Windows Pinebook Alternative

MrPenguinPants9 · March 26, 2020

Guys, I found a good pinebook alternitive. It is an Acer C720 Renewed. I actually have one of these,(dad got it when it was new, but since got an actual windows PC) with the 2gb ram with a 64gb SSD, and you have yourself an OK laptop for around 100 dollars!

The Laptop

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DXGJNPF/ref=twister_B07WV5N5MR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

The SSD

https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-128GB-MTS430S-Solid-TS128GMTS430S/dp/B07KG2G152/ref=sr_1_3?crid=10RGQS991R8P&keywords=transcend+64gb+msata+ssd&qid=1585202681&sprefix=trancend+%2Caps%2C255&sr=8-3

A guide for how to get windows up and running on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mykS0A1f3wI

All of this was the exact same equipment and guides I used and was able to get it working. I cannot provide any benchmarks scores, as my dad wanted it back so I had to install ChromeOS back onto it. Once you follow all of this stuff, ChromeOS can be restored.

It performed all right, ran chrome, office applacations, and even extremely light games just fine. For the games, I played Factorio and Minecraft. Minecrafts settings had to be bare minimum and almost bare minimum for Factorio. Both games ran at about 30-40 FPS for me. I also tried Linux, and honestly, it performed similarly. I used both for about a year.

For someone on a budget looking for a cheap windows machine that can actually do something, as long as you are willing to do a bit of tinkering, you should be fine. But honestly, for 100 dollars, it is actually quite a good little computer. Also, one thing that separates this from the pinebook is that it can actually be a daily driver.