Skip to main content

Acer announces two new educational 12-inch Chromebooks

Acer announces two new educational 12-inch Chromebooks

/

Chromebook usage in classrooms hits 30 million worldwide

Share this story

The Acer Chromebook 512
The Acer Chromebook 512
Acer

Acer announced two 12-inch Chromebook devices today at the annual Bett conference for educators: the Chromebook 512 and the Chromebook Spin 512. Both feature 1366 x 912 resolution on 3:2 aspect ratio screens — a ratio which, according to Acer, falls between that of books and mobile media.

Compared to the Chromebook 512 — which starts at $329.99 and is equipped with a dual-core Celeron N4000 chip — the Chromebook Spin 512, which starts at $449.99, features a more powerful quad-core Intel Pentium Silver N5000 or Celeron N4100 processor. The Spin 512 also has a 360-degree hinge, a 8MP back-facing webcam on the cover, and an HD webcam above the display, while the 512 has an optional 5MP webcam. The Spin 512 also supports a Wacom EMR stylus that can be stored in an internal slot.

The Acer Chromebook Spin 512
The Acer Chromebook Spin 512
Acer

Since they’re built to be used in classrooms, both meet the standards of military-grade durability and are equipped to handle drops from heights of up to 48 inches. The Spin 512 has the Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass display, while the 512 has mechanically anchored keys that are difficult to remove. Both come in touch and non-touch options, feature about 12 hours of battery life, and will be available this April.

In conjunction with Acer’s two new Chrome OS devices, Google also announced at the conference today that Chromebook usage in classrooms was up 5 percent, hitting 30 million devices worldwide. According to the company, since its education tools launched in 2006, some 80 million educators and students are now using G Suite for Education (which includes apps like Gmail, Drive, Docs, and Hangouts Meet), and 40 million are using Google Classroom to help teachers and students stay organized.