The Acer Chromebook 516 GE drops to $449 as new model looms

The new, improved Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE is out and available for purchase as of last week, and that means discounts should be expected on the outgoing model. While many times we see new versions of Chromebooks that are leaps and bounds better than the prior versions, I get the sense that we aren’t looking at that sort of situation this time around.

Looking at the listing, it is plainly clear that Acer chose (wisely) to simply iterate on an already-great device in the new Plus model, and that is very good news for you as a consumer.

While I don’t expect the outgoing 516 GE to be around for very long, I’d suspect we’ll see it on the shelves for at least a few more weeks before it becomes a bit harder to find. And because this on is an iterative update (the Plus model looks to have better RGB backlighting and an upgraded SoC), you get to reap the benefit of getting a very similar device for a lot less money.

$449 once again

We’ve seen the 516 GE drop to $449 many times in the past, and I’ll say what I always do about this deal: it is basically unbeatable if it is in your budget. The reason Acer iterated for the new version is the fact that this current device has so much to offer. A massive, gorgeous, bright QHD 16:10 screen that hits 120Hz. An RGB, anti-ghosting keyboard. A huge OceanGlass trackpad. Upward-firing speakers, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of NVMe storage, and a wickedly-fast 12th-gen Core i5-1240P processor.

Of course they just iterated on it! I’ve loved this Chromebook since it arrived and I’m sure I’ll love it’s successor. And that means when either of them drop in price by $200, it’s worth your time. But don’t miss it! As the new version is set to start shipping out next week, we don’t know how long the older model will be around. And I promise you don’t want to miss out on this device or these sorts of savings.