Acer’s first large-screen Chromebook is coming, and it’ll start under $380
Editor’s take: Acer ahead of next week’s virtual Computex trade show has announced what it is calling the industry’s first 17-inch Chromebook. The general trend in personal mobile computing for a long time was to shrink devices, but as modern smartphones have proven, there’s always going to be a market for large-screen devices and Acer is wise to target that demographic with a low-cost device like the Chromebook 317.
The Acer Chromebook 371 (model CB317-1H) features a 17.3-inch FHD IPS LCD display with an anti-glare coating framed in narrow bezels that’s driven by an Intel Celeron N4500 dual-core processor, Intel UHD Graphics and 4GB of LPDDR4X memory. The system comes equipped with 64GB of onboard storage that’s expandable via microSD card slot.
Other noteworthy amenities include 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, four total USB ports and a three-cell lithium ion battery reportedly good for up to 10 hours of use between charges. There’s also an optional backlit keyboard, an integrated 10-key number pad for number-centric work and two upward-firing speakers.
While the large screen may appeal to some, it comes as the cost of extra heft. The Chromebook 371 measures 0.89 inches tall and 15.8 inches wide with a depth of 10.5 inches. It’s offered in one color, sparkly silver, and weighs 5.29 pounds.
The Acer Chromebook 317 is scheduled to touch down in North America sometime in June starting at $379.99.
