Aspire One Cloudbook 11 and Cloudbook 14
© 2015 Acer America Corporation
Microsoft's answer to the Chromebook -- the Windows 10 Cloudbook -- will come in many shapes, sizes and prices. One of the first is the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 11 and 14 (the numeral indicating screen size, diagonally in inches), specifically designed for "those looking for an online-oriented and portable notebook with a full Windows experience.” Both notebooks come with a one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal1 and up to 1TB1 OneDrive online storage. Reading between the lines, this computer comes with strings attached. In addition, the computer comes ready to run Acer’s cloud-enabled suite of apps, called "abApps" (who names this stuff?) including abPhoto, abMusic, abDocs, and abFiles. Each is designed to let you sync files and documents with other devices, such as another phone or tablet. The laptops have dual digital microphones for having verbal conversations with Cortana, Microsoft's Siri-like interactive talking assistant. Other features include a no fan, a full-sized HDMI port to plug into an external monitor, USB and SD ports, a full keyboard and touchpad, and Wi-Fi. The Acer One Cloudbook 11 is available now and the 14 will be available in September.
$169199, Windows
Teaches: A Windows 10-based laptop