Google announced this week at CES the release of the latest generation of Chromebooks. Available for $199 or 249€ (do the math on that one), the Acer Chromebook C7 brands itself as the chromebook ‘for everyone.’ Built entirely within Google’s Chrome OS, the hardware is a simple stripped down version of a computer, running entirely on Google products – Docs, Drive, Calendar, Gmail, Maps, YouTube etc.
Branded specifically for students, who need something simple for school, the Chromebook has 3.5 hours of battery life, a 320 Gb hard drive, an 11.6′ screen, and powers up in just 11 seconds. Having tried out the first generation of Chromebooks, I can say I was pretty disappointed. Google Chrome is nice, but sometimes I just want to escape. Google has been growing out its Chrome Store, and expanding a lot of functionalities in its Docs, Spreadsheets & Presentations apps, but nothing compares to Excel – I’ll use it until the day I die.
In France, Pixmania has secured exclusive retail rights. The Acer C7, unlike the Nexus 10 a few months ago, is in stock currently, and I don’t see them selling out too soon.