Unless you’ve been feeling flush enough to splash out on a Pixel
, Chromebook options have been fairly limited. But now Google has announced new Chromebook options from HP and ASUS, including an updated Chromebox.
Until now Chromebooks have been manufactured using cheap plastics and low resolution, washed out screens. This new line of devices marks the first step towards Chromebook becoming a genuine alternative to traditional laptops, while still keeping the price low.
With the recent announcement of Chrome Apps for Windows, it’s clear that Google is attempting to take on Microsoft directly in its home turf.
The new Chromebooks feature Intel’s new Haswell processor which the company claims will provide up to 50% improvement in battery life as well as a 15 percent increase in performance over previous models. Improved, although not premium, cases and screens are also of the moment and will bring the devices more into line with cheap Windows laptops.
HP’s offering, the HP Chromebook 14, features a 14 inch screen, improved battery live over previous models, and comes in a range of student friendly colours:
- Large 14” display
- 0.81 inches thin and 4.08 lbs
- 100 GB of Google Drive free for 2 years1
- Up to 9.5 hours of use2
- Boots up in less than 7 seconds
Similar to last year’s attempt by Samsung, the Chromebox from ASUS, is a tiny desktop which runs Chrome OS. While details are sparse we can be fairly sure it will have similar internals to the announced ASUS Chromebook.
While there are no specific details Google confirmed that all models will be available by the end of the year.
To date by far the most popular Chromebook for both schools and consumers has been the Samsung Series 3
, constantly holding the top spot on Amazon for laptop sales.
A more premium feel would be good, but the price will need to remain low to keep them viable for us. The idea of a school dripping with hundreds of ‘good enough’ Chromebooks still gets me excited. I just hope that it’s a vision shared by the tech companies!
Chromebooks are a good option for education – they’re easy to manage and use. And they boot up fast, so students don’t have to wait for halfway through class for their laptop to be ready.
But what about schools that use Windows applications? Or that access applications that require support for Java?
This can be addressed with solutions such as Ericom AccessNow, an HTML5 RDP solution that enables Chromebook users to connect to any RDP host, including Terminal Server and VDI virtual desktops, and run Windows applications or desktops in a browser tab. That means that you can open up an Internet Explorer session inside a Chrome browser tab, and then connect to the applications that require Java and run them on the Chromebook.
Please note that I work for Ericom