Samsung and Google teamed up to unveil the newest addition to the Chromebook laptop family and this time there's an extremely friendly price tag.
The next generation Chromebook, which runs Google's cloud-based Chrome OS, will cost an extremely reasonable £229 (US$249, AU$240) and is available to pre-order now.
The ultra-thin laptop boasts the same 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display as the smaller version of Apple's MacBook Air, which will undoubtedly lead to comparisons between the two.
Like the all-conquering Apple notebook It also boasts a slight body that is just 0.8-inches thick and weighs just 2.5 pounds. The MacBook Air is 2.38 pounds and 0.68-inches at its thickest point.
The new and affordable Samsung Chromebook, which replaces the Series 5 model, may also threaten the prosperity of the Intel-based line of Ultrabook PCs, which have been criticized for their high price-points
100GB free Google Drive storage
Beneath the hood is the Samsung Exynos 5250 processor, based on ARM architecture, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of physical storage bolstered by 100GB of free Google Drive storage for two years.
Google claims the machine, which is loaded only with quick access to Google's suite of online applications, powers up in just 10 seconds, with battery life estimated at over six and a half hours.
There's also a VGA webcam, one HDMI port, one USB 3.0 port, and one USB 2.0 port, while the Chromebook is also both Bluetooth 3.0 and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi compatible.
So, if anyone is in the market for an affordable, sleek and ultra-portable notebook and is willing to transfer their life to the cloud, then £229/$249 seems like a pretty sweet deal indeed.
The device will begin shipping in the next week and is now available to pre-order at PC World in the U.K. and from Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg and TigerDirect in the U.S.
Via Google
