For someone like me who handles different Chromebooks every time I turn around, the mark of what makes my favorite device is pretty clear: it’s what’s in my bag. You see, I swap through all sorts of Chromebooks on my desk on a revolving basis for reviews, testing, and research. Using these devices day in and day out is the best way to evaluate them, so whichever one is being tested is plugged into my standard workflow each day to see how it stacks up.
But I don’t live at my desk. When I leave the office, I take a Chromebook with me most days and I turn off the evaluation process and reach for something I enjoy using, can trust to give me a great experience, and know that I won’t have issue with if I need to remotely get some work done. For many months at this point, that device has been the same, regardless of what I’m reviewing: and that device is the Acer Chromebook 516 GE.
My favorite parts of the Acer 516 GE
I’ve talked at length about my affection for this Chromebook in the past, but let me point a few things out that highlight why this is my go-to Chromebook. It starts with the screen. At 16-inches and 16:10, the canvas is simply massive. Add in the QHD resolution (2560×1600), the 120Hz refresh rate, and the 350+ nit screen and you have a thing of beauty to stare at every time you get down to work.
Sure, I’d love it to be a touchscreen, but I’ve also found that with clamshell Chromebooks, I just don’t rely on touch inputs that often. And the reason comes down to the excellent trackpad the 516 GE possesses. It is smooth, large and has a perfect click mechanism, making all my moves through ChromeOS easy and fluid.
Other niceties include the 1080p webcam, RGB keyboard and upward-firing speakers, but the biggest additions for me come down to internal speed and build quality. On the inside, the 12th-gen Intel Core i5-1240P is crazy fast, paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of NVMe storage. Performance is of no concern, here.
And it’s all encased in a rigid, attractive chassis that is not only firm, but light, too. This 16-inch beast somehow only comes in at 3.75 pounds, and it is shocking to pick up. As long as it fits in your bag, you don’t have to worry about any additional weight or lugging around some 5-pound brick. The 516 GE – for its size, anyway – feels light as a feather.
And right now, you can get your hands on the same Chromebook I carry in my bag for $200 off, bringing the price down all the way to just $449. With all you get in this Chromebook, I simply cannot recommend it enough at this sort of price. And with the Chromebook Plus upgrade it has already received, you’ll be getting all the new, fun features Google releases in the coming weeks and months as well. As always, we never know how long these deals will last, so get one while you can!
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