Chromebook a good budget buy

GOOGLE now has three of its basic laptops available in Australia and the newest model is the biggest of them.

chromebook

GOOGLE now has three of its basic laptops available in Australia and the newest model is the biggest of them.

HP's take on the Chromebook offers a 14-inch display, making it as large as some normal laptops, although a lot slimmer.

It also offers a full-size keyboard, a generous and textured touchpad, a battery life of 4.25 hours and 100GB of Google cloud-based storage for two years.

At $399, it's likely to appeal to budget buyers, but there are trade-offs involved.

The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook stands out not just for its size, but its sparkly black cover and connectivity. Three USB ports, an HDMI connection, space for memory cards, and even a pop-down Ethernet connection are hidden on its sides.

Beneath the hood, that 14-inch screen is easy to see at the right angle, but doesn't exceed expectations at 1366 x 768 pixels with a reflective finish making life trickier.

The large keyboard and touchpad are much better and deliver quick access to Google's built-in services, such as the Chrome browser, Calendar, Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Scratchpad, Google Play movies, books and games, and its front-facing camera.

Like other Chromebooks, it's not built for taxing tasks, but its dual-core Intel Celeron chip keeps up with the basics.

Those who choose HP's version are likely to do so for its screen real estate, though this does make it heavier at 1.8kg, and it delivers less battery power than Samsung's model. Our review unit also played up each time it charged - the cursor disappeared - and its glossy exterior attracts some fingerprints.

> PAVILION 14 CHROMEBOOK
HP, $399
hp.com.au
Rating: 3.5/5