The Acer Chromebook 514 is a laptop with a 14 inch full HD IPS display, a backlit keyboard, a Corning Gorilla Glass-covered touchpad, and USB 3.1 Type-C ports.
In other words, it has some premium features by Chromebook standards, but it’s still relatively cheap by laptop standards.
Prices are expected to start around $350 when the Acer Chromebook 514 goes on sale in the US in October.
The laptop also features an HDR webcam, an optional touchscreen display, and Acer says the Chromebook 514 should get up to 12 hours of battery life.
In addition two dual USB-C ports, there’s are two full-sized USB Type-A ports, a headset jack, and a microSD card reader.
The Acer Chromebook 514 should also be available in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) region soon for about €349 and up.
Unfortunately Acer hasn’t revealed anything about the laptop’s processor, memory, or storage yet. I’m told that those details will be available on a region-by-region basis closer to launch.
I honestly don’t expect much from most Chromebooks – there is almost, always a deal-breaker. It’s often anemic, eMMC storage at 16-32gbs or a cpu powerful enough for ChromeOS but not flexible enough for feature-rich Android apps or Linux desktop apps. With the dual-boot option Google will be adding soonish, Chromebook specs need to improve a bit more.
Note: I’m not knocking those users looking for a pure ChromeOS experience with some light Android App support. For others looking to enjoy *all* the promise of ChromeOS (dual-boot, Linux, etc), most Chromebooks will feel like a “Windows S” experience.
Or you could buy last year’s version with the same specs for $200. The only problem is that you need to install ChromeOS yourself (or Ubuntu if you want).
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Celeron-Storage-Windows-A114-31-C5GM/dp/B0752PW6LG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1535555824&sr=8-3&keywords=acer+aspire+1+14
Acer Aspire 1 doesn’t have USB 3.1 C ports or charging, but it does have a HDMI output and uses a standard 19V input.
Looks interesting, especially now that ChromeOS runs both Android and Linux desktop apps.
Would be a nice first lappie for kids that are used to Android apps.