Acer and HP have just announced budget Chromebook laptops that promise to be cheaper, lighter, thinner and quicker than the previous offerings, but with both vying for your budget bucks what's the difference between the two?

Screen size and Display

Both the HP and the Acer Chromebooks offer an 11.6-inch screen that promises to be bright and great for viewing at all angles. The HP Chromebook 11 specs an IPS display with 300 nit brightness and a 176 degree viewing angle. Acer says its screen uses its ComfyView LED-backlit Display technology. That means that it has an anti-glare matte surface, which reduces mirror-like reflections and improves viewing in bright light; a first for the company in a Chromebook.

Tech specs

The HP Chromebook 11 comes with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of SSD storage space and a Exynos 5250 GAIA processor.

The Acer C720 features Intel Celeron Processor 2955U (1.4GHz, 2MB L3 cache), the same 16GB SSD storage option, but 4GB of RAM to help things be a little speedier. Both have built in webcams for Google Hangout video calls.

Connectivity

The Acer C720 features USB 3 and USB ports and HDMI compared to the HP's two standard USB 2 slots. Both have Bluetooth 4.0, and both have 802.11a/b/g/n wireless, neither has a built in modem for 3G or 4G options on the go.

Power and battery

The HP Chromebook 11 can be charged by your phone charger which is cool, but the Acer still needs a proper powerbrick to do the honours. When it comes to battery life, the HP last for 6 hours on a single charge, the Acer 8.5 hours.

Colours and weight

Acer is being rather boring here and offering the C720 only in black. HP on the other hand offers it in black for the business types, as well as white with coloured motifs for those looking to be slightly different. In the UK you'll only be able to buy the white with blue inlays rathe than have the full choice of colour. The Acer is 260g heavier.

Price

The HP Chromebook costs £229 and the Acer C720 Chromebook costs £199.