The Frugal Networker

Acer Chromebook 15 C910-54M1
Acer
$499.99 Retail

Being a Chromebook owner and dedicated convert doesn’t hurt when reviewing a beautiful piece of hardware like the Acer Chromebook 15 C910. In fact, it helps. It also makes me a little jealous of those who have the $500 to buy one. The Acer Chromebook 15 C910 (C910) is a large format, very fast, delicious version of a Chromebook. It also doesn’t hurt that I love Acer products. I own several–all of various ages and platforms, but all still run and are used on an almost daily basis. While I don’t own the C910, I’m only reviewing it, it is certainly another worthy hunk of awesome from a superb personal computer company.

The C910 is a large laptop computer that sports a 15.6″ full HD screen, although as I stated in the review video, “It reads more like a 17”. What I mean is that it is a laptop with a wall-to-wall video screen. It has less of a frame around it than my iPad 4 does, which makes its screen feel like something much larger than a 15-inch by comparison.

Acer Chromebook 15 Review Video

Acer Chromebook 15 Extra Video created with the Chromebook 15

Acer Chromebook 15 Extra Video 2 created with the Chromebook C720.

The C910 is a business grade laptop computer that’s suitable for any application or situation. You can connect an external monitor–not that you’d need to. You can connect an external mouse and keyboard and any other peripheral that you might have or want. It has a built-in webcam and microphone. It also has two huge speakers in the unit’s base. It is a multi-media aficionado’s dream machine.

Features at a Glance:

• Chrome OS™
• Intel Core i5-5200U Dual-core 2.20 GHz
• 15.6″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) 16:9
• Intel HD 5500 with Shared Memory
• 4 GB, DDR3L SDRAM
• 32 GB SSD

A few Words about Chrome OS

For those of you who believe that you need a Windows system to run “standard” applications, you don’t. The Sixth Flag is a great solution for that complaint, but that’s another story. There are web-based applications for just about everything you use. Even Microsoft has created Office365 to promote the use of web-based applications for any platform or device.
The only Chromebook shortcoming that I’ve found so far is Skype, which doesn’t work on Chrome OS. Supposedly there’s a workaround so that you can use Skype, and perhaps The Sixth Flag web-based Windows desktop is also the answer to that problem, but I haven’t tried it. It is unfortunate that Skype doesn’t/won’t work because I use it so much. It is the one shortfall that prevents me from using a Chromebook 24x7x365. Solve that one issue and it’s a done deal.

Chrome OS is the most secure operating system that a computer can run. As I explain in the video, there’s just nothing for a hacker to latch onto over the network. And even if someone were to steal your Chromebook, your data isn’t saved on it, so there’s nothing to steal except the hardware. The only way your data is vulnerable on a Chromebook is for you to be logged on and either someone looks over your shoulder while you’re working or if they steal it while you’re actually using the device.

More features of the Chromebook 15 C910:

• 1 HDMI port
• Non-skid, non-slip coating
• 2 USB ports (1 USB 2.0 & 1 USB 3.0)
• Audio out port (3.5mm jack)
• Built-in webcam (720p)
• Built-in microphone
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Wi-Fi networking (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac)
• 4-cell, Li-ion battery that lasts 8 hours or more
• 4.8 lbs.