HP has announced its first Chromebook, and it’s notable for the fact that its screen is much larger than models from the likes of Samsung, Acer and Lenovo. Sadly, there’s not an awful lot else to set it apart.
Unlike most Chromebooks, which pack a screen somewhere between 11 and 12 inches, HP’s Pavilion 14 Chromebook offers a 14-inch 1366×768 panel. As a result, this is a somewhat large laptop, with a bigger keyboard and trackpad — so it might be ideal for older users.
On the inside, the story isn’t quite so grand: a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM and integrated graphics mean it will be no better or worse than most of its competitors in terms of performance.
One area that the big screen is damaging the laptop’s prospects is battery life: HP quotes four hours and 15 minutes, which is probably above realistic expectations.
For a computer designed for web browsing and light work, that’s not an awful lot of time allowed away from a power supply — and it’s certainly not as impressive as its smaller-screened cousins, which manage in the region of six hours. Add to that the fact that the Pavillion 14 will cost $US330, and HP’s Chromebook debut doesn’t look too promising.