The Nicest Chromebook You Can Buy: A Luxury Item with a Price Tag to Match

There is a 4K display option available for this laptop, which costs $1400. This price tag seems steep, especially when compared to other Chromebooks on the market that offer similar specs at a fraction of the cost. For example, the $650 Asus Chromebook offers a Core m3 processor, 4GB of memory, and 32GB of storage, with a slightly larger screen than this laptop. It's hard to justify spending over twice as much money for a device that offers almost identical specifications.

This Chromebook is still probably one of the nicest you can buy, but with prices this high, it's not competing directly with budget-friendly options like $200-$300 Chromebooks. Instead, it's competing with full-on Windows laptops, which begs the question: is Chrome OS truly worth the extra cost? The answer depends on your use case and what kind of work you need to do.

One advantage of Chromebooks is the wide range of web apps available, including many popular services like Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets. Additionally, users can access most Android apps using the Play Store, although the quality may not be as good as native Windows or Mac apps. For example, Twitter looks fine when squished to the side of the screen, but it becomes ridiculous when viewed in full-screen mode.

However, there are some great apps that run well on Chrome OS, including Adobe Lightroom, which has been optimized specifically for large screens and keyboard-trackpad input. Other features like a full file browser and a rudimentary version of Linux also make this laptop appealing to power users. Sometimes, though, there are just no workarounds around the limitations of a Chrome OS device.

The issue here is that many people can do basic tasks on their mobile devices, such as phones and tablets. It's only when you need a specific feature, like CAD or video editing software, that a PC becomes necessary. And when it comes to PCs, Windows 10 has filled the void left by Chromebooks in terms of price and performance.

In recent years, laptops with similar specs to this Chromebook have become available at a significantly lower price point, often in the $400-$500 range. These laptops offer comparable features, including full versions of Windows instead of limited Chrome OS operating systems. While some of these laptops may have subpar hardware or poor screens, the cost difference is significant.

For example, Justine and Linus recently participated in an editing challenge between a Mac and a PC, using this very laptop for their video. The result was far from clear-cut, with both devices producing excellent results. In fact, the editor of this article is still unsure who won or what edit was used to post the final video.

In conclusion, while this Chromebook is certainly one of the nicest you can buy, its price tag makes it difficult to justify as a budget-friendly option. The real question is whether the extra cost and limitations of Chrome OS are worth it for certain users. As with most things in life, the answer depends on your specific use case and needs.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, this is Austin!Chrome OS, ever since I got to take a lookat the very first developer model,the CR48, all the wayback in ye olden 2011.The promise was absolutely there.Get rid of all the legacy stuff,of Mac OS and Windows,in favor of something which is,cleaner, simpler, which just works.I feel like I'm tryna say that like,Chrome OS is like thevegan option of laptops.It's hard to argue with in theory.You've got a clean build of Linux,with just the Chrome browser on top.And realistically, you can get a lot ofwhat you need done inside of Chrome.Especially considering thatmost of these Chromebookshave very low end specs.We're talking Intel Celeron processors,or Rockchip processors.And you don't need a lot of power,to simply just run a web browser.And then there's the idea of having a morelocked down system, canactually be a real benefit.I mean, sure, you probablyknow that you shouldn'treally go visit sketchy site .org.But there are tons and tonsof Chromebooks in schools.Kids might not necessarilyhave that same level of,of forethought and thinkingbehind not opening everyattachment and downloadingevery weird emoji packthat you can see.Oh I guess they do it ontheir phones, so, you know.And really think about it.Back in 2011.- Hi I'm Rebecca Black of 2011.This year was a huge year for YouTube.- There were a fair few thingsyou could do inside a web browser.These days web apps havegotten much more powerful.I know personally, I canpretty much do everythingon a day to day basis,purely just inside a browser.So, things like Spotify,Google Docs, Gmail.All these things runjust fine on Chrome OS.And arguably, that's sortof the main selling point.Chrome really is simple,clean and elegant.It's the vegan option of PC's.But of course the question is,can you actually do everything you need,inside Chrome OS?(upbeat music)I've gone on and off with Chromebooksover the last few years.In fact, I originally started working onthis video last year,with this Asus Chromebook.However I didn't actually,finish the video.But today, with the brandnew Pixelbook Go coming out,is Chrome OS good enough,or should you just ignoreyour plant based diet and gostraight to being a carnivore?A.K.A a Windows user, or a Mac user.I like that this metaphor went from like,a little joke to like, theentire purpose of my video.And I'm kind of okay with that.Honestly just stay off the internet,that's really the best advice.And Chrome OS is the exact opposite waythat you wanna do that.(upbeat music)Lets start with the Pixelbook go itself.This is the first time that Google hasbrought out their own firstparty laptop in a couple years.If you don't count the PixelSlate, and you shouldn't.And the nice thing here,is that this hardware feelsvery very premium.Now, the nice thing aboutthis, is a lot of the cheaperChromebooks feel, shall we say, cheapy?Where as this is still superthin, and super lightweight.But the important thing hereis that, in a hand it feelslike a solid piece of laptop hardware.I feel pretty confident inthis lasting quite a while.It's made out of afinely painted magnesium,which is one of thethings that helps it to benot only lightweight.One of the interesting things here,is that it's got thissort of washboard texture.You're also getting an excellent keyboard,with great travel, andhonestly it's actually oneof the quietest laptopkeyboards I've ever used.And around on the side, you actually geta pretty solid selectionof ports, for a Chromebook.A pair of USB-C ports, whichcan not only handle power.They can also do data aswell as each can handlea 4K display.Which I tested, and it actually works.Not that lots of people with Chromebooks,are probably using multiple 4K displays.Is that a littleunrealistic of a use case?No, it is certainly not perfect.The specs are shall we say,not exactly blisteringly fast.Now I have the base model here,which comes with adual-core, Core m3 processor.Eight gigs of RAM as wellas 64 gigs of storage.And considering thatwe're just web browsing,it's fine, but at $650,you're definitely paying a lotfor this design, and you'renot really spending a lotof money on the actuallyspending money on theactual spec inside.The screen is also fine, it'sa 1080p 13 inch touchscreen.And while the brightness andthe viewing angles are fine,the bezels are a littlebit thick on this guy.And something I really missfrom the original Pixelbook,is the ability to actuallyuse a full two in one design.This guy just does, I mean.(upbeat music)It's fine, it's a normal laptop.But I just kind ofexpect a little bit more.Especially consideringjust how thin and lightthis laptop is.You actually could legitimately use it asa pretty useful two in one, but you can't.Honestly, my biggestproblem with this hardwareis just the price.At $650 for the base model,that's a lot of moneyfor a Chromebook.And this thing gets incrediblyexpensive as you start to addupgrades like a Core i5, more storage.there's a 4K display option which is like $1400.Like it just doesn't make a lot of sense.- Wait it costs $1400?- $1400, okay no, theentire laptop costs $1400when you upgrade, but its very expensive.There are other Chromebooks on the marketwhich have very similarspecs for far less money.Take the $650 optionand compare it to thisAsus Chromebook, which onlycosts a little less than $400.The same Core m3, samememory, same storage,slightly bigger screen.It's kind of hard to justify.Don't get me wrong, this isstill probably the nicestChromebook that you could buy,but with this kind of money,you're not just competing withtwo and three hundred dollar Chromebooks.You're competing withfull on Windows laptops,which really begs the question,if the hardware's largelythere, is Chrome OS?Spoiler, it's complicated, andit depends on your use case.And whether or not youneed to do real work.The easy answer is, actuallya lot of people can usea Chromebook everyday,provided you do haveone with at least, sort of,decent specs like this guy.Now, in addition to the fairly wide rangeof web apps out there, youalso do have access to mostAndroid apps using the Play Store.Now of course, theseare still Android appsrunning on a Chromebook, which means thatthe quality is maybe notquite as nice as say,oh I don't know, a nativeMac, or Windows app.Twitter's a really bigoffender, it looks finewhen you have it sort ofsquished to the side ofthe screen, but the secondyou go full screen with it,it looks ridiculous.There are a few examplesof apps which do run reallywell on Chrome OS.I know Adobe's Lightroomin particular has beendesigned, obviously it'sbased on the Android app.But there are a lot ofoptimizations specificallyfor a large screen, keyboardtrack pad for Chrome OS.Then you've got someother stuff which is nice.So there's a full filebrowser, and there's evena fairly rudimentary versionof Linux which you can installwhich while not full blownor anything is definitelya nice little feature.Sometimes though, there are just no waysaround the limitationsof a Chrome OS device.Now, sure, if you cando a lot of basic taskson Chromebook, more power to you.But, I think the issue hereis that a lot of peoplecan do a lot of thisstuff on mobile devices.Such as, phones and tablets.Really when you come to a PC,a lot of times that's becauseyou need a specific feature.Whether you're doing CAD or video editing,or you're doing Photoshop.All these things generally speaking,require a fairly beefy PC.This is where your specificuse case really matters.It isn't 2011 anymore, and Windows and Macbut specifically Windows 10,has made a ton of stridestowards sort of, fending offthe Chromebook onslaught.Windows has absolutelyfilled a lot of the void thatChromebook started to pickup in those early days.I mean, when Chromebooks first came out,when the major advantages,and even to this dayhas been in the price category.Put simply, you could get avery very cheap Chromebook,because all it needs youto do is run a web browser.Nowadays though, Windows 10 laptopshave actually come down a lot in price.And while a lot of the laptops havepretty crappy hardware,and not much in the wayof screens or specs or anything.But the important thing is,is they're about the sameprice as a Chromebook.And generally speaking, ofcourse you're getting a fullversion of Windows, asopposed to a more limitedoperating system in Chrome OS.Speaking of things that youcan't do on a Chromebook,this video was actuallypart of an editing challengebetween a Mac and a PC.And between Justine and Linus.And as of recordingthis, I have no idea whoactually won and who was the edit thatwe used to post this video.I'm actually very curious tosee how this video came out.And if it sucks, you can blame them.- Justine will probably win though.Because Final Cut's better.- Final Cut is better.Oh wait no, I can't say that.Goodbye!Thanks for editing my video.Hopefully it wasn't that long.And I believe in you,you're gonna win this.You've definitely gotthis, I believe in you.- Justine.- No, I'm talking toeveryone who's watching this.Whoever actually ends up editing this.I have no idea.And make sure to make me look good.(upbeat music)