Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Acer Chromebook 512 Comparison

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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

12.4 inches | October 2020

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Acer Chromebook 512

12 inches | January 2022

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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Acer Chromebook 512 Comparison Overview

Microsoft Surface La...

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Acer Chromebook 512

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Microsoft Surface La...

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Acer Chromebook 512

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In this review, we will be comparing Surface Laptop Go and Chromebook 512, two laptops from Microsoft and Acer. Microsoft Surface Laptop Go was introduced to market in October 2020 and Acer Chromebook 512 was launched in January 2022. There is 15 months difference between Surface Laptop Go and Chromebook 512 so it would still give an advantage to younger Chromebook 512.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and Acer Chromebook 512 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Key Specs

Launched in October 2020
12.4" TouchScreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i5 1035G1
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics G1
4GB Ram
278.18 x 205.67 x 15.69 mm (10.95 x 8.1 x 0.62 inches)
Weight: 1.11 kg (2.45 lbs)

Acer Chromebook 512 Key Specs

Launched in January 2022
12.0" TN LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Celeron N5100
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics (Jasper Lake 24 EU)
4GB Ram
297.18 x 231.4 x 21.08 mm (11.7 x 9.11 x 0.83 inches)
Weight: 1.3 kg (2.87 lbs)

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go was replaced by Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 vs Microsoft Surface Laptop Go
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 vs Acer Chromebook 512

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Surface Laptop Go and Chromebook 512 compares and decide which one is better for you.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reasons to choose Microsoft Surface Laptop Go over Acer Chromebook 512

Weight	1.11 kg vs 1.30 kg	0.19 kg lighter
Screen-to-Body Ratio	~80% vs ~62.4%	Larger screen area ratio
Side Bezel Thickness	8 mm vs 21.8 mm	13.8 mm thinner bezels
Display Size	12.4 inches vs 12 inches	Larger Screen Estate
Screen PPI	149 ppi vs 137 ppi	More pixels per inch
Touch Screen	Yes vs No	Interact with your fingers
Screen Resolution	1536 x 1024 pixels vs 1366 x 912 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
Max Brightness	300 nits vs 235 nits	Brighter Screen
GPU FLOPS	0.46 TFLOPS vs 0.3 TFLOPS	Easily increase the Storage when needed
Upgradable Storage	Yes vs No	Faster data transfers
NVMe Type SSD	Yes vs No	3D Surround Sound Support
Dolby Atmos Speakers	Yes vs No	Better Sound capture
Number of Microphones	2 vs 1	Easy login with fingerprint
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes vs No

Reasons to choose Acer Chromebook 512 over Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Screen Type	Matte vs Glossy	potentially less reflections on screen
Number of USB-A Ports	2x USB 3.2 vs 1x USB 3.2	Connect more device at the same time
Number of USB-C Ports	2x USB 3.2 vs 1x USB 3.2	Connect more device at the same time
SD Card Reader	Yes vs No	Read & Write SD Cards with the built-in reader

Common Strengths of Acer Chromebook 512 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Wi-Fi Standard	v6 vs v6	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
VGA Output	No vs No	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable

Common Weaknesses of Acer Chromebook 512 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

HDR Support	No vs No	No HDR Support
Upgradable RAM	No vs No	No Option to increase the RAM size
HDMI Output	No vs No	Need an adapter to connect to HDMI displays

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Acer Chromebook 512: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and the Acer Chromebook 512.

Physical Specs
Weight	1.11 kg (2.45 lbs)	1.3 kg (2.87 lbs)
Surface Area	572 cm2 (88.7 inches2)	688 cm2 (106.6 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~80%	~62.4%
Side Bezel Thickness	~8 mm	~21.8 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.09 kg/inch	0.11 kg/inch
	0.198 lbs/inch	0.242 lbs/inch
Colors	Silver, Gold, Blue	Black

Comparison of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and the Acer Chromebook 512 External Dimensions

Weight

Surface Laptop Go weighs 1.11 kg (2.45 lbs), whereas the Chromebook 512 weighs 1.3 kg (2.87 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. However, it's important to consider that comparing their weights directly may not provide a complete picture since they also have different display sizes.

Weight Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 1.11 kg

Acer Chromebook 512 1.30 kg

Min 0.77 kg

Average 1.11 kg

Max 1.30 kg

Thickness Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 15.70 mm

Acer Chromebook 512 21.10 mm

Min 8.50 mm

Average 14.24 mm

Max 21.10 mm

Another value that we use for comparing the weights of the laptops is the Weight per Inch of Screen, which is calculated by dividing the total weight of the model with its usable diagonal screen size. This value for the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go is 0.09 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the Acer Chromebook 512 is 0.11 kg/inch.Here are some of the best performing laptops in this area:

Microsoft Surface Go 4: 0.05 kg/inch
LG Gram SuperSlim 15.6 2023: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus ProArt PZ13 HT5306: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407: 0.06 kg/inch
Dell Latitude 7330: 0.07 kg/inch
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2022: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2-in-1 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Acer Chromebook 512: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Core i5 1035G1	Intel Celeron N5100 Intel Pentium Silver N6000
Base Frequency	1.0 GHz	1.1 GHz
Turbo Frequency	3.6 GHz
Number of Cores	4	4
Number of Threads	8	4
L3 Cache	6 MB	4 MB
Integrated GPU	Intel UHD Graphics G1	Intel UHD Graphics (Jasper Lake 24 EU)
CPU Fabrication Process	10 nm	10 nm
Geekbench 5 (Single)	1100	623
Geekbench 5 (Multi)	2924	1665
Cinebench 23 (Single)	1079	697
Cinebench 23 (Multi)	4263	1812

Above you can see the CPU options and the CineBench and GeekBench test scores for both laptops, which gives an idea about what kind of performance difference you may experience between the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and Acer Chromebook 512.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPUs and compare them:

Laptops with: Intel Core i5 1035G1

Laptops with: Intel Celeron N5100

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Intel UHD Graphics G1	Intel UHD Graphics (Jasper Lake 24 EU)
Base Clock Frequency	300 MHz	300 MHz
Boost CLock Frequency	900 MHz	1200 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	15 W	15 W
Type	Integrated	Integrated
FLOPS	460.8 GFLOPS	460.8 GFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Type	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Bus	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Speed	System Shared	System Shared
Shading Units Cores	256	192
TMUs	16	12
ROPs	8	6

GPU is as critical as the CPU for graphic heavy applications and the table above gives a picture of how the two GPU compares. FLOPS is a measure of a GPU's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. Microsoft Surface Laptop Go has a FLOPS value of 0.46 TFLOPS whereas the Acer Chromebook 512 ' has a FLOPS value of 0.3 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	4GB 8GB 16GB	4GB 8GB
Memory Bus	2x2 GB	1x4 GB
RAM Clock	1866 MHz	4266 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR4X	LPDDR4X
Upgradable	No	No
Memory Bus	PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x)	Custom

Both laptops, the Surface Laptop Go and the Chromebook 512, come with similar RAM capacities of 4 GB, providing comparable performance in memory-intensive tasks.

LOCAL LLM Compatibility Evaluation

This quick guide shows what types of large language models (LLMs) each of these laptops could support, based on their respective hardware specifications. It's meant to help you compare their suitability for running AI models locally.

LLM Category	Microsoft Surface Laptop Go	Acer Chromebook 512
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.

Note: Optimized (e.g., 4-bit) models may run on limited hardware. Performance depends on runtime and setup.

📌 MoE Models: Some models like Mixtral 8x7B and Qwen3-30B-A3B use a Mixture of Experts (MoE) design, activating only part of the model during inference. This means they can often run efficiently on laptops with 12–16 GB of VRAM when quantized.

BATTERY

BATTERY	39 Wh	0 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Po	Li-Ion
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	No	No
USB Power Delivery	No
Charging Port Position	Right	Left
Charge Power	39 W	45 W
Full Charging Time	1:10 hr
AC Adapter Weight	218 gramm

On the other hand, the Chromebook 512 features a higher battery capacity of 45 Wh, delivering longer usage time compared to the Surface Laptop Go's 39 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 39 Wh

Acer Chromebook 512 45 Wh

Min 39.00 Wh

Average 43.28 Wh

Max 49.00 Wh

STORAGE
With a larger storage capacity up to 256 GB, the Surface Laptop Go provides more space for storing files and applications compared to the Chromebook 512's max. storage capacity of 64 GB.

Storage Options	64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB	32 GB, 64 GB
Upgradable	Yes	No
Storage type	eMMC	eMMC
NVMe	Yes	No

If your budget allows, we recommend opting for the largest possible disk size, considering the potential increase in storage capacity needs in the future. However, please keep in mind the question 'What will the laptop be used for?' when making this decision. Of course, you can later upgrade the hard disk capacity by getting a larger disk. However, if your laptop has only one disk slot, it may not be as straightforward as a RAM upgrade, where you simply add or replace a module, as moving or cloning files to a new disk may be necessary.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Acer Chromebook 512: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and Acer Chromebook 512 since its is the component that you interact the most and significantly impact the experience.

Screen Area and Dimensions

Now let's look at the comparison of the actual display areas of both laptops below, keeping the bezels around the screens out of the equation. Surface Laptop Go has a display size of 12.4".On the other hand, Chromebook 512 has a smaller 12.0" display.The total usable screen area of the Surface Laptop Go is 458cm² / 71inch² whereas the Chromebook 512's total usable screen area is 429cm² / 66inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the Surface Laptop Go features a higher pixel density with 149 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 149 ppi

Acer Chromebook 512 137 ppi

Min 137 PPI

Average 199 PPI

Max 267.00 PPI

Refresh Rate
Both Surface Laptop Go and Chromebook 512 offer the same refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Brightness
The Surface Laptop Go offers a higher maximum brightness of 300 nits, delivering a brighter screen.

Brightness Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 300 nits

Acer Chromebook 512 235 nits

Min 235 nits

Average 370 nits

Max 400.00 nits

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Acer Chromebook 512 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Both laptops offer the same Wi-Fi standard (v6), ensuring fast and reliable wireless connections.

Below, you'll find a Wi-Fi Versions Table, along with their release dates and speeds, to provide a brief overview of its development.

Wi-Fi Versions and Speeds

Standard	Speed	Release Date	Network	Frequency Bands (GHz)
Wi-Fi 7	up to 40 Gbps (5 GB/s)	2023	802.11be	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6E	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2020	802.11ax	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2019	802.11ax	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	up to 6.93 Gbps (866.25 MB/s)	2014	802.11ac	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 4	up to 600 Mbps (75 MB/s)	2009	802.11n	2.4, 5

* Please note that the provided transfer rates are maximum theoretical values, and real-life performance may vary based on environmental factors.

USB
Both Surface Laptop Go and Chromebook 512 have USB-A ports. Surface Laptop Go has 1x USB 3.2 USB-A ports, while Chromebook 512 has 2x USB 3.2 USB-A ports.
Both Surface Laptop Go and Chromebook 512 have USB Type-C ports. Surface Laptop Go has 1x USB 3.2 USB Type-C ports, while Chromebook 512 has 2x USB 3.2 USB Type-C ports.

Below, you'll find a table of USB ports, along with their release dates and speeds.
To mitigate the confusion caused by generation names, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) suggests using marketing names like USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and so forth, based on their respective transfer rates.

USB Type and Speeds

USB Type	Version	Speed	Date	Other Features/Explanations
USB4	Gen 4 (2.0)	80 Gbps	2022	Also known as USB 80Gbps
USB4	Gen 3×2	40 Gbps	2019	Also known as USB 40Gbps
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2x2	20 Gbps	2019	Double the data transfer rates of Gen 2
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.1
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3.1 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2013	Faster data transfer rates
USB 3.0	3.1 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2010	SuperSpeed USB, improved data transfer rates
USB 2.0	2.0	480 Mbps	2000	High-speed data transfer
USB 1.0	1.0	1.5 Mbps	1996	Original USB standard

Thunderbolt
Neither Surface Laptop Go nor Chromebook 512 has Thunderbolt port.

HDMI
Neither Surface Laptop Go nor Chromebook 512 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors. Neither Surface Laptop Go nor Chromebook 512 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors.

Below, you'll find a comparison table detailing different HDMI versions, including their bandwidth, color depth, maximum resolution, and release dates. This information can be helpful in understanding the capabilities of each HDMI version and choosing the most suitable one for your needs.

HDMI Comparison Table

HDMI Version	Maximum Resolution	Bandwidth (Gbps)	Color Depth (bits)	Release Date
HDMI 2.1-2.1b	7680 x 4320 *(8K)* @ 60p 3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 120p	48.0	48	2017
HDMI 2.0-2.0b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 60p	18.0	48	2013
HDMI 1.4-1.4b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 30p	10.2	48	2009
HDMI 1.3-1.3a	2560 x 1440 @ 60p	10.2	48	2006
HDMI 1.0-1.2a	1920 x 1200 @ 60p	4.95	24	2002

* Please note that the provided resolution values represent the maximum supported resolution, and actual display quality may depend on other factors such as source content and connected devices.

SD Card Reader
Chromebook 512 is equipped with an SD Card Reader for easy access to memory cards. Surface Laptop Go does not have an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
Both Surface Laptop Go and Chromebook 512 are equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, providing seamless connection to headphones and speakers.

To summarize the connectivity and ports details, please refer to the table below to see them listed.

Connectivity and Ports
WiFi Standard (latest: v7)	v6	v6
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5	v5
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	1x USB 3.2	2x USB 3.2
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	1x USB 3.2	2x USB 3.2
Thunderbolt (latest: 4)	No	No
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	No	No
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes	No
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	No	No
SD CardReader	No	Yes
Proprietary Charging Port	Yes	No