Chromebooks have their limits, so they’re usually affordable. Since they aren’t powered by advanced processors, you can’t install any software on them, and they’re just used primarily for web browsing. Google’s first attempt at a premium Chromebook, the Pixelbook, comes with a hefty price tag even though it runs with Chrome OS. For a supposedly restricted operating system, why the high price?
Turns out, there are a lot of valid reasons. It is impeccably designed and boasts the functionality of both a laptop and a tablet. It has full Android app support, is surprisingly fast, and its battery can last an entire day . You can get this incredible 2-in-1 device for $1,370 on Walmart , a huge $279 off its normal price of $1,649.
Right off the bat, we noticed that the Pixelbook looks really good. This is a ruggedly engineered machine with a few sophisticated touches. Like the Pixel smartphones, it has a two-toned brushed aluminum frame in silver and white that is positively eye-catching. Besides its pleasing aesthetic, the Pixelbook is only four-tenths-of-an-inch thick. It may be extremely thin and compact, but it feels sturdy and solid.
Its 2,400 × 1,600, 12.3-inch touchscreen display folds back 360 degrees, turning the laptop into a tablet. At 2.4 pounds, it is relatively featherlight for a laptop. As a tablet, though, it can be a little unwieldy and heavy for one-hand operation.
When it comes to connectivity, the Pixelbook follows the lead of Apple’s MacBook by ditching most of its ports. You can only find two USB-C ports aside from a headphone jack on it.
Since this is an ultra-thin device, we were cautious about how well its keyboard would perform. We’re happy to report that the keystroke feels responsive and precise, with a layout that is nicely arranged and brightly backlit. The glass touchpad is a bonus. While laptops are normally outfitted with a rubberized plastic touchpad, the Pixelbook’s touchpad looks extra luxurious and is wonderfully responsive to boot.
Its seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM ensure that the Pixelbook runs fast regardless of the number of tabs you have opened on the browser. You can even play online games on the Pixelbook with no noticeable lag, something that you can’t do with normal Chromebooks. Finally, despite its small battery, the Pixelbook was able to last for four hours in our continuous web-browsing test, which is a very good number. When used just for document writing and movie watching, it was able to easily last the entire day.
With a sleek and solid build, a lightning-fast processor, and loads of features, the Google Pixelbook justifies its premium price tag with panache. For more options, check out our best laptops and 2-1in-1 laptops for 2019, and for more awesome deals, visit our curated deals page.
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
Choosing a note-taking app is not easy. What note-taking app you choose depends on your needs, the platform you use, and of course, the cost. The process becomes even more complicated as it seems that there’s a new shiny app released every other week.
That’s why I always suggest choosing a note-taking app that has all the features you need and can last you for a long time. Also, don’t chase new apps. The real power of a note-taking app comes when all your notes live in one place, making it easy to spot connections between them.
There's no shortage of messaging apps out there. The past decade has given us more options than we know what to do with, largely because smartphones demanded something better than plain old SMS.
Both the App Store and the Play Store are packed with apps that promise to revolutionize the way we communicate. Most of them didn't make it. The truth is, a messaging app is only as good as the number of people using it, and most apps never cross that threshold.