Laptops

Acer adds touchscreen model to C720 Chromebook line

Acer adds touchscreen model to C720 Chromebook line
Acer has announced its first touchscreen Chromebook, the C720P
Acer has announced its first touchscreen Chromebook, the C720P
View 6 Images
The Chromebook C720P has an Intel Celeron (Haswell) 2955U processor running at 1.4 GHz at its heart, with Intel HD graphics
1/6
The Chromebook C720P has an Intel Celeron (Haswell) 2955U processor running at 1.4 GHz at its heart, with Intel HD graphics
Acer has announced its first touchscreen Chromebook, the C720P
2/6
Acer has announced its first touchscreen Chromebook, the C720P
The Chromebook C720P has a full-size keyboard and a gesture touchpad
3/6
The Chromebook C720P has a full-size keyboard and a gesture touchpad
The C720P features an 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution, LED-backlit ComfyView, anti-glare display
4/6
The C720P features an 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution, LED-backlit ComfyView, anti-glare display
The Acer Chromebook C720P is 0.78 in thin, and tips the scales at 2.98 lb
5/6
The Acer Chromebook C720P is 0.78 in thin, and tips the scales at 2.98 lb
The hinge allows 145 degrees of adjustment for comfortable viewing and touch interaction
6/6
The hinge allows 145 degrees of adjustment for comfortable viewing and touch interaction
View gallery - 6 images

Acer has followed last month's release of its C720 Chromebook with the launch of its first touchscreen variant. In addition to supporting up to 10 simultaneous touch points, the C720P is claimed to boot up from cold in just 7 seconds, has twice the built-in storage of its slightly older cousin and comes with 100 GB of Google Drive storage for two years.

The C720P-2666 Chromebook, as you may have already guessed, runs Google's Chrome operating system. It features a similar 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution, LED-backlit ComfyView, anti-glare display to its C720 series stablemates, but this one allows users to reach out and pinch, swipe and tap the screen to their heart's content.

The 11.34 x 8.03 x 0.78 in (28.8 x 20.4 x 1.98 cm), 2.98 lb (1.35 kg) notebook has an Intel Celeron (Haswell) 2955U processor running at 1.4 GHz at its heart, with Intel HD graphics, supported by 32 GB of SSD storage and 2 GB of DDR3L SDRAM.

The hinge allows 145 degrees of adjustment for comfortable viewing and touch interaction
The hinge allows 145 degrees of adjustment for comfortable viewing and touch interaction

Chromebooks don't run conventional computer programs like Windows laptops or Macbooks, web-based apps are the order of the day. There's an Acer InviLink Nplify 802.11a/b/g/n dual-band Wi-Fi to help users get online, and Google Search, Gmail, Docs, YouTube and Hangouts can be fired up out of the box. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.0, a USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 port, HDMI, and a media card slot.

The C720P benefits from full-size keyboard, a gesture touchpad, built-in HD webcam and stereo speakers. Acer quotes a good 7.5 hours between charges of its 3-cell, 3950 mAh Li-ion battery. It will be available from next month for US$299.99.

Source: Acer

View gallery - 6 images
4 comments
4 comments
Rann Xeroxx
With Baytrail Atom Windows machines like the Transformer coming in close to $300 there is just no compelling reason to get a Chromebook for an individual. Still a good choice for schools in lower grades for the Google package deals with MDM and 100% replacement warranty but there simply is little reason to limit yourself with the OS. Want a locked down system, set yourself as only user on 8.1.
Threesixty
Can the Acer Chromebook be dual or triple booted? Will it accept another distro such as Ubuntu, Android, or $8.1 with touch screen support? If no, then too many eggs in one basket. If yes, there are great alternatives to explore on this well priced and spec'd device. Let the hackers and tinkerers loose and it will feed upon itself!
BigGoofyGuy
While Microsoft claims that using Chrome lets Google steal your information (hence 'scroogled' commericals) IIRC, I have learned that using Bing to search what is on ones computer risks exposing it to the internet.
I think if one only uses a computer to go online, using a Chromebook like this makes sense. Having it made by Acer seems really great.
R915K
I work as the head of a school's science and technology department, and we are getting new laptops. I tested one of these out, and they just aren't worth, they can't run anything but the internet.