When Asus unveiled the Chromebook Flip C302 earlier this month, it was pretty clear that the 12.5 inch convertible notebook would be a premium upgrade over last year’s low-cost 10.1 inch Chromebook Flip.
The first version of the Asus Chromebook Flip C302 to go on sale is a $499 laptop with a full HD display, a Core M3-6Y30 Skylake processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
But Asus also announced plans to offer higher-priced models with Core M7 processors, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. It turns out there’s also a cheaper option though. Well, probably.
Best Buy has a product page for a Chromebook Flip C302CA-RHPDT11 with a Pentium 4405Y processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. Given the lower-power processor and reduced storage, this model should be more affordable than the version with a Core M3 chip… but it’s not.
Best Buy has priced that Pentium model at $500.
It’s currently out of stock, but the folks at Chrome Unboxed purchased one and took it for a test drive earlier this month. By all accounts, it’s a pretty good laptop, but you probably shouldn’t spend $500 when you can get a Core M3 model for the same price.
I suspect the Pentium version may see a price drop soon though.
I haven’t seen any US pricing for Core M7 models yet, but some UK retailers are starting to show prices and the Asus UK website shows a total of 8 different configurations for the Asus Chromebook Flip C302.
via Chrome Unboxed
Does this model come with a pen?
Of course not. It’s the Samsung Pro / Plus that has a pen.
Other sites report that these new models all come with pens, from Asus and Acer and Lenovo.
Nope, not yet, and I hope never
> Asus also announced plans to offer higher-priced models with Core M7 processors, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. … I haven’t seen any US pricing for Core M7 models yet…
This (unofficial, 2nd-hand) reddit post[1] indicates that the higher spec’d model might not be available in the US:
> “As for the model
with 8GB RAM may not be available in the US. Asus is constantly
developing inspiring and innovative products, but at this time we have
no further information on that particular product.
[1] https://redd.it/5q002p
The itch is very real looking at that top end Core M7, 8GB RAM and 128GB storage but I’m guessing that’s gonna be well way north over 500. At that point I fail to see the sensibility over the garden variety Windows based offerings in the same price range.
Still… I may yet shortlist this once someone somewhere can get around for a full in depth test along with a 100% Linux installation done.