Surprise: There’s an Asus Chromebook Detachable CZ1 for classrooms
This year is turning out to be one of surprises when it comes to Asus. First, was the unexpected debut of the fanless Asus Chromebook Flip CX5400 and now there’s another one. It’s the rugged Asus Chromebook Detachable CZ1 for classrooms. This time it wasn’t me who sleuthed it out though. Thanks to an anonymous tipster, we have the early details.
Before you get too excited about a new Chrome OS tablet, the Asus Chromebook Detachable CZ1 is very similar to the currently available Chromebook Flip CM3 tablet.
That means it has the same 1920 x 1200 touch display, stylus support with a garage for the pen, rear cover with hinge, and detachable keyboard.
The main difference is on the outside. This model is built to withstand the bumps and bruises of a classroom setting.
Asus describes it better than I can, so here’s the copy from the product page to explain:
Built to military-grade standards, it’s packed with protective features, including a wrap-around rubber trim, shockproof cover and durable 3D-textured finish. It features a free-angle adjustable stand cover and full-size keyboard with 1.5 mm key travel, plus an ErgoLift design
The device has been tested for up to 1.5-meter drops, for example, and withstand endure 15 kg of force without any panel damage.
Overall, this looks like a viable Chrome OS tablet specifically for the classroom. I’d say mostly early classrooms but given the reasonable performance of the MT 8183 (aka Kompanio 500) processor inside and 4 GB of RAM, some high school work is possible as well.
Then again, those students might not need (or want) the ruggedized look. In that case, the CM3 is a reasonable choice.
There’s no price or availability information yet, just a product page and specs. So stay tuned for a product announcement at some point from Asus.
This is good news because it diverts at least SOME of the education market from Pentium and Celeron to ARM. In the short term this may not be a good thing: everything above the N45xx now has 4 performance cores, meaning that even high school students could use some Linux apps. But in the long term when better ARM SOCs than the MediaTek Helio P60T/MT8183/Kompanio 500 (or whatever they are calling it this week) or the similarly underperforming Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c are available, then it could make a real difference. For example, some school districts with a heavily rural or low income population actually want to provide LTE or 5G devices where the school district pays for the data plan on a bulk rate. (Ideally we would actually have public carriers to provide this sort of thing but that is considered SOCIALISM by people who don’t remember JFK – one of our most effective cold warriors – or Eisenhower or Hoover.) ARM SOCs can provide the thin, 2-in-1 devices with detachable keyboards, long battery life, touchscreens, integrated mobile connectivity that cost less than $300.
I hope I don’t die waiting… for… a full sized keyboard on a tiny detachable. Looking at this one it appears that it could ‘almost’ be full size, given the generous bezels and that the keys are end-to-end. I didn’t see mention of this, which is not a good sign.
While the military grade thing may be a reason to push up the price, the processor is not, this should come in (64GB) close to $300 based on specs.
If this isn’t a full-sized keyboard then I guess I’m waiting for a low-end 11 inch detachable… Do you hear tell of any?
Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook is a 13 inch detachable with a full-sized keyboard sporting Snapdragon 7c2 chip.