According to this article, Acer has some nice new Chromebooks coming in early 2015. My district has around 6,000 Acer C720 Chromebooks and they are great - fast, powerful, relatively sturdy and a great price. These new ones sound even better. I'm a huge believer of Chromebooks as an technology tool that works great in schools.
The first one is the Acer C740 which is supposedly going to be a rugged Chromebook with Intel's 5th gen Broadwell processor with a starting price of $259 for 2GB RAM/16GB SSD and $279 for the 4GB RAM/16GB SSD. I recommend 4 GB of RAM. The rugged features are a huge plus for education. There will also be a 32 GB SSD option, it will have AC WiFi and Bluetooth 4, USB 3 an SD Card Reader and HDMI out wiht a 8.5 hour battery life.
In addition, the article states that Acer will introduce a 15.6 inch Chromebook with the same specs as the C740. This is great for those wanting a larger screen.
Both are great news for the education market. Keep and eye out for more information on these and other new Chromebooks.
