The 11.6-inch display is where I expected to see Acer skimping most, but it's actually totally usable. Its 1366 x 768 resolution is the same as most 13-inch laptops, so it's even a bit sharper since the pixels are more densely packed. As long as you're not staring at the C7 from six inches away, you won't notice any individual pixels or imperfections. The screen's not particularly bright, and the display and black bezel are both ridiculously reflective — it's also glossy, unlike the matte displays I love on most Chromebooks — but it gets the job done. That's more than I expected from a laptop this cheap.

Every 11.6-inch laptop has a small keyboard, and it always takes some getting used to. The C7's is actually quite good once you spend some time with it — its keys are a little small but well-spaced, well-cushioned, and have a nice clacky travel. Instead of shrinking the Shift key to create more space — like most manufacturers do – Acer instead made the arrow keys tiny, and surrounded them with tiny PgUp and Dn keys. They're really hard to use, but I use Shift much more than the arrows, so I approve of the decision. Like all Chromebooks, the C7 has a bunch of handy function keys above the number row: you get playback and brightness controls, but also one-key access to search, back and forward in the browser, and a window switcher. Once you get the hang of using the keyboard, you really don't have to use the mouse except to scroll.

Thank goodness, too, because the C7's trackpad is horrible. It's sticky as you move your finger across it, and the cursor jumps across the screen in response. It's not even reliable as a pointer, since it's always stuttering around. Two-finger scrolling technically works, but just barely: sometimes I'd swipe and the page would advance by about three lines, and other times it would fly down to the very bottom. Pinch-to-zoom is basically a non-starter — it only worked every other time I tried, and even then took a few seconds to respond. Since Samsung's Chromebook trackpads have typically been really solid, I hate to see Acer not put out a better effort.