2017 Chromebook Holiday Round-Up!
Post date: Nov 20, 2017 7:51:0 PM
It's that time of year! If you are looking to buy a Chromebook for a loved one (or perhaps yourself) as a Christmas gift, you've come to the right place. Looking for a laptop? Looking for a tablet? Why not have both with the latest 2-in-1 Chromebooks!
All of the Chromebooks featured in this article can be used as a traditional laptop in addition to running Android apps natively. With the entire Google Play app store available, these devices will do everything you need.
We would like to now present the BH-BL I.T. Department's 2017 Chromebook Holiday Round-up!
Here are our selections, arranged by price:
Acer Chromebook R11 - $249.99 (Amazon price)†
11.6-inch convertible HD touch display
2GB or 4GB of RAM, 16 GB or 32 GB of storage
Advertised 10 hours of battery life*
HD webcam
The Acer R11 makes it onto our holiday round-up for the second year in a row! The R11 is a 2-in-1 convertible Chromebook which features a hybrid build of molded plastic and aluminum, allowing for durability while maintaining a light weight. With Androids apps now available on the Acer R11, this makes for a great budget Chromebook with a lot of capabilities!
Lenovo Flex 11 - $304.00 (Amazon price)†
11.6-inch convertible HD touch display
4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage
Advertised 10 hours of battery life*
720p HD webcam
The Lenovo Flex 11 is a step up in processing power from the Acer R11. The Flex 11 contains most of the same features as the Acer R11, but adds a more durable build quality for rugged use as well as more processing power for a faster experience. For users who need durability in addition to portability, this is a great choice!
Samsung Chromebook Plus - $349.00 (Amazon price)†
12.3-inch convertible 2K HD touch display
4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage
Advertised 10 hours of battery life*
720p HD webcam
This Chromebook has an extremely vibrant and sharp 2K display, great for reading, playing games, and watching movies. The Chromebook has a light but sturdy magnesium build, which not only looks great, but feels great too! This Chromebook also features a stowaway stylus that makes drawing and writing on the device feel natural. If you’re looking to use Android apps frequently, the Samsung Chromebook Plus is an ideal device.
ASUS Chromebook Flip C302 - $469.00 (Amazon price)†
12.5-inch convertible FULL HD 1080 touch display
4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage
Advertised 10 hours of battery life*
720p HD webcam
The ASUS Flip C302 is the successor to the ASUS Flip C100 that has been featured in past Chromebook Holiday Round-ups. With a larger, full HD 1080 display and more powerful processing power under the hood, this Chromebook is a workhorse device for productivity purposes. If you need a Chromebook for serious work with some extra bells and whistles, this is the device for you.
Final thoughts - Just a penny!
All of these Chromebooks run Chrome OS, which is Google's fast, cloud-centered operating system. For this reason, almost any Chromebook on the market will boot quickly, load webpages quickly, and offer most of the same software features regardless of the particular specs. You can even hook all of these models up to a TV or projector with the correct cable. Our advice is to decide:
What size Chromebook you want (we've listed a few different sizes here!)
Which physical features you want (such as an HD display or stylus support)
Which devices are within your budget
We hope this post helps you decide which Chromebook will suit your holiday purchasing needs!
Note: With Android apps forthcoming, we highly recommend buying all touch-enabled Chromebooks with 4GB rather than 2GB of memory (RAM).
† Be sure to check out all of the Black Friday deals this week! We have listed the Amazon prices for each of these devices, but there are sure to be better deals this holiday season.
*Advertised battery life changes with the type of use. Streaming video will use more battery life than working on a Google Doc. Lower display brightness will help conserve battery life as well.