10 Chromebooks That Give Companies Best Mix of Power, Price, Features

The PC market may be experiencing declining sales across both desktops and notebooks, but Google’s Chromebooks are performing surprisingly well, according to the latest data from research firm Gartner. Consumers, enterprise users and educational institutions are all clamoring for cheap, lightweight Chromebooks, and their connection to the cloud is a bonus. Realizing that, PC vendors both big and small are jumping at the chance to offer Chromebooks. However, that has led to a glut of available Chromebooks, making it hard to determine which should be considered to purchase and which should be avoided. With this in mind, eWEEK has compiled a list of the best Chromebooks out there to help companies remove the guesswork out of their decision.

The Asus Chromebook Flip is a hybrid PC that users can turn into a tablet. The device boasts a 12.5-inch full-HD display and up to 128GB of storage, and is powered by Intel’s Pentium processor, but that can be boosted to the Intel Core M chip. The Asus Chromebook Flip, which also has a touch screen, starts at $499.

The Samsung Chromebook Pro is a machine geared toward professionals that comes with a lofty $550 price tag. For that, users will find a touch screen and hybrid design, as well as support for digital writing, thanks to its bundled stylus. The Chromebook Pro runs on the Intel Core m3 processor and has a 12.3-inch LED display.

Samsung’s Chromebook Plus hybrid has a similar design and display as the Chromebook Pro, as well as a stylus and touch screen. However, it’s running on an unidentified “hexa-core processor,” making it less powerful than the Chromebook Pro—but at $450, it is $100 cheaper.

The Acer Chromebook 15 is one of the largest options in this roundup, boasting a 15.6-inch full-HD display. The device also offers up to an Intel HD 5500 graphics card and 4GB of RAM. The Chromebook 15 comes with either an Intel Celeron, Intel Core i3 or Intel Core i5 processor and ranges in price from $250 to $430.

Those who want an Acer Chromebook but without such a big screen can opt for the Acer Chromebook R 11 hybrid, which comes with an 11.6-inch touch screen. The device runs on the Intel Celeron processor and has the customer’s choice of 2GB to 4GB of RAM. Pricing varies depending on the processor and RAM options customers pick, but ranges from $279 to $300.

HP’s Chromebook 13 is one of the more expensive options in this roundup, with a price that tops out at $1,100. However, it can be purchased for as little as $619 for those who don’t need as much power and memory. The Chromebook 13 comes with a 13.3-inch quad-HD display and runs on the Intel Core m3, m5, m7 or Pentium processor. It also boasts 32GB of storage and up to 16GB of memory.

Dell offers its own Chromebook 13 for professional users. Like HP’s Chromebook 13, this machine also has a 13.3-inch display, but the Dell option has a full-HD resolution. Users can choose to have it powered by Intel’s Core i5 processor, and it has up to 12 hours of battery life. There’s also a quick-boot feature that will turn on the computer in under 6 seconds. The Chromebook 13 is available online for $850.

Those who want a Dell Chromebook but don’t want to spend boatloads of cash should consider the Chromebook 3189. The device is a two-in-one hybrid that can be used both as a tablet and a notebook. The machine runs on Intel’s Celeron processors and has up to 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage space. Its screen measures 11.6 inches. Pricing for the Dell Chromebook 3189 ranges from $329 to $389.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad 13 has a 13.3-inch display that can be configured up to a full-HD resolution. The computer runs on the Intel Celeron processor and can be configured with Intel HD graphics. The ThinkPad 13 has up to 4GB of onboard memory and up to 10 hours of battery life. Pricing starts at $395.10.

The Lenovo Yoga 11e is a rugged Chromebook that can be dropped from a short height and survive the crash. It’s also a hybrid, so it can be used both as a notebook and a tablet. The Yoga 11e runs on the quad-core Celeron N3450, has an 11.6-inch HD touch display and can run for 10 hours on a single charge. Its starting price is $479.