Acer goes after the classroom with new durable Spin 511, Spin 512 Chromebooks – CNET

Acer Spin Chromebooks

Acer has new convertible, and durable, Chromebooks for the classroom. 

Acer

Acer’s going after the Chromebook education market. On Tuesday the computer added two new classroom-focused Chromebooks to its lineup, what it calls the Chromebook Spin 511 and Chromebook Spin 512 laptops

The two devices, both of which feature 360-degree hinges to flip the screen around into a tablet mode, run on Google’s Chrome OS platform and feature an antimicrobial Gorilla Glass display from Corning that the company says will resist “the growth of odor and stain causing microorganisms.” 

With a shock-absorbent bumper, the two laptops are military-rated (MIL-STD 810H) for absorbing hits and tumbles. Acer says the design can withstand drops from up to four feet and up to 132 lbs of “downward force.” Hopefully, this should fare well when dealing with the daily rigors of a rambunctious early childhood classroom. 

Spill-resistant keyboards are also present, with Acer touting a “gutter system that routes up to 330 ml (11 fluid ounces) of water away from internal components to be drained out the bottom” of the laptops. 

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As for specs, the two laptops are similar to other Chromebooks. The Spin 511 has a 16:9-formatted 11.6-inch HD IPS display while the Spin 512 features a 12-inch HD IPS display that is in a 3:2 format. Acer says the 3:2 aspect ratio should allow for “18 percent more vertical space compared to an equally wide display” and less scrolling for students. 

Intel’s N4500 and N5100 processors power the laptops, with the company touting up to 10 hours of battery life. Other specs include up to 8GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, two USB 3.2 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports as well as support for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. There is also an 8-megapixel camera for video chats. 

The Spin 511 will retail for $400 while the Spin 512 will run $430. The company says that both will ship in North America in April.