Review on Renewed Google Pixelbook (i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB) - Enhanced for Optimal Performance by Paul Ziegler

This is a fantastic laptop. I can't believe how much power they pack into this form factor. It's like living in the future. Well, it's 2020. The operating system is a delight, and ChromeOS really shines on a machine like this. I think because there are so many entry-level Chromebooks out there, people downplay the benefits of ChromeOS, but it really is a great operating system. The Linux integration, which is still in beta, really seals the deal. The ability to install Android and Linux apps in the same environment is a major technological achievement. And for a machine to run this well, you need power, and the i7 is fast enough. The SSD offers plenty of storage space, since you can also install pure Linux configured for a Chromebook, such as GalliumOS. It's also possible to install Windows or Ubuntu on this computer, although I haven't tried it. If you go that route, the architecture of this machine is called Eve, and there are driver packages that allow it to run mostly full-featured on unsupported Linux. However, this requires a change in firmware. It's just great that all this is possible. I'd say the only downside here is that the graphics chipset isn't powerful enough for gaming and the like, but it does run 3D games like Amnesia quite smoothly. If you need a laptop to play with, Windows is still fine, but Steam has good Linux support too. The touchscreen works well, and like the Surface, you can buy a digital pen. While the Surface has a detachable keyboard, this model folds completely so that the (disabled) keyboard becomes the back of the tablet. It's pretty smooth. Sometimes when you grab a laptop from the bottom, the torsion bar pushes down on the mouse button. Probably because the thing is so damn thin. The resolution on the display is incredible and always responsive. The only problem I've seen is that the screen randomly flickers black for a split second. It only seems to happen with Linux apps. I heard that this issue has been resolved this year, hopefully it will be resolved in the upcoming OS update. All in all I bought this laptop for software development and it did not disappoint. I'm glad I went for the high-end model as I hope it will last for years to come. Have fun calculating!