Acer Chromebook R13 CB5-312T - (MediaTek MT8173, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 13.3 inch HD Touchscreen Display, Google Chrome OS, Sparkly Silver)

This is probably the sweet spot device for Chromebooks and although it was a little more than I wanted to pay, it is proving to be very functional and it has now taken the place of my slightly long in the tooth Android tablet. When you look at the other Chromebooks on the market, there seems to always be something missing, either there is no SD card slot or its not a full HD display. Having said that, I don't think you would miss, not having the full HD on a 13" screen and you would only find it a usable resolution on a 15". I have found on the R13 that it looks better at 1536 x 864 as 1920 x 1080 is just too small. You may get to use the full HD if you use the HDMI port and output to a larger screen. The SD card slot however is a must, for although this device comes with 64GB Flash, you still need the extra space for storage and downloads. I have inserted a 128gb micro sd and that does make a difference. You can also use a spinney drive as I have been using a WD passport for media storage. There is one issue that I have found with the SD slot is that there is a tendency for you to catch it and release the sd card by mistake. I've had the R13 for maybe a week now and Ive caught it about 3 times already. It would benefit from being flush inside the unit, similar to a smartphone. You can use Google Play in the Beta channel, but not all of the apps will work and because the device isn't rooted, you find that the SD / External drives are not visible in some of the apps which can prove frustrating. These issues may be resolved in the future when devs start designing apps to be more Chromebook centric but until then you just have to accept that this device is perhaps not as functional as some people would like but overall it ticks a lot of the boxes. I do like the flexibility of using in Laptop mode and then folding the keyboard back on itself to allow me to use it as a big tablet. Additionally, you can stand the screen up on the keyboard which seems to disable the keyboard when viewing movies. I know some YouTube reviews have questioned the hinge mechanism, but it seems to be up to the task.

So I was originally looking for a reasonably priced laptop about 13" in size for the usual sofa surfing,watching Netflix,listening to music and the odd document and originally ordered an Acer Aspire S13 which didn't work out due to several issues(see my review of it)I then started some research and came across Chrome books which i'd heard of but to be honest didn't know really much aboutAfter my research I figured they are just the type of laptop I needed for my sofa surfing etc and had none of the features that I personally didn't need or want which was effectively a windows laptopI found this as it seemed to have better specs than most of the level entry Chrome booksPOSITIVESChrome OS really simple and boots up in a matter of secondsNew mediatek 2.10 quad core ARM processor designed for Chrome books4GB DDR3 RAMFantastic 1080p screen and good levels of colour aand brightnessIPS Touchscreen which is excellent and very responsiveFull size HDMIUSB-C portUSB 3.0Micro SD slot64GB MemoryTrack pad works really well and seems solidOther features are its made of aluminium and the finish and quality is very goodKeyboard is a nice size and good travel of the keysLong lasting batteryGood level of volume and decent sound qualityBuilt in webcamAnd probably the best features of them all is the multi purpose functionality of how it can be used in 4 different modesLaptopTentTabletDisplayAnd they all work really wellAnother recent addition is the use of Android apps which this can now utilise when you set it to the Beta channelAll the apps I've tested so far like Sky Go,Now TV,Spotify,BBC IPlayer etc work just as you would expectNEGATIVESquite heavy(well over 3lb)but then it is made of aluminiumkeyboard isn't backlithinge seems a little flimsy but looking at it I think that's just the cover rather than the hinge itselfThese negatives are something I've had to look for as they don't really come across as negatives but for the lack of backlit keyboardI've used this now for a few days only and initial impressions can be like a novelty factor but I genuinely believe this will continue with the WOW factor which is has given me,especially for the relatively modest price of £340I know a windows laptop can be bought for that money but I simply didn't need one so spending a bit more on what most Chrome books cost got me a premium set up with premium featuresIf anything changes as time passes I will update my review

As usual a very fast next day delivery by Amazon UK. The Acer R13 is a nicely built hardware package with a bright glossy screen, comfortable keyboard and well balance finger pad. I did not overtax the processor so unable to pass comment. Now since the 90's I've always worked with Windows based machines and have at home a LAN network for sharing data across a windows PC, media server, NAS, android tablets and windows laptop. So when my ageing Win 7 laptop started to slow under the weight of years of updates. I kept an open-minded assessment of the market and opted for a Chromebook to take over the mobile role of web browsing, emails, low level word processing and spreadsheets. In summary, I found the ChromeOS performance very good, however the current stable version falls short of providing the seamless network features I've enjoyed with Windows. It's probably me, but google should bring their operating system and android apps fully together as soon as possible. So with regret I've returned the Acer to Amazon UK.Postscript: Top marks to Amazon for their returns procedure. Received full refund within 24 hours of using their local shop returns pick-up service.