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HP Chromebook 14
I recently purchased a Chromebook by Hewlett-Packard. I got it to replace a laptop that broke on a trip and felt it was necessary to upgrade. I picked the Chromebook due to the affordable price and also because I only have a need for basic utilities such as browsing the internet, checking my email, etc. I was very pleased at how easy it was to open and get started. It was much cheaper than a standard laptop. Setting it up was quick and simple, I was able to start utilizing it about five minutes after the initial unboxing. Connecting to my wifi was a fast and easy, there was absolutely no trouble getting it connected to my network. The Chromebook was very user-friendly and simple for the average person. The way the Chromebook integrated all the great features of Google and Chrome was very nice. It made me use Gmail more and the internet was a breeze. I do a lot of work online and I utilize Chrome extensions to maximize my output in the most efficient and effective way possible. The Chromebook makes it very easy to use all my extensions. I can also save them and have easy access to them and the newest ones. The Chromebook truly has focused on user-friendly attributes.
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My 3 and 5-year-old kids also enjoyed the Chromebook. They really enjoyed how YouTube was easily-accessed by the push of a button. They could look at their videos with great ease. Ironically, watching videos was so easy for them that we had to limit their YouTube privileges. The Chromebook integrates YouTube very well and makes it a great way to watch videos.
The biggest flaw of the product is that it is not the most sturdy laptop.The laptop is very lightweight and does not hold up well against even the slightest of pushes or nudges, which is a cautious area when you share a home with children. It also does not have plug-ins or adapters for many things that a full-blown laptop would have. It’s difficult to hook a monitor to the Chromebook, or even a mouse.
Like most tech these days, the Chromebook is equipped with a headphone jack to listen to music. Speaking of music, it also has a great built in sound system and really sounds great when you have it hooked up to headphones.
Performance and mistakes aside, the Chromebook has a great design element. It looks great and is very sleek. The white color is great and really stands out compared to boring and basic black or grey laptops. Portability is a common characteristic of laptops but the Chromebook is far more portable than most, just make sure you carry it with protection and caution since they are more flimsy and fragile than regular laptops.
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I would give the Chromebook a great review. With the affordable price comes many great positives and useful attributes that need to be present in a laptop. The Chromebook truly takes everything sought-after in laptops and maximizes them. The negatives are greatly outweighed by the positives. Even the fact that it can break easy is mitigated by its price and the class of tech it’s labeled in. The user-friendly characteristics of the Chromebook also make it very kid-friendly and is an easy and affordable laptop to replace if accidents happen.
The fact that it is Hewlett-Packard is good as well. That is a name I can trust and I have used them for several decades. The combination of Google and Hewlett-Packard is top-notch. Overall it’s a very nice laptop that comes with far more enjoyment than the price tag suggests.
PROS
- Lightweight and portable
- Easy use and setup
- HP quality and support
CONS
- Potentially fragile, handle with care!
- Missing some features of full laptops
