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  • damianrobertjones - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    "16GB eMMC"

    ...and it fails again. Like 1366x768 on a windows machine... Why? It's your money so there you go.
  • cjb110 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    and again failure to understand what chromebooks usage is. You will not be storing any documents on it, you don't need to.
  • Michael Bay - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Please forgive him for not understanding how useless machine can be used.
  • shing3232 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    it is just a netbook.
  • SunLord - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    I have a Acer 720p running Linux via crouton which makes it pretty nice little laptop for $330 kick it upto $400 if you add a 128gb ssd since it's got an m2 sata port vs shitty on-board emmc. It's not super powerful but it's small light and more then enough
  • BackInAction - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Storage is a non-issue on a Chromebook. However, the display on many (most) have poor resolution (1366x768) and horrible off-axis viewing.

    That said, the Toshiba 13 Chromebook is used more than any other "computer" at my home outside of smartphones.
  • leexgx - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    its the 2GB option that is the problem, 4GB Chromebook will pretty much does not slow down but on 2GB (none upgradeable chromebook acer 720 that i have) it can run out even with small number of tabs open (google could learn something from Firefox as in do not Load the tabs until they are clicked on)

    and i would not hold to much about the hinge on this chromebook if its using the same one as the STUDIO dell laptops use (not very strong)
  • leexgx - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    and to add its using a ATOM CPU (N2840) so its slower then a acer 720 (cut down i3 > 2955U) i would avoid any chromebook that has a ATOM (N cpu) or ARM based cpu in it as they are not very good at handling complex pages and the GPU has problems with 1080p60 or even just 1080p (the ARM CPUs have problems with just 720p)
  • milkod2001 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    An the winner of the ugliest and thickest 2015 laptop is: Dell Chromebook 11 Touch.

    Competition was very tough but Dell's Chromebook 11 Touch had edge with its storage(whooping 16GB eMMC),screen(1366x768) options and with amount of rubber...
  • Essence_of_War - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    My fiance picked up a haswell 2955U Dell chromebook 11, and we are both really happy with it, seeing as it uses the same CPU as the Acer C720, it looks like this re-design has pretty substantial drop in performance with the exception of the addition of AC wireless.
  • Hulk - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Can we just get to the point where anything but an IPS display or other wide angle variant is a non-starter?

    I love the fact that Anandtech devotes a whole page just to the display and tells it like it is. I'll sum it up. The display on this unit sucks.
  • RichieHH - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    One can only assume the reviewer got to keep his test machine. Biased , drooling fanboi nonsense.
  • PPalmgren - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Not that it applies to this situation, but I avoid IPS like the plague because of gaming input lag. TN still has its niche there.
  • Death666Angel - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    Input lag is only determined by the electronics working in the background, not the display technology. What you mean is pixel response time (black to white and grey to grey), which gives TN the edge most of the time.
  • lilmoe - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Ughhhhhh.... ChromeBooks
  • RichieHH - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Once again nonsense about netbooks. "Incredibly slow" hard drives are another option to cloud storage. As for the nonsense about low resolution : depends on which you buy and when etc. Choice. Chromebooks are , for me, the Emperor's New Clothes. They can do nothing a good laptop or netbook can't do. Why limit yourself. Poor review which made clear it's bias on the opening lines.
  • LetsGo - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Again another power user who thinks everyone is the same.

    Chromebooks biggest advantage is easy maintence and ease of use.
    It is practical impossible for an user to mess up.
    I bought my Mum a netbook to do her documents etc on and had to fix it for her even though I put virus checker on it for her.

    So I bought her a chromebook to replace it. Months later I asked her how she was getting on with it.
    It comes on fast was her response I have had no trouble getting my work done.

    Chromebook type devices are the future along with tablets....
  • nikon133 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    At least with slow netbook HDD, I could dump images from my camera while away from home, with no dependence on Internet availability (or costs). Cameras get lost, stolen, dropped into sea, damaged... I found it always a good precaution to backup photos to computer.

    As it is, I'm really finding very little value in Chromebooks. A modern version of netbook, with current 4C Atom (or Celeron), HDD (that can be swapped to SSD) and full OS would be much more preferable solution. Also, something like new MS Surface 3 makes much more sense to me than Chromebook. Yes, it is more expensive, but with usable storage, much better screen, full OS (and available software library), usable 8MP camera, tablet mode and a year of Office365/on-line storage.
  • SM123456 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    I don't understand why you think you need to carry around a hot and heavy Windows laptop with a short battery life everywhere with you just to back up photos. Besides the fact that you can also save onto a Chromebook's SSD, the obvious thing that anyone with any common sense would do is to save the photos from the camera directly onto an SD card or memory stick.

    What you are doing is scroogling my friend.
  • jabber - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    Yeah I managed on holiday just fine with my DSLR and Samsung Chromebook. Copying photos off the SD card, viewing them on the Chromebook and backing them up to USB. All works perfectly. No need for a full blown heavy Windows laptop or Macbook.

    RicheHH/Nikon33 stop showing up your lack of hardware knowledge, it's just embarrassing.

    Plus Chromebooks are far far superior to netbooks. Netbooks were the pox.
  • nikon133 - Sunday, May 10, 2015 - link

    Don't be so quick on judging others, you are not 13, I hope... Anyway. I'll take it with your vast knowledge, you are shooting your DSLR in JPG. Personally I think it is a bit of waste, but I'm not judging - see? Being mature. Or are you using something like Polarr on your Chromebook? Presuming that Polarr can to RAW off-line - most hotels I've been in, some Hiltons and Novotels included - had quite abysmal, yet extremely expensive Internet - can you easily export library from your Chromebook and import it in Lightroom with all the edits (you might have done on Chromebook) preserved? Or do you use CB exclusively for all your photo needs?

    And... you are comparing 2015 Chromebooks with machines introduced in 2007 and not significantly upgraded in their lifetime? That's a bit unrealistic. I said "at least I could dump my photos..." to underline my disagreement with this minimal storage trend on machines that aim to replace traditional laptop for some/many, I didn't say that I would be using netbook today. I did say that for my usage scenario something like 128GB Surface 3 is better, and I think that statement is quite solid. Otherwise, I agree there is no need to drag heavy Windows laptop - that is why we have all sort on ultrabooks, MBAs, convertibles. If I am aware of that, with all my lack of hardware knowledge, you must be too, for sure.
  • nikon133 - Sunday, May 10, 2015 - link

    Nope.

    I'm a bit of camera freak. I shot in RAW, and my current camera does about 20MB photo size. I usually carry with me two 32GB SD cards, and one 16GB for backup... though so far I never filled up 64GB, but I did come close to that. Realistically, I'm usually between 32 and 48GB of RAM images.

    Good luck with that on 16GB storage Chromebook.

    Even if I could backup to another SD card via built-in storage... really? Copying 32+ GB to laptop's SSD and then back to another SD card makes more sense than dumping it to laptop's storage and leaving it there? In which universe..?

    I don't understand some of you folks. Just because your favourite company made something, suddenly it is perfectly OK do downgrade dramatically and workout some funny workarounds in order to cope with severe limitations. Personally, I'm OK to go down from 500+ GB HDD to 256GB SSD... or even 128GB SSD... but down to 16GB? Where do I put my movies/TV/digital comics I like to carry with me on trips?

    Beside all that... I like having Adobe Lightroom on my travel machine, in case I want to export a few photos to JPG, for whatever reason I might have (usually wife wanting to email someone from her vast list of friends and relatives). It doesn't have to be up to speed, just a few photos will get munched even on 4C Atom, as long as it runs Windows (or OSX). On Chromebook, a bit harder.

    Finally... both my wife and I need access to MS Office every now and then, even on vacations. Especially her. She is working on local Uni, her group always have a few papers waiting to be published in different scientific magazines, and very often they get returned for some corrections. Being able to open/edit/resend might not be a must - in most cases it can wait until we are back - but bonus it sure is.

    And really... "hot and heavy Windows laptop with a short battery life"? With abundance of ultrabooks and tablets with decent battery life, low weight and good performance, that really isn't argument anymore. Even my wife's 2011 13" Vaio S could run 6 hours and carried i3, 4GB RAM /500GB HDD and was something around 1.4KG without extended battery. Yes, there is a price-tag... but if cheap machine doesn't do the job for me, I'll pay it gladly.

    Don't judge everyone by your usage scenarios. If Chromebook does indeed work for you, well, power to you; and savings. But one shoe doesn't fit all. Never did, never will. I didn't say that my reasoning is universal, but it is my reasoning.
  • jabber - Monday, May 11, 2015 - link

    You do know that no one really wants to see your holiday pics whether shot in JPEG or converted and edited from RAW? They really don't. If they do they are just being polite.

    You are putting in too much effort for an audience that isn't there.
  • nikon133 - Monday, May 11, 2015 - link

    Well... let's put it this way.

    No one wants to watch me playing games - and I'm still playing them.

    No one wants to watch me watching Game of Thrones, but what do you know - I still watch it.

    There are things I do for myself, because I'm enjoying them, not because I want to impress anyone. Photos are my hobby, and I'm getting a blast from making and editing them. Effort I'm putting in is something that relaxes me, so the most important audience - myself - is there. It also gives me reason to be active and spend more time outdoors - and God knows, working in the office, driving car to and from work and spending additional time behind gaming machine(s), I could use much more outdoor time than what I'm giving myself :)

    I'm never showing my photos to anyone by default, if anyone asks to see my last travel/vacation, they get a link to small gallery of 20-30 selected photos (out of 1000+) sitting on OneDrive or FB.

    I don't really do vacation photos - as in, me and my family on the beach. My wife does a lot of conferences and visits/co-ops with Universities around the world, and I travel with her whenever I can. Places like Prague, Budapest, Mainz, Lyon... are great opportunities for camera action, and decent modern DSLR really gives great tools to play with... RAW being one of them. Having DSLR and not using RAW is a criminal act, really ;)
  • nikon133 - Monday, May 11, 2015 - link

    And all that being said, fact remains that laptop with 16GB of storage just doesn't hold water for me. Back in early 2000, my Toshiba Satellite 1000 had 15GB HDD, and it was barely enough... but that was back then. My main camera was film, my digital camera was 2MP Canon A40, and everything else digital was much smaller than today.

    Today, a decent Android tablet - or even iPad - with keyboard dock and access to large apps library would probably be much better travel companion to me. With additional benefit of being convertible.
  • der - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Dell swagbook 11.
  • der - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    The Toshiba one even can go over 1080p as max resolution, something like 2048 by 1152. It-s a win-win!
  • Uplink10 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    "Starting at $249 for 2GB of RAM"
    You can get a Baytrail laptop for that price or similar with 4GB of RAM, 500 GB HDD, better BIOS/UEFI... Can you even reinstall OS (install proper Linux) or upgrade hardware or disable/enable devices like in a normal computer in a normal BIOS/UEFI?
  • SM123456 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    That must be Canadian dollars - Chromebooks with that spec are $179 now.

    As far as Windows machines like the HP Stream 11 are concerned, they are half the speed as identically spec'ed Chromebooks according to independent benchmarks like Kraken and Octane, which measure all round browser performance - and that is just running a browser. Running legacy Windows applications on Windows netbook class devices like the HP Stream 11 will be a whoile lot slower. It is all down to the full fat bloated nature of the Windows OS compared to the lean mean ChromeOS - shoehorning Windows into these low spec devices makes for a painfully slow experience, whereas ChromeOS is fast and responsive because it uses a server in the cloud to do the heavy lifting, and the local OS is very lightweight.

    By the way, here is a Chromebook "running" Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop cc, Excel, AutoDesk 3DS Max, AutoCAD 3D, and SolidWorks on a server faster and smoother than a hot and heavy $1700 high end CAD laptop with a 2.5 hour battery life can manage, and still do it with 11 hours battery life.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbP5jsoyxOY
  • Uplink10 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    That Chromebook is runing a client which is connected to a Virtual Machine, meaning it is not actually doing anything other than displaying screen of VM, of course it is fast if processing is not done on a Chromebook but in a VM somwhere else, performance needed is the same as displaying a video or runing RDP or VNC client. Where did you get the idea Chromebook is faster than a $1700 workstation?
  • Refuge - Monday, May 11, 2015 - link

    I just can't take you seriously...
  • Lord of the Bored - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    A. Yes, Chromebooks can have a more conventional version of Lunix installed on them.
    B. The high cost for the amount of computer you're getting is because this one's "ruggedized." If you want the most bang for your buck, you don't get an armored computer. But if you want a computer that will take a licking and keep on ticking, you pay the premium.
  • nandnandnand - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    Is that the "Professor" on screen?
  • webdoctors - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    This key paragraph should be in bold and giant font:

    I'm honestly very disappointed with the Dell Chromebook 11's display. I had thought the industry had moved past TN displays, with even the $99 HP Stream 7 sporting an IPS panel. With poor viewing angles, a low resolution of 1366x768, and poor color reproduction, the display on the Dell Chromebook 11 really has no redeeming values. It's especially disappointing when compared to the equivalently priced Toshiba Chromebook 2 which does very well in all of our tests and has a much higher resolution of 1920x1080 on a slightly larger 13.3" panel.

    I have the Toshiba Chromebook, and the light weight and amazing screen really make it standout.
  • SM123456 - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    The $99 HP Stream 7 has a 7" screen limited RAM and a much slower processor though, plus if you want, there are Chromebooks with 1080P IPS screens if you want. The 720p 1366x768 screen isn't particularly noticeable, but the TN display with its narrow viewing angles and washed out display is. Still, a lot of people are OK with that and prefer not to pay for a better screen. Sill I guess it is each to his/her own.
  • sorten - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    A web browsing machine with an 11" screen with 13x7 resolution. So ... what distinguishes this from the netbook of years past?
  • jabber - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    Well netbooks had a smaller 1024x600 res screen so there is that.

    Plus netbooks were really slow.
  • timgonzales - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    I had the non-touch, 2GB version of this Chromebook from Amazon for $189.99 (before tax) and had to return it because the display was god awful. My sister-in-law recently bought an HP Stream 11 and, surprisingly, it has a significantly better screen in comparison.
  • zodiacfml - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    This is just perfect for schools which explains most of the design.
    You don't know how invaluable the Wi-Fi AC is in a dense classroom. Dual stream adds icing on the cake. 30 of the same device in a classroom should not be a problem for a single Wi-Fi AC router or access point.

    The display is pathetic though. This should drop in price around $200 - $250 where you could find Windows 8.1 laptops without the AC standard.
  • jabber - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    1366x768 is actually fine on a 11" screen. Anything larger and it's unacceptable.

    However, if using that res at 11" there is no reason not to spend another $5 on a calibrated IPS spec panel to at least make it look better.

    However, I would accept a 1440/1600x900 as a budget 11" option.
  • timgonzales - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link

    Agreed. I'd like to see a bump in res and IPS spec become the norm for Chromebooks. As is, the display on the Dell Chromebook 11 is just terrible. At least in the non-touch version anyways.
  • lexluthermiester - Saturday, May 9, 2015 - link

    If it were running Android, ok. But ChromeOS? Seriously? Pass...
  • SunnyDog - Sunday, May 10, 2015 - link

    I'm very happy with this "ruggedized" Dell Chromebook model for my specific use case, for the price (paid $190 on Amazon for the base model, no touch screen). It's more durable with better build quality than typical Chromebooks in its price range, which is exactly what I was looking for. It's getting lots of use as the go to device for guests and family members, as a safer alternative to trusting them with my MacBook Pro Retina or iPad devices which I'm more cautious with. I often have it close at hand for convenience.

    In addition, I even use it at client sites for a variety of stuff (or to type up invoices etc.) when I want a keyboard but don't want to lug around my larger heavier more expensive ThinkPad. It's just rugged enough (compared to other Chromebooks). It is not a $3,000 and up ToughBook-class ruggedized laptop (Panasonic or Dell etc.) but at $190 I don't worry about it getting damaged, lost or stolen on the job.

    It's targeted at schools. But I find the slightly more rugged design also fits well with my occasional use cases at work and works well around home as a convenient Web connected laptop for friends and family, for the price, despite its specs not being tops in every way.
  • SunnyDog - Sunday, May 10, 2015 - link

    So it fits what I was looking for with kind of a secondary but somewhat ruggedized device with good battery life. The trade off being the display which isn't great but I can tolerate for the way it's being used.
  • val580 - Sunday, May 17, 2015 - link

    I think it would be good to post photos comparing displays because I don't understand shit about all these display tests , I think a photo can sometimes make a better point than colors accuracy diagrams etc
  • aj654987 - Monday, May 25, 2015 - link

    People also need to be aware that its more than just a TN display problem with these low end chromebooks/netbooks. These are the same low quality screens that have been around since the netbook days, the off angle viewing is terrible (even by TN Panel standards). I have a 5 year old TN panel on my destop and the viewing angle is way better than these machines.

    Bottom line, that is the sacrifice that is made to build a $200 netbook/laptop/chromebook today. If you cant live with it, or if you have the money, then it would be worth it to buy a more expensive machine or to buy a used machine with older tech but a better screen.

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