HP announces thinner Chromebook 14 with Celeron CPU

We loved the original HP Chromebook 14 for its appealing design and solid build quality, both of which can be tough to find when you're looking at the $300 and under category. The new Chromebook 14 promises to be thinner and lighter with the option for a FHD display and a few extras thrown in for good measure. Two configurations will be made available as the Chromebook 14-ak010nr and 14-ak020nr. However, both models will carry identical specifications outside of the Silver or Sky Blue color choices.

Specifications for both configurations include:

• Intel Celeron N2840 CPU
• 14-inch 1366 x 768 resolution display
• Intel HD Graphics
• 2 GB DDR3L
• 16 GB eMMC
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen. 1 (SuperSpeed), 2x USB 2.0, 1 HDMI-out, 3.5 mm audio
• 37 Wh 3-cell Li-Ion battery
• 13.54 x 9.45 x 0.7 inches
• 3.76 pounds

HP promises up to 9 hours and 15 minutes of battery life with the HD panel and silent operation due to the lack of any system fans. Compared to the previous Chromebook 14, the new Chromebook 14 is noticeably thinner (17.8 mm vs. 21.6 mm) and lighter (1.71 kg vs. 1.84 kg) with largely the same design and just slightly rearranged ports.

In order to better help new owners with the cloud-reliant Chrome OS, HP will be including 100 GB of Google Drive cloud storage for free for the first two years. Buyers will also get 12 free Gogo in-air Internet passes for flights, three free Google Play movie rentals, and 90 days of free Google Play music.

The Chromebook 14 will go on sale this November 8th in the United States for $249 for the HD model and $279 for the FHD model. A separate Chromebook 14 G4 variant designed specifically for SMBs includes enhanced virtualization and VPN connectivity and will be available by the end of this month starting at $279.

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