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Yesterday, I wrote about the review unit ASUS sent over to us of the ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus, citing the fact that the model we now have in the office is a bit more high-end than the model that is currently available for purchase on ASUS’ website. While not a totally different device or anything, the model we now have in-hand is upgraded in some pretty big ways.
Namely, it gets the addition of a touchscreen, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of NVMe storage. Those are 3 pretty big upgrades to three key components of the Chromebook experience, and it makes a difference in the type of Chromebook the CX54 competes with.
At the standard $699 price tag with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and a non-touch display, the CX54 is competing with the Spin 714’s of the world. With the upgrades we have in our review unit, however, we’re talking more about HP Dragonfly Pro territory.
Where to buy it
Thankfully, ASUS responded after our post yesterday and clarified things a bit. As expected, the model we have (CX5403CMA-DB562) is meant for B2B applications and will primarily be sold through enterprise reseller channels. The consumer-facing, $699 model is CX5403CMA-DB588 for reference, and for now, at least, it is still only available at ASUS.com.
That being said, our representative from ASUS did let me know he found a listing for the exact model of CX54 that we have just filmed our unboxing of (coming soon), and it is surprisingly more affordable than I thought it would be.
Over at CDW right now (as of the publish time on this post, CDW’s site is having some issues, but should be back in a bit), you can order this model of the ASUS CX54 Chromebook Plus for just $964.99. Remember, this device is premium, with a 500 nit screen, exceptional build quality, ultra-thin, has all the ports you could want, a wonderful keyboard/trackpad, and packed-out internals. To get all this for under $1000 is not what I expected: especially not from a business-focused site like CDW.
So, if you’ve been looking at the CX54 as a device to pick up that gets all the high-end stuff right and can take on something like the HP Dragonfly Pro in nearly every category, you may have found your device.
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