**The Chromebook Pixel: A Beacon of Engineering Excellence**

As I've seen on those cheaper $2 and $250 Chromebooks, Google has been making significant strides in creating affordable yet functional computers. However, their latest release, the Chromebook Pixel, is a different story altogether. This Advanced version of Chrome OS boasts multiple window action, which is always nice, and window management is now built-in, working well to boot. The addition of a bar at the bottom that feels like the dock in Windows 7 allows for easy pinning and launching of applications, with the option to autohide it with just a swipe.

One of the most notable features of the Chromebook Pixel is its setting menu, which gives quick access to settings, volume, Bluetooth, and other essential controls. This feature is reminiscent of Android's dock, and I can see this going further into that direction in the future as Google continues to evolve their operating system. For a performer like myself, the Pixel was pretty solid, feeling overall more stable than the Chrome Beta for my desktop. A few benchmarks confirmed its superiority, with scores significantly higher on browser Mark than cheaper Chromebooks.

Of course, since it's Chrome OS, one of the standout features is its lightning-fast boot time and instant wake-up functionality. It's not uncommon to go from a cold boot to surfing the internet in just a matter of seconds. However, battery life is average for a laptop of this size, lasting around 5 hours and 30 minutes before it starts to dwindle. Watching movies on the display could easily drain it within an hour or two at maximum brightness.

Despite some minor complaints about heat buildup when using it for extended periods and the slightly glossy display being prone to reflections in daylight, my only real criticism of the Chromebook Pixel is that it feels like a beta product. Pinch-to-zoom functionality, for example, is buried deep within the settings and chrome Flags. Once enabled, however, it works remarkably well on many sites, with some minor issues with scrolling smoothness when trying to scroll down large pages.

The display itself is arguably the most impressive feature of the Chromebook Pixel. With its Retina-like quality, text looks extremely crisp and sharp from any viewing distance. It's clear that Google has pushed the boundaries of what's possible on a laptop display. The only thing that holds it back from perfection is some minor reflections and heat buildup when using it for extended periods.

For those interested in seeing more about the Chromebook Pixel, I've included a link to an explanatory video below. This video provides a deeper dive into the features and capabilities of this impressive machine, which feels like a true Halo product – a beautiful piece of engineering that's worth watching. In fact, it's so impressive that it might just inspire Google's partners to aim higher in their own product development.

Ultimately, whether or not you should buy the Chromebook Pixel is a tough call. While it's an excellent machine for those who want a seamless web browsing experience and don't need native software applications, it does feel like a "never-buy" situation due to its high price point. However, as a testament to Google's engineering prowess, this device will undoubtedly inspire and influence the future of Chrome OS development.

**Technical Specifications:**

* Processor: Core i5

* Integrated Graphics: Hi-Fi audio with integrated speakers

* Display: 12.3-inch Quad HD display (3840 x 2160)

* RAM: 16GB DDR4

* Storage: 128GB SSD

* Battery Life: Up to 5 hours and 30 minutes

* Weight: 2.75 pounds

* Dimensions: 11.7 inches x 8.6 inches x 0.3 inches

**Conclusion:**

The Chromebook Pixel is a true marvel of engineering, with impressive performance, stunning display quality, and seamless web browsing capabilities. While it may not be the most practical machine for everyday use, it's an undeniable testament to Google's commitment to innovation and pushing the boundaries of what's possible on a laptop. If you're willing to shell out the cash, this device is sure to impress – but whether or not it's worth it depends on your specific needs and budget.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what is up guys MKBHD here and this is the Chromebook Pixel easily one of the most confusing products of the first half of 2013 and one of the most difficult to review because so many of the products we look at all the time are Geared for consumers this one is not anyway in terms of pure Aesthetics this thing is awesome it's made of an aluminum chassis and has a very squared off design in fact it Bears some resemblance to the 13-in retina MacBook Pro in more ways one but that's probably a good thing because they both look pretty good and the design is all topped off with this sweet light bar that Google says is included simply because it looks cool and it does the design is so understated otherwise that the light bar is an awesome but subtle lighting effect that brings together the whole Google design like a boss it's a nice looking accessory and outside of that it's a very handsome notebook again we like the aluminum unibody stuff and the port layout is also pretty basic we have some USB ports we have an SD card reader but all that is is to be expected from a basic laptop now if I were to recommend a Chromebook to anyone I'd recommend the 64 gig LTE model but this here is a Wi-Fi only version so it's a 32 GB pixel even so if I spend $1,300 on a laptop any laptop it better have a nice keyboard a nice trackpad a nice display might better be you know nice build quality the whole nine I expect the most when you go over $11,000 and the chrom pixel actually does deliver that so this chicklet style key keyboard is very comfortable to type on with you know big hands small hands it has just a tiny bit of flex in the center but it's not too bad and the speakers are incredible like mind-blowingly good they happen to be invisible cuz they're hidden beneath the keyboard but they are really really loud so you can watch a movie literally in a loud environment with them and they'll be loud and crisp and clear they're awesome and the trackpad is also magnificent this large smooth matte black trackpad is pleasing to the eye and very pleasing to use it's nice and smooth and it completes the laptop experience and then of course it's called the Chromebook Pixel because of that display so this guy is rocking a pretty noteworthy display it's a 12.85 in 2560 x700 display which makes it noteworthy for a couple of reasons number one this is the highest pixel ND display on any laptop at 239 PPI it also is noteworthy because of the brightness 400 nits very bright display it's extremely sharp and crisp and clear it's also noteworthy because it's a 3x2 aspect ratio which makes it taller than your typical 16x9 laptops that we're used to but then again you're building a machine for the web so every single web page Scrolls vertically so you're actually getting some generous extra vertical pixels in there even if you do get some letter boxing with movies so that extra screen real estate is welcome and it's noteworthy because it's a touchcreen now I have very mixed opinions about touch screens on laptops my number one problem with them is usually how much the hinge wobbles when I try to touch the screen and the pixel is no exception so I found myself holding the the back of the display in place while I use the other hand on the touch screen but I can still use the keyboard to type regular things but the other problem is the lack of anything touch screen optimized and Chrome OS is no exception at least right now a lot of people expressed the desire for this device to run Android in one of my previous videos on the comment section and that seemed to make sense but I'll get to that in a second So speaking of Chrome OS how is the operating system well it's very similar to what we've seen on those cheaper $2 and $250 Chromebooks and probably the web browser you're watching this in right now this is a pretty Advanced version of Chrome OS though and it has some neat tricks to make it feel like a little bit more than just a web browser first of all multiple window action is always nice and window management is now built in and it works well there's also this bar at the bottom that feels like the dock in Windows 7 where you can pin and launch your applications and you can also autohide it too with just a swipe so that's nice there's also a setting stay floating at the bottom right hand corner and this gives you quick access to settings and things like volume Bluetooth Etc kind of like Android was for tablets and I can see this going further into that direction in the future as a performer the pixel was pretty solid in fact it felt like it was overall a bit more stable than the Chrome Beta is for my desktop and a few benchmarks pretty much confirm that it scored a lot higher on browser Mark than the cheaper Chromebooks but still less powerful than the Hackintosh Pro that runs Google Chrome also of course since it's Chrome OS it boots super fast and it wakes from sleep instantaneously and all that stuff you can go pretty much from a cold boot to surfing internet in a matter of seconds battery life is again very average for a laptop of this size coming in at about 5 1/2 hours from my use but watching a movie on that display could kill it a bit faster at maximum brightness but honestly this is like the ultimate Grandma surf the web machine though it feels very much like a beta product pinch to zoom for example is buried in the settings and chrome Flags but once it's enabled you can start playing around with it and you can see it works pretty well on a lot of sites scrolling isn't 100% smooth all the time uh it's actually common to see that Core i5 and its integrated Graphics hi up a little bit when trying to scroll down really big sites but for the most part websites loaded quickly and scrolling and zooming was a pleasure so you can tell it really you can tell really easily which parts of websites aren't retin a display optimized with certain graphics and things like that but text always looks good whenever you zoom in on text on this display it looks extremely crisp and sharp from any viewing distance so really my only complaint about the Chromebook itself would be that it gets a bit warm sometimes when using it for a long period of time and sometimes that display is just a bit too glossy the reflections might get annoying in daylight but outside of that it's arguably the best Hardware in the business right now but not Google Now Google has like a really massive task ahead of them to get Chrome OS up to speed and to get the Chrome OS Web Store up to speed even though Google Drive can replace Microsoft Office and a lot of the web store apps are really well done right now apps like Photoshop and video editing apps for example and Native software are really Irreplaceable still and most people would opt for something running Windows or Os 10 over a Chromebook every time because of the ability to run native apps but Google I'll tell you something right now if you want to make a little money I'll let you in on a secret if you give the Chromebook Pixel the ability to run Android apps prepare yourself to uh sell out because that would be a real unlocker of the potential of this machine but in the end it is really difficult to summarize the Chromebook Pixel in any sort of concise way but basically I would say it goes back to the explain video that I did a couple of days ago I'll have a link right below the like button on this video or you can click The annotation right there but this is basically the definition of a Halo product and I would say as a summary this is a beautiful piece of engineering a really goodlooking solidly built piece of Hardware that you should never buy that being said definitely go watch the explain video because this is the real definition of a Halo product right here and it's something that will basically be a beacon of light and Shine the way forward as a sort of an inspiration for where Google wants their Partners to go now so like we said we've seen lots of very cheap $250 $200 Chromebooks now that have proven that Chrome OS can be uh great for a basic cheap computer but Google's trying to shine the way for high-end Chromebooks and basically we'll just see how it goes from here so that's the Chromebook Pixel guys thanks for watching and definitely be sure to subscribe if you want to see more videos like this uh it's definitely uh helps out a lot and if you leave a thumbs up that's also very helpful either way thanks for watching and I'll talk to you you guys in the next one peacehey what is up guys MKBHD here and this is the Chromebook Pixel easily one of the most confusing products of the first half of 2013 and one of the most difficult to review because so many of the products we look at all the time are Geared for consumers this one is not anyway in terms of pure Aesthetics this thing is awesome it's made of an aluminum chassis and has a very squared off design in fact it Bears some resemblance to the 13-in retina MacBook Pro in more ways one but that's probably a good thing because they both look pretty good and the design is all topped off with this sweet light bar that Google says is included simply because it looks cool and it does the design is so understated otherwise that the light bar is an awesome but subtle lighting effect that brings together the whole Google design like a boss it's a nice looking accessory and outside of that it's a very handsome notebook again we like the aluminum unibody stuff and the port layout is also pretty basic we have some USB ports we have an SD card reader but all that is is to be expected from a basic laptop now if I were to recommend a Chromebook to anyone I'd recommend the 64 gig LTE model but this here is a Wi-Fi only version so it's a 32 GB pixel even so if I spend $1,300 on a laptop any laptop it better have a nice keyboard a nice trackpad a nice display might better be you know nice build quality the whole nine I expect the most when you go over $11,000 and the chrom pixel actually does deliver that so this chicklet style key keyboard is very comfortable to type on with you know big hands small hands it has just a tiny bit of flex in the center but it's not too bad and the speakers are incredible like mind-blowingly good they happen to be invisible cuz they're hidden beneath the keyboard but they are really really loud so you can watch a movie literally in a loud environment with them and they'll be loud and crisp and clear they're awesome and the trackpad is also magnificent this large smooth matte black trackpad is pleasing to the eye and very pleasing to use it's nice and smooth and it completes the laptop experience and then of course it's called the Chromebook Pixel because of that display so this guy is rocking a pretty noteworthy display it's a 12.85 in 2560 x700 display which makes it noteworthy for a couple of reasons number one this is the highest pixel ND display on any laptop at 239 PPI it also is noteworthy because of the brightness 400 nits very bright display it's extremely sharp and crisp and clear it's also noteworthy because it's a 3x2 aspect ratio which makes it taller than your typical 16x9 laptops that we're used to but then again you're building a machine for the web so every single web page Scrolls vertically so you're actually getting some generous extra vertical pixels in there even if you do get some letter boxing with movies so that extra screen real estate is welcome and it's noteworthy because it's a touchcreen now I have very mixed opinions about touch screens on laptops my number one problem with them is usually how much the hinge wobbles when I try to touch the screen and the pixel is no exception so I found myself holding the the back of the display in place while I use the other hand on the touch screen but I can still use the keyboard to type regular things but the other problem is the lack of anything touch screen optimized and Chrome OS is no exception at least right now a lot of people expressed the desire for this device to run Android in one of my previous videos on the comment section and that seemed to make sense but I'll get to that in a second So speaking of Chrome OS how is the operating system well it's very similar to what we've seen on those cheaper $2 and $250 Chromebooks and probably the web browser you're watching this in right now this is a pretty Advanced version of Chrome OS though and it has some neat tricks to make it feel like a little bit more than just a web browser first of all multiple window action is always nice and window management is now built in and it works well there's also this bar at the bottom that feels like the dock in Windows 7 where you can pin and launch your applications and you can also autohide it too with just a swipe so that's nice there's also a setting stay floating at the bottom right hand corner and this gives you quick access to settings and things like volume Bluetooth Etc kind of like Android was for tablets and I can see this going further into that direction in the future as a performer the pixel was pretty solid in fact it felt like it was overall a bit more stable than the Chrome Beta is for my desktop and a few benchmarks pretty much confirm that it scored a lot higher on browser Mark than the cheaper Chromebooks but still less powerful than the Hackintosh Pro that runs Google Chrome also of course since it's Chrome OS it boots super fast and it wakes from sleep instantaneously and all that stuff you can go pretty much from a cold boot to surfing internet in a matter of seconds battery life is again very average for a laptop of this size coming in at about 5 1/2 hours from my use but watching a movie on that display could kill it a bit faster at maximum brightness but honestly this is like the ultimate Grandma surf the web machine though it feels very much like a beta product pinch to zoom for example is buried in the settings and chrome Flags but once it's enabled you can start playing around with it and you can see it works pretty well on a lot of sites scrolling isn't 100% smooth all the time uh it's actually common to see that Core i5 and its integrated Graphics hi up a little bit when trying to scroll down really big sites but for the most part websites loaded quickly and scrolling and zooming was a pleasure so you can tell it really you can tell really easily which parts of websites aren't retin a display optimized with certain graphics and things like that but text always looks good whenever you zoom in on text on this display it looks extremely crisp and sharp from any viewing distance so really my only complaint about the Chromebook itself would be that it gets a bit warm sometimes when using it for a long period of time and sometimes that display is just a bit too glossy the reflections might get annoying in daylight but outside of that it's arguably the best Hardware in the business right now but not Google Now Google has like a really massive task ahead of them to get Chrome OS up to speed and to get the Chrome OS Web Store up to speed even though Google Drive can replace Microsoft Office and a lot of the web store apps are really well done right now apps like Photoshop and video editing apps for example and Native software are really Irreplaceable still and most people would opt for something running Windows or Os 10 over a Chromebook every time because of the ability to run native apps but Google I'll tell you something right now if you want to make a little money I'll let you in on a secret if you give the Chromebook Pixel the ability to run Android apps prepare yourself to uh sell out because that would be a real unlocker of the potential of this machine but in the end it is really difficult to summarize the Chromebook Pixel in any sort of concise way but basically I would say it goes back to the explain video that I did a couple of days ago I'll have a link right below the like button on this video or you can click The annotation right there but this is basically the definition of a Halo product and I would say as a summary this is a beautiful piece of engineering a really goodlooking solidly built piece of Hardware that you should never buy that being said definitely go watch the explain video because this is the real definition of a Halo product right here and it's something that will basically be a beacon of light and Shine the way forward as a sort of an inspiration for where Google wants their Partners to go now so like we said we've seen lots of very cheap $250 $200 Chromebooks now that have proven that Chrome OS can be uh great for a basic cheap computer but Google's trying to shine the way for high-end Chromebooks and basically we'll just see how it goes from here so that's the Chromebook Pixel guys thanks for watching and definitely be sure to subscribe if you want to see more videos like this uh it's definitely uh helps out a lot and if you leave a thumbs up that's also very helpful either way thanks for watching and I'll talk to you you guys in the next one peace\n"