Have you ever heard of Moore’s law? Devised in the 70s, it states that every two years, the processing power of computers, overall, would have doubled. Well, its 2020 and Moore’s law is still holding up. We can see it in effect in any computer retailer around the country; last year’s computers sell dirt cheap to make way for newer and faster machines.
It’s almost depressing how quickly your top of the line machine becomes antiquated, isn’t it? It begs the question, are our computing needs doubling every year? I guess that really depends on who you are and what you expect from a computer.
For a gamer wanting to keep ahead of the curve, a beastly HP gaming laptop or desktop is the only option. For a professional video editor, the ever-evolving video formats require more and more power, a top of the line Mac Pro may be the only way to work effectively with these files.
For ordinary, everyday web browsing or word processing, what’s the point in all this power? For those who need something small, light, and efficient, Moores’s law seems irrelevant. If you want something that will happily sit in your backpack, and stay alive through a whole day of lectures, you need something like the HP Chromebook.
Streamlined.
Forget a big, heavy, noisy laptop. If you are traveling for work or trekking into university every day, you want a slim, light, and reliable laptop. The HP Chromebook is all those things and more. Weighing in at 3.3 pounds and under 0.7 inches thick, the Chromebook can be carried around all day, and with a 10-hour battery life, it can work and play all day too.
Single-minded purpose.
The Chromebook has one purpose, help you stay productive all day. No, its not a luxury model and at under $800, you shouldn’t expect it to be. Despite the bargain-basement price, the fit and finish are top-notch, with a fresh white exterior in a matte, slightly textured finish.
The keyboard is nice and tactile, and I could see myself comfortably typing all day on it without getting sore wrists. The screen is a pleasant 14” 1080 that is crisp with decent color reproduction. I wish it were a little more vibrant, but this is a small gripe on an overall fantastic little screen.
Who’s Moore?
While Mr. Moore predicted a doubling of overall power every two years, its doubtful he would have ever predicted an all in one touch screen computer for less than $800. Again, this computer isn’t going to set any benchmark records or play the latest games on ultra settings, but that’s not the point.
On paper, the performance of this machine isn’t great, and in practice, it is not exactly a barnstormer. With an anemic 4GB of RAM and a lowly Intel Silver CPU, the Chromebook was designed for studying, working, and light entertainment like Netflix or YouTube. Yes, it will play older games, but with 64gb of internal storage, you might want to save your space.
It’s easy to be convinced you need the fastest computer with battery melting performance and 4k OLED screen, but it’s simply not true. For students, a chrome book is the perfect choice. As a secondary, lounging around the house computer, the HP Chromebook fits the bill nicely, with a foldable keypad and a big responsive touchscreen, perfect for watching Netflix on the couch or browsing the net on the toilet.
You don’t need an exponentially faster computer every couple of years, just a computer that fits your needs that you feel comfortable using. Moore’s law be damned.
