Google and HP Inc. Just teamed up on a new Chromebook.
The search giant and personal computer maker unveiled the new HP Chromebook 13 on Thursday, presenting a new model that is a bit more expensive than the typical low-cost Chromebooks but still cheaper than the high-end Pixel Chromebook.
The new Chromebook will start at $499, and it is available for pre-order online via the companies’ resellers. In May, interested consumers can buy the device directly from both HP and Google’s product websites.
Google (GOOG) and HP (HPQ) are marketing the new Chromebook as a laptop for business users craving something a bit more classy-looking and more powerful than the cheaper Chromebook models, like the ASUS Chromebook C201 that retails for $169.
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The new HP Chromebook 13 is built with an all-aluminum chassis and comes with a 32-gigabyte hard drive to store your apps and data. For memory, there are options to buy a Chromebook 13 with up to 16 gigabytes of memory, but it will cost you more. If you want to keep costs as low as possible, you’ll have to be satisfied with four gigabytes of memory.
The two companies also noted that this is the first Chromebook running on the sixth generation of Intel’s Core M processor. Like the device’s memory, if you want the high-end Intel Core M7 processor, be prepared to spend more.
If you aren’t satisfied with the 13.3-inch screen size, you can buy an optional HP docking station that will convert it into a desktop device in which you can hook up a second, bigger monitor. The device weighs in at 2.8 pounds and it measures at half-an-inch thin. For comparison, Apple’s (AAPL) MacBook Air has a chassis thinnest of 0.68 inches and weighs 2.38 pounds.
For Microsoft (MSFT) business customers, the HP Chromebook 13 comes with an extension by the business technology company Citrix (CTXS), called the Citrix Receiver 2.0 for Chrome. This extension will let customers run Windows programs on their Chromebooks without having to install them to their hard drives through Citrix’s desktop virtualization technology.
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So far, journalists who got to see the device in person during a launch event in New York on Thursday morning seem impressed with the new Chromebook. Tech blog Gizmodo posited that the new model “shrugs off the failures” of HP’s previous low-end Chromebooks with its sleeker design, and USA Today described that typing on the device’s keyboard was a positive experience.