I review a lot of laptops at or around the $200 price point and it's nice to see how far things have come. This is a solid offering from Acer that lines up nicely with a similar laptop from HP (The Stream 14) with the same basic internal configuration (N4000 dual core Intel processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage).
The Acer's advantages here is that it has a 1080p display vs. a 720p on the Stream 14. It also has a built-in hard wired ethernet port for connecting up to the network. But the Stream has better battery life.
Performance is solid for basic tasks like web browsing, email, Word, Excel, etc. It has a nice snappy feel to it. Games are not so great given the lower end fanless processor inside. So things like Fortnite and other recent games will be too slow to enjoy on this device.
For those looking to run Linux I found the compatibility here to be better than the Stream 14. Ubuntu 18.04 ran properly with all of the onboard networking, wireless, display, and audio drivers working properly. The Stream 14's Wifi did not work with the same version of Ubuntu.
Overall this is one of the nicer low cost laptops Acer has put together recently. More detail will be in the attached video.
This laptop is a great buy that fits nicely between "cheap" and "too cheap". You're obviously not going to be playing graphics intensive games on this. That's not what it's for. If you're looking for a solid internet/email/office apps laptop that is light weight, has decent battery life, is surprisingly speedy, and is cheap, this is it.
I personally use mine for programming classes and meetups. It runs Visual Studio Code with a dozen Chrome pages and LibreOffice open no problem. If you want to watch some YouTube or Netflix, it does that nicely too. I've never noticed any video lags or stuttering. Most apps open up in about 5 to 7 seconds. Chrome opens in less than 5 usually. I also have Linux (Ubuntu 18) running in dual boot. The only problem I have faced with running Linux is that you have to put the touch pad into Basic mode in the BIOS before using Linux as it doesn't support the touch pad in Advanced mode. Advanced mode allows the touch pad to use advanced gestures like pinching and three finger swipes. I don't really miss it in Linux honestly as I don't usually use those gestures much in Windows.
As many have mentioned, the biggest draw back to this laptop is the screen quality and the storage space. If you find that 64GBs isn't enough for you, this problem can easily be solved by an external SD card, USB drive, or cloud storage.
One issue with the SD card reader is that the SD card sticks out about 5/8 of an inch. This would mean you'd probably want to remove it before storing the laptop in a bag. Another option is to buy a Micro SD card and a Shortening Micro SD Card Adapter. These are used in some models of MacBooks and in Raspberry PIs. This would make it so the card sticks out only about 1/4 of an inch, which would make a better permanent space solution. I have not personally done this yet, but I have read that it works.
As for the screen, there's not much you can do there. It is obvious this is the area that Acer decided to make the most cuts, and I can't say that was a bad decision. Since graphics is not going to be an important task on this machine, the screen is going to be adequate for most tasks. Really the only time that I notice it is when I'm trying to share the screen with someone next to me. There simply isn't enough of a viewing angle for a second person to get the best view. But when I'm engrossed in coding, or browsing the internet, I don't notice the screen that much.
This laptop comes loaded with Windows 10 Home S. The "S" means that it comes in what Microsoft calls "S Mode." S Mode simply means that you can only use Microsoft approved apps from the Microsoft store. In order to run third party apps like Chrome, or LibreOffice, you have to switch out of S Mode. This is a permanent change. Once out of S Mode, you can't go back, although I don't suspect most people will care. You will then have a regular version of Windows 10 Home for free. This is a quick and easy switch, and I'm guessing most people would be better off doing this right when you get your laptop. If you need Windows 10 Pro, you will need to purchase the upgrade from the Microsoft Store, which is $99 at the time of this review (11/9/18).
The bottom line is, you have to make sacrifices somewhere when you are this far down on the price spectrum. It's really about what is going to fit your needs the most.
I haven't owned a new laptop since I bought my Asus 6 years ago. I am comparing this little gem with that monster. This is smaller and lighter. The battery life so far much surpasses what I was used to. This Acer has a much more user-friendly keypad and touchpad, and the display and sound are much improved as well. The internet speed is faster and the response to new tasks is quick. The set-up was pretty easy. Nice to have Office included for the first year, therefore saving $60+ out of the gate. I was used to Windows 10 and the s mode does not seem to be a problem as I just use Edge to access what I need without downloading the apps, ie google photos, etc. I did not need anything with bells and whistles and therefore did not want to spend a lot of money - just something better for word processing, social media, emailing, etc. That is exactly what I found.
For around $250, this thing is worth it. I’m running an el gato game capture card on it that’s recording gameplay, I have multiple tabs open, playing music on YouTube from one of them, and I’m downloading mp4 from the game capture all at once. It’s not slowing down or lagging at all right now. I approve.
If you are in the market for a laptop for basic surfing and email needs (which most phones can do), or for mostly word processing, then this device may be a good option for you. Anything beyond that may end with you quickly running into issues with storage space and speed.
The laptop does not use a standard HDD or SSD - instead it uses an eMMC chip. These tend to run faster than standard Hard Disc Drives but are nowhere near the speed and performance of an SSD. There are some questions about how many rewrites they can take before failing but, with the rate at which most people replace laptops, this is probably not a huge issue. The biggest thing that surprised me is that you get basically 40 GB of storage (64 GB before windows 10 eats up 24 GB). 40 GB is really small for a new laptop. You can, of course, use external drives, etc but adding new programs will eat into the storage space on your basic drive.
Windows 10 S means that you can only install windows software from the app store. This will likely be very frustrating for your average teen but if you need a laptop for a child who won't break down in tears at the thought of being limited from the latest popular app or game, then this may not be a problem. This also means that games like Minecraft will need to be the windows 10 version to work on this laptop. The limitations of windows 10 S also mean you cannot run chrome which will be hugely frustrating if that is what you are used to.
I like Acer and have a chromebook and a laptop from this manufacturer that work very well. Like them, the keyboard layout works very well for me. I have included a picture of the keyboard so that you can see the layout. There are some keyboard layouts that I simply cannot get used to and not having an intuitive layout can be a deal breaker.
This laptop, though, is a very basic entry level student laptop which seems to be trying to compete with chromebooks. At the current price point, even if you are sold on windows, I think one can easily find a more powerful device with more storage for a comparable price.
You get a year's subscription to Office 365 - which I personally don't like because you need to keep paying for a yearly subscription once you get used to it. If you want to install free LibreOffice or OpenOffice you will need to get rid of Windows 10 S and switch up to plain windows 10.
Bottom line, this may work for you if you have very specific needs that will not be changing. Personally, I would pay a little bit extra to get a stronger laptop with more storage space.
- Intel Celeron N4000 Dual-Core Processor
- 14" Full HD (1920 x 1080) Widescreen LED-backlit Display
- 4GB DDR4 SDRAM Onboard Memory & 64GB eMMC
- Microsoft Office 365 Personal 1-Year Subscription & Windows 10 Home in S mode
- Up to 6.5 Hours Battery Life
Acer Aspire 1 A114-32-C1YA comes with these high level specs: Intel Celeron N4000 Dual-Core Processor 1.1GHz with Intel Burst Technology, Windows 10 Home in S mode, Microsoft Office 365 Personal 1-Year Subscription, 14" Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-backlit display, Intel UHD Graphics 600, 4GB DDR4 SDRAM Onboard Memory, 64GB eMMC, Secure Digital (SD) card reader, High-Definition Audio Support, Two Built-in Stereo Speakers, 802.11ac WiFi (Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port), Webcam (640 x 480), 1 - USB 3.0 port, 2 - USB 2.0 ports, 1 - HDMI out with HDCP support, 1 - Ethernet (RJ-45) Port, 2-cell Li-Ion Battery (4810 mAh), Up to 6.5-hours Battery Life, 3.64 lbs. | 1.65 kg (system unit only) (NX.GVZAA.003). Do not expose the computer to direct sunlight.Do not place it near sources of heat, such as a radiator
I love it ,Even I don't really need it any more but I decided to keep it ...Very Thin with Smooth Looking , MSOffice One Year
You get what you pay for! I think this is value for money. It’s not built like a tank, it’s plastic but if you are someone that takes care of your things, it lasts just as well. Very good screen resolution and set up is very simple. So far I’ve had no problems with it at all and it does everything I need it to do. I’m not a gaming person at all so this handles everything else very well at a fraction of the cost. I suppose it depends what you need it for. Highly recommended for a low budget computer. If I were to rate it according to those in its class - there would be five stars throughout.
This review is for the Acer A114-32-C1YA. 64gb of storage, 4gb of RAM, Windows S.
I'm a semi-retired I.T. tech, so this review comes from that standpoint.
After booting the device and logging in (using a Microsoft account, not a local account) I upgraded Windows S to Windows Home. This is a free upgrade, but is not reversible. Windows S supports only apps available in the Windows Store; Windows 10 Home supports Office 365 and 3rd party software.
Once Win 10 Home was installed (if you do this, be sure to reboot the system, just to let things stabilize); also Win 10 updates will want to install and the malware definitions of Windows Defender will want to install, so give it some time to do those chores before installing other apps. Before I installed more apps, I removed a BUNCH of apps from the original Win 10 install - the machine comes loaded with "Bloatware" from Microsoft.
After the "Bloatware-ectomy and Windows updates I installed Office 365, Chrome browser, DIA (an open source diagramming application), four printer drivers, Splashtop (a remote access application), a "Caps Lock" indicator app, Dropbox and setting up MS Outlook, a couple of GB of data, and have 33 GB free. 8 GB is taken up by the backup of Windows ("Windows.old") and could be recovered by running 'disk clean / clean system files'.
I tested Windows Remote Desktop and SplashTop and was able to access remote Windows computers without issue. Setting up an old HP4050n printer took some time - the drivers had to be manually configured.
Performance of the Acer with 4gb RAM and an N4000 processor is not earth shaking; it isn't a gaming machine. However, running Office apps or having 3-4 Chrome windows open doesn't seem to task the system.
The keyboard is acceptable for the market price (YMMV since keyboards are subjective). There's no "Caps Lock" indicator on the keyboard. However I've installed a 3rd party freeware program that places an indicator on the screen when Caps Lock is on. (You can find the software by searching the web). I'm finding the screen to be better than I expected for this price point - but again, that's subjective and YMMV.
One irritation - "Cortana" wants to search the web, the local device, the planet, the outer planets, and extend the search to the Andromeda Galaxy for all I know. There's a registry hack that kills ("murders" might be a better word) Cortana and limits searches to the local machine. If I need to search the web, I use Google (or some such); when I'm looking for a file or an app, I want the Windows 10 Home search bar to limit the search to the local machine. Once the hack was in place, the search bar works nicely. You can search the web on how to disable Cortana. Be sure to save a backup copy of the Registry before attempting to edit it.
Since Bitlocker isn't supplied with Win 10 Home (shame on Microsoft for that!!!) I've added a BIOS / boot password so that once shut down the machine can't be fired up w/o the password.
If you need more storage, a USB thumb drive can be installed (some of them are very small and don't extend out of the USB port by much). Online storage (DropBox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.) is also an option (I've disabled OneDrive on my machine). There's an SD card reader, but the card sticks out too far for my taste to leave a card in the machine permanently for storage purposes. YMMV.
(Edit 2/23/19): I added a 64 GB USB drive and moved my 2 GB of data onto that. I used another computer running Window 10 Pro to encrypt the drive using Bitlocker. Windows 10 Home can unlock Bitlocker drives. If the laptop is lost or stolen the BIOS password will protect the Acer from booting up and Bitlocker will protect the data.
The machine is lightweight and would be good for making notes in class or meetings; my primary usage will be to maintain a Windows Server 2012r2 domain controller and network using remote desktop and Splashtop. Email and Office apps run well; I've experienced no issues. Note that I normally have no more than 2-3 apps running at once; if you're in the habit of having 15 web pages open you may stress the machine more than I do. Don't expect to run online games or Adobe PhotoShop or other intensive apps on this machine. But for me - $250 for a serviceable laptop that can do what I need to do w/o fuss rates 5 stars. (There are other computers in the price range with better specs - but the Acer works for me. YMMV.)
(Edit 2/23/2019) After a full battery charge I used the computer on a service call. The computer was in use (no videos, just Office, web searches, and remote accessing client's network machines) from 5 a.m. until 10 a.m.; it was placed into sleep mode until 3 p.m., then used from 3 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. when the "low battery" warning at 20% came on. A little over 7 hours run time, 5 hours sleep mode - not bad at all for the first real day of work.
HTH
Regards
Jim
Only two complaints about this notebook, battery can run down fairly quickly and my main gripe touch pad is a little wonky. I ended up going with a wireless mouse. Keep it plugged in when not on the go and use a mouse and it's a great budget notebook at the price. Good screen display pretty light weight and keyboard is fine.
The Acer Aspire 1 is the Microsoft answer to the continuing onslaught of affordable Google Chromebooks, featuring decent specs, at a downright affordable price. While I would not want to use it as my only machine, as a secondary device, it has much to offer.
An immediate downside is that it ships with Windows 10S, which is a limited version of Windows, that can only install apps from the Windows Store. However, this is easily remedied, and it is a free upgrade to Windows 10 Home, which then allows any Windows program to be used, and is recommended to intermediate and advanced users.
At this price, we can’t expect amazing, but the Acer Aspire 1 is a decent laptop. While the exterior is a lightly textured plastic, it is quite thin with a fanless design, and the keyboard is good although the keys have shallow travel. The touchscreen is also serviceable.
The display is also ok, and with a 1080p resolution, although it could be brighter, and have richer colors. Still, it does not look bargain to my eye. The 3 USB ports, and HDMI port along with an Ethernet port match up well against many mainstream laptops these days.
The CPU is the Celeron N4000, and while it is a dual core part, is the newer Gemini Lake architecture, and has enough horsepower for routine tasks, such as email, word processing and basic web surfing.
The Acer Aspire 1 is gimped in a few departments. The first is the “hard drive” which is 64 GB of eMMC memory, which is a cousin to that flash card in your old digital camera, with speeds more akin to a mechanical hard drive than an SSD. The space is limited, but it should have enough for a Windows upgrade, unlike the 32 GB machines. There is also only 4 GB of RAM, which you can feel when you open up more than a few tabs on your browser. Finally, while there are two speakers, they are fairly small, and the audio lacks punch and bass, which is typical for this type of machine.
Overall, the Acer Aspire 1 is a more than decent bargain machine. While not suited to advanced tasks such as video editing or gaming, for the basics such as email or web browsing it gets the job done. When I pushed it, it was even able to stream a 4K video quite smoothly. This makes it an ideal device for a student to take to class, a senior citizen, or to take on vacation.