Just ten days ago, Asus C201 Chromebook powered by Rockchip RK3288 processor was spotted on a product catalog. Today, Google unveiled two Rockchip Chromebooks, except the Asus Chromebook is not there yet, but instead Haier Chromebook 11 HR-116R and Hisense Chromebook both available for pre-order for $149 respectively on Amazon US and Walmart.
Both laptops have very similar specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3288-C quad core Cortex A17 processor @ 1.8 GHz with ARM Mali-T764 GPU. (Wallmart claims a 2.5GHZ processor frequency, but this has to be an error).
- System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L SDRAM
- Storage – 16 GB eMMC Flash Storage + micro SD slot + 100GB Google drive storage, free for 2 years
- Display – 11.6” HD wide screen LED-backlit display; 1366 x 768 resolution
- Video Output – HDMI
- Audio – HDMI, stereo speakers, headphone jack,
- Connectivity – Dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 2×2 (MIMO) a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- Battery – 10 hours (Haier); 8h30 (HiSense). No capacity reported
- Dimensions – Haier: 17.9mm thick; Hisense: 29 x 20.4 x 1.93 cm
- Weight – Haier: 1.09 kg; Hisense: N/A
Even though, Asus Chromebook was not officially announced, Google mentioned the company for two upcoming products: Asus Chromebook Flip made of aluminum and with a flippable display that will sell for $249, and Chromebit, a new category of Chrome OS products that are basically HDMI TV sticks running Chrome OS.
I’ve not exactly sure which processor is used in these, but Rockchip RK3288 could be a possibility as well as long as it’s under-clocked, and they are expected to sell for less than $100. Update: Engadget got hold of a sample and it’s indeed based on Rockchip RK3288.
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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Rockchip is calling this a new variant of the 3288 SoC, known as the RK3288-C: http://www.rock-chips.com/a/en/News/Rockchip_in_the_News/2015/0401/626.html
@miniNodes
Very interesting, but they don’t explain the differences between RK3288 and RK3288-C.
Interesting that rockchip official wechat account says it’s powered by RK3288-C, which has mali-t760.
update: from rockchip official wechat, them told me mali t764 is short for mali t760 mp4, rk3288-c is Chrome optimized rk3288…
@Tom Cubie
That’s what I thought about the GPU.
Still wondering what kind of optimization they did…
Well this would be nice if it were using some 64bit ARM SOC and if the GPU had open source graphics. As it is though it’s OK for people that just want a Chromebook but not for Linux users.
@Tom Cubie
The -c surely means crippled. We will see later what they removed. However, with 4GB RAM and mainline Kernel support these beasts could be nice.
Review of Hisense Chromebook – http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/mini-review-hisenses-arm-chromebook-actually-isnt-awful-for-149/