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

Just received the Acer R13 Chromebook this morning so this is initial thoughts only.My old HP Chromebook 14 doesn't support Android Apps and is a little slow these days (even after a power wash) so I invested in a new Acer R13. I picked up a Warehouse Deal unit which was described as "As New" and it certainly is. Pristine condition, R13 and power cable all in the box as expected. Not a single blemish on the laptop and the keyboard look like it's never been touched. Build quality is excellent; very solid, no creaks, good trackpad and gorgeous screen. Very nice hinge mechanism too. Some magnets keep the lid closed in laptop or tablet positions.Screen is beautifully crisp and clear - it is definitely the touchscreen 1080p version I was expecting and it works exactly as it should. Fat fingers are not going to give precise touch input but this screen is as good as my Google Pixel C tablet.Android Apps appear to work very well.Not tried games yet but apps like Excel and Xolo work perfectly, as does VLC (v3) for Android.Loving the keyboard so far. Very nice keys with plenty of travel and a good feedback. Not as good as my HP Spectre 13 but one of the better "chiclet" keyboards I've used.Battery was full when received and reports over 12 hours available. Not going down very quickly with light use so far. No reason to doubt the estimated battery life. I'll keep my eye on it and may add further details here later.Ports available include USB-C and a USB 3.0 Type-A port. Good combination of latest technology with backward-compatibility. Headphone jack is good and loud. Not tested the HDMI yet but it's there and should drive my 1080p monitor easily as this laptop seems pretty quick compared to my old HP 14.Micro SD card slot will come in handy for file transfers but with 64Gb onboard, the internal memory should keep things running nicely for a while, even with a few Android apps installed.For anyone with a Chromebook that doesn't support Android Apps (Play Store) or just wants a touchscreen, I recommend this laptop.This is my initial thoughts on a laptop I bought with my own money - and am very glad I did!!

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.

Bought this to test websites on Chromebooks and am impressed with the specification and quality. It's really fast, very easy to set up, has lots of memory and a great keyboard. Screen is good for watching films etc. Battery life is phenomenal. Runs Microsoft office apps without a hitch. So all in all a superb workhorse for several office or education activities.However, don't choose this if you're a creative. The number of creative apps is limited, but more critically you will not find a stylus that works well with the touch screen, and you can't install any Wacom drivers to use Bamboo pens or similar. That means that you can't use the touch screen to edit photos or, if you're a student, to draw diagrams in lectures.The styluses we have tried do not create a single line. The line starts late and has gaps. This is a major weakness in the device that competitor options win on. (Acer does its own stylus, but it's not compatible with this device.)