HP Chromebook 11 Pro Reviews

The Chromebook 11, in its LTE and non-LTE versions, remains our favorite latest-gen budget Chromebook, a pleasure to look at and type on. Still, if competition brings machines like the T100T down under $350 (and we know other cheap Bay Trail ultralight laptops are coming), we think the Chromebook brigade will have to find a home closer to $200--and, for the cellular models, offer cheaper data plans—to keep their value propositions vital. Connectivity—and its cost—is both the Chromebook’s biggest strength and its Achilles’ heel. 

The HP Chromebook 11 (Verizon LTE) builds upon a slim and stylish design with a mobile internet connection that frees the Chromebook from the limitations of Wi-Fi.

The $279 HP Chromebook 11 is certain to be Amazon’s next chart-topper. Like last year’s model, it’s not the fastest computer ever, nor the best-designed, nor the most capable. But my goodness is it cheap. And for that $279 you get a great Gmail machine, a mostly serviceable way to watch Hulu or Netflix in bed, and a solid IMDb reference device for your living room. But the only truly compelling thing is the price. Without a touchscreen, or a better display, or better battery life, the Chromebook 11 doesn’t make a great case against tablets like the Nexus 10 or the iPad. And without more power and better performance, it’s really hard to recommend to anyone as their primary laptop. One day a laptop running Chrome OS will easily replace a low-end Windows notebook, but it won’t be the Chromebook 11.

At $279 MSRP, only so much criticism can be levelled at the HP Chromebook 11. On one hand, it’s a well-built, attractive, seemingly durable device for the price point—but on the other hand, thanks to its simplified operating system and limited functionality (not to mention its low-powered chipset), it’s competing more in the tablet and (now defunct) netbook space than it is in the standard notebook market. It’s that realization which limits the machine’s appeal. Although it features a good keyboard and touchpad, a bright IPS screen, and better-than-average build quality for its class, these conveniences are overshadowed by its inability to run standard x86 applications (thus leading to a limited selection of apps from the Google Play store), its unwillingness to function without an internet connection, and its comparatively slow performance (when pitted against other notebooks and Ultrabooks). Factor that in with the middling battery life and you have a machine which isn’t bad for the price, but which only partially bridges the gap between tablet and notebook and fails somewhat to incorporate the best of both worlds. Stated another way, while the build quality, screen, and input devices are superior to that of most other Chromebooks, there are probably better choices out there than the Chromebook 11 for most intended uses. If you’re just browsing the internet, it’s hard to go wrong with a small tablet like the Google Nexus 7 or Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7, even though the Chromebook 11 does handle this task well enough. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for budget (and highly portable) productivity, subnotebooks running full-blown Windows (which is a lot more capable) exist for that purpose, such as the Acer Aspire V5-131—though most quality machines of this size are higher-priced (that’s the one true advantage the Chromebook 11 can claim). The truth is, if you’re seeking productivity, you’re probably better off sacrificing elsewhere, however, as Chrome OS is so limited currently. For the right user, the Chromebook 11 serves its purpose, but for everyone else, choose wisely.

Cheap, well-built and with a great screen, if you want a laptop for mostly online work, this is a great choice

On the Chromebook front, we’ve seen a few resolutely budget-focused ones (among them, the Samsung Chromebook and the Acer C7 Chromebook C710 and C720) and one overkill model (Google Chromebook Pixel). To our eyes, the Chromebook’s online-only limitations are a crucial thing for buyers to understand, and those with $300 to spend who can’t swallow the idea of a mostly-bricked laptop when there’s no Wi-Fi in range should be shopping for a budget or refurbished Windows laptop. The Chrome OS experience is elegant enough and getting better, but know that buying one is still very much stepping voluntarily into a soft, Google-lined cage. If you don’t want to play by Chrome OS’s rules, it’s best to try before you buy, or save up for a Windows laptop.Now, we did express some concerns about the Chromebook 11’s performance, in the sense of responsiveness with lots of tabs and programs open. Take that with a grain of salt, though; if you’re interested in power-user, high-performance computing, you probably shouldn’t be looking at a Chromebook, anyway. And much of the Chromebook experience is as dependent on the quality and bandwidth of your local Wi-Fi connection as it is on the particular hardware characteristics of your Chromebook. So, if you set your performance expectations to “basic,” the 11 will not disappoint.

The HP Chromebook 11 is a mixed bag, and whether it will work for any given user depends ultimately on what their needs are and where they are willing to sacrifice. If you’re a business user, there is little incentive to use the Chromebook 11, in that the performance and battery life are both lower than what you’d get from the Acer C720. In addition, the Acer offering brings to the table more options than the Chromebook 11, namely USB 3.0 rather than just USB 2.0, an HDMI video port, an SD card slot, and about three additional hours of battery life.If you’re a user who is more concerned about style and have minor hardware needs, perhaps a writer in need of a solid and inexpensive laptop that looks stylish at the coffee shop, then the Chromebook 11 is an applicable choice. Regardless, it is important to note that with the stylish design will come some big sacrifices in performance and battery life over what the new Acer C720 offers, and that you will be paying about $30 more for the honor.

The Chromebook 11 looks great, is small and light and has the best screen we’ve seen on a Chrome OS device. However, build quality isn’t quite up to scratch and – more importantly – neither is performance. With several other rival Chromebooks about to be launched, it’s definitely worth waiting to see if one can combine good performance with a good screen at the right price. HP’s aims well with its latest effort, but misses the mark by a good margin.

The Chromebook remains a strange kettle of fish. Whether you'll warm to it mostly relies on whether or not you think Chrome OS is a good or bad idea. Clearly to make the most of the operating system you have to be online, although you can now use Chrome OS offline in some cases too just to quieten those naysayers. That said, we are still confused as to why you would opt for the Chromebook 11 over the Acer C720 Chromebook, or something like a Nexus 7 tablet with Bluetooth keyboard. The Nexus 7, also from Google, has a better screen, all the same Google features, a tablet form factor when you aren't working on the keys, a better battery life, a quicker charge, and a better array of apps. The Chromebook 11 looks good, but poor performance and cheaper yet more advanced alternatives have us struggling to recommend this over other products on the market. The Chromebook is getting better, but it's still a long way from being a worthwhile investment as far as we're concerned.

A remarkably accomplished piece of hardware for the price; it's our new Chromebook of choice

If you’re looking for the Chromebook 11 to last you for 5 years, I’d be very concerned about you running out of CPU power well before then. For lighter use you’ll be fine, but with things like the Haswell Celeron based Acer C720 selling for $250 it’s clear that HP went a little too slow on the CPU front. I haven’t seen the C720 in person but my guess is you’re sacrificing display for CPU performance. HP got the mix nearly perfect with the Chromebook 11, with a faster CPU this wouldn’t just be a great machine for light use but likely the perfect entry-level notebook.

If you've been thinking about a Chromebook, HP's Chromebook 11 might be the one that sways you thanks to a slim and stylish design, lots of complimentary extras, and battery life to take you through the day.

Chromebook 11 has a decent design, interesting color options, a fanless, silent case, and acceptable performance. It’s arguably more attractive than the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook, unless you prefer Samsung’s faux-metal finish to HP’s embracing of the color options that come with plastic. And it has a much better display, but no SD card port. The HP Chromebook 11 should also be more quiet than Acer’s latest Chromebook, thanks to the fanless design. But really, if you’re sold on the idea of Chrome OS, there’s no really bad option on the market at the moment. While the earliest chromebooks were hobbled by the limitations of an operating system that was still rough around the edges and pokey Intel Atom processors, pretty much every Chrome OS laptop on the market today has enough power to offer a decent web browsing experience, and most offer it for around $300 or less.

Even though the HP Chromebook 11 is completely different from the high-end Pixel, it gets the same rating because it achieves the same mission. It advances Google's Chrome OS platform not with what it does, but how it does it. It exudes style and even a bit of unapologetic Chromebook pride. HP says the Chromebook 11 will ship on October 16. I expect that the white ones will sell better, and a canny retailer will bundle a microfiber cleaning cloth with each one.

If you're in the market for a cheap laptop and want something to type on versus something to casually Web browse with, consider the HP Chromebook 11. But keep in mind this is the station car of computers; it'll get you to where you need to go, but it's not equipped to live your full life on it, unless your life is cloud- and Google-based.

Writing the pros and cons for a Chromebook review is a tricky task. Aside from the flaky touchpad, the biggest disadvantages -- only 16GB of SSD storage, an operating system largely limited to Google's own ecosystem -- are part of what makes a Chromebook a Chromebook. And while Google will tell you that this machine is "for everyone," it's clearly not. Need a long-lasting notebook for cranking out reports and papers? A media and gaming machine to see you through NVIDIA GeForce-worthy titles? Look elsewhere, as you probably already have. It's not a stretch, though, to say such a device is great for some casual users who need a smooth-running machine for surfing the web, responding to email and watching Netflix. If you can move past the inherent limitations of a Chromebook, you have a great value on your hands. A well-built laptop with a bright IPS display and a decent keyboard for $279 is certainly worthy of a place on your comparison-shopping list. If your pockets are well-lined enough, you could even treat this guy as a devoted "on-the-road device" -- it certainly beats a tablet-and-keyboard-case combo for convenience and performance. And Chromebooks' applications for classrooms have also been rehashed in our previous reviews. It's up to you to determine what your needs are, but if you know what you're getting, you'll enjoy the HP Chromebook 11.