ASUS Chromebook 11.6" CR11 Ruggedized Review

If you need a laptop that can survive being dropped or tossed in a backpack without a second thought, the ASUS Chromebook CR11 is built for that. It's a ruggedized, 11.6-inch Chromebook with a tough exterior, and at around $200, it's one of the cheapest laptops you can buy. But let's be clear: this isn't a general-purpose laptop. With an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, and just 4GB of storage, it's designed for one thing: being a durable, ultra-basic web browser. People searching for a 'cheap rugged laptop for school' or a 'kid-proof Chromebook' are looking at the right product, but they need to know its limits from the start.

Performance is exactly what you'd expect from the specs. The single-core Celeron CPU lands in the 2nd percentile, which means it's slower than almost every other laptop out there. It's fine for loading a handful of browser tabs for Google Docs or a YouTube video, but try to do more than two things at once and it will start to chug. The AMD integrated graphics, surprisingly, score in the 98th percentile. Don't get excited—that just means the basic video decoding for streaming works perfectly fine, which is all this machine needs. It's not for gaming or editing. In practice, it feels like a dedicated machine for web apps, and that's it.

At $200, the value proposition is super narrow. You're trading all performance and features for durability and a low price. It's a value only if your number one need is 'a laptop that won't break' and your budget is rock-bottom. For most students or even younger kids, spending a bit more on a standard Chromebook with better specs would be a much better experience. But if this specific ruggedized form factor is a non-negotiable requirement, it's pretty much your only option at this price.

Comparing this to the listed competitors like the MacBook Pro or MSI Vector gaming laptop is almost laughable—they're in a different universe. A more realistic comparison is with other budget Chromebooks. A standard $300 Acer or Lenovo Chromebook will have a better screen, a faster processor, and 64GB of storage, making it far more usable for schoolwork. The trade-off is it won't be as physically tough. The ASUS CR11 is for when durability absolutely trumps every other spec. If you can handle a normal laptop with care, you'll get a much better machine for not much more money.

So, should you buy this? Only in one very specific case: if you need the absolute cheapest, most drop-resistant laptop possible for a child or for a very controlled environment where it will only ever run a browser. For 99% of people, even students on a tight budget, the performance and storage limitations are too severe. You'll outgrow it instantly. It answers the question 'is there a rugged Chromebook under $200?' with a yes, but then immediately makes you ask if you should actually want one. My advice is to stretch your budget a little for a better base model Chromebook unless the rugged shell is a strict necessity.