Acer Chromebook Released in India
What do you use your PC for? That’s the simple question Google is asking with Chromebooks. Ever since the CR48, Chrome OS has had a troubling time convincing users that it is a serious Operating System, and not just a glorified browser with access to tons of web apps thanks to the Chromium underpinning. But surprising all critics, Chromebooks have made a great impact, with four of the top ten current bestselling laptops on Amazon running Chrome OS. Contrary to expectations, Google’s idea for a light-weight, affordable computing experience had legs. With the more recent versions of OS able to run apps outside the browser, Chrome OS has finally got the basics in place to challenge the big duopoly of Windows and OS X.
Will it ever achieve that success? It’s up to markets like India, where per capita disposable income is not high and where an affordable PC nearly always means a low-powered Windows machine. The fact that Chrome OS is still a novelty here in India, where Acer and HP launched two systems only last month, the first Chromebooks to officially launch in India. Both machines are priced under Rs 30,000, with the C720 sitting on the lower end of things thanks to the smaller display. With an official price of Rs 22,999, the Acer Chromebook surely will attract a fair share of attention. We got the Acer C720 Chromebook (Model 29552G01aii) a couple of weeks ago and spent a few days of familiarising ourselves with the new (to us) OS, before diving deeper. Let’s find out whether the experience is worth the learning curve.