Acer is looking to change the way the public views Chromebooks. Its latest offering, the Acer Chromebook 13, which is available for presale starting Monday, will deliver a number of advanced processing features that will help boost functionality for the economical laptop.
It comes on the heels of efforts by Chromebook makers to increase quality and power to give users a better overall experience.
Chromebooks are known for being economical, in both price and manufacturing, which has made some users shy away. But Acer's new model may be a game-changer in the perception of what a Chromebook can offer.
Equipped with a 13.3-inch display, the Acer Chromebook 13 features an additional two inches more in viewing capacity than the majority of its competitors. Add to this the first 192-programable-core graphics panel and the picture quality is top-notch. With a battery life of 13 hours and 2- and 4-MB processor speeds available, this Chromebook delivers where others have lacked.
But topping the media attention's gaze for the Chromebook is its Nvidia Tegra K1 chip, a new processor announced earlier this year which Nvidia claims it will revolutionize mobile and smaller computing devices.
The Tegra K1 is not an average chip. It has a 32-bit, quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 CPU, delivering the power and functionality that users' have come to expect with their computers and laptops.
The Acer Chromebook starting price of $280 should help move the laptop to the top of the Chromebook sector as more users are looking to buy cheaper and more functional computer options. For an additional $20, a full HD display can be had, giving users the best quality picture for television or movie viewing.
The launch of the Chromebook 13 comes only weeks after Acer launched the C720 Chromebook that was equipped with Intel's fourth-generation i3, which received much positive reviews, Tech Times reports.
The cheaper C720-3404 features 2 GB RAM and is priced at $349. For an additional $30, customers can get the higher-end C720-3871, which runs 4 GB memory.
"As one of the most powerful Chromebooks on the market, the additional performance of Core i3 enables an extremely responsive experience while surfing multiple tabs of web pages," says Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager of Intel mobile client platforms Group at Acer, in a statement. "Students, families and business users will recognize the difference in how snappy the new Acer C720 is with Intel Core i3."
Now, with the Chromebook 13, Acer is looking to move toward other chipmakers in the hopes of continuing to innovate on the concept to deliver the best-quality Chromebooks without tacking on additional costs for the consumer.