Acer Announces Industry’s First $299 Touchscreen Chromebook

Acer America has announced the availability of its first touchscreen Chromebook, the new Acer C720P, an addition to the Acer C720 Chromebook line introduced last month. The new C720P adds touch control to the device’s 11.6-inch HD LED back-lit display to take full advantage of the Chrome interface.

“Our new touchscreen C720P gives customers an intuitive way to browse sites online, enjoy apps, and do more with the Chromebook,” says Acer CTO Arif Maskatia in a release. “The Acer C720 Chromebook line has been praised for its performance and battery life, and this new touchscreen model allows us to address the needs of an even wider range of customers with exciting new capabilities. We’re certain many holiday shoppers will jump at the chance to get a touchscreen Chromebook for just $299.99.”

The Acer C720P’s touch capabilities are implemented on its 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution ComfyView HD display. The multi-touch display allows users to employ gestures such as swipe, tap and pinch to zoom to interact with the Chromebook in the way they’re accustomed to with tablets and smartphones so they can better enjoy educational apps, browse websites, scroll through Google Docs, play games and more.

Like the rest of the new C720 line, the new C720P touchscreen model is powered by an Intel Celeron 2955U processor based on Intel’s Haswell micro-architecture, so it delivers fast performance and excellent multi-tasking such as running multiple tabs and apps. The Haswell processor also enhances battery life; providing a runtime of up to 7.5 hours.

The C720P gets you up and running quickly with its 32GB SSD that provides a fast boot time of less than 7 seconds and quick resume from sleep.(2) The large (for a Chromebook) SSD also provides ample storage capacity for saving video, photos and other files. In addition, the touchscreen C720P features 2GB of DDR3 memory.(2) Plus, the Acer C720 quickly connects to hotspots and wireless networks via 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi.

Thin and Lightweight Design

The Acer C720P Chromebook measures 0.78-inches thickness, and weighs 2.98 pounds, making it easy to carry. It features an integrated HD webcam for video chats as well as capturing video and photos to share online. The new Chromebook also features a dual speaker design for clear stereo audio during online chats as well as for enjoying music and movies. Connecting to popular external storage, including digital cameras and smartphones, is easy with the Chromebook’s USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports (one each). Its HDMI port can be used to provide video and content to external displays and HDTVs.

Security for Multiple Users, Collaboration

The Chrome OS is updated automatically, so it always has the latest features. Multiple layers of security features including data encryption and verified boot defend the Acer C720P Chromebook against online threats, malware and viruses. The Acer C720P Chromebook keeps data safe when the device is used by multiple users, such as for collaboration in the classroom and for projects for home, school or work. Users can have separate accounts to ensure their project, Gmail and other information is kept safe if the Chromebook is lost, stolen, or lent to a friend.

Acer Chromebook users can access up to 100GB of free Google Drive storage for the first two years after purchase, so files, documents, photos and what-have-you are stored safely in the cloud.(3) Also, the new Acer C720P model comes with 12 free Gogo Inflight passes to allow customers to stay online even while on a flight.(4).

Pricing, Availability and Warranty

The Acer C720P will be available for in several configurations in early December at Amazon.com, Best Buy and the Acer Store for a Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price of $299.99 in the United States. The new Acer C720P comes with a standard one-year parts and labor warranty, which can be extended to three years with the Acer Advantage service. All Acer Chromebooks are backed by toll-free service and support.(5)

Other Acer Chromebook 720 series models start a low as $ 229.99.

For more information, visit:
http://www.acer.com

Notes:

(1)Actual battery life varies by model, configuration, applications, power management settings, operating conditions, and utilized features. A battery’s maximum capacity decreases with time and use.
(2) Accessible capacity varies: (MB = 1 million bytes; GB = 1 billion bytes)
(3) More information on Google Drive on Chrome devices:
http://goo.gl/UQStlU
(4) The Acer C720 Chromebook comes with 12 free Gogo in-air Internet passes (estimated $150 value, redeemable for two years after Chromebook purchase) usable on continental U.S. flights of participating airlines. For more information:
https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/goodies.html
(5) Limited warranty agreement applies. For a copy, write to Acer Customer Service, P.O. Box 6137, Temple, TX 76503.

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