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| Source: thatgeekdad |
For some things, you need an expensive computer. But most people don’t do those things. If you’re not trying to play games or run Photoshop, if all you want is a computer that’s great for watching Netflix and keeping tabs on your email, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a good-looking, fast computer with all-day battery life. Just buy a Chromebook.
Google’s Chrome OS picks its compromises cleverly. Chromebooks aren’t the most capable of laptops; they’re not able to run Photoshop at all, nor do they work especially well offline. But if you do pretty much everything in a browser anyway — and you probably do — you don’t need more than a Chromebook. And you can get a good one for less than $400. Often much less.
All Chromebooks are not made equal, however. The perfect Chromebook would have a great screen, all-day battery life, a good keyboard and trackpad, solid performance, and gorgeous design. Sadly, that doesn’t exist. No one has yet built the perfect, do-everything Chromebook that flawlessly marries quality and price.
But there are a bunch of good options, including one that’s awfully close to ideal.
(Side note: At the original writing of this post the clear winner is the Dell 11 Chromebook. But when looking for link for readers to purchase it, it became apparent that is not available ANYWHERE in retail to buy.
Google’s Chrome OS picks its compromises cleverly. Chromebooks aren’t the most capable of laptops; they’re not able to run Photoshop at all, nor do they work especially well offline. But if you do pretty much everything in a browser anyway — and you probably do — you don’t need more than a Chromebook. And you can get a good one for less than $400. Often much less.
All Chromebooks are not made equal, however. The perfect Chromebook would have a great screen, all-day battery life, a good keyboard and trackpad, solid performance, and gorgeous design. Sadly, that doesn’t exist. No one has yet built the perfect, do-everything Chromebook that flawlessly marries quality and price.
But there are a bunch of good options, including one that’s awfully close to ideal.
(Side note: At the original writing of this post the clear winner is the Dell 11 Chromebook. But when looking for link for readers to purchase it, it became apparent that is not available ANYWHERE in retail to buy.
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| Source: thatgeekdad |
A few weeks later it was stated by Dell that the 11 would no longer be available for purchase by consumers in retail but still available for educational institutions to buy in bulk. Needless to say it is still the best Chromebook if you can get your hands on one for less than $400.)
THE WINNER
ACER C720P (Amazon: $260.45)
The best Chromebooks combine high-end touches with low-end prices, and the C720P has more of both than most. First and foremost, it has a latest-generation Intel processor. That alone makes the C720P feel like a fully capable laptop, not a tablet or smartphone. If you’re looking for a Chromebook to use as your primary computer, don’t buy anything without Intel inside. The C720P also has all the ports and trappings you’d expect from any good laptop, a keyboard that works fine without being totally exceptional, and a really good trackpad. This is a pure workhorse machine, but it’s truly a workhorse.
The biggest difference between the C720P and the cheaper C720 is the touch capabilities of its 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display, and that it has a 32GB solid-state hard drive instead of the standard 16GB. Having a touchscreen isn't a necessity at the moment, but it's a really nice addition — being able to flip through a website with a finger or even play some of Chrome OS' simple games is really nice. And as more and more apps come to the browser-based OS, having a touchscreen is going to be more and more important.
Acer’s only problem is its design — the C720 is just ugly. It’s not that it's cheaply made or particularly breakable, and at 2.98 pounds it’s plenty portable. It’s just poorly designed. Plastic on plastic, seams everywhere, exactly nothing to get excited about. Nearly every one of Acer’s competitors make a better-looking device.
But beyond that — if you don’t agree or don’t care — it’s hard to find true fault with the C720P. It does absolutely everything it needs to, without any kind of fuss, and it's going to work well for some time to come.
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
SAMSUNG CHROMEBOOK 2 (13.3-INCH)
THE WINNER
ACER C720P (Amazon: $260.45)
The best Chromebooks combine high-end touches with low-end prices, and the C720P has more of both than most. First and foremost, it has a latest-generation Intel processor. That alone makes the C720P feel like a fully capable laptop, not a tablet or smartphone. If you’re looking for a Chromebook to use as your primary computer, don’t buy anything without Intel inside. The C720P also has all the ports and trappings you’d expect from any good laptop, a keyboard that works fine without being totally exceptional, and a really good trackpad. This is a pure workhorse machine, but it’s truly a workhorse.
The biggest difference between the C720P and the cheaper C720 is the touch capabilities of its 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display, and that it has a 32GB solid-state hard drive instead of the standard 16GB. Having a touchscreen isn't a necessity at the moment, but it's a really nice addition — being able to flip through a website with a finger or even play some of Chrome OS' simple games is really nice. And as more and more apps come to the browser-based OS, having a touchscreen is going to be more and more important.
Acer’s only problem is its design — the C720 is just ugly. It’s not that it's cheaply made or particularly breakable, and at 2.98 pounds it’s plenty portable. It’s just poorly designed. Plastic on plastic, seams everywhere, exactly nothing to get excited about. Nearly every one of Acer’s competitors make a better-looking device.
But beyond that — if you don’t agree or don’t care — it’s hard to find true fault with the C720P. It does absolutely everything it needs to, without any kind of fuss, and it's going to work well for some time to come.
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
SAMSUNG CHROMEBOOK 2 (13.3-INCH)
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| Source: thatgeekdad |
Chromebooks don’t have to just be for work. Maybe you want a cheap computer on your coffee table for quick IMDB lookups, or you need a way to pound through email when you’re not at your desk. Maybe you need a computer in the kitchen or for your kids. That’s when the 13-inch Samsung Chromebook 2 becomes an interesting idea.
It’s the highest-resolution affordable Chromebook, with a 1080p display that makes your photos and Netflix’s movies look better than almost any other Chrome OS device. It has a decent set of speakers and long battery life, too, making it one of the better media machines you’ll find. (Though you’ll need an extra hard drive, because like every Chromebook, there’s basically no built-in storage in the Chromebook 2.)
Samsung did almost everything right here, actually. The Chromebook 2 has a nice, leathery build; it’s thin and light and actually quite attractive; it has a good, roomy keyboard and a big, responsive trackpad; and it never gets loud or hot.
But the reason all that is possible is also the Chromebook 2’s crippling flaw: with Samsung’s Exynos processor inside, this laptop runs more like a tablet or a smartphone. It’s fine for doing one thing at a time — reading a website, or watching a video — but nothing more. And while we’re all used to waiting a bit longer on tablets and smartphones, a slow laptop feels really slow. If you’re trying to get real, multitasking work done, the Chromebook 2 won’t keep up. This is likely the blueprint for the next round of great Chromebooks — high-res display, good design, light and thin body — but it’s not quite the finished product.
Source: Amazon; Acer; Samsung; Dell;
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