While Apple continues to price gouge people working on their Pintrest pages at cafes — if we may generalize sweepingly, no one using a MacBook at a coffee shop neither can nor should be taken too seriously — Google hammers down prices, even for the most casual of user. First, Google and Samsung joined forced again to unveil a $249 Chromebook (which we still cannot find anywhere, proving its popularity). Now today, the Mountain View-based company teams up with Acer to announce the C7 Chromebook for a mere $199.
Which: that's cheap. Very cheap. The Acer C7 Chromebook boasts an 11.6-inch display as well as an Intel Core processor and a 320 GB hard drive. Google has more details:
The new Acer C7 Chromebook delivers a hassle-free computing experience with speed, built-in security and the simplicity of automatic updates. It features a full-size keyboard, fully clickable trackpad, an extra bright 11.6-inch display and over 3.5 hours of battery life. Powered by an Intel Core processor, the Acer Chromebook is fast—boots up in 18 seconds, resumes instantly and high-definition videos play smoothly (yes, videos like Gangnam Style in 1080p, in case you’re one of the few left who hasn’t seen it). You can easily store your stuff on the Chromebook or in the cloud, with a 320GB hard drive and 100GB of free storage on Google Drive.
TechCrunch gives their thoughts along with some further specs:
The computer is also slightly bulkier than its $250 sibling, at 1 inch thick and weighing 3 lbs, compared to just 0.7-inches and 2.4 lbs for the Samsung. As for ports, it has HDMI and VGA out, along with three USB 2.0 ports (no high speed here), an audio/input 3.5 mm jack and an Ethernet port for wired networking. It has dual band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi for wireless connectivity, and an HD camera for video communications.
While not as exciting or game-changing as anything Apple bombastically reveals biannually, it is a great move toward affordable or disposable, if you will, technology. The C7 Chromebook will go n sale tomorrow on Google Play and Best Buy's website.
