Acer has unveiled the C720P Chromebook, an upgraded version of its $200 C720 Chrome offering introduced last month. The C720P's low-price and new features are sure to attract a few buyers in the run-up to Christmas.

Acer's new model ups the C720 with a touchscreen display, making it the second Chromebook to feature such technology behind Google's Pixel. Luckily for Acer fans, the C720P is available for a fraction of the cost. The Chrome Pixel is impressive, but its $1,299 price tag made it hard to recommend.

Acer will make the C720P available for $299.99 in early December at Amazon, Best Buy and the Acer store.

Specifically, the C720P adds a 1366 x 768 touchscreen to the C720, with an Intel Celeron 2955U Haswell processor inside, 32GB SSD, 2GB DDR3 RAM, and the promise of up to 7.5 hours of battery life. The C720P weighs 2.98 pounds and is 0.78-inches thick. You'll find a webcam, dual stereo speakers, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, an external HDMI hook-up, and 100GB Google Drive space for two years, included. 

Even with more manufacturers going with Chrome OS, the Chromebook platform struggles to gain marketshare. According to IDC numbers from mid-November, the Chromebook market sat at 1 per cent of all shipped PC/tablets in Q3 2013. Samsung led the way with roughly 652,000 Chromebooks shipped, and other vendors representing "tiny volume". 

Acer is hoping it can jump Samsung's market share. 

“Our new touchscreen C720P gives customers an intuitive way to browse sites online, enjoy apps, and do more with the Chromebook,” Arif Maskatia, CTO of Acer, said. “The Acer C720 Chromebook line has been praised for its performance and battery life, and this new touchscreen model allows us to address the needs of an even wider range of customers with exciting new capabilities.

"We’re certain many holiday shoppers will jump at the chance to get a touchscreen Chromebook for just $299.99.”