HP Chromebook 11 hands on: write with vivid distraction-free screen

 

It is a blessing to have a couple of jobs, as an engineer and the other as a writer here on ZDNet. My Surface Pro allows me to perform engineering on the fly and is my favorite laptop. After talking with Kevin in mother #307 that an order for a new HP Chromebook 11 and spent several hours with him yesterday.

Chromebook Pixel is an incredible piece of hardware, and if the writing was my only job then would have bought one. Since writing is my second job, that could not justify the high price of the pixel. The new HP Chromebook 11 is available for only $279 and comes with special offers (60 days of Google play all access, 100 GB of Google Drive and 12 passes GoGo in-flight WiFi) that have a total value of approximately $290.

Google Drive is my primary storage and service flying Alaska Airlines where I use GoGo on every flight that can to make these offerings have real value for me. I am already a subscriber of Google play all accesses to not get to redeem two free months of service. Actually you could only buy these services for use with my Surface Pro, but actually have a free HP Chromebook 11 and honestly is a wonderful writing platform.

I keep reading ebooks on a Kindle Paperwhite for long periods of time because it gives me a distraction-free experience. With 11 Chromebook running the browser Chrome, distractions and miscellaneous notifications are easy to handle and are on a Mac or Windows PC. Therefore a similar distraction-free receipt find definitely can knock out jobs more efficiently in the device and working environment in a Chromebook.

Last year it proved a Samsung Chromebook and found that he was able to concentrate and write faster than in most computers and other devices. I didn't screen Samsung, having to carry a charger Samsung when I traveled or other limitations with the chrome at the moment (lack of ability to view content from Netflix). Fortunately, these have been arranged in the 11 Chromebook.

HP provides a display improved in the 11 Chromebook. It has the same resolution, 1376 x 768 pixels, but has an IPS panel with 16:9 aspect ratio, 300 nit, degree 176 wide view angle with a glossy finish. When I see the HP and Samsung Chromebooks side-by-side easily I can tell the difference between the two and prefer HP model.

The 11 Chromebook with a charger microUSB attacks so that I can use that same magazine at the beginning of my Android and Windows Phone devices. Honestly, the ability to charge a "portable" device via standard microUSB is quite compelling for me as a person who tries to travel as light as possible whenever you can.

HP Chromebook 11 reminds me of an old plastic Macbook with shiny white plastic which attracts fingerprints. I bought a white with green highlights so there is green padded parts at the bottom to prevent slipping on a table and a green rim thinly around the keyboard. You can also buy white streaked blue, red or yellow or a totally black model.

There is a white LED light thin at the top with a blue, red, yellow and green cover that appears when you have the Chromebook open and in use. It looks great and I like that touch of design.

You'll find the microUSB charging port, two USB ports and the headset jack of 3.5 mm on the left side. There is nothing on the right, forward or backward. A front facing VGA camera is present on the screen.

Unlike the white glossy finish on most of the Chromebook, the keyboard has a matte finish. The keys are large enough, well spaced, they have excellent reviews, and so far the keyboard is a joy to use. The only thing that I would like to is to have a backlit keyboard because I sometimes write in areas with minimal lighting.

The trackpad works well and moves well with two fingers. Still did not find a Windows PC that moves as nice as a Mac, but the Chromebook makes pretty good and better than the Dell laptop I have at work.

As the Chromebook Pixel, 11 Chromebook speakers are mounted beneath the keyboard. Pixel speakers were very impressive and I am happy to say that they are in the 11 Chromebook also. I enjoyed Google Music while writing this post and look forward to further testing of the speakers.

It is loaded with 2GB of RAM, Samsung Exynos processor dual - core 5 and 16 GB SSD. It has 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. The LTE model is not yet available. There is no SD card slot. The dimensions are 297 x 192 x 17.6 mm and 1.4 kg (2.3 lb). Solid rock feel and is a portable device.

HP Chromebook 11 racing version 30.0.1599.101 of Google Chrome OS. Setting up was quick and easy with immediate software update will take place after charged and lit it. Previous applications that I have selected in the Chromebook Pixel appeared after the launch. What I love about the Chrome browser is that I am able to log in to multiple devices and have my browsing history and bookmarks appear below.

There is not much that say about the software at this point since everything is done in the Chrome browser, so if you have not tried it on your PC or Mac and offers a similar experience.

Taking into account the microUSB charging option, I'll try several Chargers and portable high capacity with the 11 Chromebook batteries.

It has improved the application offline support so I will try that out on my daily trip as well as.

Worries me a little performance, given the mobile processor and the limited amount of RAM memory. As James Kendrick, ZDNet News Mobile, just published this morning, there are processor Chromebooks Haswell now appears to offer performance and better battery life. I will try to see video content, says Google Hangout video sessions and play a couple of games to push the device a bit and see how he does.

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