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Why I bought a Samsung Chromebook

I have used almost every Chromebook on the market which is why I bought a cheap one from Samsung.
Written by James Kendrick, Contributor
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Image credit: Samsung

It's no secret that I find Chromebooks to be extremely useful laptops. I have come to that conclusion from actually using them, and most of them on the market at that. All of that hands-on usage led to my hitting the One-Click button on Amazon to buy the Samsung Chromebook for $249.

It's the end of the month and that means packing up test laptops to send back to the companies that sent them for review. This month the returns include the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook, the Chromebook Pixel, and the Lenovo ThinkPad T432s.

Reviews: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook | Chromebook Pixel | ThinkPad T431s

The HP is a nice laptop for the price as you can tell from my review (link above). The Chromebook Pixel from Google is the hardest to send back as I concluded it is one of the best laptops I've ever used. The ThinkPad is a great Windows 8 laptop, but that's no surprise as most models in that venerable product line are good.

Every bit of software in Chrome OS, and every single hardware component in the Chromebook, is optimized to make using the Chrome browser the best experience it can possibly be.

With these laptops packed up to go back where they came from, I still have my MacBook Pro with Retina Display (13-inch) and the HP Envy x2. These two laptops are outstanding devices that work just fine for me in addition to the various tablets I own.

I like having devices for all the major platforms, which I now have in my hands except for a Chromebook. It helps that I really like Chromebooks and find them to be great work machines.

I have a tremendous advantage over most shoppers for a Chromebook in that I have used most of them. Unlike most Chromebook shoppers, I already know that Chrome OS is a great platform that works very well for me. As I considered each one to make my purchase decision I kept coming back to the Samsung Chromebook.

When I tested the Samsung Chromebook, I noted that performance of the ARM-based laptop was decent, and the highly portable form rivaled that of the MacBook Air. This, combined with a nice price of $249, was all I needed to get me to hit the One-Click button to purchase one from Amazon.

It will be here today and I have to admit I am excited about the purchase. Even though I've used one already, the Samsung Chromebook offers so much value for the price that I can't wait for it to get here.

I bought the Samsung that comes with wi-fi only even though a model with 3G doesn't cost that much more. While I have come to appreciate having LTE in a laptop, I am long past the days when 3G is fast enough. I'll just throw the iPad mini with LTE into a thin pocket on the gear bag for 24 hours of hotspot duty should I need it.

I must admit I was sorely tempted to buy a Chromebook Pixel, but I couldn't part with the big bucks that would require. The Pixel is a sweet laptop but when it comes down to it I can do everything on the Samsung Chromebook for a thousand dollars less. It's not like I have a shortage of gadgetry, anyway.

I like owning and using Chromebooks and this one is one of the best for the price as far as I'm concerned.

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