HP Chromebook 14 Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, 14” HD Display, Chrome, Lightweight Computer with Webcam and Dual…
$274.95
- REMOTE WORK READY – Work efficiently from the comfort of your own home office using the HP 14″ Chromebook.
- CLEAR IMAGING – Images appear crisp with the 14″ HD (1366 x 768), micro-edge, anti-glare (1) display.
- LIGHTNING FAST PROCESSING – Games, music, and binge watching are taken to new heights with Intel Celeron N4000 (2) processing power and Intel UHD Graphics 600 (3).
- SECURELY SAVE YOUR WORK – With 32 GB eMMC storage (4), saving important documents is made simple. Plus, quickly access your documents with 4 GB of RAM.
- LONG-LASTING BATTERY LIFE – Enjoy up to 13 hours and 30 minutes of wireless streaming (5) depending usage.
- MODERNIZE YOUR WORLD – Navigate seamlessly through tabs and programs with the Chrome operating system. Also, rest easy knowing your investment is protected with HP’s 1-Year Limited Hardware Warranty.
- BE SEEN & HEARD – HP’s Wide Vision HD camera (6) with integrated dual array digital microphones lets you video chat with vibrant clarity.
- CONNECT SMOOTHLY – Your connections are rock solid with the Wi-Fi 5 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.0 combo (7).
- TAKE WORK WHEREVER YOU GO – The Chromebook is 3.24 lbs (8) so you can take your work and entertainment wherever you need it.
- ENERGY-EFFICIENT – Do the environment a favor by working with an HP ENERGY STAR certified (9) and EPEAT Silver registered (10) laptop computer.
Specification: HP Chromebook 14 Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, 14” HD Display, Chrome, Lightweight Computer with Webcam and Dual…
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3 reviews for HP Chromebook 14 Laptop, Intel Celeron N4000 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, 14” HD Display, Chrome, Lightweight Computer with Webcam and Dual…
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the eliminator –
I’m going to write this review assuming you already know the difference between a Chromebook and Windows or MacOS, but in case you don’t know, it’s basically a laptop that runs Google Chrome and Android Apps with a little bit of storage and the ability to work offline too.
So I’m going to focus more on hardware, features and performance.
First off, the build is really nice. It is mostly plastic, and nice and light, but feels really solid and the hinge is not floppy at all. The base is a silver metallic color while the outer shell is bright white. It seems to resist fingerprints fairly well. You have a full size keyboard and a large trackpad, and the base has long rubber feet to keep it from sliding around your desk. On the left, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port, and micro-SD slot. On the right is another USB-C port as well as a USB-A (full size) port. The laptop charges via either USB-C port. Webcam and built in mic up top.
Performance wise, everything runs well enough. You won’t be blown away by the speed or the screen quality/refresh rate or anything like that, but performance is solid and hiccups and stutters are relatively few. You can have multiple tabs and several apps running without bogging it down too much. The screen looks good and sharp for the size and resolution. Colors are not super vivid but look good. Battery life is fantastic. Easily 8-10+ hours between charges which blows a lot of Windows laptops out of the water.
A few standouts for me are the nice feel of the keyboard and the excellent speakers. First, the keyboard just feels good to use. It’s not too loud and the key travel is about perfect. The speakers are situated on either side of the keyboard facing up! Many laptops these days have the speakers underneath or just internal. So audio out of these is quite good compared to even more expensive devices. Also honorable mention goes to the fan-less design. In other words, it runs completely silently since there is no cooling fan or spinning disk drives.
A few drawbacks as well… the keyboard is not lit, which is just fine considering this is a budget device, but worth noting. Also, while I really like the large clicky trackpad, the thumb side of my palms rest on it when typing and it doesn’t take much force to click it, so I sometimes get random clicks when typing. Not a huge deal, but it’d be nice if it was slightly stiffer.
Also not really a drawback but more of an observation, it does not have a dedicated google assistant button down by Alt and Control.
If you have a Google account and an Android phone, there are a lot of benefits to syncing them up. However you can obviously still use it even if your an iPhone user, it just won’t sync with your messages and notifications. Android users can also use their phones to instantly unlock it and activate tethering.
So to wrap up I believe this is a nice, budget friendly laptop and will do the job if you just need something to browse the web, do some productivity work in the Google suite (docs, slides, sheets, etc.), and play around with. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles but isn’t missing anything essential. It runs good and the battery lasts a long time, so I am happy with it and think most people will find it’s a nice device to have.
Outdoor Enthusiast | Geek | Photographer –
I have been in the professional IT industry for over 18 years and tinker with technology all the time for both work and fun. I am an enthusiast through-and-through who likes to explore the latest in the industry. For this particular review of the HP Chromebook 14 (2021), my extensive experience with Android, Apple iOS, and Windows phones and tablets will lend a helping hand in understanding what this laptop may or may not be suitable for.
WHAT IS A CHROMEBOOK?
It is important to first and foremost understand that Chromebook is precisely that — a laptop (notebook) based on Google’s Chrome operating system (OS), software that allows you to use and interact with the hardware. It offers a minimalistic, web browser experience that is far different from Windows and MacOS, but may appear familiar to Android users.
This particular HP Chromebook offers the Google Play Store from which you can download apps, games, and consume books, music, and movies — just like a Samsung smartphone or Google TV device. It also offers apps from the Google Chrome Web Store that are very limited in functionality but can enhance the web browsing experience with extensions (plugins).
Chrome OS is today’s dominant computing system used within the Education market, an area that Microsoft had been trying to challenge with its failed Windows RT and Windows S-Mode efforts. Apple, too, trails behind Google’s Chromebook platform.
IN SHORT: Chrome OS, which was launched in 2011, very much feels like an Android tablet slapped onto a laptop form factor. It does not offer a full PC/Mac experience and essentially is a (usually) low-cost/low-powered computer whose main interface is the Google Chrome web browser.
Apps you download will constantly remind you that Chrome OS was not made for use as a full-fledged desktop computer (like Windows and MacOS) — they will be running in skewed, often frustrating, user interfaces that do not take advantage of the mouse and keyboard. If you have used the Apple iPad and downloaded iPhone apps onto it (with black bars on both sides of the screen), that is exactly how the Google apps behave on this Chromebook.
The fact that this HP Chromebook does NOT have a touch screen will magnify the frustration further when trying to use those apps, such as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and more. There are some apps that do take full advantage of the entire screen: Plex, Netflix, Chrome browser, Word, Excel, etc. But again, many of their interfaces are designed for the touch experience and not for a keyboard/mouse combination.
Now that you know some of the main differences in user and software experience between a Chromebook and Windows/MacOS laptop, let us discuss what IS good about the HP Chromebook 14 (2021).
PROS
– Light weight (3.25 lbs)
— 12.8″ L x 8.6″ W x 0.7″ H
– Great, all-day battery life
– Pleasant, clean, simple hardware design
— Minimalistic and simple for basic computing
— Inexpensive, though competing Windows laptops may offer slightly more for the same price point
– Excellent for day-to-day web browsing and occasional Android app use
— Brain of the computer, the Intel Celeron N4000 processor, is well-suited for this use case and provides low power usage
– 14″ HD display, though its 1366 x 768 pixel resolution puts it in the 720p HD territory, not the sharper 1080p
– Multiple apps and browser tabs performed well, though the 4GB of memory (RAM) will limit how much you can have running at once without negatively affecting overall performance
– Built-in, wide angle webcam that was good, but not quite flattering or sharp
– Dual microphones captured audio well for video conferences
– Access to a full suite of Google Play Store apps, games, music, movies, and books
— Microsoft Office supported, albeit as limited web or Android app versions
– Google Play Store games performed adequately well
— Graphics powered by the integrated Intel UHD 600 chip
– Extremely low risk of a virus taking over (but apps and Google Chrome browser extensions can still steal your data and more)
— Commonly used for Google Classroom and the education market because its functionality can be limited with supported, administrative Google controls
– 32 GB of eMMC storage built in
— Though this is generous for casual computing, you may quickly find yourself running out of space and needing to augment it with a microSD card
— eMMC storage is very slow compared to SSD drives
– Storage expansion via microSD card slot
— Tested to work fine with a SanDisk 128GB card
— SanDisk and Kingston are the top SD card makers I recommend for their reliability. SanDisk Extreme offers lifetime warranty and is the series I, personally, always get
— You should always make a backup of your important files)
– Support for running a subset of Linux
– Rechargeable with USB-C PD
– 2 USB-C PD and 1 USB-A ports
– Bluetooth and WiFi
– Bang Olufsen-tuned speakers were loud enough to enjoy a movie with in a quiet room, but did not wow me much
CONS
– Subpar screen that is dim at times and not visible from all angles
— Does not compare to the much more expensive Microsoft Surface (or even the lower cost Surface Go) display
– Frustrating keyboard with some missing keys, like “Delete”, Caps Lock (there’s a keyboard shortcut to turn it on/off), and more
– Requires a constant connection to the internet for most tasks and apps
— If you are offline, only a subset of apps can still be used
— Not quite suitable for taking on the road unless you are able to somehow stay online to the Internet
– Limited storage space, making you more reliant on Cloud storage services like Google Cloud, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, Box
– Does not have full functionality like a Windows/MacOS computer, including seamless file server access, user account controls, and more
— Windows/MacOS can do everything this Chromebook can, plus usually faster and more
— Microsoft Office is available only as limited web or Android app versions. To gain full functionality, you will still need Windows or MacOS
— Full-featured programs not available for Chromebook, like Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere video editing, etc.
– May be too minimalistic or simple
— Limited support for hardware. Not all devices you connect to a Chromebook will work, even if they function fine with Windows/MacOS
– Does not interact well with Windows/MacOS computers like file sharing
– Screen is not touch sensitive, making use of some apps and games frustrating or impossible to enjoy
– Screen not detachable for use as a standalone tablet (like Microsoft’s Surface or Surface Book)
– Frustrating, limited, or non-existent user account controls, like Parental Controls, especially if your Google account was created with Google Apps/Suite/G Suite/Workspace, or whatever Google decides to rebrand its services to
– Memory and internal “hard drive” space are not upgradeable
– Tinny sound with little bass
– Slow with switching between users
– No wired network port (RJ-45 Ethernet) for when WiFi is not available
TIPS
– Push the Search button to start the “Launcher” (the equivalent to Windows’ Start button)
– Push Ctrl–Alt–/ (all 3 keys) to see a list of all available keyboard shortcuts
— Search Google for “chromebook keyboard shortcuts” to see more
– Push Search+L to lock the screen
— You can go to Settings and type “Pin” to set up a pin code instead of having to always type in your Google account password
CONCLUSION
For someone who values the flexibility of running full-fledged software and could more easily connect to computer-accessible services, Windows-based low cost laptops are a better choice for a power user like myself. For someone who wants simplicity and mostly does everything from a web browser, consumes media through apps, and wants more of an Android and/or Linux experience, a Chromebook like this HP is a great option.
Nonetheless, either choice will be excellent for use as a travel laptop for blogging, researching, and so on — but in the case of a Chromebook, you will not be able to use it much if you do not have Internet access. We will be using our Chromebook primarily for casual web surfing, media consumption, writing reviews like this, and partially unsupervised school work.
D. Ball –
I’m a Mac guy for the most part. My main computer is an iMac, but I’ve always had a Windows laptop for use when travelling etc (too cheap to buy a Macbook….). My Windows laptop died at a time when I really needed one and I saw this and thought what the heck, I’ll give it a try.
I’m very pleased. For online use, it’s absolutely fine. The screen resolution isn’t up to my Mac, but my Windows laptop wasn’t either. I don’t really like that I’m logged on to Google (and being tracked) whenever I use it, but I don’t do anything online that I’d be ashamed of so I guess that’s OK.
It was a little bit tricky to get online for the first time, but that’s pretty well documented out on the web, and it was easy to get beyond the issue. Not really anything to worry about.
The battery life is very good. Haven’t used the camera, so I don’t know about that. But it’s lightweight and portable and runs plenty fast. I think it’s a very good value.