Review on HP Chromebook 11-inch Laptop, 2020 Model - MediaTek MT8183, 4GB RAM, 32GB Storage, Chrome OS - 11a-na0030nr (Indigo Blue) by Shigg Bigbee

This is a long review. In summary, you get what you pay for and more. This is a very useful package at a great price. There's nothing premium, but you get a good compact computer for surfing the web. This is my first Chromebook. I've used Toshiba and Lenovo Macs and laptops in the past. I chose a Chromebook because I mainly use email, surf the web, use Zoom and watch Youtube. Everything I have to do with documents can be covered by Google. Compactness and long battery life are a big plus. I'm tired of big heavy laptops with holes in their pockets. This Chromebook weighs 2-1/4 pounds, which is excellent. It's the size of a magazine so I wouldn't hesitate to take it with me anywhere. The body is made of plastic, which is durable and easy to clean. It's not as pretty as metal, but generally durable. The base plate wobbles a bit, but that's a nitpick. The battery life is as stated. Depending on what you're doing, you'll get around 10 hours or more, which is more than double any laptop I've used. The screen opens to 135 degrees (or 45 degrees in relation to the table top). I was disappointed it didn't open to a full 180 but I can work with it. The screen brightness is specified as 220 cd/m² (lower limit), but don't let that fool you; It's as bright as my 8 year old Macbook and Lenovo laptop for work. Works well for indoor use. When you work outdoors, you need to find shade. The display quality is not the best, but quite usable. This is an IPS display that delivers the best viewing angles and color reproduction. The 11.6 inch screen is good enough for watching videos and reading the news. I can type this review and read my emails side by side. It's also a touchscreen, which in my limited experience works well. When I lay my Chromebook on my chest, it's nice to be able to easily browse the pages with the touchscreen. I downloaded a few android games and they work fine on the touchscreen. IMO you spend more on the touchscreen if you want to use Android apps. The keyboard is a comfortable size. I type efficiently without making many mistakes. Most of the buttons are where you would expect them to be. Chrome's dedicated keys don't get in the way. The buttons themselves have nice, positive feedback. Equally responsive is the trackpad, which offers a full range of gestures for scrolling, zooming, and browsing apps. One thing I noticed is that you can only click the bottom half of the touchpad, but I usually press to click. The built-in speakers are a nice surprise. They are loud and clear. They might seem a little tinny to music lovers, but I can listen to music for hours just using these speakers. At maximum volume, distortion is minimal. Of course, there's a headphone jack and Bluetooth capability. 32 gigabytes of storage space can be contested if you install a lot of apps. The Chrome system itself occupies about 13 GB. I put in a 128GB micro SD card that can be used as storage for Android apps that support it. For example, I can download music from Youtube Music to my SD card. Documents from the text editor and the camera app can also be redirected to the SD card. Don't do anything that would strain this system just yet. I usually just have a few tabs and apps open and play a few games. Keep in mind that this is the same processor found in the almost world-famous Lenovo Duet Chromebook, so no small feat. The 720p webcam is suitable for web conferences, photos or videos. A bit grainy in room lighting. People seem to hear me just fine with the built-in microphone, but it works best when you're sitting directly in front of your computer. Microphone input can be customized by expanding volume options in Wi-Fi/Battery/Time. And the last interesting thing: you can charge this Chromebook with a phone charger (with the right cable). This is slow and should be done when the Chromebook is not in use. With a regular phone charger I was able to get 15% per hour. This can come in handy when you're on the go and don't need to lug around the clunky power bank that comes with this Chromebook. Overall I am satisfied with my purchase. This is a good package that brings joy. Overall I am satisfied with my purchase. This is a good package that brings joy. Overall I am satisfied with my purchase. This is a good package that brings joy.