Samsung and Acer Chromebooks to receive price cut

by Steven Mostyn - Nov 22 2011, 10:40

It’s safe to say that 2011 has been the year of the tablet computer. And while Google has seen considerable success in the tablet market via its Android operating system, its Chromebook computers have suffered in the shadows.

So much so that the search titan has said certain models of its web-centric laptop platform will be receiving significant price cuts in order to make them more attractive to prospective buyers.   

According to Google, the upcoming ticket reductions will affect Chromebook devices manufactured by computer giants Samsung and Acer—bringing their respective price points down by around 30 percent.

That should see Samsung’s hardware dropping to approximately $300 USD, while Acer’s platforms should drop to an even more appealing $245 USD.

Making its announcement via an official blog post, Google’s adjusted Chromebooks will go on sale later this week through online retailer Amazon and also electronics heavyweight Best Buy.
 
“We’ve also been working closely with our partners to continually improve the overall Chromebook experience while making them even more affordable,” commented senior product manager Venkat Rapaka in the blog post.

Said improvements include making streamlined adjustments to the log-in page and tweaking the New Tab page to help users better manage software applications and bookmarks. The accompanying Chrome Web Store has also been given a cosmetic makeover.

In terms of fixtures and fittings, Samsung’s baseline Series 5 Chromebook comes with a 1.66GHz Atom dual-core N570 processor, 16GBs of SSD storage, Wi-Fi connectivity, a 12.1-inch LED-backlit display, a multi-card reader and support for USB.

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