We have heard quite a bit about Lenovo this past week, with the purchase of Motorola orchestrated by them away from Google. It looks like Lenovo will be introducing a new type of Chromebook to the markets, but this time it will be specifically aimed at selling them to schools to use for eeducation. This Chromebook, the 11e, comes in two variants. First is the traditional clamshell laptop, and the second is the ‘Yoga’ form, which allows the screen to be flipped around and used as a tablet. The new 11e series, also available with Windows 8.1, has had a change in build quality as well. Overall, the laptop is much more rugged than other Chromebooks, specifically designed to be used in schools and expected to be subject to much more stress and drops than the average user market. The 11e Yoga will have an 11.6 inch IPS touchscreen panel with wide viewing angles, while the regular 11e has an 11.6 inch HD LED display. Both models will be available within the next few months, with the 11e Yoga starting at $449 and the regular 11e starting at $349.
While those prices may seem a little high for a Chromebook, the laptop itself is designed to take some stress. It has rubber bumpers, reinforced ports, and stronger, more reliable hinges. Both variants run on an Intel processor and are expected to give an easy 8 hours battery life. They also have top cover LEDs that show wireless connectivity, laptop power, and sleep mode so that educators can ensure that students are doing what they are supposed to, when they are supposed to do it. This is one of Lenovo’s really good marketing plans. Should they pull this off right and schools purchase these, they could start kids using Lenovo products pretty early on. As a Lenovo customer, I hope that this does go well for them and increases their brand recognition here in the US. While they have an extremely strong presence in China, they are nowhere near as popular here. What do you think? Will schools bite the bait and go for the 11e, or is it too pricey to appeal to that mass market? Let us know that and any other comments down below!