By It wasn’t long ago that we were discussing the rumored ChromeBook Pixel, and the fine souls Google made quick work of dispelling those rumors by, well, confirming it themselves. What you see below is the absolute best ChromeBook we’ve seen to date, and its high cost (starting at about $1,300) is seemingly justified. So why, exactly, would Google ask you to pay that much for a ChromeBook?
Well, for starters, the display has a lot to do with it — it is called the ChromeBook “Pixel,” after all. Google says it boasts the highest pixel density of any laptop computer to date, with 239 pixels per inch crammed into the display. It does that by having a 12.85″ display 2,560 x 1,700 resolution. With 4.3 million pixels in all, and “extra-wide” viewing angles, sharp text and vibrant colors, Google says this is the most crisp display you’ll have ever used on a laptop. Oh, and did I mention it’s touch-enabled? No? Well, there you go.
The laptop was constructed out of anodized aluminum alloy, and it was crafted in order to hide the ugly vents, screws and other necessary bits holding it all together. Google didn’t even want you to see the stereo speakers tucked as it has hidden that below the backlit keyboard the Pixel has. The touchpad is made from etched glass, and apparently was tested with a laser microscope for extremely accurate performance.
Inside will be Intel’s Core i5 processor, and like any ChromeBook this thing relies on 32GB of built-in solid-state memory for extremely fast performance and boot-up times. Google’s handling storage with the cloud as it’s giving users 1 terabyte of Google Drive space to store all your necessities. The device will come in WiFi-only and LTE configurations for $1,300 and $1,450 respectively, and Google will even throw in 12 free GoGo flight passes for those times when you need to connect in the air.
It really does look like a beautiful device, but you’re probably interested in knowing when you’ll be able to purchase one. If you have the coin to spare you can actually head to the Play Store right now and grab one if you’re in the United States or the United Kingdom, but if you prefer brick and mortar you’ll have to wait a while before Best Buy begins stocking them (though several select locations have them up for display right now). Be sure to take a closer look at the ChromeBook Pixel in the video above.
[Google via ChromeSpot]
Damn. Right when I was planning on ditching my Samsung Chromebook, the Pixel has to be as expensive as a MacBook. -__-
how do you like the Samsung Chromebook?
It’s great for the long days at school and study sessions. My classes are mostly online assignments and I use Google Docs anyways so its perfect. Battery life is none too bad either.
I have a CR-48 which we got from Google as a test device, though it is starting to show its age. Im considering the upgrade
That’s a lot of dough, but when compared to high end apple, Sony and windows, its fair. Anyone got 1400 I could barrow?
not exactly fair when you consider the OS is very limited outside of surfing and google’s own apps. #OVERPRICED
You’ve clearly never used the Chrome App store.
I’m sorry, but a Chromebook could not match even 10% of what a Mac and Windows laptop of the same price can do.
Chrome App Store or not, only the geekiest of geeks will waste their money on this.
Not having Windows and all the baggage that goes along with it is a plus not a minus. Chromeos and other Web based OSes will be the future.
Considering that buying 1 TB of Gdrive storage for 3 years (which you get with the pixel) costs more than the pixel itself…I think the price is fair or gDrive storage is overpriced.
Also….the pixel density and touchscreen add heavily to that price I’d say.
It is not overpriced…it is just not priced for the average joe
but at least with what you get in an apple or windows devices actually makes it worth that price. This computers specs are quite pathetic outside of the screen. A core-i5 dual core processor, 32 gb of hard drive, 4 gb of ram, usb 2.0 connectors and 5 hour battery is not up-to date hardware.
Haha, implying that when you pay out the ass for that Mac you are actually getting decent specs.
You forgot the 1 terabyte of cloud based storage.
1 tb of their own online storage, thus no expense to them. I’d trade that for another 250 GB ssd, so at least my data is available at all times
you do know that in the google drive privacy statement it says that anything you upload to google drive also becomes their property.
No it doesn’t… read it again.
Well…. it’s way too expensive, the onboard storage is a joke (only 32gig)
Yes I see you get 1tb of storage on google drive.. but who wants to store all their stuff in the cloud?
Just noticed, the 1TB cloud storage is free for 3 years.. then when you have it nice and full of all your stuff, after those 3 years its $49.99 a month… really? gimme a bigger freaking internal drive!
Not exactly true. This link states:
After the first three years, anything you’ve stored will continue to be available for free, but any additional storage you use will fall under current Google Drive pricing at that time.
http://techland.time.com/2013/02/21/googles-chomebook-pixel-the-chromebook-goes-high-end/#ixzz2LZT6Hmrk
So you basically get the laptop for the price of the cost of the Cloud Storage.
And what if I delete stuff afterwards? Does that storage space become free for me to fill up again or not? (I suppose not, to combat people uploading 1 TB just before the terms end only to delete it after.
But still, If I had the money I’d get this, the storage is nice and after 3 years you can just link it to a new Google account with 5GB free :D
Or use my 50GB Box account or 25GB Skydrive account…..I’d make do with it :D
You deceived me. >=.[
In three years 1TB of cloud storage should be around $20/month, perhaps less.
It is showing in the play store
It depends on how much space the OS takes up.
For example, on the 64GB surface pro the OS eats up over half the HDD space and you’re only left with around 30GB for user files. ChromeOS only eats about 6GB of space, leaving you around 25GB free even on the 32GB model.
Plus it has an on-board full sized SD/MMC cardreader, so I don’t really think the small internal drive is as big of a deal as you make it out to be.
I do agree that it’s simply too expensive though.
I’d be interested if it wasn’t so expensive. I really enjoy my CR-48 but the battery doesn’t work anymore.
Looks like people going to get one of these at Google I/O…
my response is official, its a no ! sorry. too expensiiiiiiive
SMH…. what an Apple move.
Oh, for those that are not liking the post actually it’s not. Macbook Airs are more functional and support a wider range of apps!
Shhhh they burn heretics here at the stake.
bahahahahaaaaaaaa!
Sorry Google, but coming from a person who owns an Android Tablet and a Nexus 4… I’d rather get a Macbook then this. Nice specs though.
same here
yes, made in China Apple is better than made in USA Google!
you just don’t get yet the [long-lasting] quality+[amazing] design + [awesome specs] + constantly improving SERVICES-based OS concept of Chromebook Pixel. ;)
It’s not about the computers we already know.
THAN, not THEN… I just joined the grammar police.
Where’s your comma?
The person just joined. Their still a rookie.
*They’re
They’re*
It’s a footnote when the asterisk is at the beginning.
“Their still a rookie” (sick)
“Their still a rookie” (sic)
Oh my gosh!!
They’re*
And apparently I’m still in the academy. =.S
Just added it. Thanks.
Do you correct your dates on their grammar? If the answer is yes, you sir are never going to get laid.
Yes, yes, I do.
I don’t have any problems getting laid.
no but my dates correct me on my grammar regularly. still get laid though
I might considor it MAYBE if it had more memory. 32gb is nothing on a computer.
whoa, that is a lot of money for a laptop with an OS that really had no support. The great thing about the samsung chrome book is that its $250. Its meant for simple office tasks, internet surfing, and email checking… at the $1300 range I want to be able to use it for more than just simple chrome apps. At $1300 i’ll take a windows laptop or a mac and get some work done
+1
+2
+3
CcccooooMbooooo BrrrreeAAAkkkkeeerrr!!
Well played sir. Well played.
it’s made in USA actually.
And it will get better and better, because it’s SOFTWARE.
Chromebook Pixel is a SMART hardware+design long-term investment.
The future is INTERNET SERVICES.
I would also buy Google’s Chrome-in-One and Chromepad!!!
I’ll wait for the software patch that adds an SD card ;-)
looks like it already has a reader unless the page is wrong: :)
Ports2 x USB 2.0
mini display port
2-in-1 card reader supporting: SD, MMC
Not sure what you’re referring to – but my old Cr-48 has SD support in the file explorer that integrates with Google Drive seamlessly.
+3
You were supposed to reply to me to keep the string going! Fail
whoops
hold on. I got you.
That’s an INSANE price.
If I’m dropping that much on a laptop, it better be able to handle professional design/multimedia production apps. Ridiculous.
or give me hair cuts….and maybe the occasional fap once in a while
I’d rather buy a gaming PC and go into the “Let’s Play” business. That’ll get me a bit of extra cash, plus it’s really fun.
No one is going to buy this..
It would of been better if you could take it out and use it as a tablet. ETC
or a coffee table id pay that much for a coffee table
a $1300 coffee table? hi mr. richie rich.
LOL! $1300 ROFL! If this were a windows laptop I could see this at that price…assuming more storage.
For this $ I’d rather get a MacBook that I can use without a WiFi connection.
Jeez! I’m gonna spend $1,300 cleaning the coffee off my monitor
Honestly I dont see anything special about its screen. nexus 10 has almost same res screen
I’m sure there are plenty of devices that have this screen. But not a laptop. That’s what makes the difference.
Apple, is that you?
Too expensive for now. But the success of the Samsung Chromebook may set Chrome up as my next standard OS. Given how Windows has just detoured to the loony bin I’ll need something else in a few years, and it’s good to have a solid choice other than Apple and Linux.
Another Nexus Q! Guys jump on the waiting list for free giveaways after fail launch attempt.
If it were $500 – $600 I would have considered it. But $1300!?!
1 Terabyte!? I’d buy it because of that. LoL!!
Wow… That’s probably why I’m not allowed to vote on big decisions. =.P
I am an Android fan. Even at $250, i still would not buy chrome os unless it also had Android built in.$1,300? I would take that, get a hooker, some booze, then buy a $400 dollar PC to get this freaken thesis paper completed in time!
I’d only begin to consider buying this thing @ $1,300 if it at least came with a 512GB SSD (vs 32G), AND it could seamlessly multiboot between Chrome / Android / Linux / Windows, in order to get real work done (still can’t do serious 3D, videoediting, or even much dev, in android yet)
Chrome & Android should just merge already.
You don’t even have a medium quality office suite for chrome os. Google Drive is a joke (coming from a Google fan). There are less than 5 professional apps in the Chrome Store and not a single game that worth playing…
Why, why, WHY can’t somebody make a laptop that looks this good that I can throw a Linux distro on? Although I dislike Apple, they’re the only other ones who understand build quality, apparently.
You raise a good point. Is this laptop dual-bootable? If so, then…
I mean can’t you install Windows on a Mac computer if you wanted? Or does the Hardware play a role in it as well?
dells xps line, (not there new tablet/laptop one)
Please explain what’s so special about the XPS line – I just bought an XPS 13…
1.. there build quality, there built very nice, and there very duarble,
2.. they run great and are very reliable
3.. the dell service, if you buy from them, they sometimes give you a free year or so depending on what you get (i bought the 3 years of service and its worth it) if you break it or have a issue, they over night the part to a nerby location, a guy picks the part up and goes to wherever you are (work or home or where ever) and will fix it on the spot
4… Dells customer service, in my opinion is great and i have no problems dealing with them and are very helpful.
(Also there other line that easily available, insperon, but it runs into issues alot) but there xps and latitude lines run great (opinion from expereinces)
also the xps 13 is Ubuntu certified
Thanks Mitchel! I still haven’t received it, but the reviews I read confirms what you’re saying. My main reason though was the on-site service that is really worth a lot after experiencing a Toshiba laptop die after two days and all they could promise was to repair the device within 10 business days if I sent it in (and I would have to pay for shipping too). Glad that I was able to return it to the seller (Amazon’s service is just amazing) and go with the XPS with a 25% off coupon. I got 1 year of service. The Ubuntu certification was news to me, thanks!
No problem, and im sure you will love your XPS, and as for ubuntu, Dell actually even sells a version of the xps 13 with Ubuntu installed.
I run Ubuntu as a my main os side by side with windows 7 (used to be 8 but i got fed up with it haha)
if you dont have there service, i subject looking into if you can get it.
I’ve been dual booting my Cr-48 (original Chromebook) with Ubuntu for years now without problems. I’m sure it will take about week before the instructions to make the Pixel dual bootable are leaked. Now what I’m more interested in is making the Pixel dual boot into Win8 – simply because I have a few apps that are best in Windows.
I’ve been dual booting my Samsung 550 Chromebook since the day I got it (around Christmas time). I have Ubuntu on a little 16GB SanDisk Extreme Pro @95MB/s (which is actually really fast). Everything in Chrome OS just works, I use it every day. If I need anything more that I don’t have in Chrome OS, it just takes about 10 seconds to reboot and I’m up and running in Ubuntu. I have noticed recently that I haven’t been booting into Ubuntu as much anymore.
Don’t the newest smartphones have better specs than this? New smartphone have quad-core processors, 440ppi pixel density. . .
This thing has an i5. No smartphone can match this yet.
(ARM vs x86)
Beautiful, but over priced. Samsung’s model is still the way to go for just $250. On a side note, why does the screen look 4:3 instead of 16:9. A screen that beautiful should be 16:9.
Because 16:9 is best for media consumption, but the extra vertical real estate is much better for productivity.
3:2 screen may be the only VERY good idea in this ChromeBook. Imagine web pages on such a screen ! Yum.
it won’t sell and they’ll learn from their mistake… Don’t worry folks
I don’t know why anyone down voted you. You’re right.
Overpriced and with a gimped OS, no thanks, I will happily stick with my Surface Pro :)
Well… if it’s a core i5, I would assume that it may be possible to hack x86 (windows) on it. I could be wrong though.
Or MacOS… oh wait, they make more accordable machines :-)
High price now and f u later on cloud. People the cloud is crap do not fall for it
I really wonder if people actually have watched the video or they simply get paralyzed after seeing the price. Listen, the Pixel is NOT FOR EVERYONE! Watch the video! The Pixel is a reference product for the few early adopters who live and breathe the cloud and would feel uncomfortable storing files locally on their device. For them, the Pixel is a dream device come true. Not every product is intended for EVERYONE, god dammit!
Unfortunately I can’t run any of the programs I use for anything on this thing. No music production, no coding, no graphic design. Looks sweet, but there isn’t any storage and there isn’t any software for this OS.
There is one good thing, you get 1 tb of cloud storage for 3 years, but that would be an awesome deal if Google did a better job of allowing personal videos such as your dvd movie rips that are uploaded to be streamed from google drive. I still buy dvds, that’s right. Because when I rip them so I can play them from any device I want. Haven’t won the lottery yet to purchase digital copies of the hundreds of dvd movies I have already bought. It’s a shame.
Phenomenal specs. If only it had an operating system to do the hardware justice. Five years from now Chrome may rival Windows in functionality. But for now, the price they’re asking for this thing is simply absurd.
Put Key Lime Pie on this thing, and then we can talk.
Agreed. I got the $250 Samsung Chromebook which I love simply because of the price and that I don’t need it for more than note taking in class and browsing. Also, the build with a keyboard is solid.
For people that want to do just a little more, I’m not sure why they don’t just buy a tablet with a keyboard. It makes the most sense if they don’t want a full desktop OS on a laptop or browsing device.
Makes me want to go out and buy the Samsung.
ummmmm…. $1300???
No. Just no.
I’ll stick with my fully supported laptop, which cost me hundreds less.
google has stated that the price is high on purpose, this is primarily for devlopers and they didn’t want to upset their oems. Its more to show what a chromebook can do. If you are worried about internal space you clearly are not a cloud user and absolutely shouldn’t buy a chromebook. They needed a touch chrome device for developers so when tye oem versions come out they actually have some launch apps.
If you’re going to make it touch enabled at least make it a dualboot Chromebook/Android device. This is going to be another Nexus Q.
I’d buy this to put Linux Mint on it.