I have never made a sub $400 notebook my main machine until now.  The Samsung Chromebook 2, 13-inch, changes that with actually impressive hardware.  Up until now, Chromebooks have tried to be as cheaply produced as possible.  This includes small netbook like designs (I still feel bad for someone that bought one of those): an 11-inch screen barely breaking 1366 x 768, fan whirring, 75% full keyboard, integrated graphics with no RAM, that kind of stuff.

Add another $150 to $200 and you have a real, fast, comfortably usable notebook.  The 1080p screen is excellent, even in the sun.  Keyboard is solid, full size and quick to type on.  The trackpad is spacious, weight is nothing, and the fake leather on the top is uniquely cool.

If you’re only looking from a hardware perspective, this laptop’s screen is better than the MacBook Air and your standard MacBook.  The weight is about the same as the Air too.  Processor, memory and storage don’t come close to matching an Air, but you won’t be annoyed because of this.  Oh, it’s fanless too, which is awesome, because it just doesn’t get hot and runs as loud as your phone.

This is all cool, but can I really get work done on this thing?  What if my school requires a certain application that just doesn’t work as a webapp?  Do I settle for Word-lite with Office 365?  This is why I purchased the Chromebook 2, to expand it beyond what it can natively support.