Let’s get real, Android tablets are effectively dead. Google has all but given up on them and instead is switching to ChromeOS tablets such as the Pixel Slate. We had a close look at the Acer Chromebook Tab 10 and were left feeling there was something missing, aside from a keyboard.
Acer are now jumping onto the ChromeOS tablet yet-to-be-completed bandwagon with the announcement of a new ChromeOS tablet, the Tab 10. For those who are looking for a powerful tablet though, you will need to look elsewhere as this one is a budget tablet aimed at teens and students.
Although it is aimed at students there is no keyboard available for it, but it does come with a built in stylus, just as the Asus does. The Asus CT100 Chromebook tablet is expected to be priced around the US$200 mark although pricing and availability is yet to be formally announced.
The Asus CT100 Chromebook Tablet is powered by a hexa-core OP1 processor, the same as the Acer Chromebook Tab 10 and houses 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It’s 9.7 inch display is QXGA and should be fairly rugged given that the chassis is wrapped in a rubber chassis to withstand a 100cm drop. Charged through a USB-C port a single charge will last up to seven hours.
Along with announcing the new Asus CT100 Chromebook tablet Asus also refreshed their current Chromebooks with a new Chromebook Flip C214 and two more traditional clamshell Chromebooks: an 11.6inch Chromebook C204 and a 14inch Chromebook C403. The C204 and C214 have upgraded processors from their predecessors with a new dual-core N4000 Gemini Lake chips from Intel.
Chromebooks have relatively not made much of a hit in Australia so it is unlikely you will see these in many stores but if you do and are looking for a new Chromebook these should be worth a gander with the prices expected to be very affordable — it is an EDU lineup afterall.
