Acer unveils 11.6-inch TravelMate Spin B1 Windows 10 S convertible laptop for education
The big news of the day is the newest version of Microsoft's desktop operating system -- Windows 10 S. In fact, the company even announced a new computer to showcase the education-focused OS -- the $1,000 Surface Laptop. While Microsoft's newest notebook is drop-dead gorgeous and super premium, the "S" variant of Windows is probably more appropriate for less expensive laptops. Luckily, many manufacturers will be leveraging the new OS for more affordable machines.
Today, Acer unveils its first-ever Windows 10 S notebook, and it is less than a third of the cost of a Surface Laptop ($299) -- wow! The 11.6-inch TravelMate Spin B1 Windows 10 S convertible laptop is touch-friendly and offers an arguably better experience than a similarly priced Chromebook. You see, unlike Chrome OS which seems to use touch as an afterthought, Window 10 S was designed with it in mind.
"The TravelMate Spin B1 sports up to 13 hours of battery life, allowing students to learn without interruption, inside and outside the classroom, with power to spare for homework. The premiere model for customers in North America is powered by an Intel Celeron processor with Intel HD Graphics to provide solid everyday performance. It also has 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM. A Chiclet keyboard provides excellent tactile feedback for accurate touch-typing, and a Precision Touchpad promotes comfortable and responsive navigation," says Acer.
The budget-friendly manufacturer also says, "Students can stay connected to their school network with fast dual-band 2x2 MIMO 802.11ac wireless connectivity. The device connects easily to peripherals via Bluetooth 4.0, one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port and one HDMI port. Students can plug in their headphones with the 3.5mm head phone jack, while files can be easily shared with the built-in SD card reader."
While it may be inexpensive, Acer's laptop is hardly cheap from a durability standpoint. Since this will be used by younger students, it has a spill-resistant keyboard and a rubber frame to absorb shock. This should hopefully allow it to take some abuse.
True, the TravelMate Spin B1 is hardly a premium machine, but it is plenty powerful for education purposes. The fact that it doubles as a tablet and has respectable specifications for less than $300 makes it an incredible value. Keep in mind, $299 gets you the top model with an included stylus -- there will be less expensive variants too. If you want to buy it, it can be had later this month.