the keyboard (back/forward, refresh, full screen, etc.) don’t work in Crouton.

Is SUSE or Fedora possible to install? I love it, but I don't think I'd enjoy Crouton much.

Not sure. Might want to check out this post... https://plus.google.com/+JohnLewis-meh/posts/Q2ccySynbHc

Edit: I wrote a quick guide on how to do it: https://forum.teksyndicate.com/t/guide-how-to-install-linux-on-acer-chromebook-15/80092

Edit: Following those steps, I successfully wiped out ChromeOS and installed Ubuntu 15.04. The only issues I'm having right now is that wifi is a little wonky and battery life is reduced by2-3 hours. Other than that, this thing far exceeds all my expectations.

How is it in terms of heat/noise? same kind-of deal with running Coutron or better?

It's pretty damned quiet actually. Not very hot either. Just got done playing Torchlight 2 for an hour on native Ubuntu, and it's only slightly warm around the exhaust.