ASUS Releases Convertible ChromeBook Flip C100
by Brett Howse on July 20, 2015 6:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Chromebook
- Asus
Today ASUS is launching a new Chromebook, but this one gets the flip treatment with a 360° hinge. According to ASUS, it brings together the experiences of a tablet and notebook into one device. We’ve certainly seen a lot of these on the Windows side, but for a device packing Chrome OS, this is certainly less common if not unique.
Let’s go over what is inside. ASUS turned to Rockchip for the processor on this device with the Rockchip 3288-C SoC inside. This is a quad-core design based on the Cortex A17, and clocks in at 1.8 GHz. The GPU is the ARM Mail T624, and you can get either 2 or 4 GB of system memory and 16 GB of eMMC storage. It also supports a SD/SDXC card reader if you need to add a bit more storage.
Although the internals are certainly low end, ASUS did put a multi-touch IPS display in, albeit at only 1280x800 resolution, but for the 10.1” low cost device, that is likely serviceable. There are also outputs for HDMI if necessary and of course a headset jack. There are two USB 2.0 ports for connectivity, and the battery is rated for up to nine hours.
| ASUS ChromeBook Flip C100 | |
| Processor | Rockchip 3288-C Quad-core Cortex A17 @ 1.8 GHz ARM Mali T624 GPU |
| Connectivity | 802.11ac Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Memory | 2G or 4GB DDR3L |
| Storage | 16GB eMMC |
| Battery | 2-cell up to 9 hours |
| I/O | 2 x USB 2.0 HD webcam micro HDMI Headphone/mic jack SD Card reader |
| Dimensions | 10.35" x 7.18" x 0.6" / 263 x 182 x 15.2 mm |
| Display | 10.1" 1280x800 IPS LCD with capacitive touch |
| Weight | 1.96 lbs / 0.89 kg |
| Price | $249/$299 for 2GB/4GB |
The keyboard is 97% of a full-sized notebook keyboard, so despite the small size it should be reasonable to type on.
Speaking of size, the 0.6-inch body weighs in at just under two pounds, so it should be easy to tote around. That’s nothing like what an actual tablet weighs of course, but for a small notebook it is very light.
My biggest concern with the ChromeBook Flip C100 is the operating system though. Windows devices have been sporting these convertible designs for some time, but Windows 8 was built with touch as a primary input device, and although the Windows store is not as fleshed out as the iOS tablet store, it is certainly more fleshed out that Chrome OS as a tablet OS.
If you are interested in kicking the tires on one of these, they are available now from the ASUS eStore, Newegg.com, and Amazon.com for $249 (2GB) or $299 (4GB).
Source: ASUS
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extide - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
Thats just Citrix, nothing specialMichael Bay - Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - link
Come on, he`s your typical shill.lmcd - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
Dude with that logic you should love Windows RT. But you probably didn't. So get off the fanboy train and recognize that at this stage in the game, Windows 8.1 offers the same quality of online experience with no offline compromises. Chrome's desktop marketshare attests to that equality in quality.Demon-Xanth - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
When you look at it as a 10 inch tablet, it definitely makes much more sense. I've had one for a week now, and have been pleasantly surprised at how solid it is. Battery life hasn't been an issue. And Arc welder has run the few Android apps I've tried without issue. The touch interface is what I use primarily and forget that the touch pad is there most times. It really is done quite well and I'm happy with what I got. (2gb model from amazon). I've been getting more use out of it than my stream 7, but it hasn't bumped my nexus 7 out of the "most frequently used" slot. I do agree, running Android apps without having to hunt apks would be quite nice though.uhuznaa - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
I can't tell you how much I would prefer the (tablet version of) the Android GMail app over fumbling with a touchpad (or even a touchscreen) through the browser keyhole with the GMail web app. Or just using one of the many decent network-aware (Cloud, FTP, SMB) file managers instead of down- and uploading files via braindead webapps. Or just using MS (or Kingsoft) Office instead of what Google has to offer here. Or just play one of the many, many games available for Android.I'm really wondering if Google just doesn't realize that Android needs only very little polish to become a totally decent OS for small "computers" with a keyboard or if there is something more to that. While I agree that ChromeOS isn't that bad for a certain niche market, this niche is very, very small.
With Android being on 80% of all smartphones and tablets many people would LOVE using the same OS and the same apps on small laptops. Google has everything in its hands to just destroy MS Windows for home/casual/mobile use and just lets it dangle from its fingers there.
Impulses - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
Agreed, when the first leaks of the N9 keyboard accessory surfaced I thought they were putting in some work to make Android more usable in that form factor, they really didn't tho, and it wouldn't take much.SunLord - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
Come on ASUS make me a transformer Chrome book damn itsavagemike - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
All the usual comments about how bad ChromeOS is. And as usual those comments are from people who don't own any ChromeOS devices.Even the article can't resist a comment that the OS indicates a problem, though the reviewer has not used the device.
I have yet to find a bad review of this product from anyone who has actually used it.
Would ChromeOS be better if it did this or that? Perhaps. And you know what, it probably will do this or that after a bit. One thing Google has totally delivered on with ChromeOS is the promise that it will be in constant active development. The machine I bought a year ago is indeed better today than when I bought it. It's required no maintenance. It hasn't slowed or bogged down with time like every Windows machine I have ever owned. The scant 16GB of space is still mostly totally unused by me as it was never the point of the device. And it does more now than it did then.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you'd have to wait for it to be decent. It's a very good OS right now depending on your needs, just as it was a year ago when I bought. It will just be even better going forward.
I don't want a screen this small. But am anxious to see what else launches in this paradigm with ChromeOS on it.
uhuznaa - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
You won't find a "bad" review from someone who actually owns a Chromebook because he wouldn't buy one since it doesn't work for him.I looked at Chromebooks here at the company I'm working for and there's just no way we could use one. We need MS Office (as sad as it is), we need access to our file servers, and if we deploy highly mobile laptops we do that because the people who use it will use it somewhere out there where there's no WiFi. What is so hard to understand about that?
Compared to Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android what Chromebooks do may be nice if you can get away with working with Google and basically nothing else, but in many cases this just is no option. So you have to fight all the crap that Windows comes with and with OS X and with the limitations of iOS when such a laptop running Android would fit the bill just perfectly.
I'm not saying that ChromeOS is crap. I'm just saying that in may cases it just doesn't work out while Android would work perfectly. There's very little maintenance necessary with Android too. There's really a need for something between full-blown crappy MS Windows and an extremely limited thin client like ChromeOS. And Google even has it already.
Adding-Color - Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - link
+1