HP Launches Its First Chromebook

On Monday, HP officially unveiled its first laptop based on Google’s Chrome OS. The HP Pavillion 14 Chromebook is available for sale in the U.S. immediately with a price tag of $330.

Salvador Rodriguez with the Los Angeles Times reported, “Hewlett-Packard is officially introducing its first Chromebook laptop, a $329.99 machine with a larger screen than any other Google-powered computer on the market. The computer, formally named the ‘HP Pavilion Chromebook,’ was expected after a file was discovered on HP’s website last week with details about the laptop.”

CNET quoted HP’s Kevin Frost, who said, “Google’s Chrome OS is showing great appeal to a growing customer base. With HP’s Chromebook, customers can get the best of the Google experience on a full-sized laptop, all backed up by our service and brand.”

ZDNet’s Sam Shead noted, “HP joins Samsung and Acer on the list of Chromebook manufacturers, while Lenovo announced it will be joining the list soon with the launch of ThinkPad Chromebook for schools, last month. HP’s Pavilion 14 is available to buy in the US from today but its $330 price tag makes it more expensive than Samsung’s latest Chromebook, which is available at £229 ($250), and the Acer C7, which only costs £199 ($199).”

Engadget’s Dana Wollman observed, “For the money, it offers similar specs as the Acer C7, but the design appears considerably more polished. Meanwhile, with a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron 847 CPU and 2GB of RAM, it should perform a bit better than the Samsung model, which has a nice design, but chugs along on a lower-powered ARM processor. Like most other Chromebooks, this one has 16GB of built-in flash storage, along with a 1,366 x 768 display. Users also get 100GB of Google Drive space (free for the first two years).”