Mobile Computing | News

Lenovo Unveils New Chromebook for Schools

• By Leila Meyer
• 01/22/13

Lenovo has unveiled a Chromebook version of its ThinkPad X131e laptop. Lenovo designed the ThinkPad X131e laptops to be rugged enough to withstand the demands of K-12 classrooms. The laptop is already available with a Windows operating system, and the Chrome operating system version will become available at the end of February.

The ThinkPad X131e Chromebooks will feature a rubber bumper around the top cover, strengthened corners, and hinges and brackets that are strengthened to last for more than 50,000 uses. "The ThinkPad X131e has proven to be very successful in education environments," said Jerry Paradise, executive director of product marketing for the ThinkPad Product Group, in a prepared statement. "With the rugged features we added to the X131e, we've seen reduced failure rates in the field."

With the Chromebook, students can use Google Apps for Education to create documents, edit spreadsheets, view multimedia files, create slideshow presentations, and view PDF files. They can also install additional apps from the Chrome Web Store, which includes thousands of Web apps.

Key features of the ThinkPad X131e Chromebook include:

• An 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 HD LED antiglare screen;
• Intel processor;
• Three USB ports;
• Integrated wireless LAN adapter;
• HDMI and VGA ports for connecting to projectors or big screen TVs;
• Weight under four pounds; and
• Enough battery life to last the entire school day.

Schools can also customize the Chromebooks with custom colors, school logo etching, and asset tagging services for locating misplaced devices.

According to Caesar Sengupta, director of product management for Google Chrome OS, Chromebooks make an ideal one-to-one classroom device because they're more cost effective and easier to manage and maintain than traditional laptops or tablets."

Chromebooks include built-in security features and a dashboard enables IT staff to manage security and configure and manage devices through a single interface.

Lenovo ThinkPad X131e Chromebooks will become available on February 26 for special bid volume pricing starting at $429.