First beefed-up Chromebooks with Core i3 processors now out

Chromebooks, net-centric laptops that gained popularity for their low price and simplicity but earned criticism for being unable to do much other than browsing, are about to get a serious bump in computing power.

 

One of the Google OS-powered notebooks' makers has rolled out the first Chromebooks to use Intel's Core i3 processors, tech site The Verge noted.

 

Acer's $349.99 C720-3871 features an i3 processor with 2GB RAM and a 32GB solid-state drive, along with a 1366x768 display and Bluetooth 4.0 - along with an 8.5-hour battery.

 

The company also released the C720-3404 with an i3 processor, 4GB RAM and a 32GB solid-state drive, but this model is not available online.

 

The Verge noted most Chromebooks have "underpowered processors" - including some of Acer's past models that used the low-powered Celeron processors - though Google has come up with rare exceptions like the more expensive Chromebook Pixel.

 

"Google and Intel promised that would change to some extent earlier this year, and now Acer is launching the first Chromebooks with Intel's more powerful Core i3 processor," it said.

 

Also, The Verge noted the new Chromebooks are cheaper than most Windows laptops with Core processors.

 

"(G)iven that we've been impressed with the performance of Chromebooks with Celeron processors, these new models appear to be promising. Unfortunately, the new models still have the same, 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display instead of a higher-resolution one. Acer says that the Core i3-powered models should get about 8.5 hours of battery life, which is comparable to what the models with slower processors provide," it added. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News