Acer ready for school ahead of 2016

Christmas may well be the next holiday you buy for, but the next computer you look at will probably be for back to school, and ahead of late January’s return to school, Acer has two new laptops ready.

And because you shouldn’t have to spend a fortune on a laptop for your kids, the price of these two machines appears to be made for mums and dads.

Specifically, with price tags of either $299 or $399, you’re basically grabbing a laptop for school and not much else.

The two price tags relate to the two models, and these are a little different.

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First off, they’re called the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook, and while the name might have the word “cloud” in it, these computers don’t arrive with a cloud-based operating system, but rather something a little more useful on the ground, with Windows 10 Home found on these machines.

Computers with Windows means any apps your kids will likely need installed will be fine here, and if they need a copy of Office, a one year subscription to Office 365 Personal is included in the box, also.

Size and WiFi technology are the next reasons the prices differ, with the $299 option being the 11 inch Aspire One Cloudbook offering an 11 inch 1366×768 screen with 802.11b/g/n WiFi, while the $399 model brings it up to a 14 inch 1366×768 screen with the faster 802.11ac WiFi (which is also compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n).

There aren’t any touchscreens here, though, just regular screens, with these computers bringing a laptop experience for people keen for one under $500.

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Beyond these differences, the two machines appear to be very similar, with an Intel Celeron processor under the hood, 2GB RAM, either 16 or 32GB storage, and an SD card slot to expand this if needed.

A video camera and microphone are included in each laptop, handy if you need to call the kids if they’re having a late study session, while two USB ports can be found on each unit, a HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headset jack.

One thing of note is that while the screen sizes are different, the 11 inch does rely on the same resolution, suggesting that it could be a little bit sharper. It’s a marginal difference, however, with these machines aimed at kids who aren’t likely to squabble over Retina-level clarity (and probably shouldn’t given the price).

“These new Cloudbooks from Acer are sleek, affordable devices that take advantage of the new functionality of Windows 10 together with Microsoft services including Office 365 and OneDrive,” said Katherine Nguyen, Head of Marketing at Acer Australia and New Zealand.

“They are the total package for both consumers and students to get more done while on the go.”

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Acer’s Aspire One Cloudbook range is priced from $299 for the 11 inch version at JB HiFi, while the 14 inch model can be found from $399 at The Good Guys.