Acer C720 Chromebook review, update: Powered by fourth generation Intel Core i3-40005U Haswell processors, the two upgraded Acer C720 Chromebooks run at 1.7 GHz with a Solid State Drive of 32 GB. Both models sport an 11.6-inch screen with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.

The C720-3871 is the more affordable version that features a 2 GB RAM for $349.99. But if you have an additional $30 to spare, you can purchase the C720-3404 which has double the RAM for only $379.99. The two Chromebooks also run on a stellar 8.5 battery life.

With all of its upgraded, high-end features, Acer proves that cheap prices doesn’t necessarily equate to cheap quality.

"As one of the most powerful Chromebooks on the market, the additional performance of Core i3 enables an extremely responsive experience while surfing multiple tabs of web pages. Students, families and business users will recognize the difference in how snappy the new Acer C720 is with Intel Core i3,” says Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager of Intel mobile client platforms Group at Acer.

The newest Chromebooks will be out in the market in the U.S. and Canada this July. The C720-3871can now be pre-ordered for $349 on Amazon.

In other news, Google has also released its own Chromebook Pixel, the most powerful computer powered by the Chrome OS. It sports a 4 GB DDR3 RAM and 32GB to 64GB of memory, running on a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor. Yet in spite of its stellar specs, customers shied away from its price tag of $1,299. Hopefully, the launch of Acer’s newest Chromebooks should set a trend for cheaper, yet more powerful laptops.

Because of the continuous rise of portable handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets, the overall PC sales have dropped. But because of its featured affordability, the Acer Chromebooks have a 9.4% growth in market share, proving that laptops still have a fighting chance—just as long as they have the right prices.