HP - 2-in-1 14" Touch-Screen Chromebook - Intel Core i3 - 8GB Memory - 64GB eMMC Flash Memory - White, Gold

I have been using Chromebooks since the originals came out in 2011. I used them personally and my students used them as their school computers (I'm a High School teacher). I have always been on the fence about them. They are great for research and collaboration, but early on the lack of anything really beyond the suite of Google programs kind of boxed them in. They also tended to be wildly underpowered to do much of any multi-tasking (heck, some were even brought to their knees by multi-tabbing in Chrome). I've been really excited to see the push towards more powerful Chromebooks with better processors, screens, build-quality, and software. Google's Pixelbook was and is a phenomenal machine but was priced a bit too high. Other companies like HP have done an outstanding job of dialing back the price but still maintaining a phenomenal quality level. While this x360 only has a Core i3, that is like an i7 for a Windows box. That and the 8gb of DDR4 RAM, make this thing a beast when it comes to general everyday work and some fun video watching as well. The keyboard is great, with a really nice feel while typing. I have a little two-line blurb that I always use to test out whether or not I like a keyboard and depending on how many typos I make, I can usually get a good feel if I will like it in the long run. Only had one typo on this keyboard which is outstanding because I type incredibly fast and one or two typos happens on the best keyboards! The trackpad is spacious and responsive, though I still hate trackpads and I have a bluetooth mouse that I use with this and it works great. As for software, now that Chrome has MS Office apps and other non-Google offerings, this is an incredibly versatile computer. While the Google suite is great for collaboration, Microsoft has also made great strides in boosting the ability to collaborate through Office and I much prefer my students to do presentations and such in PowerPoint than in Slides. I think MS Office is much more versatile (though the Google apps are getting better), and I think MS Office skills are an important skill for students to learn. Students nowadays may be incredibly skilled in social media but you would be surprised at how lacking they are in actually using many mainstream programs. I absolutely blow their minds when I show them how Word can do a bibliography for them. The number of ports is great with a USB-C port on either side that can also be used as the power port. This is actually one of my favorite things about the move to USB-C is that more and more manufacturers make it easy to have the power cord go to either side. I wouldn't buy a computer in the past that had the power plug on the right since it typically interfered with my mouse usage. I know lefties that don't like it on the right since they often have notebooks or other things on that side of the computer. I'm a lefty too but I don't write anymore (my handwriting is atrocious and I have since learned just to type things up really, really fast). The HP x360 also has a USB-A plug which makes it easy to use thumb-drives and other peripherals. Also included in a micro-SD slot which makes storage a non issue for this computer. While it has 64gb of eMMC storage, I have all my files either in the cloud or on my SD card (typically both). 128gb micro-SD cards are incredibly cheap nowadays and so storage is virtually unlimited for this thing. I have only two complaints for this as a student laptop: 1 - It is a lot heavier than the basic Chromebooks. Not ridiculously so, but when you are already lugging a ton of books, every little bit counts. That being said, it is because this thing is built so well that it is as hefty as it is. I would much rather it be built well and weigh more than it be made of plastic and break easily. If this computer is mostly going to stay stationary on a desk, this becomes a non-issue as well. 2 - The lid of this thing is white and beautiful with a really nice texture to it. It is also going to get dirty beyond belief. I haven't gotten it dirty yet, so I don't know how easy it will be to clean and I don't feel like testing it out just to see. I would have been happy with the Cloud Blue all over, though the white lid and cloud blue deck is really nice. If you have a student that needs a great computer that is going to be able to handle pretty much anything you throw at it (short of games of course), this is an outstanding choice. If you are just a casual computer user and just want a nice laptop with a really good keyboard that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, the HP x360 is a great choice. Kuddos to HP for making a Chromebook that I can unequivocally endorse for my students.

My experience with Chromebooks over the last few years has been limited, but informative. I never really cared for how cheap the devices felt, or how limited the Chrome OS felt. The Chromebooks were often underpowered, necessitated by their low price points, and felt like an unnecessary compromise to a cheap Windows based laptop. You could reasonably get a better experience on a mid-range Android phone in some cases, albeit on a small screen. In comes the HP x360 Convertible 2-in-1 Chromebook. It is a premium 14” Chromebook that slots into a higher price point than Chromebooks of old, but more accessible than the new ultra-premium Chromebooks like the Pixelbook. Specs CPU – Intel (8th Gen) i3-8130U Dual Core 2.20 GHz processor w/ integrated Intel 620 graphics Memory – 8GB DDR4-2666 Screen – 14” 1920 x 1080p HD IPS Storage – 64GB Flash memory – microSD card port available for additional 512GB expansion Ports – 2X USB C / 1X USB 3.0 / microSD Slot / TRRS 3.5mm Jack (headphone and mic support) Audio – Bang & Olufsen PLAY dual speakers Webcam – 720P with dual microphone Dimensions – 12.81 x 8.93 x 0.63”; 3.7lb Design The design of the x360 Convertible is exceedingly nice. I was impressed when I first pulled it out of the box, and it had some weight to it. It didn’t feel cheap at all. The white outer shell looks fantastic, and its sleek profile reminds me more of a Surface Book or Mac Book than a Chromebook. Bravo HP. The Ceramic White outer shell doesn’t appear especially prone to getting dirty or smudging, which I was worried about. Once you open it up you are greeted by an interior finished in what HP calls Cloud Blue. Its not really blue, but more of gray blue. Nonetheless it looks very sleek and has a great feel to it. Again, no sign of it feeling like a low-cost Chromebook. The interior is made of soft touch plastic that has a very light texture to it – almost like a sandblasted metal. This surface completely resists smudges and fingerprints, which is great since this is where your hand will be going all the time. The conversion from laptop to tablet is seamless. The hinge provides the right amount of resistance to allow the main body and screen to be used at any number of angles and configurations. The keyboard and trackpad are disabled early enough in the transition to keep errant clicks and button pushes from happening. In tablet mode, the thickness of the machine increases to 0.74” at it thickest points (furthest from the hinges). Like most 2-in-1’s figuring out how you want to hold it in tablet mode take a few minutes to get use to. You are either clicking the trackpad, covering the speakers a bit, or pressing keys. This is inherent to every convertible I have used, so it just takes a few minutes to get comfortable with how you want to hold it. The ports are pretty well laid out on the body. I like that the 2 USB C ports are on either side so you can use whichever side is most convenient to you when charging. My only nag with the overall design is in the microSD slot. I added an expansion card, and it bugs me that the card sticks out from the edge like it does. It breaks up the nice clean edge of the body and makes it easy to accidently eject. I would have liked to see it concealed with a cover. Regardless that is a small ding. Performance The dual core i3 is a pretty light weight, efficient processor. It will get bogged down if you throw too much at it, but it was plenty snappy with just a handful of active apps. For Chrome OS you don’t need a ton of computational horsepower to have a fast machine, so the dual core seems to be plenty. The 8GB of RAM is what is more important, and that’s what keeps the x360 feeling quick. Most Chromebooks around this price point only carry 4 GB of memory, so the x360 has a leg up here. Display The 14” 1920 X 1080p FHD IPS touchscreen display looks great. It has a high gloss finish like you would expect in today’s touchscreens. The only Chromebooks with higher resolution have a smaller screen (12.3”) and cost considerably more (MSRP of $1K+). So for this Chromebook the 14” 1080p touchscreen is all you can reasonably ask for. The screen clarity, and sharpness were pleasing to the eye, and the colors had a good amount of pop to them. I watched a lot of Netflix on this, and I was very pleased with the image reproduction. The multipoint touchscreen is very responsive, and easy to use. I found it to be accurate when registering my inputs. It also didn’t get overwhelmed by my kids playing fruit ninja, and swiping at it like crazed 4 & 5 year-olds are want to do. Overall, the screen is great, although it does pick up every finger print due to the gloss finish. Keyboard and Trackpad The keyboard is a ten-keyless design (no number pad) with body color match keys. The keys have a white backlight that comes in handy for typing in the dark. The keys have a relatively short throw with a full travel length of 0.04” and low to mid force requirement. The key actuation is soft and muted with the actuation point right at the top of the key travel. I found the key throw length to be a little too shallow for my tastes, and it slightly impacting my typing. I typically type on a mechanical keyboard with Cherry Brown switches, so swapping over to a laptop keyboard is always an adjustment. In this case I never got fully comfortable with the keyboard, though others that I let try it had no issues adjusting. The trackpad is a delight to use. It is also body color matched with a satin surface texture. I usually dislike most trackpads, but this was truly nice to use. The multipoint touch was accurate, and the trackpad was responsive. I had no issues navigating around, and if something did get tricky I was able to fall back to the display touchscreen. Battery Life The advertised battery life is 14hrs. In my use I found that an hour of Netflix drained about 10% with the screen on full brightness. So 10hrs of streaming video at max brightness is pretty good in my opinion. Slide that brightness down, and I could easily get a couple more hours. Standby power usage was excellent. A full day of of no use in standby only dropped the battery a percent or 2. I didn't time it exactly but from 2% battery to full charge was done in under 2 hours. Thats's plenty quick enough for me. Sound The sound from the B&O PLAY dual speakers is quite good for a laptop. There is no bass or real low end, which I expected. The mids and highs were bright and clear, and the speakers had enough sound to fill a room. In tablet mode I expected the speakers to get muffled when placed on my lap but were oddly unaffected. Overall HP and B&O did a good job on the speakers. Webcam I have used HP webcams in the past, and they had generally been kind of bad. A $20 Logitech webcam was better than the old ones. I used the webcam during several Skype calls, and found that the camera in the x360 to be pretty good. The people I was calling told me my picture was perfectly clear. The only time I ran into problems was with low light. The camera sensor isn’t large enough to get a good picture in low light. You really need a well-lit room. The dual mics also, weren’t the best. The other people on the call said it sounded tinny, but clear. They remarked that my normal camera had a far grainier picture but had much better sound. My old camera is a Logitech TV Cam (720p with dual mics) from 8 years ago. Overall, I am impressed with the x360 convertible. It is a huge leap in quality over Chromebooks of the past. HP really knocked the design out and made a premium feeling laptop. The machine feels quick and responsive and pleasing to use. I never felt frustrated with its performance or its feature set. This is the first Chromebook I have picked up that feels like a reasonable alternative to a Windows based machine. If have used to the Android Ecosystem you will already be familiar with how the Chrome OS works. Sure it lacks some of the programs, robustness, and support that Windows offers. For web browsing, word processing, app based games, etc Chrome OS is perfectly capable of meeting your needs. In short, if you are in the market for a quick premium feeling laptop you might want to check this one out.

I have had the pleasure of using this HP Chromebook over the weekend and so far it has been a great experience. I am thoroughly pleased with this particular model that HP has released. Now lets breakdown why you should consider getting this particular model if you are looking to buy a Chromebook. I have been using CB for around two years and it has gotten better overtime and now that it offers Android support CB sales have taken off and now it seems everyone is making a CB. I have used a few different CB from different manufacturers my top two being HP & Samsung. But I find myself leaning a lot more in favor of HP they really have been making some nice CB like the previous CB that is detachable. I prefer this 2 in 1 design because it is practical for my use. Now this model has a Full HD screen in a 16:9 ratio which is great in comparison to some of the 3:2 ratio screens it is just better in my opinion. The 14 inch screen is plenty bright and is the ideal size for any use whether for media or word processing purposes. The panel is touchscreen so that is a definite plus. The keyboard is a full sized keyboard and it is back lit. I love the feel of the keys they have a nice feel to them and have great travel and don't feel spongy nor do they stick. It makes for a great typing experience and I did not miss any keys which is good for those who value accuracy. The track pad is responsive and accurate clicks and touch register as it should so there are no complaints there. The CB is very aesthetically pleasing with the two tone design. It is made of what seems to be a plastic and aluminum. And if I am not mistaken it may have some sort of coating that helps it resist fingerprints to a certain extent, I really do like that it is not a finger print magnet because I am very particular on that it truly bugs me when a fine crafted product is a finger print magnet and I am constantly having to wipe it clean. The speakers are not under the device and I also appreciate that. It is located above the keyboard and are B&O I like the quality of the speakers they provide value to the device in my opinion it serves to remind the consumer that this is not a budget CB but a premium model. The speakers re plenty loud and have decent bass it isn't studio quality but great for the device and its intended use. So that is another plus in my book. Now lets talk components and IO. This CB has an Intel Core i3 under the hood that is very fast dual core that has a base speed of 2.2 GHz and can run at a max of 4GHz now for a CB that is impressive. I have not been able to slow it down yet I have opened 25 chrome tabs and it does not even finch like my previous CB with a paltry 4GB of RAM. There are plenty of ports a full sized USB port and two USB C type and that is plenty for most users. a Micro SD slot is great for memory expansion. I am not sure what the limit is but I will eventually get a large capacity card. My only gripe with this is that it is 64GB and that space will fill up fast now that Google Play apps are now for the most part compatible. Play apps compatibility that is up to each app developer but with each passing day more apps are compatible with CB. Battery life now it is a day and night difference from my previous CB and I am really impressed. I have only charged this device once and that was on Friday. It has been on standby since and I have used it for a total of roughly eight hours and I still have 37% battery life left and according to the OS it has approximately 4 & 1/2 hours of battery left. I could not get anywhere near that kind of battery life with my old Samsung CB. :::Pros::: - Back lit keyboard - Large 16:9 display (FHD but can view 1440p content) - Superb battery life - Upgrade able storage (with the use of a micro sd card) - Nice two tone design that feels premium - Small design & lightweight for its size (less than 4lbs) - Special coating that resists fingerprints - B&O speakers (good amount of bass for this device) :::Cons::: - 64GB of storage I am really happy with this Chromebook it is nearly perfect. It looks great feels great in the hands, performs well and does everything I need and want it to do. Chromebooks are giving PC & Macs a run for their money. I really do find myself using Chrome OS more often due to how simple it is. TL;DR HP has made a great Chromebook that is good for almost anything you want it to do you can get work done in Microsoft Office, watch Youtube, Netflix, read and write emails and still have plenty of battery life left at the end of the day. This CB is fast and can keep up with the user and is well worth the asking price. My only complaint is that it only has 64GB of built in storage. You can purchase a large Micro SD card to remedy that but I would have at least preferred 128 GB of on board storage. Pick this up you will fall in love with it like I did.

I have a Google pixel phone and was excited when I saw this Google chromebook. All my emails, docs, texts, pandora etc are found here. Anything I type on my phone, I can see it on my laptop. It's the same thing as my.phone, just on a laptop. The white is nice ansleek as well. I am enjoying it so far. Aslo easy to download apps. That's the only thing you will have to do separately between your phone and Chromebook. Get it! Go for it!

always something different, something new. but its works like my droid. great idea

Having been a big user of MacBook laptops and iPads in the past, I had always considered the Chromebook to be a watered down, low-end laptop, targeted toward students and very low budget minimalists. With the acquisition of the HP 2-in-1 Chromebook, all of my previous misconceptions have been totally shattered. This Chromebook is a serious device for getting work done while also providing quality entertainment. As a writer, for the past two years, my go-to device has been a 5th generation iPad Pro (12.9") with an added Logitech keyboard case. It gave me the portability I needed for being able to write and work remotely from just about anywhere. Unfortunately, this comes at a high price of almost $1300 new (Device, screen protector, keyboard case, and Apple Pencil.) The price of the CB is less than half of what I spent and it accomplishes just as much! Likes - Setup and Configuration: This was crazy easy. All I had to do was add my wi-fi password, log into Google, and it was ready for use. - Software Apps: I installed a lot of applications for supporting work, writing, community work, and entertainment. Over 30 applications and I still had plenty of room on the 64 GB eMMC Flash Memory. - Video Playback: Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube ran smoothly with no lag. - Linux Installation: Yes, the Chrome OS for this device included the ability to install Linux from the Setup menus. The install was quick and it provides co-existence with the Chrome OS. - Seriously Sturdy: The chassis is a solid brushed metal base. the hinges for the screen are metal, and the back of the screen is a solid metal/ceramic (I'm not sure which). Nothing feels cheap on this device. - Screen Resolution: The 14" 1920 x 1080 HD screen is absolutely beautiful. - Touch screen/Tablet Mode: The glass covered screen is smooth to the touch and responds nicely. Flipping of the screen completely to the back switches to tablet mode and the auto-sense for screen rotation worked wonderfully. - Multitasking: Another big win is the strength of the 8th Generation Intel Core i3 processor and the 8 GB of memory for handling whatever I could throw at it. I wrote this review in OneNote while watching a Dave Matthews concert on YouTube, with Facebook and Instagram running. - Battery Life: I love that I can start writing during my commute to work, have this running on my desk as a secondary computer all day, back to writing on the way home, and still have enough power to plow through an evening of emails and gaming. - Gaming: I’m not a hard core gamer, but I do like to wile away some time with Minecraft. Game play is smooth, the graphics are beautiful, and there was no lag at all. - Google Play: The Google Play store has matured since the last time I walked its isles. A full range of business, productivity, artistic, games, and entertainment applications are available. Many are free and even the serious ones are low cost. Dislikes - My Applications: I’m really having to dig deep to find anything that I dislike about this device. At no fault of HP or Google, my favorite writing application, Scrivener, was not available for Chrome OS. That being said, there is a linux version in beta that I might be able to coerce. - Linux: While I’m pretty geeky, I don’t have a lot of experience with linux. Selecting and installing linux from Settings was easy. However, after getting the linux terminal I wanted to select a shell UI. Thus far, I’ve been unable to find any additional documentation from HP or in general, on how to do that. Summary Overall, I am VERY impressed with this HP Chromebook x360, almost to the point of using it to replace my iPad Pro 12”. I highly recommend this device to any student, writer, creative, and even business professionals who are looking to be more proficient at a very reasonable cost.

I had to give this 5 star's so far... I feel like this was a great buy... I got it for $200 discount on Memorial day special...

This is my first day with this Chromebook, but I am very, very impressed. I will update my review if anything changes over the next couple of months. The hardware is very nice, and Chrome OS has come a LONG way - I can now run most of my Android apps. As a bonus, I turned on Linux mode, and now have access to a REAL Spotify client and development tools like Visual Studio Code.