This Labor Day deal on the ASUS Chromebook CM34 Flip borders on ridiculous

The ASUS Chromebook CM34 Flip arrived in our office at a very, very strange time. Right in the midst of some personnel changes and Joe’s trip oveseas, the CM34 Flip showed up and simply begged to be opened up. After all, that’s what Chrome Unboxed is all about, right? But with no cameras around and no time to film an unboxing of it, I began testing this fantastic Chromebook right away. Little did I know it would go on sale almost immediately.

And when it did, I wrote a post like this one about that discount. And now, here we are a few weeks later with this Chromebook quite literally next on the review block and we have another absolutely bonkers deal on it that beats the previous one. And so – once again – I’m asking you to take my word on this before the review goes out and believe me when I say that this is a delightful, convertible Chromebook that most users would be proud to own.

A quick rundown on what the ASUS CM34 Flip offers

If you checked out our review of the ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip earlier this year, you get the gist. Change the color from white to navy, remove the garaged USI pen, and swap out the CX34’s 144Hz screen for a more-standard 60Hz panel with 300 nits of brightness and you have a pretty solid idea of what ASUS is doing with the ASUS CM34. The other big change? The addition of the new AMD Ryzen 3 7320C. And with the 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, this thing scoots along very nicely.

The keyframe feels similar, it has a standard white backlighting on the keys, and the non-glass trackpad is smooth, clicky, and responsive. Ports are exactly the same, too, giving you everything you need to get connected with a full-sized HDMI, 2x USB Type C ports, microSD card slot, headphone/mic jack and a Kensington lock. All-in-all, it’s definitely a different overall Chrombook from the Vibe CX34 Flip, but not wildly so.

And as I’ve gone back to it since last week in preparation for the review, I can tell you that it’s been a treat to use. It’s not a petite Chromebook with its 16:10 14-inch screen and slightly-thicker-than-most chassis, but it’s not so big that it isn’t practical or portable. Things are nice and firm and the processor gets along very well, handling all my normal, daily tasks when hooked up to the external QHD 120Hz monitor I use constantly. General performance has been really nice for a Chromebook that has an MSRP of $499.

Now, for the wild deal

But we aren’t talking $499 today. As a matter of fact, we aren’t even close to that. For today only, Best Buy has marked this fantastic device all the way down to $279 – a ridiculous $220 off the standard MSRP! Sub-$300 is usually reserved for a Chromebook experience that is lacking in a few ways. That simply isn’t the case with the ASUS Chromebook CM34 Flip. While not the most pristine Chromebook I’ve ever used, I’d be happy to have this in the bag as a daily driver for sure. And at this sort of price, you simply cannot go wrong. As I’m typing this on the CM34 Flip right now, I simply cannot believe the device under my fingers is available at $279 right now. It’s absurd, so don’t miss it.