Leaked last month, announced this week, and set to be shown off on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015, the new 15.6-inch Acer Chromebook is the talk of the town right now.
But you can have a quick sneak peek ahead of the show thanks to Notebook Italia snagging an early once over.
The video doesn’t see the device put through its paces, but does see an Acer rep walk us through the unique selling points of the device. He highlights the “fabric-like” texture (which gives off a denim-esque sheen in this video), the use of fifth generation Intel Processors, and the inclusion of dual MIMO antenna for super fast Wi-Fi.
Acer’s rep also says that the Chromebook 15 will launch in Europe first priced from €279. It will hit the US shortly after (we’ve been told late Feb/March) priced from $249.99.
IPS?
Acer’s rep says the Chromebook 15 will be available with IPS displays
Acer’s rep says (at the 51 second mark) that both HD and FHD variants of the Chromebook 15 will be available with IPS panels.
Great? Or not? See, Acer’s enthusiastic press release for the new notebook talked up the “wide viewing angles” on offer but stopped short of mentioning anything related to IPS panel. This rep states the opposite.
Given that the addition of IPS would be a very big selling point — check your own personal excitement levels for proof of that — surely Acer’s PR machine would mention in it the release blurb sent out to websites and journalists? Could this rep merely have stumbled over his words? Or is “Acer ComfyView” some kind of new IPS-style panel?
The model being demoed in the video doesn’t appear to be IPS (based on the inversion of the screen at various intervals). We’ve asked Acer for clarification.
Update: It’s been confirmed to this Chromebook will be available with IPS display in FHD only.
Watch
Waffling over it’s time to hit play on the video to see the 15.6-inch Acer Chromebook in all its super-sized glory.
(You’ll also note the color is the non-white version, as the info our Chrome Bandit allowed us to leak in December claimed. The Acer rep says the consumer model will be available in white and black. Expect to see the brown model limited to Education sales).