While the updated Chromebook boasts a number of serious protective features, the most impressive by far is its ability to withstand weight on its lid. CTL tested the system in-house, and found that even when a 365-pound man stood on it, the system wasn’t damaged at all.
That’s not all though, as the Chromebook is also rated for drops up to 70 cm — just over two feet — with reinforced ports, hinges, and power port. The keyboard is specially designed to prevent spills from seeping their way through, and has printed keys so students can’t peel off the stickers.
Under the tough hood, the NL6X looks a lot more like a standard Chromebook offering. It’s powered by an Intel Celeron N2940, a quad-core with a 1.83GHz base clock, and 4GB of RAM. There’s also a 16GB eMMC drive for storage, plus USB 3.0, full-size HDMI, and SD card slots for connectivity and extra storage. The 11.6-inch screen has a modest 1,366 x 768 resolution, which is a typical panel for Chromebooks of its size.
As an added bonus, CTL claims the system can run for up to nine hours on a single charge. That’s long enough for an entire school day without looking for an outlet. Plus, the battery is removable, allowing an IT department to service it in-house without having to replace the whole computer.
CTL even packs in a few special features just for students. The same lid that supports up to 365 pounds is also a whiteboard surface, for sharing notes, doodling, or temporarily labeling systems. The webcam rotates a full 180 degrees for snapping photos of projects or video chatting, and there’s an optional microscope attachments for more scientific endeavors.
If those sound like features you want in your classroom, the CTL NL6X Chromebook is already available for order directly from CTL. The system starts at $269, which includes one year of free accidental damage, separate from the standard one year parts and labor warranty.
