Acer unveils world's first touchscreen Chromebook, starting at $299

[Shawn Knight]

Acer on Tuesday announced the C720P Chromebook, the industry’s first touchscreen Chromebook. As you’d expect, the screen supports common gestures including swipe, tap and pinch to zoom as part of a hands-on approach when interacting with Chrome OS.

The C720P, measuring 0.78-inches thick and weighing in at 2.98 pounds, features an 11.6-inch ComfyView HD LED backlit display operating at 1,366 x 768 and is powered by an Intel Celeron 2955U processor. Obviously this isn’t the fastest chip on the block but it is based on Haswell’s microarchitecture which means it’ll provide solid battery life (up to 7.5 hours) and should be more than plenty for a great experience under Chrome OS.

Elsewhere we find 2GB of DDR3 memory and 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. The machine is equipped with a 32GB solid state drive that enables the system to boot up in just seven seconds and resume from sleep very quickly. Should you need extra storage, the system’s USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports will facilitate the use of external drives or you can use up to 100GB of Google Drive storage free for the first two years after purchase.

Priced at a penny under $300 for the base model, the Acer C720P Chromebook will be available in multiple configurations starting early next month through the Acer Store, Amazon and Best Buy. The system ships with a standard one year parts and labor warranty which can be extended to three years through the Acer Advantage service program for an additional fee.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/54827-acer-unveils-worlds-first-touchscreen-chromebook-starting-at-299.html

 

[Jad Chaar]

I may pick one of these up....

 

[Trillionsin]

I may pick one of these up....

Looks kind of cheap, like their usualy middle to low end laptops they make... few decent ones... but most Acer's stuff seems pretty cheaply made to me.. and this is coming from someone who repairs laptops on a daily basis. (dont get me wrong, there's cheaper made ones by HP and Dell, too)

 

[Guest]

I think I read it somewhere (or here at techspot) that chromebooks did not sell well.
if that was really the case, why release this 'touchscreen chromebook' version?.
is 'not selling well' a marketing ploy or is this an exit strategy for acer to pull out from windows business and focus instead on android-powered devices?

 

[Guest]

If they're making them touchscreen, why not just have them pre-loaded them with Android? I'm not a fan of Chrome OS anyways, I'd much prefer an Android hybrid.

 

[cliffordcooley]

If they're making them touchscreen, why not just have them pre-loaded them with Android? I'm not a fan of Chrome OS anyways, I'd much prefer an Android hybrid.

Would that not defeat the concept behind calling it the first touchscreen Chromebook? If they are going to call it a Chromebook, it should come with Chrome OS?

 

[Ritwik7]

The first touchscreen Chromebook is the Chromebook Pixel from Google. I have one and it's an absolute joy to use for everyday work!

 

[Guest]

The first touchscreen Chromebook is the Chromebook Pixel from Google. I have one and it's an absolute joy to use for everyday work!

Chromebook and work in the same comment? Really now, I find that intriguing? Tell me more, unless of course all you use it for is basic online document editing that can be done virtually anywhere and on virtually any hardware, in which case... doesn't that mean this "laptop", and I use that word very lightly, is just a glorified web browser meant for anything but the most basic rudimentary tasks? Maybe its just me, but why settle for the banged up old Volkswagen beetle, when for just a little more you can get a basic LAPTOP, not used lightly here, that does everything the afore mentioned Chromebook does, and so much more, so you can do that "work" you claim you do and maybe something outside of Googles walled garden, or vegetable patch, whichever term makes you happier. In fact with prices coming down the way they are, I don't really see the need or appeal of these things... but then maybe that's just my opinion, in which case carry on...

 

[Ritwik7]

The first touchscreen Chromebook is the Chromebook Pixel from Google. I have one and it's an absolute joy to use for everyday work!

Chromebook and work in the same comment? Really now, I find that intriguing? Tell me more, unless of course all you use it for is basic online document editing that can be done virtually anywhere and on virtually any hardware, in which case... doesn't that mean this "laptop", and I use that word very lightly, is just a glorified web browser meant for anything but the most basic rudimentary tasks? Maybe its just me, but why settle for the banged up old Volkswagen beetle, when for just a little more you can get a basic LAPTOP, not used lightly here, that does everything the afore mentioned Chromebook does, and so much more, so you can do that "work" you claim you do and maybe something outside of Googles walled garden, or vegetable patch, whichever term makes you happier. In fact with prices coming down the way they are, I don't really see the need or appeal of these things... but then maybe that's just my opinion, in which case carry on...

Well, firstly, "for just a little LESS" than the Chromebook Pixel, I could have got myself a MacBook Pro. However, as for everyday work, I allude to extensive web development and programming, as well as the basic internet browsing, document editing, media, etc. I run Linux on the Pixel via a chroot environment and the experience is fantastic. The device has an absolutely brilliant screen that has a better resolution than even the Retina display MacBooks and the keyboard and touchpad are the very best that I have ever used on a laptop.

Now, I know, $1500 is not worth spending on this device if you want to do a whole plethora of other tasks such as gaming, video/audio encoding, CAD and the likes. In this regard I can agree with you. For all of that I have my desktop.

Personally, a Chromebook is a better better device to have on you than a tablet, if you're doing anything more than social networking or playing casual games. All Chromebooks (other than the Pixel) have a very low price tag and the fact that it is extremely easy to get an OS like Ubuntu running on it is definitely an added bonus.

 

[Guest]

Would that not defeat the concept behind calling it the first touchscreen Chromebook? If they are going to call it a Chromebook, it should come with Chrome OS?

The whole concept of the Chromebook is just weak. For just a bit more money you can buy a real PC that doesn't depend on the cloud, has much more storage, and can do real work. Ditch Chrome OS and the Chromebook moniker.

 

[Guest]

Well, firstly, "for just a little LESS" than the Chromebook Pixel, I could have got myself a MacBook Pro. However, as for everyday work, I allude to extensive web development and programming, as well as the basic internet browsing, document editing, media, etc. I run Linux on the Pixel via a chroot environment and the experience is fantastic. The device has an absolutely brilliant screen that has a better resolution than even the Retina display MacBooks and the keyboard and touchpad are the very best that I have ever used on a laptop.
Now, I know, $1500 is not worth spending on this device if you want to do a whole plethora of other tasks such as gaming, video/audio encoding, CAD and the likes. In this regard I can agree with you. For all of that I have my desktop.
Personally, a Chromebook is a better better device to have on you than a tablet, if you're doing anything more than social networking or playing casual games. All Chromebooks (other than the Pixel) have a very low price tag and the fact that it is extremely easy to get an OS like Ubuntu running on it is definitely an added bonus.

Ah, that last sentence is where you nail it on the head. The only reason you would buy a Chromebook is to install another OS on it to get any real computing done. I cant see where this "OS", and now I use that extremely lightly, fits in. It has no real benefit. Yes you can use any of googles services, but you can do that on ANY platform, so why do you need to buy expensive hardware just to run what is essentially a browser. You said you run Linux on your Pixel, but what happened to using ChromeOS? Yes, it has an awesome set of hardware, but by the very nature of the OS it was intended to run it was so much overkill its not even funny. You get many tablets that can do more than this OS can do, and you get so many tablet accessories that can mimic the functionality of a lapto, perhaps not its size, but virtually everything else. Now don't get me wrong here, I still believe a full blown laptop (even a hybrid) or desktop is still better to own than any tablet, and certainly the Cromebook. I just fail to see why anyone wants to be so limited and rely so much on just one company and its services, exactly what Google intends for you to do. You may argue that Windows is the same, but last I checked, Microsoft still allows you to install anything or use any service on windows, and it certainly doesn't require the cloud if you don't want it. Yes its more expensive, but for what you get with it and I mean the freedom to use your laptop anyway you choose, even if people don't like windows 8 metro you can still customize it with 3rd party options and functions. So, buy a Chromebook just so you can install another OS on it, you'll probably have to install a larger hard disk anyway so there goes some of your savings, or just go ahead and spend just a little more and purchase any one of the many cheap laptop alternatives out there.

 

[Chuck Cortes]

As cool as the Pixel is and as cool as ChromeOS may be I have to agree with Guest above. The Pixel is just an overpriced browser. Sure you can do all kinds of things online if you have the know how of where to find the sites like I do (love doing stuff online rather than installing apps) but I can do that on any PC, even a Mac or Linux. Tablets and smartphones may be a bit more work due to small screens and not having a keyboard handy all the time (screen keyboards are not convenient at all) but I can still do what ChromeOS can on it.

Personally I think ChromeOS should have been what it is on Windows 8 apps. Google created a Windows 8 app for the Chrome browser which looks and acts like ChromeOS. Basically ChromeOS should be what it is, a browser upgrade for the Chrome browser.