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At just 2.87 pounds (1.3kg) and 11.34 x 8.03 x 0.79 inches (288 x 204 x 20.05mm; W x D x H), the Acer C740 is perfectly in-line with the Dell Chomebook 11. That laptop weighs 2.91-pounds (1.32kg) with a touchscreen and 2.74 pounds (1.24kg) without touch functionality. The Acer is 0.04 inches slimmer than the Dell Chromebook, a difference that shouldn't really affect your purchase decision.
On the other hand, the luxurious Google Chromebook Pixel is much heavier than either of the education-specific laptops, at 3.3 pounds (1.5kg). However, at just 0.6 inches (15mm) thick, the Pixel is much slimmer, and will fit better into any backpack.
Here is the Acer Chromebook 11 C740 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
Spec sheet
- CPU: 1.5GHz Intel Celeron 3205U (dual-core, 2MB cache)
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics with shared memory
- RAM: 4GB DDR3L SDRAM (1,600 MHz)
- Screen: 11.6-inch HD (1,366 x 768) TFT LCD ComfyView display with 16:9 aspect ratio
- Storage: 16GB SSD
- Ports: HDMI-out, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, SD card reader
- Connectivity: 802.11ac, dual-band Wi-Fi
- Camera: 720p webcam
- Weight: 2.87 pounds
- Size: 11.34 x 8.03 x 0.79 inches W x D x H
It's important to note that the Acer C740 comes with 100GB of free Google Drive storage for the first two years after purchase. So, the pitiful 16GB of internal storage is supplemented by a ton of cloud capacity. However, if you're not keen on storing your data online, then you'll probably want to look elsewhere entirely.
Unfortunately, the Dell and Google Chromebooks don't exactly shine in terms of capacity. The Chromebook Pixel has a total of 32GB internal storage, while the Dell also features only 16GB.
Acer's Intel Celeron processor is what really hurts this device in a head-to-head with the top-of-the-line Pixel. Dell's 2.6GHz, dual-core Intel Celeron Bay Trail-M N2840 chip is a slightly faster processor (in practice) than the 1.5GHz unit inside the Acer C740.
If you or your student needs to be super productive, the Chromebook Pixel comes with a high-end, 2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5200U processor that can turbo boost up to 2.7GHz. That's almost twice as fast as the Acer C740's chip.
The Acer C740 has a nice selection of ports, but not as many as the Dell Chromebook, which comes with a second memory card slot, to help make up for the limited amount of built-in storage.
The Chromebook Pixel comes with two standard USB 2.0 ports and two of its newfangled USB C ports, the reversible connector that supports DisplayPort, HDMI, power, USB, and VGA with an external adapter.
