Acer's Chromebook 514 proves you don't have to spend $1,000 for a quality Chrome OS laptop

Acer has revealed a new Chrome OS laptop with a whole bunch of premium-grade features and a reasonable price tag that could make some think twice about splashing $1,000 on, say, a Google Pixelbook.

Revealed at a pre-IFA 2018 event earlier today, the Chromebook 514 starts at $349 in the U.S. (€349 in Europe) and features a sturdy, sleek-looking aluminium chassis that puts it ahead of other plastic-covered Chromebooks in the same price bracket.

The Acer Chromebook 514 also sports a 14-inch IPS touchscreen display with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution surrounded by a minimal 6mm bezel, a Gorilla Glass touchpad, an HDR webcam, and two reversible USB 3.1 Type-C ports on either side of the laptop.

There’s also a pair of USB-A ports so you don’t have to faff around looking for a dongle to connect older devices and cables.

Aside from the fact that the Chromebook 514 is strictly a laptop and can’t be folded back into tablet mode like a 2-in-1 convertible, the whole package seems like a bargain. That being said, we haven’t had any word on the actual specs powering the device. Acer says the exact specs will vary be region, so you might want to check back in with the company’s official store for more details in the near future.

As well as a new Chromebook, Acer also revealed two new Swift series laptop with the $1,100 Swift 5 and the $800 Swift 3, a new virtual reality headset called the OJO 500, and a raft of gaming hardware including the most ridiculous gaming chair ever conceived which I now absolutely want more than anything in the world.