Acer wants to introduce a rugged Chromebook in March next year, according to a source speaking to Omgchrome.com. The C740 will be designed for use in classrooms, with a brushed iron metal design and reinforce hinges and – apparently – display.
The 11.6″ unit will be powered by an Intel Broadwell-U Celeron processor – that is, a fifth-generation device. Omgchrome speculates that the commercial model will use this chip at first, with the consumer version (Acer always releases consumer and commercial versions of its Chromebooks) using an older Haswell chip.
A non-glare display will have 1366 x 768 resolution and two models will be available: one with a 16GB SSD and one with a 32GB SSD. There will also be 2GB and 4GB RAM options; 802.11ac WiFi; Bluetooth 4.0; HDMI and USB 3.0 ports; and 8.5 hours of battery life.
Starting price is $260 for 2GB RAM/16GB SSD model and $280 for the 4GB RAM/16GB SSD product.
