Acer has announced a new Chromebook, the Acer C720P. It follows in Google's Pixel steps by adding a touchscreen but costs less than Google's $1,299.00 Pixel.
Chromebooks run Google's Chrome OS in a laptop shell. They have been great notebook replacements and are completely tied into Google's cloud services, have fast boot up times, no virus threats, and are usually priced similarly to tablets and below Windows and Mac portables.
There are many Chromebook licensees but only Google has released a touchscreen-based Chromebook to take on Windows 8-based notebooks. The Chromebook Pixel is also much more expensive than current devices, retailing for $1,299. The Pixel's high price is due to the HD touchscreen used inside.
Acer sees there aren't any players besides Google's Pixel in the touchscreen-based Chromebook market and will release the Acer C720p in December. The 11.6-inch touchscreen Chromebook will retail at a very affordable $299 price point.
The Acer C720p features an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 touchscreen display. It's powered by a Haswell-based Intel Celeron processor and 2GB of RAM. It has 32GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot and also comes with 100GB of free Google Drive space for two years. The C720p has two USB ports, one is USB 2.0 and one is USB 3.0. You'll also find an HDMI port to connect to televisions and monitors.
Chromebooks have been pretty popular due to their price, as because Chrome OS offers users an alternative to more expensive laptops running Windows or OS X. Chrome OS is also very secure and there are no known virus'. Google also has a Chrome web store where users can install different Chrome apps (most popular mobile apps are there), extensions, and themes. Chromebooks are also famous for their 7-second boot up time and long battery life. Acer's 720p doesn't disappoint and boots up in 7 seconds, while its battery will provide about 7.5 hours of use.
The Acer 720p will be available in December and will be sold by Acer, Amazon, and Best Buy for $299.
