Lenovo announces N20 and N20p Chromebooks, available this summer starting at $279

Two new Chromebook options with industry-standard specs and prices

After taking its first shot at Chromebooks with education-focused models earlier this year, Lenovo is ready to jump into the general consumer market with the N20 and N20p Chromebooks. As far as specs go, these two laptops are seemingly cut from the same cloth as others on the market. We're looking at 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 displays, Intel Celeron (but Haswell, mind you) processors, "up to" 16GB of storage and "up to" 4GB of RAM. (We're going to assume there will be different SKUs with more storage/memory down the road.)

There are two USB ports, an HDMI port, SDcard slot, Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac Wifi, so that's a plus, along with an "oversized" trackpad and full-featured keyboard. In terms of both design and internal components both models seem nearly identical, with one simple difference the N20p offers a 10-point touchscreen display and a swiveling hinge that lets you fold the screen back into a "stand mode" for viewing and touch-only apps. The N20p is also a touch heavier at 3.1lbs while the N20 is just 2.8lbs both still a bit heavy for 11-inch class laptops.

The N20 will hit stores in July for just $279, while the touch-enabled N20p will be coming in August at $329. While they may not stand out from the Chromebook crowd drastically in terms of specs or features, these are two more solid options when looking for an inexpensive Chrome OS device.

Lenovo N20p

Lenovo N20

Press Release:

Lenovo Breaks The Mold By Going Multimode On Its First Consumer Chromebook

Portfolio offers thin and light designs and breakthrough dual mode, touch experience * N20 Chromebook in clamshell design offers familiar laptop feel with choice features * N20p Chromebook features an HD 10-point multitouch display and easily converts from Laptop to Stand mode for added flexibility and new ways to use it

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC May 6, 2014: Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today announced Lenovo's first consumer Chromebooks, the N20 Chromebook and N20p Chromebook. These devices offer consumers choices of two ways to enjoy the Chrome experience in a thin and light form factor with a set of comprehensive technologies - all at an unbelievably affordable price starting at $279. While the N20 provides the familiar comfort of a traditional laptop, the N20p Chromebook breaks the mold for Chromebooks with its innovative multimode design featuring Laptop and Stand modes.

These new additions complement Lenovo's Chromebook family, which includes the ThinkPad 11e Chromebook and the ThinkPad YOGA 11e Chromebook, built with the needs of education customers in mind.

Fusing Innovative Hardware

Designed for maximum portability, both Chromebooks are thin and light at less than 17.9mm and weighing less than 1.4 kg. With an 11.6-in 1366x768 HD screen, users can comfortably see their work and type by using the full-sized keyboard with its oversized trackpad and attractive cool-touch palmrest.

While the N20 Chromebook features a traditional laptop design, the multimode N20p Chromebook's keyboard flexes 300 backward to convert from Laptop mode to Stand mode. Stand mode gives users a new way for watching videos up close and interacting with the 10-finger touchscreen for playing games and browsing. With up to eight hours of battery life and powered by an Intel Celeron processor with integrated graphics, users can quickly and seamlessly boot the Chromebook and immediately begin their task, whether it's watching videos, video chatting using the high definition web cam, listening to music, surfing the web and more without bringing their power cord along. They can stay constantly connected with its WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. The Chromebooks also come with up to 16 GB internal and up to 100 GB of free cloud storage from Google Drive for storing digital content.

The Chrome Experience

Combining the Chrome experience with Lenovo's innovative multimode Chromebook design offers an unmatched value for consumers. With the Chrome operating system, the Chromebooks boot within seconds. Chrome offers fast, automatic updates and tens of thousands of apps available via the Chrome Web Store.

Users can work on their N20 Chromebook and N20p Chromebook offline writing email on Gmail and creating documents with Google Docs. To facilitate working with other people and devices, the Chromebooks allow for opening, editing and sharing Microsoft Word and Excel files. Users can even share their Chromebook with someone else through a guest's personal Google account or by enabling Guest Mode, and they can enable monitoring of children's web browsing with supervised user profiles. With the Chromebooks, users can print anywhere via Google Cloud Print, and they can employ remote desktop access to access software on their machine.

Quote

"Our first consumer Chromebooks perfectly complement people's changing mobile digital lifestyles," said Dilip Bhatia, vice president, worldwide marketing and design, PC Group, Lenovo. "Equipped with thousands of apps, the N20 and N20p Chromebooks are also fast, secure and incredibly simple for anyone to use and manage. With touch and two unique modes on the N20p Chromebook, users are getting a great technology experience at a handsome price."

Pricing and Availability

Pricing for models of the N20 Chromebook and N20p Chromebook start at $279 and $329, respectively. They will be available beginning in July and August, respectively, via Lenovo retailers and www.lenovo.com.

Via: Lenovo announces N20 and N20p Chromebooks, available this summer starting at $279