Dell announced on Thursday that the company will launch a brand new 11-inch Chromebook that will primarily be meant for use by students. The new laptop will be more durable as well as affordable compared to the previous Chromebooks.

9to5Google says the latest Chromebook model will come with an 11-inch screen displaying a 1366 x 768 resolution. The screen resolution of the device is certainly not very impressive, but the other features of the upcoming Chromebook will make it worth buying.

The new Chromebook will be very durable and this aspect will set the device apart from other laptops. While the keyboard and touchpad of the device will be protected from spills, it will come with a hard plastic cover that will be capable of surviving drops in the classroom.

The price for the base model, which will feature 16 GB of flash storage and 2 GB of RAM, will start at $249. The laptop can be upgraded to 4 GB of RAM for only $299. For $329, which is the final price range of the device, the laptop will also come with a touchscreen.

All models of the new Chromebook will be powered by an Intel Bay Trail-M Celeron processor clocked at 2.16 GHz. By virtue to this processor, the new Chromebooks will be able to run Chrome OS - the operating system of Chrome.

Another important feature of the new Chromebook is its hinge, which will be capable of supporting up to 180 degrees of bend. In other words, students can use the laptop for a flat display on a desk or the floor enabling many students can see it.

In addition, the laptop will come with a special "activity light" that will display seven dissimilar colored LED lights and this can be customized by the user. In fact, this feature can be used effectively to divide classmates into teams. Alternatively, a student can signal the teacher by using an LED light when he/ she have a question.

The speakers of the new Chromebook will also be much enhanced compared to the previous Chromebooks. A press release issued by Dell claims that the new Chromebooks will also offer an HD video webcam enabling web chat between students.

According to the report, recently there has been a spurt in the sale of Dell's Chromebook and, thus, the company has stated, "In Chromebook sales, we shipped something like 3 times more than projected."