HP Pavilion Chromebook Pro Reviews

The HP Pavilion Chromebook 14 is the first Chrome device from HP, blending the best of a budget Pavilion with the web-friendly Chrome OS.

These Chromebook doohickeys are now making more sense. For £250, the HP Pavilion Chromebook is a smart, well-made machine with a usefully large display and a handy combination of an Intel Celeron chip and an SSD. I’d have liked a more manly battery and a better keyboard, but at the price these are the sorts of compromises you have to live with. Of course, the usual benefits and drawbacks of Chrome OS still apply, which makes the Pavilion Chromebook something of a Marmite device: you are either going to love it or hate it. Which one depends on where you stand on Google and its online services, and on the very concept of a laptop that requires internet access to be of any real use.

HP’s Pavilion 14 Chromebook could serve the role of being someone’s sole PC. A large keyboard, reasonable processor, and low price combine to make a very attractive low-cost system that anyone could pick up and use for most computing tasks. Battery life is the system’s only disappointment, but an extended battery that roughly doubles endurance is available. Yet, this system’s attempt to fit in the mainstream is, ironically, what drains it of value. Smaller Chromebooks fill a niche left empty by the netbook’s death, but stores are filled with hordes of 14- and 15-inch laptops that sell between $300 and $400. Competitors like the Toshiba Satellite C855, Lenovo G580, and Dell Inspiron 15 ship with Windows 8 and for just tens of dollars more. Even HP sells this exact system, with Windows 8 and a Core i3-2377M processor, for $415 on Amazon.com. That’s not to say the Pavilion 14 is a poor value, but we think most consumers will find themselves better served by Windows laptops sold for slightly more, as those systems are just as powerful and include functionality Chrome OS can’t match.

It has poor battery life, but its large keyboard makes this much more comfortable to type on than other Chromebooks

The HP Pavilion Chromebook 14 isn't a revelation. It's a lot like an enlarged - and glammed-up thanks to its sparkly glossy plastic (make of that what you will) - version of the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook. The added screen size adds a few quid to the asking price, but pound for pound it's a similar experience overall. With that comes some highs and lows: the Chromebook concept could be great, but the ultimately limited feature set can feel restrictive if more meaty applications are your desire. The HP Chromebook has glimmers - and we're certainly not talking about the sparkly plastic exterior - of being best-in-class. But when that renders an ultimately average experience it's not too much to shout about. For us Chromebook as a whole still lacks the excitement factor and the HP has now familiar problems with limited storage space, a poor viewing angle and so-so screen resolution. Google's OS sure will make sense to those seeking a modern netbook-like experience with cloud storage, but without 3G connectivity - it's Wi-Fi only for this HP - it brings with it plenty of limitations that may be cause enough to turn towards an Android or Windows tablet for a similar price. HP's done a good job by virtue of its Chromebook competitors, but place that into the wider context of the mobility space and it's just not quite enough to applaud.

So if you think a Chromebook is right for you, which should you buy? We still think the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook (which, perhaps tellingly, is the one Google itself promotes through TV advertising), is the best balance. Yes, it struggles with some more computationally complex tasks and the screen is very washed out, but the long battery life and lightness make it feel like a pure Chrome OS thing. We're not fans of the Acer C7 Chromebook, since it's too much like a normal netbook that Acer has crowbarred Chrome OS onto, although that does make it a nice little Linux machine if that's what you're after. This HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook is a good if unexceptional laptop, though. It's a generous size and that 14-inch screen is acceptably good, it performs very well, and though the keyboard isn't a delight, the whole thing feels like it would be a decent sidekick for a good few years. If it wasn't for that dreadful battery life, we'd be recommending it much more strongly.

HP’s Chromebook debut is desperately disappointing, with insipid hardware failing to bring anything worthwhile to the market

The HP Pavilion 14 is the company’s first stab at a Chromebook, and instead of just mostly copying what Samsung and Acer have done with their Chromebook options, HP made a one-of-a-kind option, with the minimalistic performance and operating system mixed with the look and feel of a standard Windows laptop. However, this isn’t the notebook for everyone. Chrome OS is a very niche operating system, and it’s really only suited for casual users who surf the web, check email, stream media, etc. The Pavilion 14 isn’t the cheapest Chromebook option, but the larger 14-inch display is the real kicker here, and it’s perfect for those that want a lightweight OS in a slightly larger package.

The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook has to be considered on two levels. First, on its usefulness as a Chromebook in a world dominated by Windows and OS X laptops; and secondly as compared with the small number of other available Chromebooks, most of which are competing on price and ease of use, leaving very little margin for error when it comes to properly balancing price and features. As a platform, Chrome OS is better than it might seem on paper. Using the Pavilion 14 as my primary PC for several days, I found the Chrome OS handled about 80 percent of my needs in a fairly transparent way. It's the other 20 percent, where the system doesn't respond the way a Windows user would be accustomed to, that gets tricky. It's rarely plainly stated, but like a tablet or netbook, a Chromebook is most workable as a secondary, part-time PC. In the Chromebook ecosystem, the Pavilion 14 is bookended by systems that either cost less, or offer more and better features (such as mobile broadband, smaller and lighter bodies, or more storage). At $329, it's a good price for a midsize laptop for Web surfing, but it doesn't stand out as best-in-breed in this still-evolving category.