Present at the Bett Show in London, Acer unveiled two new affordable Chromebooks, as well as a Chromebox. The announcement came immediately after Lenovo also unveiled a series of new Chromebooks for 2018.
Acer Chromebook 11 C732
The first laptop is the Acer Chromebook 11 C732, which is a simple, fan-less notebook aimed at the education customers. With this in mind, Acer has made the Chromebook quite durable adding an IP41 rating which ensures the device is safeguarded from dripping water, so it can be used regardless of weather conditions.
The Chromebook 11 C732 is also compliant with the stringent US MIL-STD 810G military standard that adds sand and dust intrusion protection, as well. Thanks to its durable corner-shield structure and rubber bumper surrounding the spill-resistant keyboard, the Chromebook can survive a drop from heights up to 122 cm / 48 inches.
Acer will be offering the new laptop with either an Intel Celeron dual-core processor N3350 or Intel Celeron quad-core processor N3450 and 16GB, 32GB or 64GB storage options. Battery life is rated at 12 hours.
The Chromebook 11 C732 offers 4G LTE connectivity on certain models, on top of the Bluetooth 4.2 and 2×2 MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi. There’s also USB-C and USB 3.0 and a microSD card slot.
The new Chromebook can be purchased with either an 11.6-inch IPS HD touchscreen display (C732T) or a non-touch IPS or TN HD display (C732). In both cases, students will be able to take advantage of a hinge that opens a full 180 degrees, allowing the laptops to be laid flat on a surface.
The Chromebook 11 C732 will arrive in the US in March, starting at $299 for the touchscreen model and $279 for the non-touchscreen one.
Chromebook Spin 11
According to Acer, the new Spin 11 is the successor of the R 11 model. It comes with the same 360-degree hinge, but it offers a few extra things like two USB-C 3.1 ports, which join the previous two USB 3.1 ports and microSD card, reader.
The laptop can be configured with various Intel processor, including a quad-core Intel Pentium N4200, quad-core Celeron N3450 or a dual-core Celeron N3350. Customers can opt for either 4GB or 8GB of RAM in combination with 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage.
Like the Chromebook 11 C732, the Spin 11 takes advantage of a touch-enabled 11.6-inch HD IPS display that can be flipped all the way back allowing for four different user modes: tablet, theater, tent and traditional notebook. Acer promises the Spin 11 will be able to last up to 10 hours without a charge.
But the big highlight here is the embedded Wacom Electro-Magnetic Resonance technology which allows users to use a Wacom EMR stylus with the laptop.
Both Chromebooks run Chrome OS on board and come pre-loaded with the Google Play Store.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 11 will be available starting March for $349 and up.
Chromebox CXI3
Last but not least, Acer unveiled the Chromebook CXI3. With a slim profile, the device can be attached to a monitor or stand vertically with the included stand. It’s powered by an 8th-gen Intel Core processor and offers the services of a microSD card slot, USB and audio jack. On the back, there’s Gigabit Ethernet, three USB ports, HDMI and USB-C.
The new Chromebook is targeted at education and commercial customers. No word on price and availability just yet.
