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.