chromebook – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Acer’s latest Chromebook offers 10 hours of battery for $250

Acer has been releasing Chromebooks balancing speed with affordability. The company introduced its latest Chromebook 11 at CES as a fanless, small-form laptop with touch and non-touch screens that boasts up 10 hours of battery life. While Acer didn’t release exact specs for the models — we only know they’ll sport the ‘latest Intel Celeron processors, ‘ for example — but did note they’ll come with 4GB of memory and either 16GB or 32GB of eMMC storage. The laptops will have a pair of USB 3.1 Type-C and two USB 3.0 ports as well as a MicroSD card reader. Its 11.6-inch IPS 1366 x 768 pixel display comes in either touch or non-touch variants, though it’s unclear how much the difference will affect the price (previous Acer Chromebooks saw a $50 bump for a touchscreen). It will also have support for the Google Play store and get access to Android apps. We do know that those lower-performance options have dropped the Chromebook 11’s starting price to $250, which is slightly cheaper than the rugged Chromebook C771 that Acer introduced for students last August. But it does have double the RAM of the most recent Chromebook 15 that the company released in October, making it much more capable of multitasking through Google’s Chrome app suite. If you’re looking for an affordable solution with a decent battery life, Acer’s Chromebook 11 will hit Europe, the Middle East and Africa in March and reach North America in April. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

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Acer’s latest Chromebook offers 10 hours of battery for $250

All Chromebooks launching in 2017 will be compatible with Android apps

All Chromebooks new in 2017 will support Android apps out of the box. An update will not be required. Owners will be able to take the Chromebook home, open it up and immediately access the Google Play Store. The news comes from a single line of text on Google’s list of Chromebooks compatible with Android apps. “All Chromebooks launching in 2017 and after as well as the… Read More

Unpacking the Pixel: A first look at Google’s expensive new Chromebook

The Chromebooks we usually see around these parts can be summed up in two words: competent and cheap. This nicely sums up our reviews of both Samsung’s $249 ARM Chromebook and Acer’s $199 C7 . Google’s recently announced Chromebook Pixel goes against that grain: it’s a high-quality machine with a gorgeous 2560×1700 display, but you’ll pay a hefty $1,299 (or $1,449, for the LTE version) for the privilege of owning one. Our full review of the computer—and, with it, our continuing thoughts on whether this machine makes any sense —is in the works, but in the meantime we took the Pixel out of its box to give it a good once-over. “Understated” is an understatement The Chromebook Pixel’s box is simple to the point of being nondescript. Andrew Cunningham 15 more images in gallery Read on Ars Technica | Comments

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Unpacking the Pixel: A first look at Google’s expensive new Chromebook

Google announces Chromebook Pixel: 1.8GHz Core i5, 2,560 x 1,700 touchscreen, with LTE option; pre-order now, ships in April

Only yesterday we were being teased with the idea of a touchscreen Chromebook . Well, good news for people who hate waiting — it’s here, it’s called the Pixel, and you can pre-order today. The all-Google laptop is aimed at those who live in the cloud, but want a little more from their machine. Built from the ground up for the web, the 12.85-inch 3:2 ratio display claims to offer 18 percent more vertical space than 16:9 does. The screen the Pixel has is — as you can imagine — one of its proudest features, sporting a 2,560 x 1,700 resolution, giving a PPI of 239, and offers a brightness of 400nit. Oh, and of course, it’s touch-enabled so whatever your input preference, you’re covered. On the inside, there’s a dual-core 1.8Ghz Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and two SSD options — 32GB or 64GB. If that’s not enough, Google’s ahead of you, and is throwing in 1TB of Drive storage with every Pixel for three years — what it expects the life of the machine to be. You won’t be basing your choice just on storage though, as the smaller capacity model is WiFi only, while the 64GB comes with Verizon LTE baked right in, and a choice of plans. As for the rest of the features, the Pixel also has a triple-microphone configuration — with one under the keyboard — which helps improve noise cancellation, including the rattle of your typing during excited hangouts. This is also where the speakers are hidden, so it will be interesting to see how those play nice together. Other features include an “HD” camera, a custom keyboard action for less finger-fatigue, and an enhanced smooth glass trackpad. As for ins and outs, there are two USB ports, a mini displayport, a mic / headphone jack and an SD card reader — notably, no Ethernet. Wirelessly, you have WiFi a thru n and Bluetooth (plus that LTE if you opt in). Wondering what effect that display might have on the (59Wh) battery? Well Google claims its open-source test (available for criticism online) has rated the Pixel at five hours. If you want to get yourself some touchscreen Pixel action, you can order starting today from the Play store, or Best Buy starting tomorrow. The WiFi-only model will cost you $1,299, rising to $1,449 if you want some LTE (currently US / Verizon only). Not enough info for you right there? Why not head over to our minty-fresh hands-on . Filed under: Laptops , Google Comments

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Google announces Chromebook Pixel: 1.8GHz Core i5, 2,560 x 1,700 touchscreen, with LTE option; pre-order now, ships in April