HP Chromebook 11 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 15, 2013 2:45 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- HP
- Chrome OS
- Chromebook
The Display
Although the 11.6-inch display boasts a pedestrian 1366 x 768 resolution, it’s an IPS panel devoid of the sort of color/contrast shift at off-center angles you normally get with a cheap PC notebook. I remember being in a meeting with a bunch of traditional PC OEMs talking about battery life. I was advocating for displays to be tested at 200 nits when one OEM turned to me and said that there are some notebooks in their lineup that won't even get that bright. Thankfully, the Chromebook 11 helps to push the low end of the PC industry forward. The display doesn't get incredibly bright by high-end mobile display standards, but it has excellent black levels and thus delivers a compelling 1088:1 max contrast ratio.
Color accuracy isn’t anything to write home about compared to the new wave of factory calibrated panels, but for the price it’s awesome. Hilariously enough, the Chromebook 11’s display is about as accurate as the first generation Surface Pro from Microsoft, and in many cases offers better color reproduction than the panel used on the more expensive Chromebook Pixel. Compared to other notebooks in its price class (or even those twice its price), you’re talking about a very good display.
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lmcd - Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - link
"a reminder of just how much power a pair of ARM Cortex A15 cores can draw under load"I originally thought that line had to be wrong because there's no way they'd release a Chromebook with the same processor.
Whoops.
Quite frankly I'm disappointed and even a little mad this isn't an Exynos 5420. Perfect application for that little bugger.
dude_ur_getting_a_dell - Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - link
Why does the author keep crediting Google for every feature and design decision of this chromebook? Sure it uses Google Chrome, but I'm pretty sure HP deserves at least some of the credit for the final product.Davidjan - Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - link
Really cool!!! Meenova MicroSD reader works on it!!! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andyfei/mini-m...kakaoriginal - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Is it possible to install something else? Like Windows or Linux?ECIT - Thursday, October 17, 2013 - link
Give Google and their hardware partners credit for sticking with the Chromebook, despite a lot of resistance. The more improvements they make, the more the Chromebook becomes attractive to more users.But what about Chromebook users that need to access Windows applications like Microsoft Office, or that want to connect to work applications like CRM and ERP from home? They can try products like Ericom AccessNow, an HTML5 RDP solution that enables Chromebook users to connect to Terminal Servers and/or VDI virtual desktops, and run Windows applications or desktops in a browser tab.
There's nothing to install on the Chromebook, so AccessNow is easy to deploy and manage.
For an online, interactive demo, open your Chrome browser and visit:
http://www.ericom.com/demo_AccessNow.asp?URL_ID=70...
Please note that I work for Ericom
OBLAMA2009 - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
the cpu ruins this thing, it wont compete with bay trail stuff, i dont know why they even came out with shit like thisheartinpiece - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I was also expecting a quad core Exynos rather than the Dual core.I would have been very eager to get myself this chromebook if it featured the Exynos 5420... But I guess that's not the case, so I better just wait...
spejr - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
They should exchange that frame for battery, cpu, and less bulk. Now its like a high quality laptop with a tablet battery and a telephone processor. Like a Model S with Volt internals -- like the cadillac EV: no range or power, but looks and feel good, exempt for the driving.Give us a fanless, thin, light, all plastic, 1080p, 11", snapdragon 800, Chromebook! It is cheep, it could just as well feel cheap, as long as its snappy and thin/light.
Wolfpup - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I'd like more info on whether this has an offline office suite. Obviously Google Docs (and Microsoft/Apple's equivalents) should work online, but that doesn't cut it for many (most) uses.The article says many "apps" can be used offline and outside a traditional looking browser, but I'm wondering if that includes Google Docs, and whether you can use it in a true offline mode that doesn't require syncing.
If you can, Chrome OS might actually be perfect for my mom, as she couldn't screw it up and it's cheap. I plan on getting a Surface 2 for her though probably...
carlwu - Sunday, October 20, 2013 - link
Love my Chromebook11. What I do not like though is the stuttering audio while browsing. Surely audio isn't taxing the processor that even casual browsing affects it? I hope they have a patch for this.Most pleased with the excellent display, solid keyboard, and audio that is plenty loud.