It seems like every six weeks or so Best Buy decides to remove some Chromebook inventory through sizable discounts. And it’s been about six weeks for the HP Chromebook X360 14, which can be had for $399, or $200 off the $599 MSRP.
Truth be told, if I had a budget limitation of $400 and was in the market for a Chromebook right now, this is likely the one I would get. Also in the consideration would be the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 at the same price, although the HP has a higher performing processor in the U-Series Core i3 over the Y-Series m3 found in the Asus.
Here’s what you get if you go with the HP: An 8th-gen Intel Core i3-8130U with a 2.2 GHz base frequency, turbo-boost up to 4GHz; a 14-inch full HD touch display with thin bezels on the sides, 8GB of memory, 64GB of eMMC storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There are a pair of USB Type-C ports and one Type-A, plus a headphone/microphone jack and microSD card reader. HP says to expect 13.5 hours of run-time per charge.
Because the chip inside is a U-Series model, it can run longer at full capacity, unlike Y-Series chips found in the Pixel Slate, for example. The one possible downside? U-Series chips require fans to reduce the heat produced during those heavy-duty CPU cycles, so the HP Chromebook X360 does have a fan.
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Given the brouhaha over Chromebook AUE of late, some potential buyers will be calculating,
$[Actual Discount off Depreciated MSRP] = $[Straight-Line Time-Prorated Discount]
But this would probably still be a very solid purchase.
I got an “open-box excellent” one of these from Best Buy for about 350 a few months ago. I’m very happy with it. My only complaints are that the display is not as bright as it could be (though it is very sharp and enjoyable to use) and that the keyboard backlighting is uneven. It’s brighter behind the center of the keyboard. It’s still plenty functional, but it’s a bit annoying. Also, the hinge is a bit floppy. Still a great value, and I don’t regret my purchase. Much higher quality fit and finish than most Chromebooks, and 14″ is a very nice size for a laptop.
This sale started DAYS ago and will probably end within a couple more days. You should post these sales updates earlier!