ChromeBooks

Why I Bought a Chromebook Instead of a Mac

Chromebooks have surpassed sales of Mac laptops in the United States for the first time ever. And that doesn’t surprise me. Because roughly a year ago I made the same switch. Formerly a lifelong Mac user, I bought my first PC ever in the form of a Chromebook. And I’m never looking back. Driven by…

Google Just Gave You a Million New Reasons to Buy a Chromebook

Google just announced that Chrome OS will open up to Android app developers this June. Google hopes that within a couple months, apps will move to a stable beta release and finally work on Chromebooks this fall. This announcement makes good on earlier leaks first spotted by 9to5Google that Android would be pulling the Google…

HP Is Finally Making a High Quality Chromebook

There are really good Chromebooks out there if you know where to look, and HP has made some very solid—if very cheap—options. Sadly their plastic clamshell Chromebooks still felt low budget in the face of quality devices like the Asus Chromebook Flip. But a new HP Chromebook shrugs off the failures of the past and…

Android Apps Might Be Heading to Chromebooks

Currently, Chromebooks run apps off the Chrome Web Store, as well as select Android apps in an experimental runtime. But according to details in the latest developer build of Chrome OS, compatability for Android’s millions of apps could be coming. Users have spotted a glitchy check-box that appears momentarily when settings first load up. If…

We called the Chromebook Flip “The $300 Google Laptop You Didn’t Know You Wanted.”Now, it’s actually on sale! You can get one at Amazon or direct from Asus. Oh, and it’s just $280, not $300, for the 4GB version we recommend. Contact the author at [email protected].

Chromebook Flip: The $280 Google Laptop You Didn’t Know You Wanted

Remember when cheap laptops were crap? Not anymore—because you can buy this amazing new transforming Asus Chromebook for just $280. Oh, and did I mention it’s the first Chromebook that doubles as a tablet? What Is It? The Asus Chromebook Flip C100 is a Chromebook, which means it’s a laptop with a glorified web browser…

How to Change Between OS Channels on Your Chromebook

Just like the Chrome browser, Chrome OS offers several channels for you to choose between: stable, beta and development. Each one offers a different mix of new features and stability, so you can access updates earlier if you’re prepared to put up with a few bugs. Here’s how to switch between the available channels on…

Now You Can Buy a Chromebook For Just $150 (And They’re Getting Better)

Five years ago, Google CEO Eric Schmidt proclaimed that laptops would become disposable. We’re nearly there. Starting today, you can buy a new Chromebook for just $150—the cheapest price ever. And this spring, there’s a $250 Chromebook coming that looks pretty incredible. Let’s put things into perspective. Chromebooks aren’t the only awesome cheap laptops on…

Google’s New Chromebook Pixel: Dangerously Close to Buyable

Google’s original Chromebook Pixel was a beautiful, wonderful laptop. It was also absurdly expensive—so pricey that it became a tech nerd joke. Now Google’s following it up with the Pixel 2, and surprise: it’s better, cheaper, and dangerously close to buyable. What Is It? The Pixel is a Chromebook in its most perfect form. It’s…

Yep, Google Is Going To Make Another Chromebook Pixel

Remember the Pixel, that beautiful, high-end, ludicrously expensive Chromebook that comes with a laundry list of reasons to not buy it? Get ready for number two. Google has announced it has a sequel “coming soon.” Spotted by OMGChrome, the “announcement” came in the form of a comment by Google’s Renee Niemi at an event called…

Acer Chromebook 15 Hands-On: Super Solid Big Screen Browsing For $250

Now that you can buy a decent Windows laptop for $200, does anyone need a Chromebook? That’s an existential question we hope to answer soon. But if you want a big, honking 15-inch Chromebook, it looks like Acer’s got just the Chromebook for you. We just got hands on the Acer Chromebook 15 here at…

Acer’s Chromebook 15 Is Honkin’ Huge

Chromebooks just got big. Acer’s new gargantuan 15.6-inch Chromebook 15 is leading off its suite of releases for this year’s CES, and it’s sweeping up the award for Biggest, Cheapest Chromebook right off the bat. The new Chromebook 15’s big ol’ display comes in two resolution flavors: Full HD 1920×1080 or 1366×768, the latter of…

​HP Stream 11 Review: $200 and Worth Every Penny

I just got finished rounding up the best Chromebooks out there, but there’s more to the world of dirt-cheap computing than Google’s browser-machines. The HP Stream is a $200 full-Windows laptop, and it’s surprisingly good. What Is It? A $200 laptop from HP that runs full Windows 8. A pokey little guy with a colorful…

Get the Most From Your Chromebook Even When It’s Offline

Some folks would have you believe that, without an Internet connection, your spiffy new Chromebook only slightly less useful than the box it came in, but that’s simply not true. They may not be able to match a MacBook’s performance, but these lightweight laptops are far from helpless when the connectivity runs dry. Here’s most…

HP’s Chromebook 14 Gets a Big Time Tegra K1 Boost

HP has a few power-ups planned for the holiday that are worth getting excited about. Specifically, its newest 14-inch Chromebook will be getting a fancy Tegra K1 chip, and the Envy X2 detachable is going to get a serious powerboost from Intel’s Core M Broadwell. The new 14-inch HP Chromebook packing Tegra K1 inside boasts…

Acer Chromebook 13 Review: With Great Power Comes an Iffy Screen

Nvidia’s Tegra K1 is an absolute blast in an Android tablet and now the Acer Chromebook 13 is slapping it in a laptop body too. The result isn’t perfect, but it’s a promising look at where Chromebooks could go. What Is It? A Chromebook with Nvidia’s impressive K1 mobile chip for a brain. A $380…

Toshiba’s Chromebook Gets a Redesign, Full HD Model

Last January, Toshiba introduced its first Chromebook, a 13.3-inch device that attempted to deliver Google’s promise of productive computing on the cheap. But over the past nine months, ChromeOS has grown in popularity and as a platform in general, and Toshiba wants to grow with it. At IFA 2014 in Berlin, Toshiba has just introduced…

Acer Chromebook 13 Hands On: Gaming Guts in a Chromebook Body

Chromebooks are getting serious. After just having shipped the first full-fledged Core i3-powered Chromebook, Acer’s escalating again, with a new Chromebook 13 that comes with Nvidia’s K1, which is to say a hell of a lot of graphical horsepower. What’s that mean in practice? Nvidia’s K1 isn’t quite as impressive in a Chromebook as it…

Watch Out Chromebooks: Super Cheap Windows 8 Machines Are Coming

Chromebooks are great if you want a super cheap computer, but they’re not without their limitations; you (basically) have to run everything in a browser. And Microsoft is aiming to give them some competition withfull Windows 8 machines around those same, dumb low price points. You know, netbooks. Today at the company’s partner conference, Microsoft…

The First Core i3-Powered Chromebook Is Ready for Preorder

We’ve been expecting a new batch of Intel-powered chromebooks since May, and the first one is here: meet the Acer C720, the first to pack a full-on Core i3 processor in addition to up to 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. Pretty muscular for a browser-based device. With that 1.7GHz processor and double the…