Improbably, after an inauspicious start, Google’s Chrome OS is slowly but surely gathering momentum. The Acer C7 is the second Chromebook we’ve seen in as many months, and as with last month’s offering from Samsung, it’s an affordable, likeable product.
As with the Samsung Chromebook, this Acer is a compact, lightweight laptop. The browser-based operating system means it isn’t as flexible as a full-blown Windows 8 system, but the OS’s recently introduced offline capabilities, combined with the huge collection of extensions, games and apps available through the Chrome Web Store, means it’s still a practical proposition.
The C7’s hardware is more than serviceable. There’s nothing that makes you sit up and say “wow” about the design, with nondescript grey plastic cladding the lid and base. But it isn’t ugly, it’s light at 1.32kg, and the 11.6in 1366 x 768 display provides a decent-sized space in which to browse the web and work.
The quality of the display can’t match the sumptuous panels of the best Ultrabooks and tablets, but it’s usable. The maximum brightness of 213cd/m2 is fine indoors, but we wouldn’t want to use it in bright sunlight. This figure is similar to that of the Samsung Chromebook; the main difference is the Acer C7 has a glossy finish, lending movie scenes and photos a fraction more saturation and depth. The downside is more potential for distracting reflections.
When it comes to ergonomics, the Samsung holds a slight advantage, but it’s close once again. The Acer is equipped with a similar Scrabble-tile keyboard and a broad, buttonless, multitouch touchpad, which makes typing and using the mouse largely comfortable. The keys don’t have much travel, but they’re well spaced and we found it easy to get up to a reasonable touch-typing speed. The dedicated Search button doesn’t replace Caps Lock as it does on the Samsung Chromebook, which is another bonus. We can even see ourselves getting used to the tiny cursor keys in time, although our first few days were spent repeatedly hitting the equally small PageUp and RFID tag, located above the left and right cursor keys.
We can't give ourselves too much credit here, but it certainly seems like Sony took our -- and other reviewers' -- critique of the Duo 11 to heart. The device looks and feels sleeker this time around, and indeed, despite a larger 13.3-inch display, the 2.93-pound machine is only a hair heavier than its predecessor (2.87 pounds). This is thanks to a carbon fiber construction, which is lighter than the magnesium alloy used on the older model. We still have painful memories of the Duo 11's jagged edges, so we're happy to report that Sony opted for a more rounded frame this time around. The company also ensured that the display and keyboard base line up perfectly in tablet mode, further reducing the chance that you'll impale your wrists while completing a Bing search.
This is pretty huge: Sony completely revamped its hinge design. The so-called Surf Slider mechanism on the Duo 13 is much easier to activate; we could even pull up the screen with just one hand. The slider mechanism feels much sturdier this time around, too; collapsing the device back into slate mode feels steady and secure rather than wobbly. The hinge also looks a lot better, as the cabling is now tucked behind the hinge rather than exposed (huzzah!).
On the front of the slider, you'll find the expected Windows 8 Start button along with a 2-megapixel front camera and Sony branding. Pulling up the display reveals the VAIO logo on the keyboard (a larger version of this is etched on the hinge itself). All the ports are located on the back edge of the Duo 13, while the left and right sides are completely bare. Sony says this new arrangement allows for a better grip when you're using the device in tablet mode, and it's also a nod to graphic designers, who prefer to keep cables in the back for a cleaner workspace. All told, you get an SD card slot, HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports, a headphone jack and the power connector. High-end configurations that include Windows 8 Pro will also ship with a VGA adapter. Flip the machine over, and you'll find a speaker grille as well as Assist and Volume buttons. Finally, there's an 8MP camera, which sits off to the left rather than dead-center.
By design, sliders have limited keyboard space -- it's how they accommodate the pull-out display. Sony did its best to minimize this inconvenience by moving the screen a bit back on this model. As a result, you get a roomier set of island-style chiclets. The backlit layout definitely feels less cramped than the Duo 11's, and there's more pitch here too, which is greatly appreciated. We wouldn't call the keyboard spacious, per se, but the keys are well-spaced enough to net us a surprisingly low error rate on typing tests.
Tiny though it may be, the touchpad is a welcome addition to the VAIO Duo slider. Sony replaced the optical pointing stick and left- and right-click buttons with a full-fledged Synaptics clicker, which makes scrolling, pinch-to-zoom and other gestures much more fluid. Don't for a second think this is a top-notch tracker, though; its small size makes actions such as copy-and-pasting an ordeal, since it requires a bit of strategy to negotiate the limited space. One note: Sony says its final-production trackpad will offer a slightly firmer button press, though we didn't have any issues with the one on our review unit.
No comments:
Post a Comment