Intel based Chromebooks Announcements Galore By Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo and More

Yesterday, Intel and Intel had a press event about Chrome OS devices where Google discussed the success of Chrome OS, and Intel showed existing and upcoming Chromebooks based on Haswell and Bay Trail processors.

After a short introduction by Intel, Google took the stage to discuss the commercial success of Chromebooks which are now found in 10,000 schools, and are among the best selling and best rated laptops on Amazon, as well as key advantages and features of Chrome OS: fast boot, new version every 6 weeks, and after offline support for google docs, soon offline support for video playback.

Intel then continued by showing off some existing Haswell Chromebooks, a new HP Chromebox to become available in June, and LG All-in-One Chromebase with a 22″ display, Haswell Celeron 2955U processor, 2GB RAM, and 16GB SDD to sell later this month for $349. The company took a break from product announcement showing one upcoming Intel Core i3 Chromebook against a “non-intel” Chromebook showing how the ARM based device struggled with Google Hangouts + email, and some HTML5 3D games against a smooth experience with the Intel Chromebook, providing up to 4x more performance for web applications.

The product used for the demo turned out to be an Acer C720 Chromebook with an Intel Core i3 processor. Dell is also planning a Core i3 models, but at this stage the companies did not release much information, but we do know these models should start selling for $349 this summer.

But the bulk of new products will be based on Bay Trail processors with at least seven new models:

• Lenovo N20 & N20p Chromebooks – 11.6″ display (1366×768) with an Intel Celeron processor, and 16GB NAND Flash. N20p will add a 10-point touchscreen. N20 should start selling for $279, and N20p for $329. You can find more details on on Anandtech.
• Asus C200 & C300  Chromebooks – There had been several leaks about these Intel Celeron N2830 Chromebooks with 2GB RAM, 16GB Flash, and 11.6 or 13″ displays, but they are now officially announced. You can find a short review and benchmarks on Promevo about the C200 model.
• Acer Chromebook – There will be a Bay Trail Acer Chromebook, but no details have been provided…
• Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga – Lenovo will launch a Chromebook for education with a screen that can rotate by 360 degrees.
• Intel education reference design – Again not much information here, except the device features a camera that can rotate 180 degrees. A company called CTL is currently working one Chromebook based on Intel’s design, which should become available to schools later this year.

Beside the low power and cost brought about by Intel Bay Trail processors, Intel claims all Bay Trail Chromebooks will share the following characteristics:

• Up to 11+ hours of battery life
• Fanless, thinner and lighter design (<18mm)
• Intel Wireless 802.11ac module
• Conflict-free SoC (also for Haswell).

There will be 20 Intel based Chrome OS devices by the second part of 2014, against only 4 in the second part of 2013.

Via Liliputing, Chrome Stories and various places on the web.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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