Back to School season is in full swing – as evidenced by my trip out to the store during lunch that took twice as long as normal – and that means Chromebook deals are popping up left and right. What I’ve noticed today is the fact that there are a few excellent, larger-screen options available over at Best Buy at heavily discounted prices. One is a continutation of a sale from earlier this week that I’m beyond excited to still see around in the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, but the other two are equally intruiging if you are in the market for a great Chromebook option before the beginning of the school year.
Acer Chromebook 516 GE
We’ll start with the continued discount on the Acer Chromebook 516 GE. At $150 off, you can get your hands on what I would label as my favorite overall Chromebook on the market right now. The superlative list is very long on this device, including a 12th-gen Intel Core i5-1240P, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of NVMe storage, 16-inch 120Hz 2560×1600 QHD display, upward-firing speakers, an RGB backlit keyboard, smooth trackpad, and robust I/O (USB Type-C, USB Type-A, full-sized HDMI, and 2.5Gb Ethernet port). Simply put, you have a Chromebook that does nearly everything well and even keeps the weight down to a respectable 3.75 pounds while doing so. I love this device so much, and at $499, it’s firmly in “buy it now” territory.
Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook (15.6-inch)
The Lenovo Flex 3 (15.6-inch) is a device we’ve yet to have in the office, but with Lenovo’s track record of late, I’m willing to bet it’s a solid device all around. With a 15.6-inch FHD screen that hits 300 nits, a 360-degree hinge, and solid internals (Pentium Silver N6000, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage), this Chromebook should get around quite well and give you plenty of screen real estate to stretch out on. Currently it’s sitting at $230 off the $479 MSRP, making it only $249 right now: a great fit if a touchscreen and convertible form factor on a budget are what you are looking for.
ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX55
Hear me out on this one. I was hard on it in the unboxing and impressions post/video and bagged on it a bit in the review of the Chromebook I think ASUS should have originally released in its place – the Vibe CX34. But those opinions were about a $699 Chromebook. That’s not what we’re dealing with right now.
Instead, the ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX55 is $200 off, making it only $499. And while I personally would take that same money and buy the Acer Chromebook 516 GE I mentioned above, there are a few things the Vibe CX55 does that the Acer simply cannot. Namely, those things come down to touch input, USI pen input, and a converting form factor.
Sure the CX55 comes with an 11th-gen Intel Core i5, but it is still wildly fast and is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, so things are going to stay very, very fast. And yes, the screen hits a peak brightness of 250 nits, but it’s also 144Hz for smooth animations and excellent gameplay with services like GeForce NOW. Add that to the excellent speakers, keyboard and trackpad and you really do have a nice Chromebook for $499 that is well worth your consideration.
Each of these larger Chromebooks offers a little something different, but they all have one thing in common: they are all great deals happening right now. While the Acer has stayed on sale for days, there’s simply no way we can know when these deals will expire. If you are shopping for a Chromebook and a larger screen is of interest, I think you will be happy with any of these, and saving hundreds of dollars will only further cement that fact. Just don’t wait too long and miss the opportunity.
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