Acer has won two 2014 Awards of Excellence from leading education technology outlet, Tech & Learning for its Acer C720 Chromebook and Acer TravelMate B113 commercial notebook. Acer was the only PC maker to earn this award in the New Products category this year.
Tech & Learning’s Awards of Excellence program has been recognising outstanding tech products for nearly three decades. With a solid reputation in the industry as a long-standing, high-quality program, the Awards of Excellence recognises both “best of breed” and creative new offerings that help educators in the business of teaching and managing with technology.
Products are evaluated by at least two judges on quality and effectiveness, ease of use, creative use of technology and suitability for use in a school environment.
“We are pleased to have been awarded this honour for our highly acclaimed and best-selling Chromebook as well as our slim and powerful TravelMate B113 notebook, products designed to meet and even exceed the needs of both students and schools,” says Gregg Prendergast, vice-president of commercial sales.
“We’re committed to delivering high-quality devices that make learning more engaging for students, while also giving school IT department’s products that are budget-friendly and easy to manage. We are gratified to know that both customers and media have recognised the award-winning quality of our solutions.”
The Acer C720 Chromebook leverages the intuitive Google ecosystem, boots up in less than 7 seconds, and resumes nearly instantly from sleep mode thanks to the fast Solid State Drive. The device weighs only 2.76 pounds, so it’s easy to carry in a backpack or bag.
Powered by an Intel Celeron 2955U processor that provides both outstanding performance and battery life of up to 8.5 hours , it easily covers a full day at school plus after-school fun. Customers can power through web pages and docs, and enjoy fluid HD video and apps with the support of up to 4Gb of DDR3L memory. The vibrant 11.6-inch ComfyView HD display with a 1 366 x 768 resolution keeps websites, images and video crisp and clear.
The display’s matte, anti-glare property enables students to enjoy the Chromebook outside in sunlight for classwork, reading and more. Plus, the Acer C720 quickly connects to hotspots and wireless networks via 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi.
Slender, robust and ideal for education environments, the Acer TravelMate B113 notebook outfitted with the Windows 8.1 operating system is an excellent everyday learning companion. Ultra-slim at one-inch thin and just 3 pounds, the TravelMate B113 fits students’ backpacks without weighing them down.
With its six-cell battery, the TravelMate B113 can achieve more than seven hours of battery life, avoiding the need for recharging in the classroom where only a few outlets may be available. Powered by up to an Intel Core i3 processor, it ensures smart performance that adapts to students’ needs.
It packs up to 4Gb of DDR3 memory and is upgradeable to 8Gb. It provides plenty of space to store and manage important documents and media thanks to a spacious SATA hard disk with up to 500Gb of capacity.
Its 11,6-inch ComfyView display has an anti-glare matte surface, which reduces mirror-like reflections and improves viewing in bright light. The TravelMate B113 comes outfitted with Acer ProShield Manager, a suite of essential security and management tools, allowing a teacher or school IT manager to protect critical data.