Pavilion 14 Chromebook for $330?
Today HP announced they are releasing the Pavilion 14 Chromebook for $330. The official sale date is February 17th, but it is available now.
There are now 4 Chromebooks available on the market. Below is a run down of the specs for each one. But which Chromebook is right for you?
If you need more than 4 hours of battery life, then I would recommend the Samsung for $249. Several reviews have shown the Samsung laptops do indeed meet or exceed 6.5 hours of battery life. If you need something a little bigger with a bigger display, I would recommend the HP for $329.99 but you sacrifice battery life. The HP Pavilion is more of a full size laptop than the other choices, but the drawbacks are of course it’s a little bigger and a little heavier.
“I tested Google’s first Chromebook before it was released to the public. The laptop did not have a manufacturer label on it, so it is unclear who built it. The Chromebook had an 11.6 inch screen, and was very comfortable. When I say comfortable, I mean the feel and size of it. I was not struggling to find keys on the keyboard since it’s a little smaller.”
There are several applications available for the Chromebook. Head on over to the Chrome App Store and check them out! Their categories are broken down to:
- Business Tools
- Education
- Entertainment
- Games
- Lifestyle
- News & Weather
- Productivity
- Social & Communication
- UtilitiesYou can also sort by:
- Popular
- From your circles (Google +)
- Trending
- CollectionsHere is a glimpse of what the Chrome App Store looks like:
The Chrome App Store Who is the Google Chromebook for?
If you are someone that utilizes Google’s numerous built in applications in Google Chrome and use Google Drive, you will have no issue transitioning to the Chromebook. I also think this is a great laptop for writers. It’s light. It uses the cloud, so your work is everywhere you are on multiple devices and platforms. Google has their own version of Office so you can edit, spell check, format, ect… on the Chromebook.
Schools are also taking advantage of a low cost laptop. There are 2000 schools in the United States with Chromebooks now. The UK is also using Chromebooks in their schools.
The Google Chromebook would also be a consideration for a child’s first laptop. Most children get on websites to play flash based games that are out there. If they end up breaking it, you’re out $199 if you go with the cheapest Chromebook. I’d rather see how my child would do with a $200 laptop before getting them something more expensive. You can see how the child will be responsible with a laptop without investing several hundred dollars.
A Chromebook would be an ideal laptop for a teenager as well that just uses a computer for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. If your teenager is a gamer (stand alone games, not website based), then the Chromebook is definitely not for them.
In conclusion, you are not going to find a new laptop for under $200. You can’t get a tablet with a full keyboard for under $200. Google makes it affordable now for a consumer to own a laptop. I am extremely satisfied with my Chromebook and would recommend any of the below Chromebooks.
Here are the 4 Google Chromebooks on the market. As you will see a lot of the specifications are very similar. The free 100 gigs of Google Drive space is a great bonus as well.
The Acer C7 Chromebook: $199
The Acer C7 Chromebook - 11.6” (1366×768) display
- 0.7 inches thin – 2.42 lbs / 1.1 kg
- Over 6.5 hours of battery life
- Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor
- 100 GB Google Drive Cloud Storage (100 GB of free storage is valid for 2 years, starting on the date you redeem the Drive offer) with 16GB Solid State Drive
- Built-in dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
- VGA Camera
- 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
- HDMI Port
- Bluetooth 3.0 – Compatible
The Samsung Chromebook: $249
The Samsung Chromebook - 11.6” (1366×768) display
- 0.7 inches thin – 2.42 lbs / 1.1 kg<
- Over 6.5 hours of battery life
- Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor
- 100 GB Google Drive Cloud Storage (100 GB of free storage is valid for 2 years, starting on the date you redeem the Drive offer) with 16GB Solid State Drive
- Built-in dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
- VGA Camera
- 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
- HDMI Port
- Bluetooth 3.0 – Compatible
The HP Pavilion Chromebook: $329.99
The HP Pavilion Chromebook - 14” BrightView LED-backlit display (1366 x 768)
- 0.83 inch thin – 3.96 lbs / 1.8 kg
- Up to 4.25 hours of battery life
- Dual-core Intel Celeron Processor
- 100 GB Google Drive Cloud Storage (100 GB Google Drive Cloud Storage (100 GB of free storage is valid for 2 years, starting on the date you redeem the Drive offer) with 16GB Solid State Drive
- Built-in dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and ethernetHD Camera
- 3x USB 2.0
- HDMI Port
- 2-in-1 memory card slot (SD, MMC)
- Bluetooth 3.0 – Compatible
- Kensington – key lock compatible
The Samsung Chromebook 550: $449
The Samsung Chromebook - 12.1″ (1280×800) display
- 3.3 lbs / 1.48 kg
- Over 6 hours of battery life
- Intel Core – processor
- 4 GB RAM
- 100 GB Google Drive Cloud Storage (100 GB of free storage is valid for 2 years, starting on the date you redeem the Drive offer) with 16GB Solid State Drive
- Built-in dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Gigabit ethernet, and 3G modem (opt)3
- HD Camera
- 2 USB 2.0 ports
- 4-in-1 memory card slot
- DisplayPort++ Output (compatible with HDMI, DVI, VGA)
- Kensington – key lock compatible