Best For Value
Acer Chromebook, $369 from Courts
Acer’s entry is the cheapest model of the trio and its specs are comparable to the Samsung Chromebook while being lighter and smaller than HP’s. Its biggest selling point is the storage space. While the other two come with just 16GB, Acer trumps it with a whopping 320GB. We wonder why this is needed at all though, since all Chromebooks come with 100GB of free storage on Google Drive. That said, it performs well as an all-rounder and yet is compact enough to be toted around for work.
Best for Media
HP Pavilion Chromebook, $449 from Courts
This one’s meant for the home—it boasts all the hardware for a smooth viewing (and listening) experience, like a 14-inch screen and built-in speakers by Altec Lansing, all powered by an Intel Celeron Processor. But forget about lugging this around for work or play. It weighs 1.8kg and is nearly an inch thick. On the plus side, it has three USB ports, a multi-format digital card reader and a HDMI port so you can jack in all the media files you want and display it on your HDTV.
Best for Work
Samsung Chromebook $449 from Courts
Compared to the other two, the Samsung Chromebook makes working on the go actually possible. It’s the lightest of the lot at 1.1kg and also the thinnest, at just 17.5mm. For such a petite number, it has a surprisingly long battery life at over six hours (the other two clocked in just four). The drawback? Its lackluster screen looks washed out and videos don’t look as crisp as the others. That aside, it has proven to be a hit amongst buyers and is currently Amazon.com’s best-selling laptop.
Five reasons to consider a Chromebook.
1. It’s light and affordable.
All the models cost less than $500, making this the perfect additional computer to own for smaller tasks and working on the go.
2. It boots up in seconds and runs like a dream.
With no software checks to run on start up, it takes less than 10 seconds to start—that’s comparable to a tablet.
3. It lets you get straight to the point.
We’re already spending the bulk of our time on web browsers, so why not work out of one? The Chrome OS gets everything done on the cloud and nothing is (preferably) stored in your machine.
4. It’s secure and doesn’t need any maintenance.
Thanks to its nifty “sandboxing” capability, any harmful pages are restricted and will not affect other apps on your computer. It’s practically virus-free.
5. You’re already using plenty of web apps so switching is easy.
You’ve been two-timing Microsoft Office and using Google Docs, haven’t you? There’s also pixlr.com which mimics Adobe Photoshop, not to mention the tens of thousands of apps already on the Chrome Webstore.
