Acer offers cheapest Chromebook with Haswell for $199.99

Summary: The new C720-2848 Chromebook has Haswell inside with a cheap price in time for the holidays.

(Image: James Kendrick/ZDNet)

When I reviewed the Acer C720 Chromebook I came away impressed with what you could get for $249.99. The Haswell Celeron processor ran Chrome OS nicely and the 4GB of system RAM moved things right along. Acer is extending the C720 line with the newly announced C720-2848 for just $199.99.

The new Chromebook is essentially the same as the C720 I reviewed, but with only 2GB of system RAM. The reduction in memory allows Acer to offer the C720-2848 for $50 less than the 4GB model.

Hardware specs for Acer C720-2848 Chromebook:

CPU: Intel® Celeron® Processor 2955U, (1.4GHz, 2MB L3 Cache)OS: Chrome OS Memory: 2GBStorage: 16GBDisplay: 11.6-inch, 1366x768, anti-glareCamera: front webcam (1280x720)Connectivity: Wi-fi a/b/g/nPorts/slots: USB 3.0, USB 2.0, HDMI, SD slot Battery: 3,950 mAh, 8.5 hoursThickness: 0.75inWeight: 2.76lbs

The C720-2848 is now available at Best Buy and Amazon in the US.

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

Acer unveils first Chromebook with Haswell for $249

Summary: The fight between ARM and Intel just got more interesting as Acer unveils a new Chromebook for $249 with Haswell.

(Image: Acer)

The Chromebook space is rapidly evolving, and Acer's new model is the first to bring Intel's Haswell technology to the Chromebook. The new Acer C720 has an Intel Celeron processor with Haswell technology with a quoted 8.5-hour battery life.

The Haswell Celeron should bring improved performance over the previous generation processor. Samsung's Series 5 550 Chromebook yields good performance with the older Celeron, so the Acer should be even better. Samsung's older Chromebook gets six hours run time per charge, and the Haswell Celeron should easily beat that. Significantly, Acer is introducing the C710 Chromebook for $249.99.

The Samsung Series 5 is over $500 on Amazon at the time of this writing. Acer's price is the same as the Samsung Chromebook which uses an ARM processor.

The Acer C720 has decent specifications for such a cheap laptop:

Processor: Intel Celeron 2955U Display: 11.6-inch, 1366x768, matte, outdoor viewable Memory: 4GB Storage: 16GB Battery life: 8.5 hours

This is packed in a 2.76lb laptop that is only 0.75in thick. Acer has also worked two USB ports in the C720, one 3.0 and another USB 2.0. 

The Acer C720 Chromebook is available for pre-order now from Amazon and Best Buy online shops.

It is noteworthy that Google and HP recently announced the Chromebook 11 with an ARM processor for $279. That Chromebook only has a quoted battery life of 6 hours.

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James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.