Acer Chromebook 317 - Review 2021 - PCMag AU

It seems surprising, since Chromebooks have been around for a decade, but the Acer Chromebook 317 ($369.99) is the first Chrome OS laptop with a 17.3-inch screen.

The Chromebook 317 (model CB317-1H-C994) lists for $369.99 on Acer.com, though I spotted it at Walmart for $329.

Measuring 0.89 by 15.8 by 10.5 inches and weighing 5.18 pounds, the Acer is the heftiest Chromebook you can buy, though trimmer than some low-cost 17.3-inch Windows laptops like the Dell Inspiron 17 3000 (0.98 by 16.4 by 11 inches, 6.2 pounds).

The wide chassis leaves plenty of room for a standard Chromebook keyboard, a numeric keypad to the right of it, and upward-firing speakers on either side.

For our benchmark-test comparison charts, I stacked up the 317 against four other Chromebooks, including a 15.6-inch convertible (the AMD Ryzen 5-powered Asus Chromebook Flip CM5), and two 15.6-inch clamshells (the Intel Core i3-based HP Chromebook 15, and the Celeron N4000-powered Samsung Chromebook 4+).

The last slot went to our current consumer Editors' Choice award holder, the 13.5-inch Acer Chromebook Spin 713, a Core i5 convertible that's the most expensive in the group ($629).

The Acer Chromebook 317 easily topped the Samsung and its older CPU in the battle of the Celerons, but both placed well behind the Ryzen 5-based Asus and the Core i5-based Acer Chromebook Spin 713.

The Acer 317 managed to snatch the silver medal in this event, showing enough stamina to get you through a full day of work or school, if perhaps not going on to an evening of streaming entertainment or casual gaming.

It's hard to be critical of a laptop that has no competition—if you'd like a 17-inch Chromebook, your options begin and end here

The "3" is as significant as the "17" in the Acer Chromebook 317's model number, telling you that you're getting a modestly equipped, entry-level system rather than one of the fancier, faster machines in Acer's Chromebook 500 or 700 series