Perfect gifts for the student in your life
Asus’s lineup of premium Chromebooks has been killing it lately, with the Flip CX5 and Flip CX9 offering visions of the high-end Chrome OS devices we’ve always wanted. If those price points feel just a little too high for you, perhaps one of the company’s new series of entry-level laptops will fit your budget a little bit better.
All three 11.6″ Chromebooks are positioned perfectly for low-cost users like students and families (via Liliputing). If you’re shopping for yourself, the Asus Chromebook CX1 is the laptop for you — it’s part of the company’s ever-growing CX series, but likely at a much more affordable price point. Although we have yet to see how much it’ll cost once it hits retail, the smaller, more portable size — not to mention the slower specs — seem to guarantee it’ll come in far lower than the CX5’s $900 tag.
The CX1 features a 1366×768 resolution, Intel Celeron N4020 dual-core processor, and up to 8GB of RAM. It’s limited to just 64GB of eMMC memory, which might limit performance when handling local files. Wi-Fi 5, a 720p webcam, and the usual selection of USB-A and USB-C ports make this a pretty standard budget Chromebook, but as long as the price matches the specs, Asus could have a decent secondary computer on its hands.
Meanwhile, the Chromebook CR1 and Flip CR1 are designed for the education market first and foremost, offering similar designs but in your choice of a traditional or convertible form factor. Like the CX1, they’re both using a 1366×768 resolution, along with 8GB of RAM and up to 64GB of eMMC storage. However, the processing power receives a boost from Intel’s Celeron N4500 processor. They also come in a darker gray color instead of the silver variant found with the CX1.
Asus refers to its CR1 models as “rugged,” and with a military-grade durability rating backing it up, you can trust it’ll survive whatever your kids can throw at it. That means it doesn’t have quite the fit and finish of the more expensive CX5 and CX9 laptops, but at least you won’t have to replace the screen weeks after buying it.
There are no details on pricing or availability details just yet, so we’ll have to wait and see just how much each laptop costs once it hits store shelves. Based on the specs, they should end up as pretty affordable options for students — or anyone else — who needs a basic computer.
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