Google's Chromebook Pixel: Beautiful, powerful, and too expensive
Let's face it: $1,450 for a web-browsing machine is too much to ask
Google both wowed and confused everyone when it unveiled its first-ever laptop a few days ago: The Chromebook Pixel. Like all Chromebooks it runs one program — Google's Chrome web browser. But unlike competitors like Samsung's budget-friendly $250 machine, the Pixel comes with all the trappings of a supercharged notebook: An Intel Core i5 CPU, integrated HD graphics, 4GB of RAM, 4G LTE, and most luxuriously, a super-dense high-definition display that responds to touch. All yours for the not-so-low price of $1,450.
Some see the Pixel as a halo product meant to spike interest in the Chrome ecosystem. Others, including me, believe you ought to save your money. Here's a sampling of what tech critics are saying about the Pixel:
David Pierce at The Verge says its screen is truly something to behold:
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Danny Sullivan at CNET argues that the display's inability to scale to different sizes is limiting:
Tim Stevens at Engadget loves the Pixel's tactility, but says the battery life stinks:
MG Siegler at TechCrunch doesn't see a point to the Pixel's touchscreen:
Nathan Olivarez-Giles at Wired wishes Pixel could do more than browse the web:
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