The Chromebook 11 is a direct competitor for the very popular Samsung Series 3 Chromebook and remarkably similar: both have 11.6" screens; both have 2GB RAM; both have 16GB solid state storage; both are based on ARM processors rather than Intel chips (in fact, the HP processor is made by Samsung); both are priced at £229. However, there are some differences. Firstly, the HP comes in variety of different colours. Secondly, Google has played a more active roll in its design. Thirdly, build quality is reported as being very good for the price. The case is still plastic, but the internal frame is made from lightweight Magnesium.
A particularly unusual feature is the charger. Rather than use a conventional laptop charger, HP use a micro-USB one, the same sort of device used for charging many mobile phones and tablets. This gives the benefit of potentially being able to use a single charger for all your portable devices when travelling.
Chromebooks are not yet good enough to meet all your computing needs, but make a great second device or alternative to an iPad for people who prefer to use a keyboard. But with quick startup times, freedom from viruses and cloud-based storage for documents they give a tantalising view of where personal computing is headed.
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