Remember when cheap laptop computer were crap ? Not anymore — because you could buy this amazing new transforming Asus Chromebook for just $ 280 . Oh , and did I mention it ’s the first Chromebook that doubles as a lozenge ?
What Is It?
The Asus Chromebook Flip C100 is a Chromebook , which imply it ’s a laptop with a glorified web web web browser as its operating organization . But it ’s unlike any Chromebook you ’ve ever seen . Where most Chromebooks are cheap , plasticy , nigh disposable laptops , the 10 - inch Flip is a sleek aluminum machine whose sieve close up back to become a touchscreen tablet too . Chromebooks with touchscreens are rare enough , to say nothing of one with a tab mode or a swish aluminum chassis .
Yet the most surprising part is the price : just $ 250 to get down , or $ 280 for the version with 4 GB of RAM . justly off the bat , you ’re get a passel for your money .
Who’s It For?
Again , like other Chromebooks , the Flip is a laptop that has a World Wide Web web web browser as its master interface . Which is n’t a trouble if practically everything you do with your portable reckoner ( read website , edit document , watercourse movie and music , interact with friends ) is on the internet anyways . In fact , it has benefit : you never have to worry about updating your data processor ’s software , backing up your files , or getting virus .
Unlike other Chromebooks , the Flip is exceedingly portable and exceedingly easy to pitch around . Want something the size of the tiny young MacBook , but just for the web ? One that your stewardess wo n’t tell you to toss under the rear when your flight is about to take off ? This could be the flyspeck political machine you ’re looking for .
Design
It boggles my mind that you could bribe this computer for just $ 250 . Every component , much single facet feels like it go to a motorcar that cost one C and C more . We ’re talking about a $ 250 laptop computer that positively gleams due to all the metal used in its construction . From the shiny , aid - grabbing brushed metal edges that catch the light just so to the MacBook - similar anodized Al frame , to the laminated LCD screen , this is one cheap laptop you wo n’t be ashamed to pull out in a coffee shop filled with costly machine .
Particularly since that rigid metal construction also allows this laptop to stay just 15.6 mm thick . That ’s thinner than a MacBook Air — though not quite as fragile asApple ’s new Macbookat 13.1 millimeter . The downside of alloy is that it transfers heat : though the Flip ’s processor does n’t get all that hot , my men are still sweating a chip on these ardent summer days .
Chromebook Flip ( top ) vs Dell Chromebook 11 ( bottom ) . So much smaller .
And it does n’t cease at that chassis . The Chromebook Flip also has an amazingly in force screen for a laptop computer this cheap — a nice , responsive 1280 x 800 touchscreen gore that ’s laminate to the glass surface to remove the air gap . It loses a lot of brightness level and look a picayune shimmery from off - angles , so it might not be the best to share a film with a friend , and the resolution is definitely low , but unless you ’ve been totally spoiled by Retina displays , you may not notice given how low the screenland is , anyhow .
When it comes to keyboarding , these chiclet keycaps are definitely a piddling pocket-size , but they ’re moderately spaced and not all that cramp . They press down with lilliputian effort and are well cushioned for nice quick bouts of typing . Even the touchpad ’s not bad — smooth , antiphonal for pussyfoot and two - finger scrolling , not too concentrated to click . It ’s just pretty small .
Both input mechanisms are unquestionably a far sight considerably than the keyboardon the $ 200 Asus T100 , a relatively chunky detachable laptop computer / lozenge combo that run Windows . That machine ’s also deserving the price if you ’re looking for a tatty Windows tablet that only occasionally double as a laptop computer … but I ’m already convinced the C100 is good for typists . ( As usual , I ’m typewrite every tidings on the laptop itself , and having a pretty easy clock time of it . )
The only affair that really feel missing is a couple more full - sizing ports . You get two USB sockets and a headset jack , but only microSD for expandable storage and microHDMI for video - out . The charging cable’s length is reversible ( ! ) but it ’s lamentably not the wonderful USB Type - C — only a proprietary clone .
Using It
So , what ’s it care to use a touchscreen Chromebook — one that reduplicate as a tablet ? amazingly easy , really . Chrome OS has come an awful farseeing mode from the operating system that immure like mad when you adjudicate to habituate the original Chromebook Pixel ’s touchscreen . Now , the whole interface has been optimise for touch to some degree .
you could reach out and grab a window , drag out it around the desktop with a digit , or just reach out and grab the edge of the windowpane to expand it . deplumate a tab key out of the internet browser to create a novel window , or skid your fingerbreadth along a mountain of tabs to pedal through the carousel and discover the one you ’re looking for . Tap the search release on the desktop , and just say Google — with your representative — what you want to research for , or scroll through your Google Now card . Or hit a squeamish bighearted touchscreen button on the background to transfer up your Bluetooth , WLAN , or volume setting .
Bend that screen back into tablet mode , and ChromeOS makes thing even easier . Since it have it away you ’ve no longer got a keyboard and touchpad to work on with , it immediately makes your primary windowpane get to hatch the intact screen , and as if by magic set a brand new task - switching release at the lower - right - hand corner so you’re able to promptly get at other window too .
There ’s also a new software keyboard , complete with autocorrect and a voice recognition button .
defy I say ChromeOS do more horse sense for touch than Windows 8 ? I imagine I just said so .
And in case you ’re wondering , ChromeOS is also manner more effective than the Chrome web browser in OS X or Windows . Even though the Chromebook Flip is fit out with a relatively weak quad - gist Rockchip RK3288 processor — not an Intel Core or even an Intel Atom CPU — it was able-bodied to begrudgingly manage my work load of over a XII Chrome tabs , a bunch of plug - In , auto - bracing websites and email , and even some medicine streaming in the background .
Sure , it could n’t cut through that load anywhere well-nigh as effortlessly as the Dell Chromebook 11 with its formidable Core i3 processor , and I emphatically noticed the Asus begin to slow down as I added to the load , but my pointedness is that it was doable . ( Mind you , I ’m using the $ 280 edition with 4 GB of RAM . I doubt you ’d get quite as far with the 2 GB , $ 250 model . )
Just because ChromeOS is viable for some people , though , does n’t mean it is n’t without some weird flaw . To get thing done , you may need to use a uncanny medley of native Chrome apps , weirdly initialise apps ported over from Android , and actual web site — and Chrome still does n’t differentiate between those experience at all .
When I launched the Evernote app , I was dismayed to find it was a crappy port of the Android version , one I could barely read , and one that I could n’t blow up to full screen mode . I could steer my web browser app to the ( much better ) web interface , but unlike that Android translation , I could n’t trap the web site to my taskbar . Tapping on Gmail , I was actually hoping to get a nice custom ChromeOS reading of the e-mail client , but was confronted with the web adaptation instead — and if you ’ve ever used the web version of Gmail on a touchscreen , you get laid that ’s not optimal .
Like
Six satisfying 60 minutes of real - human beings electric battery life with heavy WWW manipulation — enough to let me consider leave the charger at home base .
Unlike most transforming Windows laptops , accidentally tap the power button on the bound does n’t annoyingly make the laptop shut down or go to sleep . It need calculated try .
have intercourse how small , cheap , yet competent this motorcar can be . It ’s a stiff combining .
The speaker get surprisingly loud , and while they ’re not great , they ’re not terrible either !
No Like
Even though it ’s small and illumine enough to agree as a tablet , it ’s not that comfortable to grip . It feels a slight weird to have the beveled edges digging into my bridge player , and the hinge assembly — one of the few external parts made of plastic — doesn’t feel strong enough to use as a grip . It flex quite a moment .
The palmrests do n’t find quite farsighted enough for comfy lap purpose . On an ramp like my lap covering , it feels like I constantly need to beseech down with my wrists to keep it pose .
4 GB of RAM should really come up standard . I watched my retentivity use for a bit , and it took me fewer than 8 web browser tab key to outdo the 2 GB capacity .
None of ChromeOS ’s multitasking features really work unless you proactively rend tabs out of your internet browser and turn them into newfangled windows . By default , when you set out a new app , it launches in your existing web web browser window .
Pretty disappointing to find an interesting - search biz in the Chrome app storage and add it to my app collection , only to come up out the app is just a glorified connection to a Flash secret plan embedded in an ugly site .
Should You Buy It?
Yes . If you desire what Asus is selling , for the price Asus is selling it at , there ’s no other game in town . Everything else at this price is going to feel cheaper , be less portable , or come with other awkward caveats . The Chromebook Flip does n’t really take in in any meaningful way .
Still , that does n’t necessarily make itthe Best Chromebook . I ’d definitely still peck a Dell Chromebook 11 or Acer Chromebook 13 for getting regular work done , with their larger screens and more substantial keyboard . I ’d pick a Toshiba Chromebook 13 for watching movies . I’d pick an HP Stream 11if I want my Windows apps at this sizing and damage .
But if you need a pint - sized portable that ’s grime - cheap and amazingly posh , look no further .
Update : Asus and Google originally told us the Chromebook Flip would be $ 300 for the 4 GB version we urge . Now that it ’s out , it only costs $ 280 . At that price , it ’s a no - brainer to opt for the extra memory .
Asus Chromebook Flip C100 Specs
show : 10.1 - in 1280 x 800 display
CPU : Quad - core 1.8GHz Rockchip RK3288C ( ARM )
Graphics : ARM Mali T764
retention : 2 GB ( $ 250 example ) or 4 GB ( $ 280 model )
store : 16 GB SSD
Connectivity : 2x USB 1.0 , 1x microSD carte slot , 1x 3.5 mm sound recording , 1x micro HDMI , 802.11ac Wi - Fi , Bluetooth 4.0
Dimensions : 10.3 ” x 7.2 ” x 0.61 ”
Weight : 1.96lbs
Base price : $ 250
get in touch with the generator at[email protect ] .
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