The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook. Photo: AFP
HP Monday confirmed widespread rumors by officially launching its first Chromebook. The HP Pavilion
14 Chromebook, as the name suggests, has a 14-inch screen, making it the biggest notebook yet to run Google's Chrome OS. Built for web performance the notebook is powered by an Intel Celeron processor and Intel HD graphics, and can be specified with up to 4GB of RAM. In terms of storage, the Pavilion offers a 16GB SSD for the fastest start-up and shut-down times plus 100GB of free storage via Google Drive so that users can save work to the cloud and access it wherever they are on any device with a browser.
HP's first venture into the Chromebook market brings the number of Chromebooks currently available to four. Samsung currently offers two Chromebooks -- the Chromebook 550, which offers built-in 3G connectivity, a 16GB SSD and a 12.1-inch HD-'compatible' display which retails for around $400, as well as the extremely lightweight MacBook Air-lookalike Chromebook which weighs in at a mere 1.7kg for $200. For the same price, Acer offers the C7 Chromebook, which boasts a 320GB hard drive and a HD camera.
HP's first entry into this emerging market will retail for $329.99.