Nothing says back-to-school more than great deals, and fresh new products to be shown off, and of course, utilized. Cut to the chase, nothing truly says back-to-school more than a great new laptop, and in this case it’s the Acer Chromebook . Not just built for folks who like to use docs and web browse, but also students that are on-the-go, and could, ya know, have a drop or fall whilst racing to class. That’s why the new Acer Chromebook 11 C771 is a rugged-class PC; and adding in its touchscreen variant, the C771T for a good 50 bux more, there’s variety for the student to chose what’s best for their needs. Variety is the reason a lot of companies do the back-to-school budget laptop lines every once in a while. It’s the smart thing to do, and can create an added influx of customers searching for something very suited to them. We can surely remember Dell’s Inspiron 14/15/and 17 “R” series. The Inspiron 14R 5437, which had the intention of the Acer school/budget PC line, was yet another machine very balanced in its size, weight and touchscreen features, yet had the 14-inch screen size . The others featured 15-inch and 17-inch screens for more variability. Isn’t the option of three different screen sizes a rarity? It sure is nice.

So Acer doesn’t offer the same, however these particular Chromebooks, on the mid-to-high end of Acer’s Chromebook line, include a $279.99 and $329.99 starting price for the non-touch and touch versions, respectively. The rugged design, per say, is said to sport a spill-resistant keyboard, and a MIL-STD 810 G tested case, able to withstand a 4 foot fall. The non-touch, Chromebook 11 C771, measures just 0.8 inches thick and weighs a mere 3 pounds. That’s light!

More features an 11.6-inch display, with a 1366 x 768 resolution and a 180-degree hinge to flatten the lid all the way down. This feature is seen as helpful in school, as students are able to share and demonstrate their projects and research easily. Its internal specs include up to 4GB of RAM supporting a 6th generation Intel Celeron 3855U CPU processor. The Skylake chips, mentioned in the title, will not be available just yet. Acer has plans to release these higher-priced versions with Intel Core i3 and i5 later on in the year.

The Chromebook 11 C771 features a microSD card slot, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. These specs go for both the touch and non-touch variants. Additionally, both Chromebooks feature a 720p HDR webcam (we know students love their face time chats), stereo speakers, and of course 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

When I talk about Chromebooks, I always feel the need to remind consumers that this is a Chrome-only unit. There are limitations to Chromebooks, and for this reason, prime users, such as students, should be ready to use the Chrome-based OS, be limited to browsing, media sharing and streaming (and for many, this is just the right fit for their lifestyle). The upcoming higher-end units, featuring Core i3 and i5, will suffice for more demanding web tasks, as well as provide a very healthy battery life, which is already quoted at 13 hours on the non-touch model.