The state of Chromebook availability across most of Europe is still a frustrating subject, to say the least. While devices are beginning to trickle down to resellers and retailers, the overall expansion of the Chrome OS market abroad is a slow burn at best.
One manufacturer that is a slight exception to that rule is ASUS. Their resume of retail Chrome devices may not be the largest but they have offered up the latest and greatest from their factories to many countries in the European audience.
Some of these devices have even gone ahead of U.S. releases. Chromebooks like the much-anticipated Flip C101 are already in stock and ready to purchase in Europe while the U.S. has yet to see an announcement or pre-order for the 10.1″ convertible.
Let us not forget the Chromebook C302. For the better part of nine months, those of us here in the states have impatiently waited for the release of any variant of the 12.5″ Flip apart from the Core m3 model release at CES in January. I know, there’s also the BestBuy-exclusive Pentium model but I’m talking the Core m5, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage behemoth we all want to see in person.
I know, there’s also the BestBuy-exclusive Pentium model but I’m talking the Core m5, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage behemoth we all want to see in person. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is sitting on more versions than you can shake a stick at.
I know. First world problems. Now we know how our friends in the U.K. have felt for years.
Anyway, one of our Twitter crowd asked if we knew when the good people of Great Britain might be able to get their hands on the Apollo Lake-powered, ruggedized ASUS Chromebook Flip C213. I had not heard any official news from ASUS but it prompted me to check around.
After a bit of detective work, I actually came across a link for the C213 that pointed me to ASUS’ official U.K. store. That was when I realized why it was so difficult to find. Much like the U.S. site, ASUS U.K. has the C213 as well as the C302 listed under “commercial” devices.
I suppose this makes sense. The C302 is somewhat of a business model and the C213 is geared towards educational institutions. Still, it was a bit difficult to find as you would expect it to be listed under the “Flip Series” Chromebook menu.
Either way, ASUS does have the C213 listed along with some “where to buy” links. The C213 isn’t currently available direct from ASUS but they list a handful of retailers that are currently stocking two models. The specs are identical. The only difference is that one comes with the stylus and the other does not.
The ASUS C213 sans the pen will set you back £382 and is shipping from ASUS’ Amazon store front. Pick yours up from the link below.
ASUS Chromebook Flip C213 from Amazon UK
If you’re here in the good ole US of A, you can snag the C213 on Amazon for $349 or $399 is you want the stylus.
ASUS Chromebook Flip C213 from Amazon
It’s great to see more devices being released on a global scale. Hopefully, with the pending release of devices like Chromebook ‘Eve’, we will see a broader push worldwide from manufacturers.
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