HP has today announced a new 11″ Chromebook specifically targeting the competitive education market. The HP Chromebook 11 G4 EE (Education Edition), which will launch in the US this month.
The HP Chromebook 11 G4 EE is also built to be tough enough to stand the conditions in the education enviroment – let’s face it, kids aren’t terribly careful with IT gear. The HP Chromebook 11 G4 EE has been built to mil-spec and even at just 20 mm thin and just 1.2kg, the Chromebook is designed to survive drops from 70 cm. It also has a spill-resistant keyboard to mitigate that sort of accident.
Hardware wise, the Chromebook 11 G4 EE will be powered by an Intel Celeron N2840 processor (between 2.1-2.58GHz) and up to 4GB of RAM with 16GB of internal storage backed up by the usual SD Card reader. The 11.6″ IPS display will have a 1366×768 resolution and the battery will give up to 9.5 hours of battery life. The G4 EE includes a USB3.0 and a USB 2.0 port as well as the usual HDMI out and headphone jack.
The Chromebook has the ability to lie flat, but unlike newer Chromebooks like the Acer R11 and Asus Flip, it stops short of offering a full 360-degree hinge, stopping at 180-degrees.
Availability wise, HP has only announced that the HP Chromebook 11 G4 EE will be available in the United States from this month starting at $199USD. No announcements have been made by HP Australia, but you can bet we’ll be asking about it.
I would be so keen to hear about an Australian release date and pricing. Over the holidays I’ve heard two school principals mention Chromebooks in the classroom and I’m sure even our local schools are interested in them