Google Pixelbook (i5, 8 GB RAM, 128GB) (GA00122-US)

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Love it! Cant say enough good things about this chromebook so I wont! Everyone else has hit on a lot of the great features of this laptop so I wont repeat. My one gripe, and the reason Im writing this review is this: Pixelbook now allows you to download Android apps. Great! Downloaded Youtube TV (also a google product!) signed in, and it says........Youtube tv for android is not supported on chromebooks.... Now I know I could go watch it on my chrome browser, and I will do that. I also know that not all android apps work perfectly on chromebooks yet. Having said that,.... Really Google? Really? I cant watch GOOGLES Youtube TV app on a GOOGLE Pixelbook because it is an unsupported device? Really? I can see the team meeting where this was pitched.... "So we are going to add the ability to download and use Android apps on Chromebooks!!" (Bunch of people clapping) ---Guy in the back: "Should be make sure that at least our own apps are compatible before we release it?" (Crickets) ---Original guy: "Ok great so we release tomorrow!" That is all lol. Great laptop!

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I purchased my Pixelbook for 2 reasons: 1) After using my wifes Chromebook at a conference this summer, I was in love with the ear of use, the Android app integration, and the lightest and portable nature. I found out that due to overcrowding, I would be sharing my classroom with another teacher and I thought the Pixelbook would be a great solution. 2) The price finally came down to a reasonable level. (although well drop close to a grand on a smart phone, but dont think that price is right for a laptop? Kind of strange how that works) I have been completely pleased and satisfied with the product. Its fast, reliable, secure and everything I need to do in my classroom, its handled efficiently.

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I bought this on a whim during Amazon Prime Day. Boy, do I love this little machine! I find myself reaching for my Pixelbook much more than my (ostensibly) more useful Macbook Pro, just because the Pixelbook is lighter and just a joy to use. This is truly the Chromebook to beat all Chromebooks in terms of hardware and specs. With an i5 processor and 8 gigs of RAM, the Pixelbook flies through any task. The added feature of Android apps also makes this machine much more useful. Some essential apps I find very useful include MS Word, Dropbox, Skype, MightyText (for SMS messaging), and Google Maps. I really appreciate the craftsmanship that went into making the Pixelbook, especially the build quality and backlit keyboard. I previously owned a Samsung Chromebook Pro, but that was like a toy compared with this thing! 5/5, absolutely no regrets buying this computer!

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Google has constructed what I consider to be the best hardware ever made for a laptop. Build quality is top notch and unmatched. The hinge is stiff and sturdy, the screen is bright and crisp with its high definition display, and the silicone pads are very great additions and extremely inviting for the palms when typing. Software and performance do not need to be discussed. For the Chrome environment, this device exceeds beyond expectations, and on a daily basis it continues to speed through everything I can throw at it. The only minor issue for me would be its battery life, which on average gives me a 6 hours. Nevertheless, it is still an all day performer even at that. For students, business professionals, and home users, this device can perform just about all your needs with the unlocked capabilities of the Google Play store. Definitely keep your expectations low though if you have gaming and design in mind, if those are your priorities Id look elsewhere with a Mac or Windows device.

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It starts in under 10 seconds -- every time. I never have to worry about viruses or paying for virus protection software. I can do everything I ever did on my old laptops, but much faster. Whether I need to write an essay, a business letter, make a spreadsheet, make a slideshow presentation, edit photos, watch movies, write music, take notes, et al -- its literally ALL THERE BUT FASTER! And if somehow I screwed up when trying to install some crazy program like Crouton and its caused some programs to shut down -- I just select "powerwash" and bam -- laptop is right back to its initial settings, everything back to the day I bought it. No hassles. No slowdowns. No blue screens of death. Just powerwash and Pixelbook is back to being a BRAND NEW computer. The ONLY gripe I have is that file management isnt as nice as Windows. If anything, its TOO simple. I can save, delete and move files no problem. But Id prefer a little more power over them. However, just as with all of their past shortcomings, Google is working and working and will enable premium file management eventually as well. Google Chrome is an AMAZING OS for the vast majority of us. Unless youre a programmer or a film editor, Pixelbook is the only laptop youll ever want or need. And unlike Mac and Windows, itll NEVER SLOW DOWN. Enjoy.

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The Pixelbook is a great computer. I bought it after doing quite a bit of research on Chromebooks and the Chrome OS and Im happy to say, its quite a lovely little machine. Ill break up my review into a few sections I think are important and were definitely things I noticed almost immediately. The build: The build quality is absolutely amazing. Most Chromebooks are a bit on the flimsy side and may have some bend near the keyboard. This thing has zero give in that area. It is very sturdy, but still very comfortable with the built-in silicon typing pads to rest your hands. Its extremely thin, so thin it cant even fit a USB on the side, which is easily solvable with the purchase of a USB type C dongle (roughly $33). Of course, Id have loved it if both the dongle and the Pixelbook pen were included instead of needing to be purchased separately, but I still find it very worth it. Tablet mode is extremely comfortable and seems to be magnetized once flipped around, which is very satisfying and gives it very complete feel. The silicon pads serve as a protector for the back of the monitor which is nice. I have read reviews about the bezel being too large, but I dont understand the problem. In my opinion, having a bezel-less screen just creates more issues for software errors. The bezel is a great size and I couldnt be happier with the screen size. Its more than enough. The keyboard has an extremely satisfying click and is one of the best keyboards Ive typed on. The click is satisfying, yet not annoyingly loud like some laptops. The software: The Chrome OS is amazing. I have always loved Google products and services and this computer only adds to that. Online reviews talk about multiple apps, and that being an issue. I dont see the problem at all. If the computer doesnt have the app, there are still "apps" in the finder that will open said app, but in a tab on Google Chrome. The problem is not the additional apps, as if you dont have the app and you press finder and type, for example, "Gmail", it will open a tab for Gmail. If you have the application downloaded from the Play Store, it will open the App. Also, theres a small logo on the built-in apps that shows that it is integral to the computer (i.e., going to open into a Chrome tab). The qualm I have is the apps themselves. Take OneNote, EverNote, and Google Docs for example. These are likely apps someone purchasing a Pixelbook would like to have work efficiently or at least better than the Chrome Tab version of the application (or why else would there be an application to download), but most do not. They are definitely functional, but the applications I mentioned work much better on Windows. Ive found myself using the Chrome Tab versions of most of these, and just getting used to EverNote and OneNote not being as robust. Common hotkeys with all three apps I mentioned do not work the same as they would both in a Chrome tab or when used as a Windows application. Again, not a huge issue, but I would love to have the functionality the program normally offers instead of using the Chrome tab version of most apps. These are small things, but things I notice and definitely things that make me change from using the application versions to the Chrome tab versions of these apps whereas I loved using these apps on a Windows computer. A small issue sometimes occurs with Chrome also. A gray bar becomes visible at the top of the screen when opening some apps (seems completely random) but fortunately has a very quick fix. If you type "chrome://restart" into a browser window, it will completely restart all instances of Google Chrome, get rid of the bar so you gain function of all the windows again, as well as restore all Chrome windows previously opened along with their tabs. Not a big deal, considering. Outside of this, everything I do on this computer has been smooth sailing. Battery Life / Charging: The battery life is absolutely ridiculous (in the good sense). It lasts an extremely long time. Id say roughly 12 hours when being fully employed. I have had several laptops (MSI, Alienware, other 2-in-1 laptops, Macbooks) and NONE of them lasted anywhere near as long as this computer. Chrome tabs, in particular, have always been battery eaters. You would think that the Pixelbook would run Chrome more efficiently than any competitors due to it being Chrome OS, and you would be correct in making this assumption. Just because its obvious, I still find it worth noting that no laptop Ive ever used has maintained this kind of battery life while having a large number of tabs open. Almost every time I use the computer I have around 15-20 tabs open as Im currently schooling and I use them sort of like different desktops, and the battery life still remains very longlasting. On top of that, it charges extremely fast with the USB type C charger. The charger is similar to a MacBook charger in size, so its great that it charges so well while not at all being bulky. I will give the only measurement Ive actually taken so as not to distort the facts. I plugged it in for 12 minutes at 29% and it charged the laptop to 49%, so the charging time is insane (Ill let you do the math until I actually time a full charge). Ill stop the review here for now. Will update later with any limitations I may find, as there are many things Ive yet to try on this computer, but given my computer science background, I will 100% push this machine to its limits and will report any findings in hopes that people reading this will find aid in their decision of whether or not to buy the Pixelbook. Cheers :)

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I had a Toshiba Chromebook 2, which I loved. It lasted for nearly 3 years and never missed a beat...but the fan got noisy and battery started to deteriorate...so I upgraded to the Google Pixel. It is brilliant. We run our entire business on older Toshiba Chromebooks and now that Ive tested the Pixelbook...we will gradually replace all machines with these. While it is more expensive...it is fast and reliable. My bluetooth mouse looses its connection after a few days, so I give the machine a reboot (takes 30 secs) and it is good to go for another few days. Screen resolution is awesome and the sound is much better than the old Toshiba. Unfortunately, I had to purchase my Chromebook from the US...as they are ridiculously expensive here in Australia. The Australia Tax...everything is more expensive here. Also the US plug did not work here...had to use an adapter. The screen took a bit of getting used to...it is almost square. But...it didnt take long for me to adjust. Not having a HDMI port was a surprise, as I use a second screen. I purchased a USB3-HDMI adapter and the second screen now works perfectly. Migrating from my old Chromebook to the Pixelbook was as simple as just logging on with my Google User id. Gotta love Google...transferring to a new machine is effortless. I suspect that I save 30-40 hours a year now that I use a Chromebook, instead of MS Windows. There is no virus protection concerns, no set up, no fan noise and no backing up of data. Love the Chromebook..and really love the Google PixelBook

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Ive had this device for several months now. Its only bugged out on me a few times and the scratchy audio playback has only happened twice and it wasnt bad. The device itself is built like a tank yet its super light. The palm rests dont gunk up or accumulate dirt (like some of the reviewers anticipated it would). Its super fast, the track pad is great, its easy to type on, its virtually impossible to get a virus on, and the display is awesome. The battery life (for me) averages out to be about 8 hours per charge. Also, the Google PlayStore apps work well for the most part. Theyre not perfect, but its definitely not horrific like a lot of early reviews were claiming. 9.5/10 would buy again. Also, dont waste your money on the more expensive models. The one with the i5/8GB RAM/128GB Storage is more than youll likely need.

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I have a pixel 2 phone and a Google home, and have been wanting to add a pixelbook for a while. Sadly, I am returning this product. Ive wanted to get either a tablet or a small device for work. I frequently go to talks, seminars, and routine meetings. I got the pen along with the device, and I love being able to write my notes and draw diagrams. The device is very slick, nice looking, and chrome os is fast and is sufficient for everything I need to do at work. Unfortunately, this thing crashes all the time. I frequently have to do a hardware resets for odd bugs, sometimes it just wont turn on even though its charged. For something that cost this much money, I expect it to be robust and free of this many bugs and apps randomly crashing for no apparent reason. This truly feels like a beta. And, Im a pretty simple user. Im not using linux, or remote desktops, or anything else to push this device past what its supposed to do. I use this device as intended, and its still not up to snuff. As a huge google fanboy, I hope those device gets better as future pixelbook come out, but for now I cant recommend it.

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I purchased this in Mid-November (2018) when it was on sale. I also owned the 1st generation model. This model is much lighter and has much, much better battery life. It has a great track-pad, nice screen, is very snappy in operation. These new models support Linux and Android apps, if you wish to use them, as well. It also has Google Assistant built-in and even has a dedicated key for it. It also has the new 4-in-1 modes: laptop, tablet, tent and entertainment. The keyboard is very nice. I like the rubberized pads (palm rests) and the glass on the back of the lid (which improves WiFi performance). I dont have the pen yet, but will probably get one at some point as that is a nice plus as well. The battery life is exceptional. I am getting the promised 8-10 hours of daily use. Also exceptional is the fast charging. I can fully recharge in 60-90 minutes with 60 or so typical. Thats truly exceptional and a very welcome improvement. (Plus, if needed, during a long day, a 15-min "touch up" recharge can keep you going for hours.) I have the i5 model and its plenty fast, have never noticed any lag at all. As with most Chromebooks, startup and shutdown is very fast. Plus you can just close the lid and it will sleep and consume very little battery power. So I generally just leave it on all day in this mode as I use it. Very convenient. It "wakes up" nearly instantaneously. As with all Chromebooks, you get good security, painless, quiet updates "behind the scenes" and no need for all that software you have on windows just to make it safe and reliable. Everything is quick, easy and nice. I am a longtime ChromeOS user, so I love it, and I think most will once they get through the short "adjustment" period. The fast painless operation is a delight. My only nit is that, as a photographer, I miss the built-in SD card reader most Chromebooks have traditionally had, but you can hook one up via USB-C, of course, and with the 128 GB SSD there is less need for it, of course. So, all in all, I am very pleased with this new model which is a delight to use and functions very well.

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