Chromebook Buying Guide 2016
Several people have asked my lately what Chromebook they should buy. Here are my top 3 picks, one in each screen size category. I don’t own any of these Chromebooks. This buying guide is based on a survey of Chromebook reviews sourced from Youtube and various tech publications.
Top Picks
15 inch
Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C1DZ (15.6-Inch Full HD IPS, 4GB RAM, 16GB SSD)
13 inch
Toshiba Chromebook 2 - 2015 Edition (CB35-C3300) Full HD, Backlit Keyboard
11 inch
What to look for
- RAM: 4 GB
- Processor: Intel Celeron (i3 is also fine, but overkill for Chromebook)
- Display: High resolution screen 1080p minimum; IPS preferably (IPS has far better viewing angles)
- Keyboard: Decent keyboard layout (key travel, not cramped, keyboard should not flex when you’re typing)
- Trackpad: decent size, good gesture recognition, clicky trackpad (see paragraph 3 for details)
Nice to have
- Backlit keyboard (unless you can touch type all the symbols and functions keys in the dark)
- Battery life: 8 hours (unless you plan to use it plugged in all day)
Considerations
- Speakers: ideally placed on same surface as keyboard, not on bottom or underneath keyboard
- Ports: Most will have at least 2 USB 2.0 ports. Prefer at least 1 USB 3.0 port for transferring data to external drives
- Webcam: 720p or above with good low light performance preferred (Low light performance describes most indoor scenarios even with lights on. Bad low light performance will make the picture look very grainy. Read professional reviews for info about low light performance.)
Ultimately, the right Chromebook depends on your use case. If you need something to carry around all day in your bag, smaller and lighter is better. Choose an 11 or 13 inch machine. If you want something to surf the internet with on your couch, consider a machine with a bigger screen and better speakers like the Acer Chromebook 15.
If you don’t label yourself as a “power user”, you can definitely get away with 2GB of RAM. In other words, if you browse with < 10 tabs open at a time, 2GB should be sufficient… for now. Despite my research indicating that 2GB of RAM will work fine, I still recommend buying a machine with 4GB of RAM. It’s true that 2GB may be fine for light web browsing on a Chromebook today. The real question is how 2GB of RAM will hold up in a year or two. All of software history has shown that software becomes heavier over time, not lighter and the web is no exception.
A special note about keyboards and trackpads: I’m very picky about trackpads on laptops. As a MacBook Pro user, I’ve become accustomed to the idea that a trackpad doesn’t have to be an inferior experience compared to a mouse. A good trackpad feels natural to use without having to think about where your fingers are. If possible, go to a brick and mortar store and play with some Chromebooks. Make sure you can tolerate the keyboard and trackpad. Two finger scrolling should be smooth and effortless. Does the bottom of the trackpad click the way you expect? Try out the keyboard. It shouldn’t flex when you type on it. The keys should travel downward enough so that you know by feel whether you’ve pressed the key or not. Backlit keyboards are useful when working in dark environments. Even if you’re a touch typist, chances are that you don’t know all the symbols and function keys by feel and it’s nice not to have to fumble around trying to find them when typing in the dark.
Nowhere above did I mention storage. That’s because local storage doesn’t really matter in a Chromebook. Chrome OS isn’t a desktop OS. If you need to edit photos taken with a digital camera, a Chromebook is not your machine. While it’s totally possible to import photos onto a Chromebook, the Chromebook isn’t the final resting place for your vacation photos; it’s a transfer station between your camera and the cloud. Chrome OS is meant for web based tasks where your data will also live. Office related tasks like word processing and spreadsheets are done in Google Drive. If you need to store big files locally (pictures, video, audio), a Chromebook is not for you.
References
2GB vs 4GB RAM on a Chromebook – The difference is minimal, in 2014
How much RAM do you need on a Chromebook?
The Wirecutter chromebook roundup