HP is quietly gearing up to unleash a third iteration of its 11-inch Chromebook, this time in an attempt to attract education buyers.
In a data sheet detailing the full specifications of the upgraded model uncovered by eagle-eyed Chromebook enthusiast Alvin Chin, HP introduces ‘G3’ with a telling pitch:
“Keep students engaged and empower staff to easily manage classroom assignments with the affordable, powerful, and productive HP Chromebook 11 G3. From research to collaboration, this thin and light Chromebook gets top marks.”
Education continues to be a significant driving force behind Chromebook sales in the US, so it’s no surprise that HP would want to remain competitive in this area. It’s possibly for this very reason that HP has — wisely — ditched the ageing Exynos 5250 ARM processor used in the previous two generations of this device and instead gifts the G3 with a more performant Intel Celeron N2830 CPU.
‘HP has wisely ditched the ageing Exynos processor’
Switching to an Intel Bay Trail will do wonders for performance versus the Exynos model, without impacting on battery life. So while the switch does add a little bit of weight (though barely enough to notice) the trade-off is more than worth it.
HP Chromebook 11 Weight
- Gen 1: 2.26lbs
- Gen 2: 2.69lbs
- Gen 3: 2.83lbs
Other Changes
Other changes are more subtle. The HP Chromebook G3 will support up to 4GB of RAM and up to 32GB of SSD storage. Aesthetically it keeps the fairly stylish casing introduced with the G2 edition, but this time furnishes it with black rather than white accents.
The HP support document also makes reference to an embedded TPM 1.2 security chip, and a wider selection of ports, including HDMI out and an extra USB 3.0.
There’s no official word on how much the new model will cost, nor whether it will be sold direct to consumers.
But with so many similarly spec’d devices already on the market from the likes of Dell, Lenovo and ASUS, would it be much of a loss if the G3 did remain an education exclusive?
- Source: Alvin Chin, via Liliputing