{"id":193723,"date":"2020-07-11T10:32:41","date_gmt":"2020-07-11T09:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=193723"},"modified":"2020-07-11T10:32:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T09:32:43","slug":"which-chromebook-is-better-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=193723","title":{"rendered":"Which Chromebook is better for students?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- m -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5751019935\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p> [ad_1]\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"id_text\">\n<p>Anyone who&#8217;s gone to school in the past decade or so understands that a three-ring binder and some notebooks alone don&#8217;t cut it anymore. With a new age of remote learning upon us, student-friendly <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/roundup\/best-chromebooks-for-kids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chromebooks<\/a> are going to be more important than ever.<\/p>\n<p>There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-chromebooks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tons of Chromebook options<\/a> out there for anyone who wants a low-maintenance laptop that does most of the work for them. And they&#8217;re great for students in particular because of their utility with word processing and other classroom-focused productivity apps. Most importantly, Chromebooks are relatively affordable.<\/p>\n<p>Today, we&#8217;re going to take a look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/zdcs.link\/M10d4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HP Chromebook 15<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/zdcs.link\/Brx6B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google Pixelbook Go<\/a>. Both devices were released in 2019, and have their own pros and cons when it comes to school and everyday use. So, here&#8217;s how they stack up.<\/p>\n<h2>What&#8217;s so special about a Chromebook?<\/h2>\n<p>In case you aren&#8217;t familiar with Chromebooks, they run a special operating system called ChromeOS. It&#8217;s a stripped-down operating system that&#8217;s mostly compatible with Android apps as well as Google&#8217;s Chrome browser and email ecosystem. While that means Chromebooks can&#8217;t do quite as much as a Macbook or high-end Windows laptop, it also means they don&#8217;t need as much juice under the hood to get things cracking.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Google&#8217;s latest Pixelbook starts at $649.99 and comes with a minimum of 8GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and one of three Intel Core processors (m3, i5, or i7), depending on how much you&#8217;re willing to pay.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The best thing I can say about the Pixelbook Go is that you don&#8217;t need to worry about it keeping up with your daily tasks. When I <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/tech\/7638\/google-pixelbook-go-review-an-excellent-work-laptop-if-you-like-chromeos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reviewed it<\/a>, I found it adeptly handled full days of work that I&#8217;d usually do on a Macbook Pro without giving me any reasons to complain.<\/p>\n<p>Web browsing, writing, streaming HD videos, and other tasks you&#8217;ll probably do as a student all worked admirably. And the Pixelbook Go didn&#8217;t roar its fans or freeze up from keeping a bunch of Chrome tabs open.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I wasn&#8217;t quite able to hit the 12 hours of battery life Google claims the Pixelbook Go can achieve on a full charge, but it was close enough that I can&#8217;t knock it. The Pixelbook Go will get you through at least a full day on campus, and if it doesn&#8217;t, USB-C fast charging will perk it back up in a jiffy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\">\n<p><picture itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><source   type=\"image\/webp\"><\/source><source   type=\"image\/jpeg\"><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Pixelbook Go has a great keyboard.\n<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><div class=\"image-credit\">\n<p>Image:  zlata ivleva \/ mashable\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The HP Chromebook 15 only comes in one $449.99 model with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and an Intel Pentium Gold 4417U processor. Those are indeed <em>slightly<\/em> worse specs than the Pixelbook Go, but the Chromebook 15 won&#8217;t go gently into that good night. As I noted in <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/tech\/7280\/hp-chromebook-15-review-a-vast-improvement-in-performance-and-design-but-you-give-up-a-lot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">my review<\/a>, it&#8217;s a massive performance upgrade over its predecessor.<\/p>\n<p>The Pixelbook Go may be able to handle slightly more activity, but the Chromebook 15 is more than adequately usable for your daily tasks. It&#8217;s compatible with the same Google apps and, unless you truly go overboard with Chrome tabs, you shouldn&#8217;t encounter much slowdown or freezing. There weren&#8217;t even any hangups when watching high-frame-rate videos, which was a problem I&#8217;d noticed on the <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/review\/hp-chromebook-14-review-2019-amd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chromebook 14<\/a>. It&#8217;ll get you through a school day just fine with a battery life that I would peg between 10 and 13 hours on a full charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still, Google&#8217;s Pixelbook Go is just a little bit better spec-wise. You may have to pay more to hop on the bandwagon (which we&#8217;ll talk about in more detail later), but at least you&#8217;re getting more RAM. That alone gives it the crown here.<\/p>\n<p><em>The winner: Pixelbook Go<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>WATCH: Here are our favorite laptop brands of 2020<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jw-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowautoplay=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/embed?video=LNlgjpPBn2&amp;player=default\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>How light is it? Will it fit in my backpack?<\/h2>\n<p>First things first: These are both pretty handsome laptops, for different reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Pixelbook Go comes in both black and pink colors, with the pink one obviously being the more attractive option. (That&#8217;s not up for debate, sorry.) The bottom of the device has a distinctive ridged texture that, according to Google, makes it easier to grip as you carry it around. It doesn&#8217;t make a huge functional difference, but it sure feels nice to hold.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\">\n<p><picture itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><source   type=\"image\/webp\"><\/source><source   type=\"image\/jpeg\"><\/source><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The distinctive ridged bottom of the Pixelbook Go.\" class=\"\" data-fragment=\"m!c664\" data-image=\"https:\/\/mondrian.mashable.com\/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F1388948%252F0b411a6c-a3d9-443a-8dc5-765abea995ed.jpg%252Ffull-fit-in__1200x2000.jpg?signature=5G8CjG1Ff5MsUsdkXVX4SIqu8ho=&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com\" data-micro=\"1\"  src=\"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1594459959_206_Which-Chromebook-is-better-for-students.jpg\" src_type=\"jpeg\" ><\/picture><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>The distinctive ridged bottom of the Pixelbook Go.\n<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><div class=\"image-credit\">\n<p>Image:  zlata ivleva \/ mashable\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Aside from that, this is a very nondescript laptop, much to its benefit. With just half an inch of thickness and 2.3 pounds of heft along with its 13.3-inch touchscreen display, it&#8217;s both compact and light. You might as well be carrying air when you haul this bad boy around campus&#8230; <em>or<\/em> between your living room and your bedroom, depending on how things shake out this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and the keyboard is fantastic. The keys are spaced out just far enough, they push in just deeply enough, and it&#8217;s <em>quiet<\/em>. You won&#8217;t likely find a better keyboard on a Chromebook.<\/p>\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 2 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5511153269\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The only knock I have against the Pixelbook Go in this category is its track pad. It&#8217;s perfectly responsive, but clicking on it is too loud and its central placement makes it a tad too easy to accidentally touch while typing.<\/p>\n<p>The HP Chromebook 15 isn&#8217;t nearly as inconspicuous. Its 15.6-inch touchscreen display is moderately bigger than the Pixelbook Go, but that also means it&#8217;s thicker, at 0.7 inches, and heavier, coming in at a whopping 3.99 pounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s more bulky than its opponent, sure, but don&#8217;t mistake that for a lack of elegance. HP designed the Chromebook 15 with a sleek, metallic finish that I personally think looks cool as hell. It&#8217;s more flashy than the Pixelbook Go, so if you want to remain anonymous, maybe this isn&#8217;t the one for you.<\/p>\n<p>The keyboard, by the way, is fine. I don&#8217;t love it as much as the Pixelbook Go&#8217;s keyboard, but it&#8217;s still leagues better than the atrocity that is the Apple butterfly keyboard. Basically, you&#8217;re looking at a difference between &#8220;good&#8221; and &#8220;great&#8221; with these two Chromebook keyboards.<\/p>\n<p>This one is almost a toss-up, but the Pixelbook Go is smaller, lighter, has a better keyboard, and comes in a sweet pink color. So, Google&#8217;s Chromebook gets the edge here by the slimmest of margins.<\/p>\n<p><em>The winner: Pixelbook Go<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Are there other must-have features?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image\">\n<p><picture itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><source   type=\"image\/webp\"><\/source><source   type=\"image\/jpeg\"><\/source><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Older USB ports, like the one on the HP Chromebook 15, are still useful.\" class=\"\" data-fragment=\"m!f3c4\" data-image=\"https:\/\/mondrian.mashable.com\/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F1388950%252Feda2bd89-1a5d-40e2-8598-2a50bbf378de.jpg%252Ffull-fit-in__1200x2000.jpg?signature=mjdQUPfs9zeTDn3Y-JYTNbAzmBI=&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com\" data-micro=\"1\"  src=\"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1594459960_890_Which-Chromebook-is-better-for-students.jpg\" src_type=\"jpeg\" ><\/picture><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Older USB ports, like the one on the HP Chromebook 15, are still useful.\n<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><div class=\"image-credit\">\n<p>Image:  zlata ivleva \/ mashable\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Chromebooks are fairly basic by nature, and these two don&#8217;t do much to stand out in terms of bonus perks. As such, we have to dig deep into things like ports to make arguments for one over the other.<\/p>\n<p>Both of them have headphone jacks. Awesome. Cross that off the list. They also both have two USB-C ports, but the Chromebook 15 <em>also<\/em> has a USB type-A port for older devices that may not be USB-C compliant. On top of that, the Chromebook 15 has a microSD slot. Students who specialize in things like photography and video could benefit a lot from that.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll find touchscreens on both laptops. Pixelbook Go&#8217;s touch display isn&#8217;t remarkable in any meaningful way, which is to say it works as intended and I don&#8217;t recall having many problems with it. Ditto for the Chromebook 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One last minor point for the Pixelbook Go is that the most expensive model comes with a 4K display. The Chromebook 15, meanwhile, only goes up to 1080p. That&#8217;s cool, but as we&#8217;ll get to in a little bit, it&#8217;s way too costly.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m going to give this category to the Chromebook 15 because of the presence of a USB type-A port <em>and<\/em> a microSD reader. Those are both genuinely useful on a daily basis for plenty of people, students included.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>The winner: Chromebook 15<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Which has the better overall value?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image\">\n<p><picture itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><source   type=\"image\/webp\"><\/source><source   type=\"image\/jpeg\"><\/source><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"HP's Chromebook looks futuristic.\" class=\"\" data-fragment=\"m!d1f0\" data-image=\"https:\/\/mondrian.mashable.com\/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F1388952%252F8e017f68-bb1e-4cd8-9bfc-4fc673662397.jpg%252Ffull-fit-in__1200x2000.jpg?signature=QqAoN8u-n6vLVelClAEpooaaRx0=&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com\" data-micro=\"1\"  src=\"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1594459961_336_Which-Chromebook-is-better-for-students.jpg\" src_type=\"jpeg\" ><\/picture><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>HP&#8217;s Chromebook looks futuristic.\n<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><div class=\"image-credit\">\n<p>Image:  zlata ivleva \/ mashable\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>This one is easy. The Chromebook 15 is $449.99 and that&#8217;s it. There are no other models to consider. It&#8217;s not the <em>best<\/em> value, considering it only comes with 4GB of RAM, but it&#8217;s cheaper than any model of the Pixelbook Go.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of which, Google&#8217;s contender starts at $649.99, but goes much further beyond that. Models with more RAM, storage, and better displays go for $849.99, $999.99, and a whopping $1,399.99 for the top-end 4K version. If you have that much cash lying around, just buy a Macbook. The base version of the Pixelbook Go will likely be more than good enough for most students, so don&#8217;t worry about the more expensive ones.<\/p>\n<p>That said, there&#8217;s no way Google wins this round. It&#8217;s simple math, folks.<\/p>\n<p><em>The winner: Chromebook 15<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>The Verdict<\/h2>\n<p>I like using the Pixelbook Go more than I like using the Chromebook 15. Its pool of higher memory made me feel safer doing more things at once, and it&#8217;s such a nice device to hold and touch. Seriously, the keyboard and ridged bottom are just lovely. That said, when you stack them up against one another like this, it&#8217;s hard to make a definitive case for Google&#8217;s Chromebook over HP&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>Pixelbook Go is gorgeous, doesn&#8217;t get in the way, and packs enough RAM into even the cheapest model to handle what most students will throw at it. If you&#8217;re willing or able to pay enough to get 16GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, and a 4K display, you&#8217;ll have yourself a powerful little machine that&#8217;s nonetheless held back by the limitations of ChromeOS. But the keyboard is so good.<\/p>\n<p>Even with all of that being true, the Chromebook 15 can do most of the same things for $200 less than the lowest-end Pixelbook variant. It might have a worse time with more intense computing demands because of its lower RAM, but limit yourself to schoolwork, social media, and streaming, and you&#8217;ll most likely be alright. Plus, it&#8217;s pretty in its own way and the keyboard is good, too.<\/p>\n<p><em>The winner: Chromebook 15<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"5\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 5 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9258826580\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/tech\/10954\/which-chromebook-is-better-for-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 3 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"2884989920\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Anyone who&#8217;s gone to school in the past decade or so understands that a three-ring binder and some notebooks alone don&#8217;t cut it anymore. With a new age of remote learning upon us, student-friendly Chromebooks are going to be more important than ever. There are tons of Chromebook options out there for anyone who &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":193724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=193723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193725,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193723\/revisions\/193725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/193724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=193723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=193723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=193723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}