About a week ago, I did a slightly naughty thing. I bought a new laptop that I absolutely didn't need, but it was an insane deal I just couldn't pass up. I got wind of this dirt cheap Lenovo Chromebook bargain at Best Buy from an article on Chrome Unboxed called "A $79 Chromebook That's Actually Worth Having". Yeah, that really isn't a typo. I actually snagged a brand new Chromebook for not quite the cost of two tanks of gas.
It's a Lenovo 3, 11.6-inch Chromebook, which is listed for $99 at bestbuy.com, but with a free My Best Buy membership they whack another $20 off. Oh, and shipping is free as well. I opted for free home delivery, which took about four days (ordered on Friday night, arrived the following Tuesday morning), but I could have picked it up for free at my local Best Buy store in as little as an hour after ordering--assuming the store was open when I placed the order, which it was not. Being lazy and better able to resist attempted up-sells online than in person, home delivery was the more attractive option.
So, what is a $79 laptop even like? Well, first off, it's a Chromebook, so it's basically a glorified browser in a box. The intent is that you will use it primarily with Web-based functions, via the built-in Chrome browser, but there's actually a little more to the story since you can run Android apps, installed from the Google Play Store, as well as Linux apps in a virtual machine environment called Crostini--provided you're not afraid of using the Terminal command line to install applications. It's actually easier than it sounds. I have the latest Debian Linux builds of LibreOffice productivity suite, Thunderbird email client and and Extended Service Release (ESR) of the Firefox Web browser, as well as a simple solitaire game called Aisle Riot and a MahJongg tile matching game, These cover the basics and that's really what the Chromebook experience is all about.
The screen is small, only slightly larger than my 10-inch Amazon Fire tablet, but reasonably sharp. The keyboard is a bit cramped, yet responsive, the speakers are tinny, and the track pad is, well, a track pad. All that said, the build quality is decent, not outstanding, but decent--and surprisingly better than one might expect for a notebook computer at this ridiculously cheap price point.
As I've said before, the secret to satisfaction with a Chromebook is to have reasonable and realistic expectations. Accept it for what it is, don't expect it to be something it's not, and you'll be fine, especially for the price you're (not) paying for it. Compared to computers running Mac OS, Windows, or even Linux, Chromebooks have relatively limited capabilities, so while there are Chromebooks with price tags in excess of $1,000, it's more reasonable to expect to pay a limited price for one. Honestly, you wouldn't catch me spending more than about $300 for one.
Since I now own two Chromebooks, the above mentioned Lenovo and an HP Chromebook 14a, it begs the question of which I prefer. In terms of what's under the hood, they are very comparable. The big difference is the screen size and I have to say the HP's 14-inch screen is a clear winner there. The Lenovo's 11.6-inch screen offers barely enough real estate to be usable and the smaller form factor makes the keyboard feel relatively cramped, although still usable. The one thing the Lenovo has over the HP is its two USB-A ports, compared with the HP's single USB port, which is perpetually occupied by a receiver for my Logitech wireless mouse.
I have worked around this for the HP with a portable USB-C docking station, which incorporates a couple of USB-A ports, SD and micro SD card slots, HDMI video and a pass-through USB-C port. It seems to work best with the power cord plugged into the USB-C slot to power both the computer and the docking station. The Lenovo's second USB-A port is nice for allowing the flexibility to plug a mouse receiver into one and a flash drive into another.
So, who is a Chromebook for? The likely answer is probably most of the computer-using public. It's a minimalist platform for people with correspondingly minimalist computing needs. If you spend the majority of your computing time surfing Web pages, checking emails, watching videos and maybe doing a little online shopping, then a Chromebook is all you really need. For me, a Chromebook will never be a daily driver. It just feels too constraining and I do have a need for functionality it cannot readily provide. That said, the ability to install and run certain Linux apps does help. I'll readily admit that I had no real need for a second Chromebook, but I'm sure I'll find a few uses for it, especially as I generally prefer the laptop form factor to that of a tablet computer.
Addendum, 9 September
Now that I've had this $79 Chromebook for a few weeks, I have to admit it's growing on me. I frequently take it to work with me for quick, personal tasks, for which I would prefer not to use my work computer. Operationally, it actually feels a tad faster than my HP Chromebook 14a, but the compact size is, at best, a bit of a mixed blessing in that while the cramped screen real estate is often a strain on my middle-aged eyes, especially since the resolution is maybe one step above mediocre; however, the device's small size and accompanying feather weight make it an ideal grab-and-go machine. Also, the keyboard has a nice, positive touch that makes it pleasant to use, despite it being a little cramped.
For me, Chrome OS is generally less annoying than Windows (I still consider myself to be a Mac user, first and foremost) and truly succeeds in combining simplicity with functionality. Although I can get work done on it fairly easily, it's still not my favorite computing experience and it will never be able to fully replace a Mac OS or Windows laptop. Oddly enough, when I look at the devices I use regularly, this diminutive Lenovo Chromebook comes closest to being a solid replacement for a tablet. Honestly, except for reading e-books, I much prefer the laptop experience, even a limited one like a Chromebook, to that of a tablet with a virtual, onscreen keyboard. The next time I need to replace a tablet, perhaps I'll consider something like a Chromebook Duet. We'll see when the time comes.
In the end, when I consider how little I paid for this little laptop--less than a tenth what I paid for my first desktop computer in 1991--a Mac Classic with a monochrome ink jet printer bundled in for about $1,600--it's an incredible value for what it is, especially adjusted for three decades of inflation, and I don't regret this (admittedly superfluous) purchase one bit.
Addendum, 3 October
I have identified one minor gripe, more aesthetic than functional, about this Lenovo Chromebook, and that is the satin finish on the lid, which shows finger prints horribly. They can be wiped away (mostly) with a soft cloth, but it still detracts from the look of the thing, especially considering how much I carry it around and handle it closed, mainly putting it in and out of its bag. By comparison, my work computer, a Lenovo ThinkPad X1, has a matte finish that does not show fingerprints nearly as much. As I said, it makes no difference from a functional standpoint; it just looks messy.
