HP Chromebook 14 with Touchscreen Review

For PC builders like me, laptops have always been struggle. I know exactly what I want, but with

HP Chromebook 14 in action

laptops, it's not always easy to put everything I want into one laptop. Long story short, the HP Chromebook 14 is the laptop I would build if I could make a laptop.

When they first announced Chromebooks with Tegra K1 processors, I knew that's what I had to have. PC processing power with the battery drain of an ARM processor? Yes please! Not to mention the gaming potential with it's ability to run the latest Unreal Engine 4 games.

There are different versions of the HP Chromebook 14 and the entry level ones were tempting with the $299 price point but with only 2GB of RAM and just below 1080p resolution, the extra $120 was worth it for me. The touchscreen was not even on my radar. It was nice but almost seemed gimmicky and who knows if anyone will actually use its potential, so honestly, if they had a 4GB version with 1080p and no touch screen I probably would have bought it... But that would have been a mistake.

Since I first started using it, I figured since I had a touchscreen, I might as well use it. Now, I am hooked. I love the touchscreen and am glad I sprung for it. Not every site is optimized for it but it is still usable on them. And if you are hooked into the Google media sphere as I am, Google sites and apps are optimized for making touch screens easier to use.

The battery life is what you would expect from an ARM processor system. It lasts forever. I am on day four of my charge right now. I am trying to run the battery out but it may not be tonight.

Aside from it being super light, it is paper thin. It made my poor coworker's Macbook Air seem like a hulk.

It is only just bigger than my cutting board.

With Google Drive offline, I'm able to take notes at work when WIFI is not available. Which just does not seem possible this day in age, but the company I work for is a little overboard on security and sees WIFI as a risk. Everyone is worried about Chromebooks offline capabilities but I have not had any problems.

With Chrome Remote Desktop and a good connection, I have access to my non-Chrome OS software like Inkscape, Gimp, Blender and such. I look forward to having them natively some day, but until that day comes Chrome Remote Desktop streams it seamlessly.

I am loving the new Android apps that work in Chrome OS. They are limited right now but I look forward to the selection exploding once the API is released to the public.

This thing is screaming fast too. No issues loading anything and honestly I wish I could give it more of a challenge. I know I am not even scratching the surface of what this thing is capable of.

The other thing I like is the potential. Right now, as is, the HP Chromebook 14 is great, but nVidia and Google have plans for this Tegra K1/Chrome OS combo. A couple months back they announced an initiative to stream any software to Chrome OS eliminating the OS compatibility issues. I do not know when that will come to fruition but when it does the K1 laptops will be the first to get it.

Anyone that has seen the demos of what types of games the Tegra K1 is capable of knows it was built for gamers. With Google pushing out this new Android app capabilities and showing that with only three weeks of effort, Direct X11 games can be ported to Android, this laptop could be doing some serious gaming very soon.

It is a $420 gaming rig laptop with crazy long battery life. It was a no brainer and after having it for a while now, it feels like an even better decision now than it did when I first ordered it.