Amongst the flurry of announcements from Acer (the Predator 17X and the liquid cooled Switch Alpha 12), came another new line of laptops; the Chromebook 14.
The first thing that stands out for the Chromebook 14 is that it is completely encased in aluminum alloy, and reportedly is compliant with U.S. Military Standard (MIL-STD 810G) testing and can withstand 132 pounds of downward force and drops of up to 4 feet, so it should mostly stand up to the rigors of every day accidents, say slipping from the table. Also it has a spill-resistant backlit keyboard which offers protection against up to 11 fluid ounces courtesy of two drain holes that keep water away from internal components. Acer’s new Chromebook is also rated for operation under rough conditions such as extreme temperatures, humidity, vibration, rain sand and dust.
Powered by a 6th generation (Skylake) Intel Core processor, buyers can use between 2GB, 4GB or 8GB of LPDDR3 SDRAM, and 16GB or 32GB eMMC storage. The Chromebook 14 will be available in HD (1366 x 768) and Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolutions with anti-glare and a viewing angle of 170 degrees, and the battery life is estimated to be at 12 hours and 10 hours respectively.
You will find USB 3.0 Type-C connector ports and a HDMI is you want to use an external display. All this comes in a laptop that weights 3.2 pounds. As it is named a Chromebook, Google’s Chrome OS is what drives the laptop. Expect the Chromebook 14 to be available in May for a MSRP of USD$349.
