Google officially unveils the Chromebook Pixel
Well, my speculation from earlier today was, for the most part, totally wrong. Google took most people by surprise earlier today and officially announced the Chromebook Pixel; here are the relevant specs:
Google’s newest laptop will feature a 12.85-inch Gorilla Glass multi-touch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, 2560 x 1700 resolution, 239ppi, 400 nit brightness, and an extra-wide viewing angle of 178 degrees. It will have a backlit Chrome keyboard; a fully clickable, etched-glass trackpad; 720p HD webcam; 2 USB 2.0 ports; a mini display port; a 2-in-1 card reader supporting SD and MMC; Bluetooth 3.0; and 4GB RAM with an Intel dual-core i5 processor clocked at 1.8GHz.
There’s a combination headphone/microphone jack, three built-in microphones to help minimize background sound, integrated DSP, and powerful speakers located beneath the keyboard. With no visible vents, the Chromebook will use active cooling technology to prevent from overheating, and the 59Wh battery is expected to last around 5 hours with active use. The WiFi version will come with 32GB of on board storage and will start at $1299, while the LTE version has 64GB for $1449.
Also notable is that both versions come with 1TB of free Google Drive storage for 3 years and 12 free sessions of in-flight GoGo internet access. The LTE version also includes the standard 100MB/data on Verizon per month.
Overall, I’m impressed by the specs, although a little disappointed to see no HDMI out. I appreciate the bumps in RAM and internal storage space, and 1TB of Google Drive storage is truly amazing (I don’t think I could fill it if I tried!). But is it truly worth over $1,000?
I’ll have to make my way to one of the select Best Buy locations soon to get some hands-on time with it, but I have a feeling that I’ll be sticking with my $249 Samsung Chromebook for the foreseeable future. What about you?
[Google | Play Store]
