HP Pavilion Chromebook 14

Google's Chromebook may not get much respect in some tech circles, but HP offers a vote of confidence with a Chrome-based laptop of its own, the HP Pavilion Chromebook 14. Blending the design aesthetics of a budget Pavilion laptop with the free web-centric Chrome OS, the 14-inch Pavilion Chromebook is the closest thing we've seen to a standard laptop coming out under the Google flag.

Design
Were it not for the candy-colored Google Chrome logo on the lid of the laptop, the HP Pavilion Chromebook would look like a 14-inch version of the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15z-b000, HP's inexpensive, AMD-powered ultrabook alternative. The chassis uses the same plastic construction, with a glossy "sparkling black" finish. The entire laptop is also fairly lightweight, tipping the scales at just 3.73 pounds.

The chiclet keyboard feels like an HP keyboard, with comfortable spacing but a slightly insubstantial feel when typing. Unlike other HP laptops, the Pavilion Chromebook features a layout that has been tweaked specifically for use with Google's Chrome OS. Instead of a Windows key, there's a search key that opens up a fresh Google search screen. The F1-F12 buttons have also picked up a few Chrome-specific functions (Across from left to right: Escape, Back, Forward, Reload, Full Screen, Next Window, Brightness Down/Up, Volume Mute/Down/Up, Power), while a row of keys along the right-hand edge of the keyboard add a few familiar functions not offered on the smaller Chromebooks, like a Delete key, along with Home, Pg Up, Pg Dn, and End keys.

The touchpad is also a bit closer to the Windows-norm than the buttonless clickpads seen on the Samsung Chromebook Series 3 (XE303C12) or the Acer C7 Chromebook (C710-2055). Instead, you'll get the more familiar right and left buttons, along with a textured touchpad that supports Chrome's one- and two-finger gestures, like tapping with a single finger for a standard mouse click, and tapping with two for right-click functions, and two-finger scrolling.

The Pavilion Chromebook is the largest Chromebook yet, with a 14-inch display that dwarfs the 11-inch displays seen on the Acer C7 and the Samsung Series 3. The Google Chromebook Pixel (64GB, LTE) comes closer in size (12.85 inches) but with its Retina-like resolution, touch capability, and unique 3:2 aspect ratio, the Pixel's display isn't really comparable to any of the inexpensive Chromebooks. Instead, the Pavilion Chromebook, with its 14-inch screen and 1,366-by-768 resolution display, is again most similar to the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15z-b000, which was actually a bit bigger at 15.6 inches.

With that 14-inch display and slim dimensions?0.83 by 13.7 by 9.4 inches (HWD)?the Pavilion Chromebook is the first to really take the Chromebook from netbook-like designs into a more laptop-like form factor. In some ways this is an excellent move, as the larger dimensions make for more comfortable typing and the larger display makes multitasking easier. But in other ways, it detracts from the Chromebook experience, by reshaping expectations?instead of a pleasantly surprising netbook experience, it's a laptop experience without full laptop capability.

Features
What sets Chromebooks apart from any other laptop is Chrome OS, Google's web-centric operating system. It's a different approach to the operating system, focusing almost exclusively on the web browser and shifting many of the familiar tools of a PC into the browser by way of browser extensions, cloud services, and apps. Most of your basic functions are still there, with a basic file manager, Google Drive (Google's Office analog), Google Media Player for video and music playback, and Gmail, all with an offline option for those times you're away from Wi-Fi.

Google's growing stable of apps and browser extensions do the work of locally installed software, but with a cloud-based twist?most (but not all) apps rely on online data, or shift storage or processing demands elsewhere. Whether it's photo editing (Pixlr), accounting (Wave Accounting), CRM and sales tracking (base), and a wide array of games and entertainment options, Google's thousands of apps and extensions should fill most of the needs filled by software in other circumstances. It may require shifting your perceptions and necessitates embracing the always online mentality, but there's not a lot you can do with a laptop that you can't also do (to some degree) using Chrome OS.

The Pavilion Chromebook 14 is equipped with three USB 2.0 ports, a headset jack, a wired LAN connection, HDMI output, and a full-size, full-depth SD card slot?by contrast, the SD slot on the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook irritatingly left half the card sticking out when in use. Internally, the 14-inch Chromebook boasts 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, along with an HP TrueVision webcam and integrated microphone.

As with the Samsung Series 3, the Pavilion Chromebook 14 offers little in the way of local storage?a mere 16GB?but the lack of onboard storage is meant to encourage storing data to the cloud. To ease this transition, Google gives new Chromebook owners a free 100GB of added capacity in Google Drive for storing all of your documents, media, and files. HP also covers the Pavilion Chromebook 14 with a one-year warranty, as well as one year of hardware support and a year software support (with product registration, otherwise 30-days). Customer reviews on sites like Amazon, however, suggest that HP's normally excellent tech support may not be trained to deal with Chrome OS, so troubleshooting may be more problematic.

Performance
The HP Pavilion Chromebook 14 is outfitted with a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron 847 processor, paired with 2GB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 4GB. This is the same processor found in the Acer C7 Chromebook (C710-2847), and the performance is similar, though not identical. According to BrowserMark test results, the Pavilion Chromebook 14 is slightly faster than the Samsung Series 3, but falls a bit behind the Acer C7. The newer Acer C710-2055, on the other hand, which also uses an Intel Celeron 847 but with 4GB of RAM, continues to reign as the fastest of the inexpensive Chromebooks.

HP has also equipped the Pavilion Chromebook 14 with a removable 37Wh, 4-Cell lithium-ion battery. This opens up the possibility of purchasing a second battery, which is almost a necessity?the battery lasted only 3 hours 36 minutes in our streaming video rundown test. While this is about half an hour longer than the life of the first Acer C7 (3:02) but falls short of the Samsung Series 3 (5:25) and the longer-lasting Acer C710-2055 (4:12).

While the $329 HP Pavilion Chromebook 14 isn't the cheapest of the inexpensive Chrome devices, it's still a heck of a lot less than most budget laptops, and is perhaps the easiest transition from Windows to Chrome. The full-size keyboard and 14-inch display will be welcomed by anyone who thinks the 11- and 12-inch Chromebooks a tiny and cramped, and the whole package is slim and light enough to pick up and take on the go. Unfortunately, the larger design doesn't translate into longer battery life. While the longer lasting Acer C7 Chromebook (C710-2055) is our Editors' Choice for inexpensive Chromebooks, the HP Pavilion Chromebook 14 is still a solid entry into the unique category, and a solid deal for the always online set.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/Z7UCuBaosRg/0,2817,2420780,00.asp

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