HP and Google Unveil New $280 Chromebook Discussion

The HP Chromebook 11 is now available for purchase from select retailers for $280.

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It's just $70 less than an Asus TransformerBook T100, which also offers an IPS display, as well as offering twice the SSD storage and twice the RAM, plus a touchscreen and a detachable keyboard dock instead of a fixed laptop configuration. And even if 90% of what you're doing is through Google's services, with a Windows 8 device like the T100, you can always install Chrome and use all your Chrome web apps that way, whereas if you buy a ChromeOS device you can't do anything but that.

It's a attractive device hardware-wise, and it's nice to see a nice-quality screen on a sub-$300 laptop, but I just don't see it as good value compared to Bay Trail Win8 devices like the T100.

 

I just purchased one. The T100 is definitely a better value(11 hour battery life, compatibility, versatility), but I've been using Windows for years and have yet to try a Chromebook. Also, does anyone else notice a visible grid on laptops equipped with touchscreens? Almost like the screen-door effect.

 

I don't on mine.

 

You can see the wires even on an iPad if you catch it in the right light and the right angle. It's just a part of the technology, though some are much better than others.

Anyway, it's easy to sit and say this is "only" $70 less than the T100, but that's a lot of money to many people.

 

But the people for whom $70 is a such a big deal that it outweighs all functional considerations are going to be buying Acer's $200 Chromebook instead of this $280 Chromebook. I think buyers who are willing to spend $280 instead of $200 for a real-but-hard-to-measure improvement in build quality and screen quality over the Acer Chromebook, but aren't willing to pay up to $350 for an IPS touchscreen, a detachable keyboard, and the ability to fall back to Windows if you need to do something besides just Chrome, are a small group indeed.

 

Lolwut?!? Maybe I shouldn't buy a new phone and grab this device instead, if it's gonna sell for similar price in Germany (doubt it).

 

NBR's hands-on with the Asus Transformerbook T100. JR's conclusion of the written review was "At this price, it's going to be hard for the average Android tablet or Chromebook to compete." True. http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...sformer-book-t100-hands-video-discussion.html

EDIT: I earlier stated that the T100 has 4 gb of RAM. In fact, it only has 2 GB, like the HP Chromebook 11.

And with the upcoming ChromeOS Metro app that runs all of ChromeOS on a Windows 8 device, buying a dedicated ChromeOS device is hard to justify unless the price is really, really low (like the $200 Acer Chromebook).

 

That's nice. Personally I don't use a lot of Google stuff, but someone who does it certainly might come in handy.
Too bad this Asus device will come with God awful German keyboard over here. I hate German layout!

 

I wonder if you could order a replacement keyboard dock from the US, and how expensive a replacement keyboard dock would be. Since it doesn't have any battery in the keyboard dock, I'm wondering if it'd be in the $50-$70 range.

 

You would be surprised. I thought about doing a backlit keyboard mod for my lappy and the fitting backlit keyboard from G series laptops cost something like 115EUR. And that's just a simple replacement part. Oh, and there is a shipping fee...
On the other hand, such consumer stuff usually costs less. I might even see what kind of price T100 will have in Lithuania. If I'm lucky, it may come with both Russian and English layouts. My M60J has dual KB layout, very useful.

Well, this certainly became a bit off topic.

 

The HP 11 has noticeable upgrades in screen and build quality (as well as general aesthetic design) over the cheapest chromebooks. A lot of people who are fans of Chrome OS have been asking for something like this because they like the OS and don't want to be stuck with a bottom-of-the-barrel cheap device. For me it is going to be a pass because 2 GB of RAM really is just not enough. If you're heavily invested in doing cloud stuff, lots of streaming + tabs (which is what Chrome OS seems to be going for) than 2 GB of RAM is going to bog you down once you get your streams going and try doing some browsing in another window. My Samsung 3 struggles at times when I'm docked to my 24'' LED at home.

How does Windows 8 run on 2 GB of RAM? I can't help but be intrigued by the T100 though I would probably install Debian on it

 

Oh yeah, absolutely. These things seem like cash grabs to me.

I mean it doesn't even use an x86 CPU! That CPU has to be dirt cheap, and yet even Acer's higher end "Chromebooks" are cheaper. Makes no sense for most people versus a real PC.