I bought an Acer C720 back in November, the model that came with 4GB of RAM and the Haswell chipset. I purposely bought that model as some reviews indicated a longer battery life, and I have been getting 8 hours or more with it. It costs $250 compared to other models with 2GB RAM at $199. My model came with 12 go-go sessions and I've been using those on longer AA domestic flights where that access is generally between $15-20 per session.

Traveled with it to Spain, Austria and Germany so far this year, along with a bunch of domestic trips, and then it died on me in May, a few days before a two-week Australia trip. Hard drive and screen both ended up being replaced at their repair facility in Texas under warranty (turned around the same week I sent it in). The screen was getting some minor damage from the keyboard, as if it was too close to the screen when it was closed, but I wasn't ready to send it in for that yet. Once the hard drive went, though, not much of a choice. Diagnostics with google pointed to hardware and Acer approved the return a few mins into an on-line chat.

As I needed something for Australia, I replaced it with an HP chromebook with a 14 inch screen from Costco in mid-May ($379, 4G/32SSD). I like the operating system as I can just open the lid and be typing in 10 seconds. This model weighs about 4 pounds and I barely notice I have it along in my day pack. I also travel with a tablet which I use for Skype and also for mapping apps when I'm out on foot touring. It's now my primary travel computer and the 11 inch Acer becomes the dining room table computer (had to use it somewhere).

One BIG feature with this HP model: 200MB of 4G cellular access with TMobile every month. Used it yesterday on the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton and worked perfectly. Could come in handy in the U.S. in places without free wi-fi.

I tried to play MP4s on a USB stick and chrome would not recognize the file format. No issue with the tablet. Might be some other apps that won't work with chrome, but as I'm using it primarily for e-mail and uploading photos, it meets my needs when I'm traveling. I do not have a need to print from it so haven't crossed that path.

Tom in Bremerton, Washington tonight with a chromebook