Skip the touchscreen and this Acer Chromebook Plus is $299
Looking for a low-cost Chromebook Plus laptop? If you’re willing to forgo a touchscreen, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 fits the bill. Normally priced at an already reasonable $399, Best Buy is selling it for $299 through January 14.
Like all Chromebook Plus models, the Acer meets the minimum requirements to carry that branding. No, a touch display isn’t in the minimum requirements. Whether it should be or not is a different story.
So in terms of hardware, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 runs on a 12th generation Intel Core i3 processor. It’s the 1215U, which is fairly common in recent Core i3 Chromebooks. It also has the required minimum memory and local storage: 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of UFS storage. UFS is faster than the old eMMC storage found in older Chromebooks, so that’s a win.
The display may lack touch capabilities but it’s not lacking in size. This is a 15.6-inch anti-glare IPS panel with 1920 x 1080 resolution. If you like a 16:9, or widescreen, aspect ratio, you’ll be happy. Personally, I prefer the extra real estate of a 16:10 Chromebook display but that’s just me.
Port selection on the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is more than reasonable as well. Both the left and right side of this laptop have USB Type-C ports, for example. There’s also a single Type-A, a full-sized HDMI and microphone/headphone jack.
Aside from missing touch screen functionality, there are two additional features you might want but aren’t present. There is no microSD card slot to expand your local storage, for example. And the keyboard isn’t backlit.
If you don’t mind those omissions and simply want the Chromebook Plus experience for under $300, I recommend checking out this Asus model. It’s not the most premium of the Plus devices. However, it nails the basics and has a current sale price near most entry-level Chromebooks.
Acer is my go-to brand, and while I could adapt to no touchscreen (which I find convenient, situationally, even in desktop mode) backlit keyboard needs to be a “Plus” feature. I’ve had bad experiences with the letters wearing off of keys, though maybe this has only been with (every) HP…
Oops, my oldest Chromebook (Acer with N3160) still in daily use (bathroom 😁) has NO wear on lettering!