Acer makes some of the best Chromebooks around and regularly releases new models. We saw the company unveiled the Chromebox CXI5 (yes, that’s box, not book) at CES earlier this year, but that was aimed at the average consumer. Acer has now announced a new lineup of Chromebooks designed specifically for education clients. It includes the company’s first-ever Vero-series Chromebook specifically for education.
Acer Chromebook Vero 712
Source: Acer
The Vero 712, Acer’s maiden Vero Chromebook for educational institutions, educators, and students, is a 12-inch notebook. It has an Intel Celeron 7305 processor in the base variant, but you can spec it all the way up to a 12th-generation Intel Core i3 -1215U with a 4.4GHz boost clock speed.
The Vero 712 comes with a 3:2 aspect ratio that is pitched as perfectly suited for web content, which usually benefits more from added vertical space rather than horizontal. That way, Acer hopes that the Chromebook will be particularly useful for those who want to learn coding, without making the experience to cramped on a 12-inch screen.
As with the rest of the Vero-branded laptops in Acer’s lineup, the Vero 712 is supposed to be more environment-friendly than other products. The new Vero Chromebook comes with sustainable packaging that solely consists of recycled paper pulp, while the laptop itself has a chassis and bezel made out of 30% post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR) and keycaps built with 50% PCR plastic. Acer says many other components are recycled or partially recycled, too.
Other noteworthy features include variants with touchscreen displays, up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage, and a promise of 10 hours of battery life. The Acer Chromebook Vero 712 will be available in the US from April. Prices start at $430.
Acer Chromebook Spin 512
Source: Acer
Customers looking for a similarly priced machine with similar features could also consider the Chromebook Spin 512. This model uses a slightly slower Intel Processor N100 or N200 with a minimum of 8GB of RAM. It shares the display specifications with the Vero, and will be available in April for $500. A Corning Gorilla Glass touchscreen display with a 360-degree hinge is standard (as the name implies), complete with a USI stylus. Compared to the Vero, you get one additional USB-A port and a microSD card reader on the Chromebook Spin 512.
Acer Chromebook 511 and Spin 511
Source: Acer
The other two models Acer announced for education customers are the 511 and Spin 511. Much like the Spin 512, these models use the Intel Processor N100 and N200, but with DDR5 RAM instead of DDR4. Only the Spin 511 has a convertible design like the Spin 512, while the Chromebook 511 sports a classic clamshell design. Understandably, the Spin 511 and 511 offer a different display configuration — a smaller 11.6-inch 16:9 aspect ratio panel.
A higher-end model of the Chromebook 511 and all Spin 511 variants support touch input. When it comes to stylus support, only a more expensive version of the Spin 511 offers it. Acer says the Chromebook 511 will debut in North America in April with a $380 price tag, while the Spin 511 will be slightly costlier, starting at $450.
Acer’s new education lineup is here
Some of these Chromebooks are available with LTE connectivity in international markets, but Acer clarifies it won’t be offering LTE in America for now.
The brand says it has built all the four new Chromebook models to withstand some degree of rough use. They are all MIL-STD 810H compliant — fancy speak for the ability to withstand extreme temperature, dust levels, up to 132.3lbs of pressure, vibration, shock, and drops from as high as 48 inches.
The keyboards on these Chromebooks are also resistant to liquid spills, with drain holes that can safely handle up to 11oz of fluids. The I/O on these Chromebooks has been reinforced to take a beating as well. That’s certainly a nice-to-have if you chuck your Chromebook around like a notebook (the one with pages). We just wish Acer would expand availability beyond educational users.
