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  • MASSAMKULABOX - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Surely they could have put a better cpu in there .. even the new 3000g Athlon (or the older G200) must be plenty of those floating about . but BOM , cpu = 4$ ?
  • nandnandnand - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    There is one better CPU they could easily put in there: the A6-9220C.

    Both chips are fanless (A4-9120C and A6-9220C are 6W, Athlon 3000G is a 35W desktop APU).

    The A4-9120C and A6-9220C were announced at CES 2019. It would be great if AMD announced a fanless Zen chip at CES 2020. The IPC increase alone would destroy the Intel CPUs in that category. Do it on the 14nm node for all I care.
  • deil - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    R1505G 12W - 25W 2 / 4 3.3 / 2.4 just the CPU they would need there.
    its like ryzen 2200G just soldered & TDP borked.
    still it would make one hell of a chromebook with that much power in this price range.
  • ballsystemlord - Thursday, December 5, 2019 - link

    They could have used the V1202B or V1605B ryzen CPU. It's a 12W TDP chip. They could have asked for a more efficient/lower clocked version if they needed it.
  • jabber - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Whilst 1366x768 works okay for a 11" screen they could have done something about improving the bezel situation. 3mm less either side could make all the difference.

    Or even gone retro with a 1440x900 screen and bit into the lower bezel part.
  • nandnandnand - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    768p should go the way of the dodo. Even moreso for touchscreens that could be used for drawing applications.

    We need the huge bezel so we can read "Corning®Gorilla®Glass" for years.
  • nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Wouldn't that defeat the "ruggedized" motif? Thicker bezels offer more protection.
  • Marlin1975 - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Price is to high. There are A6-9220C based systems in the $130-150 range already right now. Some are even 1080 screens.
  • nandnandnand - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Particularly the Lenovo 14w 81MQ000JUS:

    https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700
    https://slickdeals.net/f/13641295
    https://slickdeals.net/f/13670822

    I've seen A6-9220C Windows deals but only A4-9120C for the Chromebooks. I'll hold out for fanless Zen, and hopefully 8GB RAM.
  • webdoctors - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    I just bought that! With cashback its under $120, crazy deal. Perfect for chromebook like usage like web browsing.
  • voicequal - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    I'm typing on the Intel version of the Spin 311 right now. It's been great to have a cheap, secure, light duty laptop that you can take almost anywhere and not worry about getting it getting beat up or stolen. No case or bag required. I now prefer it for short trips over my expensive Windows machine.

    This thing convinced me that all my laptops should be 2-in-1s w/touch going forward. Previously I had a cheaper non-touch chromebook and was miserable.
  • PeachNCream - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    A secure Chromebook. Heh.
  • nandnandnand - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Based on the very limited Passmark data, A6-9220C could be 27-51% faster. Or at least 12.5% faster base and turbo clocks. Not sure about the GPU cores but they are listed as Radeon R5 and Radeon R4.

    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A6-92...
    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A4-91...
  • PeachNCream - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    The CPU will probably not feel all that fast. It's got a lot of spying for Google to do in the background after all.
  • yannigr2 - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Every time I see AMD based laptops with questionable choices in hardware and higher than expected price, I always think that they are models verified and approved by Intel.
  • Rookierookie - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    The Intel version with Celeron N3350 retails at $250 on Amazon. How much cheaper were you expecting the AMD version to be?
  • PS Doff - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link

    Its specs are more than adequate for its intended market.

    From the complaint comments I can only conclude that either the people who criticize the specs do not understand that this is a BUDGET Chromebook, or they don't know how it is intended to be used. Any "upgrade" of processor has an effect on power used by memory and storage ,and would reduce runtime per charge, which would be unappreciated in an educational environment

    Despite its apparent low price, it incorporates a 2:1 form factor and touchscreen that few other makers offer in this price class. The 2 year old Acer R11 model, which has a remaining support life of 2-1/2 years is now being cleared from stock a nearly the same price. When new, the R11 with similar RAM and storage cost close to $300.

    Those who want more performance should look at other 2:1s and be prepared to pay more.
  • Roland00Address - Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - link

    If you are using this type of x86 chip with such low performance, why not use the mediatek cpu that is an cortex A72x2 plus an A53x2? For example there is a lenovo that uses this chip.

    You will get similar performance, but the advantage is some android apps do not work on x86 and at least you get full app compatibility on your chromebook.
  • ballsystemlord - Thursday, December 5, 2019 - link

    Another thought, currently AMD's latest CPUs are immune to the various CPU flaws, wouldn't manufacturers want to only release new products that are secure and, therefore, use the latest arch?

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