Google Releases 11.6-inch ARM-based Chromebook, and it looks Impressive

If Google impressed you when they revealed their super low priced Nexus 7 tablet computer, they will undoubtedly do so again with their latest consumer electronics offering; an 11.6-inch ARM-based Samsung built Chromebook which will retail at just £229 in the UK and $249 in the US, an amazingly low price for an Ultra-portable laptop which far exceeds what you would expect at its price point.

In line with the current trend of laptops which are hitting the market like Ultrabooks, Google’s latest Chromebook is both very thin and light. The £229 laptop is 0.8-inches (20mm) thin and weighs only 2.43 pounds (1.1kg), which is a breath of fresh air for anybody who has to lug around a heavy laptop all day. Google has also bestowed upon us a matte display (we are a big fan of matte displays) which is an 11.6-inch job set at a resolution of 1366 x 768. At this price point, and on an 11.6-inch display, this resolution will be perfectly acceptable in use.

A different choice of processor you are used to in a laptop

It features a full-size keyboard too (albeit no numerical pad), and Google claims this humble little machine will run for a whole 6.5 hours from mixed usage, something which is probably down to the processor which powers it; a fanless dual-core A15-based Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (5250) SoC. This processor is generally on-par or faster performance wise than a quad-core A9 mobile processor as seen in the Samsung Galaxy S3, and it should power through tasks like a hero when needed. Other internals include 2GB of RAM and a hearty – if low – 16GB of flash storage. Again, at this price point however, 16GB of flash is more than acceptable. Connectivity wise this little beast features WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth, and as for ports you will find a full-size SD card reader and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack (with mic support) on the left plus a power input, HDMI output, USB 2.0 port, USB 3.0 connector and SIM slot (currently unused) in back.

Word on the street is that the SIM slot on the back of the machine in the future will be used for computing on the go. First impressions IN the looks department are that this machine looks incredibly well-built for the price being asked of it, featuring a polycarbonate build to toughen it from any falls, not that it will land particularly hard due to its weight anyway. A lot of people have likened its design to an Apple Macbook Air since it was announced, however as recent court proceedings have demonstrated, Apple does not own the rights to certain design elements of machines. Overall, it is a good looking machine in its own right.

As noted pricing for this baby is $249 in the US and Google is throwing in 100GB of free storage on Google Drive for two years for all customers. All in all, this is quite the machine, and an essential purchase for anybody who needs a secondary computer or anybody who works in the cloud a lot.

For full specifications of this latest Google powered machine running Chrome OS simply go to the official Google page below. Enjoy!

Source: Google (official page).

About Jakk: Jakk Ogden is a professional self-employed blogger and the founder / owner of Technology Blogged. 22, with a love for good writing, you'll find me playing 'Drag Racing' on my HTC One X and rocking a pair of Grado headphones. If you love technology, be sure to subscribe to my feed for unique editorials. Find me on Google+. View author profile.