Asus Chromebook 14″ HD Anti-Glare Nano-Edge Display Laptop Computer,,Computers and Laptops

I needed a reliable back up to my dest top computer and I found this computer I am very satisfied with it I got a good deal and a very good little computer

I needed a reliable back up to my dest top computer and I found this computer I am very satisfied with it I got a good deal and a very good little computer

I always used to say Chromebooks are terrible and I’d never have one. The company I currently work for uses Chromebooks almost exclusively so I decided to get one to become familiar with them. After changing it to the beta release channel and installing the Debian 11 upgrade it has changed my mind and become a welcome addition to my everyday gadgets. The screen is decent, it has great battery life, and the speakers are great. It sounds better than my $1200 gaming laptop. For productivity tasks and gaming I still use the gaming laptop but for everything else I’ve found myself grabbing the Chromebook instead.

It’s a great product. Runs amazingly. No complaints

I love this better than a tablet and great when you don’t want to use your laptop. Small enough to take anywhere. Fast, great picture, I love this little book.

As described, fit screen perfectly, easy to install cant even tell its on there

Well, this is the second Audio One headphone I bought. The first has gotten a bit worn and I can hear a bit of static in the old ones now. So, headphones don’t really last too long, but these are well worth the $30 annually for a good set. Don’t buy Beats or Bose because this will do MOST of what those can do.Good luck on your headphone find! Start with this. You shouldn’t be disappointed.

I wanted an inexpensive computer to leave at work so I could check email and do some browsing on my breaks. This is it. Works great with my hot spot. Everything functions as it should. The case is heavy duty and seems sturdy. Not for gaming at all. No touch screen. Just a very basic computer. It meets my expectations for $120.

I wanted an inexpensive computer to leave at work so I could check email and do some browsing on my breaks. This is it. Works great with my hot spot. Everything functions as it should. The case is heavy duty and seems sturdy. Not for gaming at all. No touch screen. Just a very basic computer. It meets my expectations for $120.

I’ve purchased 3 of these. One reason for that is that they’re a bit fragile, and even a short drop tends to break them. Another reason is that I like them, and for the price, replacing them every so often isn’t so bad. I always have nice new ear pads, and a few extra cords around. I’ve only used mine in a studio DJ setting, so I’ve never used the mic, and I only wear them for a few minutes at a time. For that, they’re perfect.

It does not get better than this! My wife couldn’t be happier.Solid Chromebook!

It does not get better than this! My wife couldn’t be happier.Solid Chromebook!

Easy keys and screen use for simple purposes email checking balances etc

I am a longtime user of Windows laptops, Android phones, and Amazon Fire tablets. In the planning stages of an international vacation, I decided that I did not want to take a large laptop, nor did I want to use only a phone or tablet for web browsing and communications. This small, ruggedized, and relatively inexpensive Chromebook seemed like the perfect solution for my travel needs, which fall mostly into the categories of casual web browsing for travel and weather information, and the use of Google apps (maps, email, online voice and video comms, file storage). Getting it running was extremely easy, and Wi-Fi and processing power seem perfectly adequate for my needs. Storage is sufficient to accommodate pdf versions of my travel guides and maps for offline use. The charger will work internationally with an inexpensive adapter, and will fast charge our phones as well. This has been a great tech experience with no regrets so far. (I must disclose that I am receiving a warranty extension from ASUS for my feedback. That said, I take my Amazon reviews very seriously. I will report back if I encounter any issues before or during the holiday trip.)

Easy keys and screen use for simple purposes email checking balances etc

I am a longtime user of Windows laptops, Android phones, and Amazon Fire tablets. In the planning stages of an international vacation, I decided that I did not want to take a large laptop, nor did I want to use only a phone or tablet for web browsing and communications. This small, ruggedized, and relatively inexpensive Chromebook seemed like the perfect solution for my travel needs, which fall mostly into the categories of casual web browsing for travel and weather information, and the use of Google apps (maps, email, online voice and video comms, file storage). Getting it running was extremely easy, and Wi-Fi and processing power seem perfectly adequate for my needs. Storage is sufficient to accommodate pdf versions of my travel guides and maps for offline use. The charger will work internationally with an inexpensive adapter, and will fast charge our phones as well. This has been a great tech experience with no regrets so far. (I must disclose that I am receiving a warranty extension from ASUS for my feedback. That said, I take my Amazon reviews very seriously. I will report back if I encounter any issues before or during the holiday trip.)

I bought this for my 7th grader, who can be very rough with her things, and this has been perfect. The battery life is about 2 days, cause she will forge to put it on the charger. It was very easy to set up, and it is super durable, she will literally thow it in her back pack and run out the door. The price was not too bad either. If you have an easily distracted, accident prone child this computer is for them.

I bought this for my 7th grader, who can be very rough with her things, and this has been perfect. The battery life is about 2 days, cause she will forge to put it on the charger. It was very easy to set up, and it is super durable, she will literally thow it in her back pack and run out the door. The price was not too bad either. If you have an easily distracted, accident prone child this computer is for them.

I love Chromebooks. This one has been performing well for the past six months. The keyboard is a little louder than I would prefer, but is very easy to use. The silver plating on the keyboard and surrounding areas is peeling off, which is very disappointing. The screen doesn’t get as bright as I would like. I am enjoying the dark mode that is automatic on the browser and some apps as it ties to sunrise and sunset. The weight is acceptable. A little heavier than my last one. The look and feel isn’t as clean or sharp, but the function is good.

I love Chromebooks. This one has been performing well for the past six months. The keyboard is a little louder than I would prefer, but is very easy to use. The silver plating on the keyboard and surrounding areas is peeling off, which is very disappointing. The screen doesn’t get as bright as I would like. I am enjoying the dark mode that is automatic on the browser and some apps as it ties to sunrise and sunset. The weight is acceptable. A little heavier than my last one. The look and feel isn’t as clean or sharp, but the function is good.

I bought this product to replace an older Chromebook. It has a beautiful display, easy keyboard to type with, and the mouse works smoothly. It does what I need it to do without being splashy about it.

Even though it almost costed me $40 to buy these, they are really worth the price. I haven’t had any problems with them yet, I use them for pretty much anything like gaming, calls, even mowing my yard, or on the tractor. I like the fact that this product comes with a bag that the headphones can surprisingly fold up into, which can make for easy packing, or just to stick in your desk or under your night stand. The sound quality really amazes me, the bass is so good and clear to where you can enjoy it and still hear the actual music. It has Noise cancellation which is a big plus when gaming so you can only hear whats going on around you in game. There is no volume control on it which threw me off a little bit but nevertheless this is a really good product. The coolest thing about these that still amazes me for some reason is the fact that you can have two plugins at the same time to where you can hear your game and hook up another port to your phone so you can listen to your music or YouTube while playing games, the only downside to this is that when playing music and listening to the game is that other people can hear the music which is also weird. The Microphone, the mic is almost top of the line in quality there’s no fuzziness or distortion when chatting with your friends, the quality is really clean and smooth, which is why im writing this review, you wont get dogged on for having a bad mic, because everyone can hear you. It did take me awhile for some odd reason to figure out how the thing folds and unfolds because it does have to fit in a small bag, but it is convenient. That’s all I have to say about this.

I’ve only had this laptop for 4 days and besides the E and 5 button not working at all anymore, the laptop will continue to turn off and show a “chrome is missing or damaged error” unless i hold down any button on the keyboard. I paid for a new laptop (not refurbished from my knowledge), and I have not spilled or dropped it… which leaves me to believe that it’s an issue with the keyboard itself.

I’ve only had this laptop for 4 days and besides the E and 5 button not working at all anymore, the laptop will continue to turn off and show a “chrome is missing or damaged error” unless i hold down any button on the keyboard. I paid for a new laptop (not refurbished from my knowledge), and I have not spilled or dropped it… which leaves me to believe that it’s an issue with the keyboard itself.

I’ve never had a Chromebook so I was a little surprised at the reduced features like no Delete or Caps Lock keys. This is a small sacrifice for the amount of money I saved compared to the Mac I originally intended to buy.It may be me, but the track pad seems a little “loose”, like there is some play in it when I tap on it; again, compared to my old Mac.It’s only been a couple of weeks but so far I definitely recommend this Chromebook. I debated giving it a “5” and probably would have if I had any prior Chromebook experience at all.

Nothing good laptop

My daughter needed a laptop for college and this was perfect! She likes the touchscreen part.

Nothing good laptop

My daughter needed a laptop for college and this was perfect! She likes the touchscreen part.

Perfect for my dad who just wanted to be able to browse the internet, watch YouTube videos, and zoom with his granddaughter. My dad is not gentle with his belongings and this has held up to his abuses

I’ve had other ASUS chromebooks that I have really liked. This one, however, is always crashing when I try to use gmail on it. No other sites have an issue. It’s a major pain that I can’t use my email on this device, as it’s my primary reason for purchasing it. It’s very strange, and I’ve tried all I know to fix it. Unfortunately, this problem developed after my return window (or at least got worse so that I really noticed it). Otherwise, it’s been a fine machine.

I’ve had other ASUS chromebooks that I have really liked. This one, however, is always crashing when I try to use gmail on it. No other sites have an issue. It’s a major pain that I can’t use my email on this device, as it’s my primary reason for purchasing it. It’s very strange, and I’ve tried all I know to fix it. Unfortunately, this problem developed after my return window (or at least got worse so that I really noticed it). Otherwise, it’s been a fine machine.

You can charge it from either side. Quite handy. Came with a micro SD card. Also quite handy. Overall very good performance and lightweight. Very pleased.

You can charge it from either side. Quite handy. Came with a micro SD card. Also quite handy. Overall very good performance and lightweight. Very pleased.

Happy so far – but this is a low-spec chromebook with a low-res screen, and warnings from other reviewers to be very gentle with it. I parted with little more than a hundred greenbacks, which I found entirely fair. It’s now going for much higher than that, which is a rip-off for this basic machine. We’ll see how long this review is embraced, by way of a social experiment!

It’s really goodAnd for games

It’s really goodAnd for games

Instead, buy the CX1400CNA-AS44FV with IPS (worth the extra $20). This model looks blurry at the edges. Your face must be in precisely the correct place (within 5 degrees) for the whole screen to look right. Even slightly off-angle and the darks get darker, the lights get brighter (practically glow). I kept rubbing at my eyes, the screen was making me feel like they were unfocused, when in fact it is just a lousy display. No settings can be toggled to compensate for this deficiency. Every time I shifted my position, I would have to tilt the screen to compensate. I found myself sitting, unmoving, locked in place, just so it looked right and I wouldn’t again have to tilt the display. Not acceptable. Returned it after just a few hours of use.The computer itself is all hard angles and pointy edges. Not smooth, rounded (corners/sides) as were most other Asus’s I have owned. I will get used to it. Just be careful not to poke out anybody’s eyes with it, nor bang your knee against it.

For the features and the price I ended up buying two!!

For the features and the price I ended up buying two!!

peace of mind of protecting my laptop from scratches but its practically invisible. you cant tell the screensaver is there unless you run your finger along the edge there is a slight difference. the touchscreen is unaffected, however it took so long to apply. first of all the thing is so large it was difficult to get lined up perfectly, and once it was on straight it was a nightmare to get the lint/dust off. i ended up using some tape to get the dust bit by bit until it was on smooth. took me over an hour though.

Great chromebook for personal use at home. I just use it for checking email and some work at home, not for gaming. It works well, no issues so far. As long as there is good internet connection, it works with no issues.

Great chromebook for personal use at home. I just use it for checking email and some work at home, not for gaming. It works well, no issues so far. As long as there is good internet connection, it works with no issues.

Really straightforward packaging. Comes with three screen protectors and one small cleaning cloth. I would also recommend using a credit card or “squeegee” card to apply the protectors. I was able to get 0 bubbles by peeling open one side of the screen protector, applying and pressing out any bubbles, and then opening another section. I even was able to peal back up the protector a little to get bubbles out and still reapply the protector. As long as you clean the screen really well before the application and take your time to get out bubbles as you apply the protector; this will work just fine for you. Your screen but better and now I don’t have to worry about scratching my screen. Great for the price.

I love my new laptop, but the colors displayed on screen are just ok…not very vibrant, average for my own use, and can be fixed a bit tilting the screen at a better angle. I was online shopping and some of the clothing looked very light and images were not very saturated…I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone using this laptop for design etc. Good for basic home use, work use, student use. Beautiful background themes to choose from, excellent Google product use, and I easily installed a wireless bluetooth mouse. The screen is nice and large, especially at this price point of around $200. I bought this on Prime Day and I’m happy with my purchase. I can run Google with many tabs open without any problem. I do wish the speakers were a bit better. I listen to music on my phone or Alexa instead because the speakers are small and located in an odd place….right on the front outer rim of the laptop on either side of where it opens. I used it to watch a movie on my bed and had the volume at max and still had a little trouble hearing everything. The bedding also sometimes blocked the speakers because of their location. Basic volume on regular Zoom meetings, YouTube etc. would be fine. I recommend this laptop for normal basic use…it works fast, beautifully designed and has lots of ports which is very convenient. Another thing I wanted to mention is that it wouldn’t turn on at first even after charging for hours. I had googled many troubleshooting ideas and nothing seemed to work. Finally after cursing it and almost giving up, it magically made a “bling” sound and came on. Make sure to charge it from a wall outlet; not an extension cord or power strip. I think it was still in shipping mode, so I had to google what keys to hold down to make it boot up for the first time. There are just those few things, otherwise I love the laptop for my needs, and would recommend Asus products. Touchpad is very quick and responsive. It is not a touch screen monitor…I’m thinking people are confusing touch screen with touch pad. Keyboard is comfortable and battery has been long-running.

Just switched from a windows laptop, not a lot of difference if you are used to an android gadget. Not a lot to adjust from using other OS versions to chrome.As for the size, it is smaller than i anticipated. Switching from using asus vivobook flip 14″ to an asus chromebook 14″, i did not realize how the vertical size could be affecting.The keys are disappointing to me. I have not looked at the actual chromebook in stores, just went by what they look like on line. They look like cheap plastic. I had hoped they will have the same look as the body. The keys appear wider/bigger, more square than rounded. I have to adjust to the size/soacing of the keys.So far, after an hour of using the laptop it got real hot in the bottom..The audio is better than my other asus laptop bit still not as powerful or robust.I like that it is packaged well. And the dust bag is a good bonus for me. I want to keep my things pristine especially if they are reaaaally freakin expensive because i dont always indulge.

Ok, I realized going in that Chrome was oftentimes complained about and that this is a Chrome machine. I am not saying that Chrome is a crummy system, in fact, I find this computer runs Chrome fast and with very few hiccups. The problem is Chrome will not do many things I have come to expect from Windows or MS DOS [or whatever it’s now called]. It is fast and every halfway normal operation can be accomplished. But problems do arise. For example, I can put my own photo in as wallpaper for the opening menu but I can’t manipulate it. My photo was too large for the screen and that couldn’t be adjusted. I had to use their supplied pictures. Not a big deal, but that ability was something I expected and was stunned when the program refused to do it. There are several other “what’s going on “ moments, but I think you get the idea.This machine is fast. I surfed the web with no problems, looked all over Amazon, read books with numerous graphs and complex pictures, and looked over a few of my own photos without difficulty. The ASUS did load Google Documents and Documents then loaded my document files from the iCloud in nothing flat. To augment the internal memory I added a 256 gb microchip which was instantly recognized; however, I had to jump through some hoops when I realized nothing was being saved or moved to the chip. I found the needed adjustment in settings and I was moving ahead again. I really enjoy being able to add memory to the computer with a chip. I think this is a major advantage over machines that don’t have this capability.The machine does have a few problems that might be considered deal killers to other people. First, the keyboard is not good. It is difficult to type on and this resulted in numerous corrections having to be made. I have actually purchased another keyboard from logitech that hooks up to this computer by Bluetooth. Once this keyboard was successfully paired I was able to begin typing on what I consider to be a standard keyboard and many of my errors disappeared. I think the keyboard is a big problem with this computer. The backlight on the keyboard is almost useless. I will note that when the back light is at a low setting it is extremely difficult to see the keys. You can increase the brightness by pressing the alt key and then pressing the increase brightness key on the function keys across the top. The keyboard will increase substantially in brightness; however, I find that even at the brightest setting the keyboard is difficult to see. It may work well in low light conditions, but in a room with regular light it is still difficult to ascertain which key is which. An experience typist will not find this a problem, but to people like me I think it is a substantial problem.On the keyboard there is no caps lock. Why this was omitted is confusing. I find that using the caps lock is a constant undertaking. To achieve capitals the operator must press down the alt key and the little magnifying glass key then the machine will lock on cabs.The weight of the computer is nothing to sneeze at. While the number of pounds seems small, try holding it out at arms length for more than 10 seconds and you will quickly see the weight is a necessary consideration.In my opinion, the screen is sharp and easy to read. For more demanding screen details you will have to go up in price. Viewing movies isn’t a problem, in fact it looks quite nice.I have saved the worst for last. This particular computer from ASUS does not, stress not, have a good stylus associated with it. I bought a stylus from Amazon and had to be especially careful to use the exact number for this computer because there are other models very near in number to this model and styluses that work with other models will not work with this computer. The stylus I bought does not allow one to draw on this computer. The stylus badly lags when used for drawing, and the stylus is not accurate in placing the line. This may be the computer itself and not the stylus; however, this lack of ability to accurately use a stylus is nearly a deal killer for me. I am very used to using the Apple iPad Pro 12.5 inch. Not being able to use a stylus is almost incomprehensible to me at this stage of computer development. Having this ASUS computer only work with a very few highly specific styluses is most disappointing. It took me over a week to start looking for a stylus to pair with this machine. Had I known the limited availability of styluses, and the nearly usable nature of a stylus with this particular machine, I would not have purchased this laptop computer. I really enjoy drawing, and drawing on the iPad is one of my favorite hobbies. I was looking forward to being able to sketch on this ASUS computer, but I find this is impossible with this particular machine. It is unfortunate the previous reviews I read did not mention the difficulty in pairing a stylus with this computer and the horrible nature of the resulting stylus lines if a person attempted to draw. Amazon’s return policy on computers prevents me from returning this machine. I suppose I could trade this in somewhere and try again, but that would be quite expensive. The next machine will avoid Chrome and will definitely either come with a stylus or have a good stylus readily available. A machine that I cannot draw on is an anathema to me.AD2

Ok, I realized going in that Chrome was oftentimes complained about and that this is a Chrome machine. I am not saying that Chrome is a crummy system, in fact, I find this computer runs Chrome fast and with very few hiccups. The problem is Chrome will not do many things I have come to expect from Windows or MS DOS [or whatever it’s now called]. It is fast and every halfway normal operation can be accomplished. But problems do arise. For example, I can put my own photo in as wallpaper for the opening menu but I can’t manipulate it. My photo was too large for the screen and that couldn’t be adjusted. I had to use their supplied pictures. Not a big deal, but that ability was something I expected and was stunned when the program refused to do it. There are several other “what’s going on “ moments, but I think you get the idea.This machine is fast. I surfed the web with no problems, looked all over Amazon, read books with numerous graphs and complex pictures, and looked over a few of my own photos without difficulty. The ASUS did load Google Documents and Documents then loaded my document files from the iCloud in nothing flat. To augment the internal memory I added a 256 gb microchip which was instantly recognized; however, I had to jump through some hoops when I realized nothing was being saved or moved to the chip. I found the needed adjustment in settings and I was moving ahead again. I really enjoy being able to add memory to the computer with a chip. I think this is a major advantage over machines that don’t have this capability.The machine does have a few problems that might be considered deal killers to other people. First, the keyboard is not good. It is difficult to type on and this resulted in numerous corrections having to be made. I have actually purchased another keyboard from logitech that hooks up to this computer by Bluetooth. Once this keyboard was successfully paired I was able to begin typing on what I consider to be a standard keyboard and many of my errors disappeared. I think the keyboard is a big problem with this computer. The backlight on the keyboard is almost useless. I will note that when the back light is at a low setting it is extremely difficult to see the keys. You can increase the brightness by pressing the alt key and then pressing the increase brightness key on the function keys across the top. The keyboard will increase substantially in brightness; however, I find that even at the brightest setting the keyboard is difficult to see. It may work well in low light conditions, but in a room with regular light it is still difficult to ascertain which key is which. An experience typist will not find this a problem, but to people like me I think it is a substantial problem.On the keyboard there is no caps lock. Why this was omitted is confusing. I find that using the caps lock is a constant undertaking. To achieve capitals the operator must press down the alt key and the little magnifying glass key then the machine will lock on cabs.The weight of the computer is nothing to sneeze at. While the number of pounds seems small, try holding it out at arms length for more than 10 seconds and you will quickly see the weight is a necessary consideration.In my opinion, the screen is sharp and easy to read. For more demanding screen details you will have to go up in price. Viewing movies isn’t a problem, in fact it looks quite nice.I have saved the worst for last. This particular computer from ASUS does not, stress not, have a good stylus associated with it. I bought a stylus from Amazon and had to be especially careful to use the exact number for this computer because there are other models very near in number to this model and styluses that work with other models will not work with this computer. The stylus I bought does not allow one to draw on this computer. The stylus badly lags when used for drawing, and the stylus is not accurate in placing the line. This may be the computer itself and not the stylus; however, this lack of ability to accurately use a stylus is nearly a deal killer for me. I am very used to using the Apple iPad Pro 12.5 inch. Not being able to use a stylus is almost incomprehensible to me at this stage of computer development. Having this ASUS computer only work with a very few highly specific styluses is most disappointing. It took me over a week to start looking for a stylus to pair with this machine. Had I known the limited availability of styluses, and the nearly usable nature of a stylus with this particular machine, I would not have purchased this laptop computer. I really enjoy drawing, and drawing on the iPad is one of my favorite hobbies. I was looking forward to being able to sketch on this ASUS computer, but I find this is impossible with this particular machine. It is unfortunate the previous reviews I read did not mention the difficulty in pairing a stylus with this computer and the horrible nature of the resulting stylus lines if a person attempted to draw. Amazon’s return policy on computers prevents me from returning this machine. I suppose I could trade this in somewhere and try again, but that would be quite expensive. The next machine will avoid Chrome and will definitely either come with a stylus or have a good stylus readily available. A machine that I cannot draw on is an anathema to me.AD2

I got this for my wife and she really likes the way a Chromebook start right up with out waiting. It is not a touch screen, but she doesn’t need that. It is not powerful. Sometimes it can be a little bit pokey. Overall though, the performance is adequate and gives no problems.

I got this for my wife and she really likes the way a Chromebook start right up with out waiting. It is not a touch screen, but she doesn’t need that. It is not powerful. Sometimes it can be a little bit pokey. Overall though, the performance is adequate and gives no problems.

This Chromebook has blown me away. The sheer power alone in this thing is fantastic! Since ChromeOS is so lightweight, everything flows like a breeze. I have the model with the Intel Core i7 and 16gb ram with 512gb ssd storage and Intel Iris XE graphics (because they just released Steam Alpha on Chromebooks with these specifications.) Of course, it’s blazing fast. I love the build quality that Asus went for with this model. The all aluminum chassis makes the Chromebook feel with every bit of the price I paid for it. The screen gets pretty bright (bright enough for me, any way. I don’t like looking at blisteringly bright screens for too long.) The battery is pretty sweet. This model is really the Swiss army knife of Chromebooks. It also comes with the stylus built in, which is the only thing I didn’t care too much for. I ended up purchasing a different USI stylus that had a more natural shape to it than the square shape of the one that comes with the computer. I absolutely love the keyboard on this thing! The keys have very nice travel and are backlit! Other than that, you’ve got ChromeOS, which is fantastic in it’s own right. I can surf the web, download Android apps from the Play store, download Linux apps and run them, all the bases of ChromeOS are being covered. And with machines like these running it, it’s a home run experience!

I’ve owned close to 10 Chromebooks dating back to the CR-48, and this machine is easily the best of the bunch. It’s not quite as gorgeous as the Pixelbooks were, but it’s close. And the built-in stylus is a huge plus. I’m looking forward to using this Chromebook for the next several years. (EDIT: I am receiving a 90-day warranty extension from ASUS for providing my feedback.)

good

good

I bought two of these in Nov 2021 for my children for Christmas. I had no idea they were refurbished as it is NOT stated in the listing anywhere. I only opened them the week before Christmas to make sure they were charged and setup before wrapping them and was very surprised to find plain generic boxes inside of the Amazon shipping box and not asus labeled boxes and inside a paper congratulating me on my REFURBISHED chromebook. At this point I didn’t have time to return them and purchase actual NEW chromebooks so I crossed my fingers and gave them to my children. It is now March 8 and 1 of the 2 is dead, it won’t turn on or charge and I’ve tried multiple chargers so I’m now out nearly $200 and I have an upset kid. DO NOT PURCHASE these. They aren’t new and have no warranty.

I bought two of these in Nov 2021 for my children for Christmas. I had no idea they were refurbished as it is NOT stated in the listing anywhere. I only opened them the week before Christmas to make sure they were charged and setup before wrapping them and was very surprised to find plain generic boxes inside of the Amazon shipping box and not asus labeled boxes and inside a paper congratulating me on my REFURBISHED chromebook. At this point I didn’t have time to return them and purchase actual NEW chromebooks so I crossed my fingers and gave them to my children. It is now March 8 and 1 of the 2 is dead, it won’t turn on or charge and I’ve tried multiple chargers so I’m now out nearly $200 and I have an upset kid. DO NOT PURCHASE these. They aren’t new and have no warranty.

The Chromebook was totally not cleaned. Had to call tech support at Amazon for help. Problem solved loved the size of the Chromebook. Satisfied with the purchase.

The Chromebook was totally not cleaned. Had to call tech support at Amazon for help. Problem solved loved the size of the Chromebook. Satisfied with the purchase.

after a couple weeks it would not turn on until I opened the screen to the full 180 degrees and then it came back to life. I could not duplicate the problem so I am keeping a close eye on it and the warranty time frame. Registering it gave me a year of warranty so that is nice.

after a couple weeks it would not turn on until I opened the screen to the full 180 degrees and then it came back to life. I could not duplicate the problem so I am keeping a close eye on it and the warranty time frame. Registering it gave me a year of warranty so that is nice.

I have owned 3 Asus ZenBook laptops and they deliver great performance for less than $1,000. Unfortunately, they run Windows 10, which has become a bloated, clumsy OS with incessant updates that offer features I don’t want but can’t opt out of. Chromebooks offer freedom from the tyrany of Windows and the increasing complexity of Windows application. The Chromebook is simple and uncluttered. I have taken my time getting things set up, but everything is pretty straightforward. A few specifics: battery life is great, much better than my laptop; screen resolution is good but not as good as my laptop, which I continue to use to stream video; audio quality is impressive. I’m still getting used to the track pad. Like the rest of the machine it’s plastic and feels nothing like the track pad on my ZenBook. But using plastic obviously reduces both price and weight. I’ve had my Chromebook for about a month and would encourage anyone to give it a shot – it’s the best $200 I’ve spent recently.

The only reason I gave 4 stars is because this laptop is a little on the slow side, I’m used to my Dell desktop which is lightning fast. I use this laptop a LOT meaning everyday, sometimes for hours and hours. Last night it died on me. (see solution at the end) It wasn’t even a year old and I was ready to run out to Best Buy and buy an HP and give a nasty review about Asus on Amazon. Without all the detail, we tried everything to try to get it to start up and the only life it had was a tiny battery light that was lit on the side. In the morning I looked up the order and there was a link for product support – this gave me a phone number for Asus and someone actually answered! It turns out that the battery had put itself into “shipping” mode from letting it get to a certain low point scenario – I usually plug it in when I get a low battery warning, which happens quite a bit. All I can say is that I had my iphone charging from it and had multiple windows open while watching a YouTube video. The video started acting weird and the screen just went black. SO the solution is: Take everything out of any slots including wireless mouse USB, hold down the refresh button on the keyboard (arrow in a circle) then click the power button on and off while still holding down the refresh button. Wahlah!! It came to life. This brings the battery out of “shipping” mode. I think I’ll keep it.

The only reason I gave 4 stars is because this laptop is a little on the slow side, I’m used to my Dell desktop which is lightning fast. I use this laptop a LOT meaning everyday, sometimes for hours and hours. Last night it died on me. (see solution at the end) It wasn’t even a year old and I was ready to run out to Best Buy and buy an HP and give a nasty review about Asus on Amazon. Without all the detail, we tried everything to try to get it to start up and the only life it had was a tiny battery light that was lit on the side. In the morning I looked up the order and there was a link for product support – this gave me a phone number for Asus and someone actually answered! It turns out that the battery had put itself into “shipping” mode from letting it get to a certain low point scenario – I usually plug it in when I get a low battery warning, which happens quite a bit. All I can say is that I had my iphone charging from it and had multiple windows open while watching a YouTube video. The video started acting weird and the screen just went black. SO the solution is: Take everything out of any slots including wireless mouse USB, hold down the refresh button on the keyboard (arrow in a circle) then click the power button on and off while still holding down the refresh button. Wahlah!! It came to life. This brings the battery out of “shipping” mode. I think I’ll keep it.

Original Review BelowAfter nearly a year of intermittent internet its somehow corrected its self. The internet dropping is no longer an issue except when using data. So, ok I suppose.I bought 2 of these. 1 for my son and 1 for my husband. Both for school purposes.My husbands chromebook worked for a little while now the internet connection drops every 30 seconds. He can not get any work done. It’s only his laptop. No other device does this. Hours spent on forums do not fix the problem which seems to be hardware based.My son’s chromebook works just fine. A tad slow but not unexpected at the price.With these odds there is no point in buying this chromebook.

Original Review BelowAfter nearly a year of intermittent internet its somehow corrected its self. The internet dropping is no longer an issue except when using data. So, ok I suppose.I bought 2 of these. 1 for my son and 1 for my husband. Both for school purposes.My husbands chromebook worked for a little while now the internet connection drops every 30 seconds. He can not get any work done. It’s only his laptop. No other device does this. Hours spent on forums do not fix the problem which seems to be hardware based.My son’s chromebook works just fine. A tad slow but not unexpected at the price.With these odds there is no point in buying this chromebook.

I just recently bought it a week ago. I am very happy with it. Very light, user friendly and it’s basically a affordable business laptop. If you looking for something affordable, great for surfing YouTube or websites or for classes this is the one. I haven’t tried gaming on it so no idea. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase.

I just recently bought it a week ago. I am very happy with it. Very light, user friendly and it’s basically a affordable business laptop. If you looking for something affordable, great for surfing YouTube or websites or for classes this is the one. I haven’t tried gaming on it so no idea. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase.

My old ASUS Chromebook FLIP lasted beyond the support for the OS from Google so with regret I retired it and acquired this new Chromebook to replace it. It is a nice laptop with great display and keyboard. Not slow at all and meeting my needs but it isn’t the same as my old smaller, metal case FLIP which had the advantage of both size and a great touchscreen. You can buy FLIPs today but the price is considerably more than the equivalent without the 360 degree rotating touchscreen. For me this larger size (14″) is not as convenient as the smaller version with a 10.8″ screen and I miss the utility of the touch screen and feel of the metal case. This is a nice laptop I can use for work or play. The smaller FLIP was a unique tablet that fit in a pocket, was bomb proof and could go anywhere and do anything. I miss that light but bomb proof feel. I don’t miss the price tag ASUS demanded for it when I had to replace my old one.If you don’t need/want the more compact footprint of the smaller FLIP or the tablet functionality of any of the FLIPs this particular Chromebook laptop is a great, far cheaper option.

My old ASUS Chromebook FLIP lasted beyond the support for the OS from Google so with regret I retired it and acquired this new Chromebook to replace it. It is a nice laptop with great display and keyboard. Not slow at all and meeting my needs but it isn’t the same as my old smaller, metal case FLIP which had the advantage of both size and a great touchscreen. You can buy FLIPs today but the price is considerably more than the equivalent without the 360 degree rotating touchscreen. For me this larger size (14″) is not as convenient as the smaller version with a 10.8″ screen and I miss the utility of the touch screen and feel of the metal case. This is a nice laptop I can use for work or play. The smaller FLIP was a unique tablet that fit in a pocket, was bomb proof and could go anywhere and do anything. I miss that light but bomb proof feel. I don’t miss the price tag ASUS demanded for it when I had to replace my old one.If you don’t need/want the more compact footprint of the smaller FLIP or the tablet functionality of any of the FLIPs this particular Chromebook laptop is a great, far cheaper option.

I will start with who I am because it could help you make your decision. I didn’t go to school for anything, yet I own a very web tech related company. My father, who did go to school for electrical engineering, taught me to buy things made out of metal. Things that will last decades and that you can pass down to your offspring. I have his drill. I will pass it down to my own son, who will probably pass it down to his son. When I buy things I dig deep. I rarely buy a dud. I often find something that was out of stock because I thought about it and went to another part of the store where somebody misplaced the item.So let’s talk about this Chromebook.I would tell you to buy it. Yes, I gave it four stars, but for a good reason.Screen. My regular computer has a massive screen. My go-to laptop has a massive screen. This one is big, but resolution wise? It’s missing a lot on the right and a good amount towards the bottom. But seriously, it’s bright enough, it’s big enough, and it is a touch screen. Now I want computer to do this! One half of the star I removed was because it isn’t as responsive as the touch screen on my Dell laptop. But it ain’t fuzzy like people said. I use tech. This is just fine. Oh, it ships with a crappy resolution by default. You have to set it higher and it will be nice and crisp.Okay. Wow. So I now know why people had issues with the screen. Settings, search display. Change resolution. I liked it before. Now I love it! Strike my previous comments. It has plenty of real estate to the right and bottom. The default is to have it work for Grandma. I made it native 1920×1080 and it’s perfect! But wait! There’s more! Literally. It will do 2194×1234. Hmm. But I liked the native better.Keyboard. It’s backlit. But the etching on the keys is too deep. So looking directly down on it, it’s pretty. But looking from a normal angle? Completely trashed. Luckily I type without looking at keys. But! Some keys are off. Where they feel they should be. But, whatever. If you can type without looking, you’ll adapt quickly.Speed. This thing is peppy! Installing apps is very fast. Almost instant. Swapping between apps, etc is quick.Battery. This thing lasts forever. Granted I don’t watch a lot of video. But really, I’ll get like 6 hours of work time unplugged! And I’m all over this thing. I plugged my pixel into it and it quick charged my pixel. Took about 16% of the battery to do it. My pixel needed about 70% charge.Track pad is alright. Says it tries to ignore your palm. I found that it found it here and there. I prefer a mouse anyway.Sound. It ain’t a gaming laptop. Sound wasn’t great. But it wasn’t total crap either. It works. It’s fine. It’s a Chromebook, not Beats by Dre.It will be updated with new chrome os updates for years. So no worries there.Linux is now part of the OS. So pretty cool.You can have multiple users. Like windows they are in their own compartment.Lots of keyboard shortcuts to look up in Google. Make it very fast to get around this thing.Overall I would say you should buy this. I got the 8 gig RAM version. I got it to use while traveling in our van across country. My Dell drew way to much power for a cigarette lighter inverter. This thing just rocks.Do get the Amazon basics bag to carry it. Don’t worry about the straps issue there. This thing is light. So it won’t cause the straps issues.When you register it for the warranty with Asus you have to select the commercial NB product type. Apparently this is the company level netbook.

I will start with who I am because it could help you make your decision. I didn’t go to school for anything, yet I own a very web tech related company. My father, who did go to school for electrical engineering, taught me to buy things made out of metal. Things that will last decades and that you can pass down to your offspring. I have his drill. I will pass it down to my own son, who will probably pass it down to his son. When I buy things I dig deep. I rarely buy a dud. I often find something that was out of stock because I thought about it and went to another part of the store where somebody misplaced the item.So let’s talk about this Chromebook.I would tell you to buy it. Yes, I gave it four stars, but for a good reason.Screen. My regular computer has a massive screen. My go-to laptop has a massive screen. This one is big, but resolution wise? It’s missing a lot on the right and a good amount towards the bottom. But seriously, it’s bright enough, it’s big enough, and it is a touch screen. Now I want computer to do this! One half of the star I removed was because it isn’t as responsive as the touch screen on my Dell laptop. But it ain’t fuzzy like people said. I use tech. This is just fine. Oh, it ships with a crappy resolution by default. You have to set it higher and it will be nice and crisp.Okay. Wow. So I now know why people had issues with the screen. Settings, search display. Change resolution. I liked it before. Now I love it! Strike my previous comments. It has plenty of real estate to the right and bottom. The default is to have it work for Grandma. I made it native 1920×1080 and it’s perfect! But wait! There’s more! Literally. It will do 2194×1234. Hmm. But I liked the native better.Keyboard. It’s backlit. But the etching on the keys is too deep. So looking directly down on it, it’s pretty. But looking from a normal angle? Completely trashed. Luckily I type without looking at keys. But! Some keys are off. Where they feel they should be. But, whatever. If you can type without looking, you’ll adapt quickly.Speed. This thing is peppy! Installing apps is very fast. Almost instant. Swapping between apps, etc is quick.Battery. This thing lasts forever. Granted I don’t watch a lot of video. But really, I’ll get like 6 hours of work time unplugged! And I’m all over this thing. I plugged my pixel into it and it quick charged my pixel. Took about 16% of the battery to do it. My pixel needed about 70% charge.Track pad is alright. Says it tries to ignore your palm. I found that it found it here and there. I prefer a mouse anyway.Sound. It ain’t a gaming laptop. Sound wasn’t great. But it wasn’t total crap either. It works. It’s fine. It’s a Chromebook, not Beats by Dre.It will be updated with new chrome os updates for years. So no worries there.Linux is now part of the OS. So pretty cool.You can have multiple users. Like windows they are in their own compartment.Lots of keyboard shortcuts to look up in Google. Make it very fast to get around this thing.Overall I would say you should buy this. I got the 8 gig RAM version. I got it to use while traveling in our van across country. My Dell drew way to much power for a cigarette lighter inverter. This thing just rocks.Do get the Amazon basics bag to carry it. Don’t worry about the straps issue there. This thing is light. So it won’t cause the straps issues.When you register it for the warranty with Asus you have to select the commercial NB product type. Apparently this is the company level netbook.

I’m not completely new to Chromebooks, my Children both use them for school and I’ve messed around with them off and on for a couple of years. Recently my 10 year old Macbook’s battery finally gave up and I found myself in the market for a new laptop.I grabbed my son’s Asus 302 and started messing with it to see what I could get it to do, and very soon realized that a Chromebook could meet the vast majority, if not all, of my day to day needs:Since my Son’s 302 has held up so well for over two school years of daily use… I decided to give this 434 a try. I’m really glad I did.The Great:The screen and itty-bitty bezel gives a whole lot of extra screen space in a size only a fraction larger than my Boy’s 302. It’s a 14 inch screen in what is basically a 13 inch body. The resolution, color fidelity and brightness are 100% fine for me. In strong sunlight the screen struggles – but – really… I can’t see how I could ding it for that. I ride a shuttle bus to work with tinted windows. If full sun is shining through the windows directly on the screen it gets washed out. For the price I do not think you could expect much more. If the light is not shining directly on the screen I’ve found it fairly easy to adjust brightness to compensate.Size wise it is 100% perfect for me – maybe a little tight on that shuttle, but I’ll take the extra screen any day.Processing power and memory:Well – I have to say I wish I could have gotten a model with 8G or more memory… That being said – I have no real regrets with the base model. So far I can open as many tabs as I ever wanted to have open while also running a android app or two – sometimes even a Linux app or two, and I have not yet encountered a situation where I felt the machine was struggling.The battery – OMG the battery!I’m coming from a 10 year old Macbook – so needless to say I was shocked on my first full day of using this thing…In the morning I got on the Shuttle (free shuttle WiFi – FTW!) for my hour long ride to the office – check my e-mail and then signed in to my desktop at work via Citrix/Chrome and started my workday. Once at the office I spend another few hours working from a couch in the atrium instead of at my desk just enjoying that I can do this without worrying about where the nearest outlet is anymore. Back on the shuttle and on the way home some last second work tasks and then streaming some YouTube and surfing. Back at home – more web surfing, streaming some TV shows to catch up. Some genealogy research, played with a python script for awhile, and finally off to bed around 11. The dang battery was still at 58%. A month of day to day use says the battery life advertised is true in real life.Cant praise the battery enough.”Tent” configuration works awesome for streaming video in bed and the speaker placement works well like this to give really good audio.What’s kinda great:”Tablet” configuration… It works and the speaker placement complements this setup as well – the only downside is this thing – for my taste -is really just toooooo big for really comfortable use as a tablet – except “flipping” it so the keyboard lays in your lap or on a surface with the screen angled works well in that use case… Overall on this point – I’m still glad I paid extra to have a device with this flexibility. I have encountered situations where I have used each of the set-ups.Android apps… Sadly and I hope this gets better with time – many Android apps I’d like to use are not working on my Chromebook. I see the “Not compatible with your device” message on the Play Store – or install the app and find it does not work properly. Overall – The Android app on Chrome experience is Great-ish and I hope it continues to improve.Linux(!)Linux support is BETA. But – Great-ish. LOL. I’ve installed “Gramps” for some Family Tree research… LibreOffice Suite for a offline MS Office like set of tools, and PyCharm IDE for working with Python. All of these tools are working so far with little difficulties that I will not “complain” about at all – these tools work for me perfectly most of the time and perform well on the device. It is not a perfect world and I remind you that Linux support is “Beta”. Set expectations accordingly and if you like Linux – I think you will like it on a Chromebook!What’s OK:The keyboard… Key travel, placement, “click-y” feel are awesome for me. The OK part is the odd-ish design decision to color the keys silver with translucent white letters… In certain lighting situations the letters on the keys – sort of vanish… In nearly every case I’ve been able to work around this issue by adjusting the keyboard backlight – actually most of the time I have the key backlight turned off completely. This makes the letters look almost black in color – unless there is strong light on the keyboard… That’s when the white color of the letters make them nearly vanish against the silver background of the keys. In any other lighting situation you can adjust the keyboard backlight to get at least a very workable if not 100% perfect experience – IMHO. In a dark setting the backlight works fine and makes working in very dim or dark conditions easy.The trackpad… For me. It is 100% OK… Not something I’d call awesome – and not anything that is bothering me after a month of daily use.So this is where my list ends. I actually can not think of a single thing I’d say is bad or sucks. I imagine if I got into really compute/io heavy video or graphics editing, or the giant pivot table from hell , or maybe the dreaded 100 page Powerpoint – I could make the thing struggle… Note I am NOT a gamer either… I just have to say that for at least 95% of what I do daily… This is all I need. I keep waiting on it to disappoint me – and it has not yet – quite the opposite.One final-final note: I dismissed Chrome OS for years thinking it was only good with a always on and fast internet connection. That might have once been true but I think not anymore. Getting offline work (or playing) done without a always on internet connection is entirely possible with minimal planning in advance. In my humble opinion using a Chromebook without the internet connection is just as doable as working with any Windows or Mac based product when you are offline.

I’m not completely new to Chromebooks, my Children both use them for school and I’ve messed around with them off and on for a couple of years. Recently my 10 year old Macbook’s battery finally gave up and I found myself in the market for a new laptop.I grabbed my son’s Asus 302 and started messing with it to see what I could get it to do, and very soon realized that a Chromebook could meet the vast majority, if not all, of my day to day needs:Since my Son’s 302 has held up so well for over two school years of daily use… I decided to give this 434 a try. I’m really glad I did.The Great:The screen and itty-bitty bezel gives a whole lot of extra screen space in a size only a fraction larger than my Boy’s 302. It’s a 14 inch screen in what is basically a 13 inch body. The resolution, color fidelity and brightness are 100% fine for me. In strong sunlight the screen struggles – but – really… I can’t see how I could ding it for that. I ride a shuttle bus to work with tinted windows. If full sun is shining through the windows directly on the screen it gets washed out. For the price I do not think you could expect much more. If the light is not shining directly on the screen I’ve found it fairly easy to adjust brightness to compensate.Size wise it is 100% perfect for me – maybe a little tight on that shuttle, but I’ll take the extra screen any day.Processing power and memory:Well – I have to say I wish I could have gotten a model with 8G or more memory… That being said – I have no real regrets with the base model. So far I can open as many tabs as I ever wanted to have open while also running a android app or two – sometimes even a Linux app or two, and I have not yet encountered a situation where I felt the machine was struggling.The battery – OMG the battery!I’m coming from a 10 year old Macbook – so needless to say I was shocked on my first full day of using this thing…In the morning I got on the Shuttle (free shuttle WiFi – FTW!) for my hour long ride to the office – check my e-mail and then signed in to my desktop at work via Citrix/Chrome and started my workday. Once at the office I spend another few hours working from a couch in the atrium instead of at my desk just enjoying that I can do this without worrying about where the nearest outlet is anymore. Back on the shuttle and on the way home some last second work tasks and then streaming some YouTube and surfing. Back at home – more web surfing, streaming some TV shows to catch up. Some genealogy research, played with a python script for awhile, and finally off to bed around 11. The dang battery was still at 58%. A month of day to day use says the battery life advertised is true in real life.Cant praise the battery enough.”Tent” configuration works awesome for streaming video in bed and the speaker placement works well like this to give really good audio.What’s kinda great:”Tablet” configuration… It works and the speaker placement complements this setup as well – the only downside is this thing – for my taste -is really just toooooo big for really comfortable use as a tablet – except “flipping” it so the keyboard lays in your lap or on a surface with the screen angled works well in that use case… Overall on this point – I’m still glad I paid extra to have a device with this flexibility. I have encountered situations where I have used each of the set-ups.Android apps… Sadly and I hope this gets better with time – many Android apps I’d like to use are not working on my Chromebook. I see the “Not compatible with your device” message on the Play Store – or install the app and find it does not work properly. Overall – The Android app on Chrome experience is Great-ish and I hope it continues to improve.Linux(!)Linux support is BETA. But – Great-ish. LOL. I’ve installed “Gramps” for some Family Tree research… LibreOffice Suite for a offline MS Office like set of tools, and PyCharm IDE for working with Python. All of these tools are working so far with little difficulties that I will not “complain” about at all – these tools work for me perfectly most of the time and perform well on the device. It is not a perfect world and I remind you that Linux support is “Beta”. Set expectations accordingly and if you like Linux – I think you will like it on a Chromebook!What’s OK:The keyboard… Key travel, placement, “click-y” feel are awesome for me. The OK part is the odd-ish design decision to color the keys silver with translucent white letters… In certain lighting situations the letters on the keys – sort of vanish… In nearly every case I’ve been able to work around this issue by adjusting the keyboard backlight – actually most of the time I have the key backlight turned off completely. This makes the letters look almost black in color – unless there is strong light on the keyboard… That’s when the white color of the letters make them nearly vanish against the silver background of the keys. In any other lighting situation you can adjust the keyboard backlight to get at least a very workable if not 100% perfect experience – IMHO. In a dark setting the backlight works fine and makes working in very dim or dark conditions easy.The trackpad… For me. It is 100% OK… Not something I’d call awesome – and not anything that is bothering me after a month of daily use.So this is where my list ends. I actually can not think of a single thing I’d say is bad or sucks. I imagine if I got into really compute/io heavy video or graphics editing, or the giant pivot table from hell , or maybe the dreaded 100 page Powerpoint – I could make the thing struggle… Note I am NOT a gamer either… I just have to say that for at least 95% of what I do daily… This is all I need. I keep waiting on it to disappoint me – and it has not yet – quite the opposite.One final-final note: I dismissed Chrome OS for years thinking it was only good with a always on and fast internet connection. That might have once been true but I think not anymore. Getting offline work (or playing) done without a always on internet connection is entirely possible with minimal planning in advance. In my humble opinion using a Chromebook without the internet connection is just as doable as working with any Windows or Mac based product when you are offline.

I haunted the Asus and Amazon websites waiting for the right oppotunity to grab the 8gb/64gb version of this chromebook. I really wanted the 8gb/128gb version, but I can’t find that anywhere and Amazon seems to be the only vendor selling this chromebook with 8gb ram. Before, I had the Asus c302 with 4gb of ram/64 gb storage, and that was an awesome chromebook. After giving it to a relative, I decided it was time for an upgrade, and I went with the Asus c434 with 8gb of ram.So, after working with this chromebook for a month, overall I am happy. This chromebook is so beautifully designed. The sleek aluminum casing, the hinges that slightly lift up the keyboard, and the screen itself are a joy to behold. This version of the Asus chromebook is about a pound heavier (about 3.3 lbs) than the previous version (about 2.4 lbs) but the chromebook is so well balanced that the additional weight is hardly noticeable (to me). I love using Chrome OS. I use Chrome OS everyday, and I use my chromebook more than my iPad and way more than my Windows laptop (which has been relegated to a cabinet). The keyboard is really easy to type on. And, although some reviewers have dinged the touchpad, I find it very easy to use. The battery life of 8-10 hours is as advertised, so no complaints there. The laptop is very snappy. I open up numerous tabs all the time and this laptop doesn’t skip a beat, so that is terrific. In addition to the usb-c ports on either side of the laptop, there is a usb-a port, a welcome addition.But like I said, i’s not perfect, so I couldn’t give it 5 stars and the 4 stars are really more like 3.5 to 3.75 stars. Asus has broken some things in its drive to upgrade and improve its flagship chromebook:The decision to make the keyboard silver instead of black was misguided. It looks great, but as many others have stated, with the backlight on, it is unnecessarily difficult to make out the keys. This isn’t a dealbreaker for me, however. I just turn off the backlight. Another solution that I haven’t seen mentioned is using a keyboard cover. Mubuy makes a keyboard cover skin for the Asus c302. It’s sold on Amazon for about $7.99. This cover also fits the Asus c434. The only hiccup is that the cover designates the laptop lock key as the power on/off key. Other than that, the cover fits the c434 like a charm. It not only solves the backlight issue, but it also keeps debris out of the chromebook keyboard. Problem solved!Others have mentioned that the microsd card slot does not allow a card to fit flush. I don’t know how Asus missed this. I have found over the last month that several times I have dislodged the card, without intending to. Because this laptop has only 64 gb of storage, being able to securely keep data on a higher capacity microsd card is of the utmost importance. In the c302, the card fit all the way into the spring-loaded slot. Never once was it unintentionally dislodged. Boo Hiss, Asus!While the screen is beautiful to look at, it glitches once in awhile. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it shouldn’t be happening at all. I don’t remember this issue with the Asus c302. There are times when I am working with a webpage and the screen will just go black – for no apparent reason. It seems to happen when I am using the keyboard and trying to enter data. It doesn’t seem to happen when I’m watching a video or playing a game – as far as I can tell. It happened as I was writing this review! I don’t lose my info when this happens, but it is troubling, nonetheless.The touchscreen can become nonresponsive, again for no apparent reason. The mouse works consistently, so I can keep working, even if the touchscreen stops. The touchscreen works most of the time, but this “glitch” is troublesome. The screen blackouts and the touchscreen issue alsmost made me send this chromebook back to Amazon. But while these defects are an issue, they happen seldom enough that I decided to live with them. But these issues are why this laptop doesn’t merit 5, or really even 4 stars, unfortunately. The quality control at Asus manufacturing needs to be improved, ASAP.Another issue is Android apps. While this is not the fault of Asus, I have to mention that playing and working well with Android apps has still got a ways to go. These issues/problems keep a good experience from becoming great.But what can I tell you?? In spite of these issues, I love using this chromebook. I use it practically every day. And, at the end of the day, I’m glad I bought it (mostly 😉 ).

I haunted the Asus and Amazon websites waiting for the right oppotunity to grab the 8gb/64gb version of this chromebook. I really wanted the 8gb/128gb version, but I can’t find that anywhere and Amazon seems to be the only vendor selling this chromebook with 8gb ram. Before, I had the Asus c302 with 4gb of ram/64 gb storage, and that was an awesome chromebook. After giving it to a relative, I decided it was time for an upgrade, and I went with the Asus c434 with 8gb of ram.So, after working with this chromebook for a month, overall I am happy. This chromebook is so beautifully designed. The sleek aluminum casing, the hinges that slightly lift up the keyboard, and the screen itself are a joy to behold. This version of the Asus chromebook is about a pound heavier (about 3.3 lbs) than the previous version (about 2.4 lbs) but the chromebook is so well balanced that the additional weight is hardly noticeable (to me). I love using Chrome OS. I use Chrome OS everyday, and I use my chromebook more than my iPad and way more than my Windows laptop (which has been relegated to a cabinet). The keyboard is really easy to type on. And, although some reviewers have dinged the touchpad, I find it very easy to use. The battery life of 8-10 hours is as advertised, so no complaints there. The laptop is very snappy. I open up numerous tabs all the time and this laptop doesn’t skip a beat, so that is terrific. In addition to the usb-c ports on either side of the laptop, there is a usb-a port, a welcome addition.But like I said, i’s not perfect, so I couldn’t give it 5 stars and the 4 stars are really more like 3.5 to 3.75 stars. Asus has broken some things in its drive to upgrade and improve its flagship chromebook:The decision to make the keyboard silver instead of black was misguided. It looks great, but as many others have stated, with the backlight on, it is unnecessarily difficult to make out the keys. This isn’t a dealbreaker for me, however. I just turn off the backlight. Another solution that I haven’t seen mentioned is using a keyboard cover. Mubuy makes a keyboard cover skin for the Asus c302. It’s sold on Amazon for about $7.99. This cover also fits the Asus c434. The only hiccup is that the cover designates the laptop lock key as the power on/off key. Other than that, the cover fits the c434 like a charm. It not only solves the backlight issue, but it also keeps debris out of the chromebook keyboard. Problem solved!Others have mentioned that the microsd card slot does not allow a card to fit flush. I don’t know how Asus missed this. I have found over the last month that several times I have dislodged the card, without intending to. Because this laptop has only 64 gb of storage, being able to securely keep data on a higher capacity microsd card is of the utmost importance. In the c302, the card fit all the way into the spring-loaded slot. Never once was it unintentionally dislodged. Boo Hiss, Asus!While the screen is beautiful to look at, it glitches once in awhile. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it shouldn’t be happening at all. I don’t remember this issue with the Asus c302. There are times when I am working with a webpage and the screen will just go black – for no apparent reason. It seems to happen when I am using the keyboard and trying to enter data. It doesn’t seem to happen when I’m watching a video or playing a game – as far as I can tell. It happened as I was writing this review! I don’t lose my info when this happens, but it is troubling, nonetheless.The touchscreen can become nonresponsive, again for no apparent reason. The mouse works consistently, so I can keep working, even if the touchscreen stops. The touchscreen works most of the time, but this “glitch” is troublesome. The screen blackouts and the touchscreen issue alsmost made me send this chromebook back to Amazon. But while these defects are an issue, they happen seldom enough that I decided to live with them. But these issues are why this laptop doesn’t merit 5, or really even 4 stars, unfortunately. The quality control at Asus manufacturing needs to be improved, ASAP.Another issue is Android apps. While this is not the fault of Asus, I have to mention that playing and working well with Android apps has still got a ways to go. These issues/problems keep a good experience from becoming great.But what can I tell you?? In spite of these issues, I love using this chromebook. I use it practically every day. And, at the end of the day, I’m glad I bought it (mostly 😉 ).

I was really looking forward to this Chromebook when it was first announced back at CES, but due to some glaring issues explained below, I ultimately returned it.First off, it is as others have mentioned, a lot heavier than it looks. At 3.1lbs, it’s a good half pound heavier than my wife’s Zenbook from 2015. It’s a little thicker than I anticipated, though I suspect that’s to support the various ways you can prop the device up. The weight made tablet mode unwieldy so I didn’t use it often. Overall the build quality felt rather premium.The screen was fantastic. The 14 inch display is probably the stand out feature. Watching media is a joy with it’s 16:9 aspect ratio. Viewing angles were excellent and I had no problems with display brightness or colour accuracy. The one major issue I did have and one of the reasons I ultimately returned it was due to a horizontal ‘screen flicker’ that occurred when scrolling through a webpage. The ‘flicker’ took up about an inch of the screen and would show my wallpaper background. It would happen for a split second, but it was enough to drive me a little nuts as I couldn’t reproduce the problem. This happened even when scrolling in portrait view in tablet mode. I couldn’t tell if it was a hardware issue or a software issue, but doing some searching, it appears others face the same problem. I can say the issue persisted in V74, V75 and V76 dev channel (the last version ultimately broke the way Android apps worked, so that was unacceptable to begin with).Keyboard and trackpad were fine. There was enough key travel that typing was not an issue, but the left ‘Ctrl’ key was not properly installed, so it kept sticking. I eventually fixed it, but I shouldn’t have had to deal with that on a brand new device. As others have mentioned, the keyboard can be a little hard to read, especially with the backlight on in a well lit room. Turning off the backlight made it better, but I wish they stuck with black keys and white lettering for better contrast. Speaking of the backlight, it didn’t feel even as some spots were brighter than others. When turning the computer on initially, the backlight would flicker as well (resolved by adjusting brightness – but again, I shouldn’t need to do that).The trackpad is plastic, so it’s not smooth to the touch as glass would be. It was acceptable, but at times it would register a click when I lifted my finger which got annoying. Another bug I ran into was when waking from sleep, sometimes the mouse cursor disappeared and I was forced to use the touchscreen as the trackpad became inoperable. I had to either restart or flip it into a different mode then back again which suggested it was probably a software issue.Speaking of the touchscreen, again, it was fine but animations were not as smooth as say on an iPad. Scrolling lead to some jelly effects that wasn’t particularly pleasant to the eye. Using this as a tablet was not the best experience, sadly.Last thing I’ll mention is the speakers. They’re down-firing and I didn’t find they got particularly loud. It sounded a little ‘tinny’ lacking any sort of bass and really only usable when working on a flat surface. Trying to listen to something with the laptop on my lap was difficult. Since they’re down-firing speakers they get covered when in tablet mode so they became useless. Only tent/stand mode made it acceptable.I’m disappointed I came across so many issues/bugs with this device. I really wanted to love it, but not knowing if the issues would be fixed by a software update, or if I got a defective device, ultimately lead me to return it. It’s a shame as this device is being touted as the successor to the C302 but I don’t think it’s there yet. I would consider the C302 instead, but updates are only guaranteed until 2022 whereas this one would be updated until 2024, as it goes with Chromebooks. I may consider purchasing this again if the issues are worked out, but until then I’ll probably consider the next iteration.

I was really looking forward to this Chromebook when it was first announced back at CES, but due to some glaring issues explained below, I ultimately returned it.First off, it is as others have mentioned, a lot heavier than it looks. At 3.1lbs, it’s a good half pound heavier than my wife’s Zenbook from 2015. It’s a little thicker than I anticipated, though I suspect that’s to support the various ways you can prop the device up. The weight made tablet mode unwieldy so I didn’t use it often. Overall the build quality felt rather premium.The screen was fantastic. The 14 inch display is probably the stand out feature. Watching media is a joy with it’s 16:9 aspect ratio. Viewing angles were excellent and I had no problems with display brightness or colour accuracy. The one major issue I did have and one of the reasons I ultimately returned it was due to a horizontal ‘screen flicker’ that occurred when scrolling through a webpage. The ‘flicker’ took up about an inch of the screen and would show my wallpaper background. It would happen for a split second, but it was enough to drive me a little nuts as I couldn’t reproduce the problem. This happened even when scrolling in portrait view in tablet mode. I couldn’t tell if it was a hardware issue or a software issue, but doing some searching, it appears others face the same problem. I can say the issue persisted in V74, V75 and V76 dev channel (the last version ultimately broke the way Android apps worked, so that was unacceptable to begin with).Keyboard and trackpad were fine. There was enough key travel that typing was not an issue, but the left ‘Ctrl’ key was not properly installed, so it kept sticking. I eventually fixed it, but I shouldn’t have had to deal with that on a brand new device. As others have mentioned, the keyboard can be a little hard to read, especially with the backlight on in a well lit room. Turning off the backlight made it better, but I wish they stuck with black keys and white lettering for better contrast. Speaking of the backlight, it didn’t feel even as some spots were brighter than others. When turning the computer on initially, the backlight would flicker as well (resolved by adjusting brightness – but again, I shouldn’t need to do that).The trackpad is plastic, so it’s not smooth to the touch as glass would be. It was acceptable, but at times it would register a click when I lifted my finger which got annoying. Another bug I ran into was when waking from sleep, sometimes the mouse cursor disappeared and I was forced to use the touchscreen as the trackpad became inoperable. I had to either restart or flip it into a different mode then back again which suggested it was probably a software issue.Speaking of the touchscreen, again, it was fine but animations were not as smooth as say on an iPad. Scrolling lead to some jelly effects that wasn’t particularly pleasant to the eye. Using this as a tablet was not the best experience, sadly.Last thing I’ll mention is the speakers. They’re down-firing and I didn’t find they got particularly loud. It sounded a little ‘tinny’ lacking any sort of bass and really only usable when working on a flat surface. Trying to listen to something with the laptop on my lap was difficult. Since they’re down-firing speakers they get covered when in tablet mode so they became useless. Only tent/stand mode made it acceptable.I’m disappointed I came across so many issues/bugs with this device. I really wanted to love it, but not knowing if the issues would be fixed by a software update, or if I got a defective device, ultimately lead me to return it. It’s a shame as this device is being touted as the successor to the C302 but I don’t think it’s there yet. I would consider the C302 instead, but updates are only guaranteed until 2022 whereas this one would be updated until 2024, as it goes with Chromebooks. I may consider purchasing this again if the issues are worked out, but until then I’ll probably consider the next iteration.

I purchased the C434 very near first availability date on Amazon after highly anticipating it’s arrival. I’ve always been a fan of Chromebooks and anxiously anticipated upgrading to this work of art (and it really is beautiful). The build quality is excellent. The screen is amazing with those wonderful little bezels. The screen is bright and responsive and is a joy to look at and interact with in almost every respect. The computer screams quality. All of that said, after about three weeks with the C434, I decided to return it and ended up purchasing the HP X360. Here are my reasons.One of the initial reviews of the C434 complained about the keyboard. The person’s complaint didn’t relate to the tactile interaction with the keyboard (which is good) but rather to the viewing of the keys on the keyboard (white on metal). My initial thought on this, prior to receiving my own C434, was that this reviewer must be very short-sighted to return the computer for such a minor complaint. However, he or she was absolutely correct. In the spirit of creating a very contemporary keyboard, the white letters on the aluminum keyboard results in a very difficult layout to see in daylight. I would need to tilt and move the keyboard to position my hands properly (and I type very fast by touch so this is not a hunt and peck complaint). In dim light with the backlight on, the keyboard transforms into a wonderful experience, but using it during the day was a frustration for me I couldn’t get over.I was also disappointed in performance. Since I was an early adopter, I have the 4GB model with the core i3m processor. For light web surfing and simple tasks it’s fine, but if I wanted to view my Google photos, for example, or use the Android version of Lightroom from the App Store, there is a definite lag in performance. I’m not sure if this relates to the 4GM of RAM or the i3m processor, but once I upgraded to the X360 (8 GB of RAM and a i3 U processor) it was an entirely preferred performance experience.So, to conclude, here is my compare and contrast of the C434 with the HP X360.PriceThe HP X360 seems to be constantly on sale from it’s $600 list price. I got it for $450 but it can be had for as little as $399. Great value at either of these reduced price options. I was going to hold out for the C434 i5 with 8GB of RAM but I ultimately concluded that that price point would not come close to the X360 at its discounted price.ScreenThe C434 is brighter and much nicer and has those little bezels. This is the one aspect of the C434 I miss the most. The X360 has only a bearable screen brightness and color output as compared to the C434, but ultimately this was a tradeoff I was willing to make (although I still struggle with).WeightThe C434 is about 1/2 pound less in weight and is marginally smaller. Again, I would opt for the C434 in this case but the real world difference is really not that significant.KeyboardI love typing on the X360. It’s got a great feel and travel and nice backlight. The C434 was fine at night but that keyboard during the day was awful to use because of the white on metal.PerformanceHands down the X360 wins. Ok , it has a fan that comes on occasionally, but it smokes the C434 with any use other than normal web surfing or simple applications. Using the X360 with the better processor and RAM is a joy compared to the C434. Also, as an aside, I have noticed that Google Play Apps seem to run better on the X360 but I’m not sure why? For example, I have an app that gives me notifications and when I clicked on the C434 it would not take me to the App but I have no problem at all with the X360 properly behaving in this regard.ConclusionIf you want a stylish Chromebook and your needs are limited to web surfing and light Applications, go for the C434. If, however, performance is at all a concern and you plan to do some work or moderate play, I would opt for the X360. Both are wonderful machines in their own right and it’s a pleasure to see the evolution of the Chromebook.

I purchased the C434 very near first availability date on Amazon after highly anticipating it’s arrival. I’ve always been a fan of Chromebooks and anxiously anticipated upgrading to this work of art (and it really is beautiful). The build quality is excellent. The screen is amazing with those wonderful little bezels. The screen is bright and responsive and is a joy to look at and in