[tubemonkey]

Review: Acer's C7 Chromebook is $199 and feelin' fine (relatively)

Compared to the ARM Chromebook, Samsung's offering is slightly thinner, lighter, and more attractive, though the screen quality is about the same as the C7. It's also fanless, which is preferable to the C7's single, sometimes whiny system fan. However, the C7 has the better selection of ports, and as we'll see, it actually outperforms its more expensive cousin in most meaningful metrics.

Chrome OS is still a bit of a tough sell, but the C7 and the ARM Chromebook are both cheap enough to finally make it palatable. Neither is an especially high-quality laptop, but at these price points they're a significant step up from the tiny, cheap netbooks that have been sold by these same manufacturers at these same price points. If you're on board with the operating system's limitations and the corners that were cut to slash the prices, the biggest question is which one to buy.

The Samsung Chromebook is slightly more expensive but overall it's the better-made of the two computers. Its fanless design, lighter weight, and better battery life are all worthwhile extra features. The C7 shines in other areas: it's got a better port selection, better performance, and its Intel-based roots and easy-to-upgrade internals make it an excellent target for tinkerers looking for a cheap computer to hack around with.