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If you are shopping for a great Chromebook for the Back to School season, you may have just found exactly what you are looking for. Right now, Best Buy is offering the Acer Chromebook 516 GE – easily one of my favorite Chromebooks available right now – for just $499. That’s a full $150 off the MSRP and it puts this powerful, capable, feature-filled device into a price range that is must-buy territory.
What to love about the Acer Chromebook 516 GE
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a standout device that is it built from the ground up for cloud gaming, but is also pretty exceptional at handling everything you would want to do on a Chromebook with general ease. And it’s easy to see why.
It is equipped with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5-1240P, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of NVMe storage. Then you have the stunning 16-inch 120Hz 2560×1600 QHD display that delivers a fantastic canvas for all of your work and/or play. Whether you’re gaming or binge-watching your favorite shows, this Chromebook’s screen is a treat; and at 350 nits of brightness with an anti-glare coating, you can comfortably use it under a variety of lighting conditions, too.
Add in upward-firing speakers, an RGB backlit keyboard, a smooth trackpad, and robust I/O (USB Type-C, USB Type-A, full-sized HDMI, or a 2.5Gb Ethernet port) and you have a Chromebook that does nearly everything well and even keeps the weight down to a respectable 3.75 pounds. For a 16-inch Chromebook, that is pretty special, especially since the frame still feels completely and totally rigid.
Simply put, unless you are looking for a convertible or touchscreen Chromebook, this device basically gets it all right. Sure, I’d love to see a model with touch capabilities, but at this size, the lack of a 360-degree hinge doesn’t feel like a miss at all. With a massive $150 off its retail price, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE at $499 is a deal you don’t want to miss if you are in the market right now. I promise, you won’t be sad about getting this Chromebook at a discounted price.
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