Google's new Samsung Chromebook: UK prices revealed

Google has revealed UK prices and stockists for its latest Samsung Chromebook, a lower-cost addition to its line-up of cloud-focused laptops.

The Samsung Chromebook (unlike its predecessors, it has no series number) will have a price tag of £229 when it goes on sale in the UK on 22 October. PC World and Currys will carry it in 30 high-street stores, and it can be purchased online from PC World, Amazon UK and Google Play. The online sellers have begun taking pre-orders already.

The idea behind Chromebooks is that they tap into applications delivered over the internet, so the laptops need a broadband connection to be really useful. People who want to move up from the Wi-Fi-only version to the 3G-capable Samsung Chromebook will pay £300, according to a listing on Amazon UK.

The new Chrome OS laptop is priced lower than its predecessors: the Samsung Chromebook 550 is priced by Google at £379, while the Samsung Series 5 is £299, though both can be bought for less online.

Compared with these earlier models, the Samsung Chromebook is lighter and smaller. It has an 11.6-inch screen, is 0.8 inches thick and weighs 1.1kg

It has also swapped out the previous Intel Celeron chip for a Samsung Exynos 5 Dual, which is based on ARM's low-power dual-core A15 Cortex. It promises to boot up in seven seconds and to provide 6.5 hours of battery life. In addition, it comes with 2GB RAM, 16GB of built-in flash storage, and dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity as standard.

Google is pitching its latest cloud laptop mainly as a second or third computer for home use, while watching television, for example. However, it also argues it can replace traditional PCs in business, especially if the employee uses Google Mail, Calendar and Docs for work.

"Admins can easily deploy and control a fleet of devices, including setting user, device and app policies, via the web-based management console," the company says on its Chromebooks page.