We’ve been waiting for this for a while, but I’m happy to report that starting today, the new Acer Chromebook Spin 513 and its Snapdragon 7c processor are ready to order – at least for some. For now, the Acer Spin 513 that wipes out Qualcomm’s ARM processor, which has yet to be proven, is now available to our friends in the UK for purchase with a 1 to 4 day delivery time. This is not an order or reservation: it is total availability at retail.
For now, there is no indication as to when this will spread to other regions such as the U.S., but if we look at previous releases where Chromebooks first appeared in the UK, it won’t be long before availability in the U.S. occurs. With Chromebooks having their biggest market here in the United States, it generally doesn’t take long for devices to launch here after they appear elsewhere.
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For now, however, we have some details that – thanks to a close look from Kevin Tofel in About Chromebooks – we need to highlight with this specific Chromebook. Firstly, the price of £ 399.99 probably indicates that this particular setup will end up costing $ 399 when it arrives in the USA. Second, the configuration listed is definitely the basic finish, with only 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. I would expect a price increase of at least $ 100 to obtain the 8GB / 128GB version that we had in hand at the end of 2020. Finally, this model also comes without LTE, as this is saved for the higher priced models .
In our hands-on with a pre-production model, I can at least vouch for the solid screen, smooth trackpad, good keyboard and thin / light construction, all of which are high points with this Chromebook. The performance of the Snapdragon 7c is still a mystery now, and we will not comment on this until we have a production-ready model in the office. On paper, the Snapdragon 7c should perform solidly, but the benchmarks and numbers tell only half the story. Real-world usage is the real test, and we just don’t know much at the moment.
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I am hoping to see this Chromebook reach the rest of Acer stores and other outlets soon and even more hope that the 8GB / 128GB models with LTE will also become part of the conversation. With what should be a stellar battery life and an extremely light / thin body, the Acer Spin 513 could be a fantastic device if Google and Acer could solve any problems in the Qualcomm Snapdragon formula for Chrome OS. Chromebooks need a win in the ARM chip department and I am hoping that devices like this and the next ‘Coachz’ will succeed.
