Asus has officially launched its Flip C100, a convertible Chromebook that can transform into a laptop, a tablet and other functional forms if needed.
Buyers can now purchase the Flip C100 from the Asus eStore, Amazon and Newegg starting at $249 for the entry-level version. For this price, buyers can get the Flip running on a quad-core Rockchip 3288-C processor clocked at 1.8 GHz, an ARM Mali T624 graphics processing unit and 2 GB of RAM. Customers who want to upgrade their Chromebook can lay down $299 to get 4 GB of RAM instead.
Built with a light but sturdy aluminum chassis, the Flip C100 can do a lot of flipping for its user. It can be used in normal laptop mode or in presentation mode, where the Chromebook's screen flips over 180-degrees to allow the device to stand in tent mode. There is also a keyboard that is almost the size of a normal keyboard. Asus says the keyboard on the Flip C100 is as big as 97 percent of a regular keyboard, so users will not likely feel the difference when typing on this device despite its smaller form than most laptops.
The Flip C100 sports a 10.1-inch WXGA display with a resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels and a 10-point multitouch IPS display. It has dimensions of 10.35 by 7.18 by 0.03 inches and comes in very light at just nearly 2 lbs, which makes this Chromebook a very compact and portable device that is good for carrying around.
It also features two USB 2.0 ports and a full HD camera paired with a headphone and microphone jack or stereo speakers for video conferencing. The Flip C100 has a micro HDMI port and an SD Card reader to allow users to supplement the 16 GB of built-in internal storage that is sure to fill up with documents, photos, apps and other files. It is powered by a two-cell battery that Asus says can last up to nine hours of use every day.
On the outside, the Flip C100 looks and works like many of the other hybrid laptop-tablet convertibles already available on the market. The biggest difference, however, is this one runs on Google's Chrome OS, Google's Chrome-based platform that requires users to be online for the most part, while the majority of other devices either run on Windows or Android.
The Flip C100 was first unveiled in March, but Asus did not provide a price list or a launch date back then. Now, Asus has cleared the web of ambiguity and is now selling its first convertible Chromebook online.
