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Well folks, the day is finally here. The vaunted ASUS ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus is finally in a standard retail setting, and you can purchase it directly from Best Buy right now. Sure, it has been available from ASUS’ website for a bit, but the stock has been hit-and-miss, the pricing was a mess at first, and I know many of you simply aren’t interested in ordering from sites you’ve never purchased from before.
An odd path to general availability
The path of the CX54 has been a very odd one, with our initial (very early) hands-on with this Chromebook all the way back in December 2023. We freely assumed we’d see this device make an appearance at CES 2024, but it was instead held off until Google’s Chromebook event in New York at the end of May.
Following that event, again, we figured this awesome Chromebook would be immediately available given how long we’ve all known about it. And that was generally the case, but when it first arrived (only on ASUS’ website for purchase), the price was a full $100 more than what was announced just a week or so prior.
That pricing was eventually adjusted about two weeks later, and that’s where we’ve been with the consumer-focused $699 version of the CX54. Until today, that is. As promised, this pretty-amazing Chromebook is now in a standard retail setting where you can purchase it at the price that was expected and simply walk into the store and pick it up.
All our closest Best Buy locations are showing it with a pickup date of August 9th in-store and delivery to your residence by August 6th. That means we should start seeing this device on actual store shelves pretty soon, and that’s a big deal in and of itself.
The ASUS ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus represents the height of what we can expect in a Chromebook Plus device. Sure, the version we have for review gets a few updates in the RAM, storage, and touch departments, but as I’ve refrained from using the touchscreen during my ongoing review process, I’m getting generally the same experience as what the $699 model offers. And let me tell you, it’s a pretty stellar one. Review coming very soon!
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