~ MamakTalk ~: Dell’s New Chromebook 11 is Built to Survive the Classroom

2015年2月12日星期四

Dell’s New Chromebook 11 is Built to Survive the Classroom

Dell has quickly become a name known in the Chromebook market, pushing in – along with Lenovo – into a market previously owned by Acer and Samsung. They started off shipping their first Chromebook, imaginatively dubbed the Chromebook 11, to education markets some time ago. Since then, it’s become available to anyone and is now available in a Core i3 model (which we reviewed here). Now, Dell has a new Chromebook – shockingly, this is called the Chromebook 11 as well – that’s built to survive the harsh realities of a busy classroom. Today’s announcement of the new Chromebook is one that signals the company’s intent to become an even bigger name in the education market, and if Google’s Chrome OS is going to help them, then so be it.

This new Chromebook 11 looks much like its older brothers, but it’s built to withstand a few more knocks and bumps than the original Chromebook 11. Its keyboard is “liquid resistant” and it’s tested for what Dell calls “mil-spec” drops and knocks making it one tough cookie of a Chromebook. Other than that though, it’s a basic 11-inch 1366 x 768 Chromebook powered by Intel’s Celeron Bay Trail CPU at 2.16 Ghz a core. There are a couple of options to choose from though, you can either have it with a touchscreen or without, and there are 2GB and 4GB options to choose from as well. Durability continues if you choose a touchscreen display, as this is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

A Chromebook is a Chromebook, something people keep on saying a lot lately, but Dell have tried to make this not only a more rugged device, but there’s also another little trick available here. Dell is calling this an “activity light” which looks to be just an LED on the rear of the display, which is to be used for quizzes and such in the classroom. It’s a nice touch that teachers will no doubt make good use of. The Dell Chromebook 11 (the new one) will be available later this year to those in the education sector.