Acer is one of a few different brands that are making Chromebooks, and this week it just announced the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 514 and the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 714, two new laptops that were designed to offer long battery life and premium experiences for users.
Acer says both are “priced in quantities for commercial customers,” which sounds like you need to buy multiple units if you’re a business, but you might end up getting a discount for buying more. The Enterprise 514 is available already, while the Enterprise 714 model isn’t shipping until Q4 of this year. Both Chromebooks are being positioned as premium offerings, and the prices certainly reflect that.
The Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 714 starts at $1,499.99
Anyone looking at that $1,499.99 price tag and thinking, “Why so expensive?” That’s an understandable reaction. A $1,499.99 price tag is a lot for a Chromebook. You can definitely do a lot with a Chromebook these days, but there’s still a lot you can’t do as well. It’s also worth remembering that this is the starting price, which means there are configurations that will cost more. On top of this, commercial customers looking to grab this or the Enterprise 514 model will probably have to buy several units.
Customers who opt for the latter model will be looking at a starting price of $1,099.99. This is the model that was available this week. When it comes to the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 714, the cost is up there with Google’s original top-end Chromebook Pixel, which had a retail price of $1,449.99. That potentially makes this the most expensive Chromebook to date, but this one from Acer certainly has better specs. However, customers should ask themselves whether or not the specs are really worth the price.
ASUS makes a Chromebook Plus with the same specs for half the price
Acer’s two new Chromebooks come with some decent specs. With that in mind, it would be easy to dismiss the price tag of each as worth it, given the hardware. However, ASUS actually makes a Chromebook Plus model called the ExpertBook CX54, and it has almost all the same specs. In fact, one of the only differences is the display. Both models from Acer come with a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 display. The ExpertBook CX54 has a 14-inch display as well, but its resolution is higher at 2560 x 1600.
The rest of the tech specs vary, with ASUS coming out on top in some key areas. The base model from ASUS comes with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 128GB of storage (this is less than Acer’s two new laptops). It also runs on Intel’s Core Ultra 5 115U processor, which is what both laptops from Acer are using. Also worth noting is that the Enterprise 514 model with the Core Ultra 5 CPU is the mid-tier model, and it’s priced at $1,249.99. So the $1,099.99 model comes with an even lower-tier CPU, the Intel Core Ultra 3 100U. ASUS also offers a larger battery at 63Wh compared to 53Wh on these laptops. So, the ExpertBook CX54 could very well last longer.
All of this is to say that for a very similar laptop experience, ASUS has something on offer for a lot less money. The ExpertBook CX54 retails for $699.99, and it’s even on sale for $579.99 right now. You get less RAM and storage, but everything else is right on par. That being said, Acer’s laptops are newer and seem to have better webcams.
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