Samsung Chromebook 2 (XE500C12-K01US)

Two years ago, Samsung released the Series 3 Chromebook (XE303C12), the first model to deliver on the promise of a competent small laptop for Web browsing Google for less than $ 300. It is featured in many ads and the first Chromebook to go (relatively) mainstream. Now, two years later, Samsung has replaced it with a Chromebook 2 ($ 249.99), another slim 13-inch model that hits the sweet spot of price and capacity, Chrome matured with more apps, a greater ability to offline, and more powerful tools. But the new system Samsung does not only depend on the Chrome laptop on the block, and it faces stiff competition from almost every other player in the laptop industry. How well does the Chromebook 2 stack up against favorites like touch-enabled Chromebook Acer C720P-2600 or the always-on HP Chromebook 11 (Verizon LTE)?

design
The new Samsung Chromebook does not stray far from what worked well for the previous model, with a slim design measuring 0.66 by 11.40 by 8.60 inches (HWD) and weighing just 2.65 pounds. The plastic exterior is still pretty plain, but in a more stylish, minimalist sort of way. Chassis has a fake-leather textured surface, but it raised the question, what is the point of imitation leather (complete with stitching) if you're going to make it silver? Under the plastic surface, however, Samsung has beefed up the Chromebook with a steel chassis and frame reinforcing both the cap, providing cheap laptop a substantial quality not like most laptops in this price range.

The 11.6-inch display is not the best we've seen in this category, especially when compared to the Twisted Nematic (TN) panel and its resolution 1366-by-768 competitors like HP Chromebook 11 (Verizon LTE), a proud bold and bright In-Plane Switching (IPS) display, or the Toshiba CB35-B3340 Chromebook 2, which offers full HD (1920-by-1080) resolution. As such, it is a perfect visible screen, with decent color quality and extremely readable text, and doing it all at no additional cost that would add a nicer display.

The keyboard is slightly changed from its predecessor, with a subtly curved keycaps rather than flat, chiclet-style keys, and a better keystroke feel which key the previous model is a little loose, they are stable. Clickpad is unchanged as well, with the same proper motion tracking and support for one- and two-finger controls Chrome, such as scrolling and two finger tapping for the functionality of the right click.

Features
One of my only gripes with previous Samsung Chromebook is the decision to put some port on the back side of the system, including the hinges. I prefer my port to be easily accessible, and having to reach around the back of the system (or simply it sideways, cumbersome manual) is not ideal. Fortunately, this time around, Samsung has corrected the error small. On the right, there's a USB 2.0 port and a headset jack. On the left is a USB 3.0 port, full HDMI port, and a microSD card slot. MicroSD slot is a significant change from the other Chromebooks, which, as a rule, all offered full support to the SD card. However, as more people use microSD card to share files between laptop and smartphone, it makes some sense to use the smaller format. That said, most cameras use the full SD format, and by switching to only microSD, Samsung has removed some of the utility of the card reader.

For Web connectivity, the Chromebook has 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. For local storage, there is a 16GB solid-state drive (SSD), but Samsung expects to migrate to cloud storage options like Google Drive.

Unlike most other Chromebook, which comes only with Chrome OS and Google Drive 100GB cloud storage (free for 24 months), it also offers new models of other bundles apps. You get AirDroid, an app that lets you use some of the features of your Android smartphone to your Chromebook. For example, you can send and receive text messages from your desktop, share photos, files and text on the clipboard, and activate a "find my phone" function from the laptop. The Chromebook 2 Includes free 12-month subscription to premium services. Another plus is Wunderlist app, which lets you create and manage lists for everything, like daily to-dos, groceries, lists of day-to-day activities for families or roommates, and then share and collaborate on them with others.

Finally, Samsung is offering new features that may come in other Chromebooks eventually, but for now is in Beta as a Samsung exclusive: the Help of Google apps. A click on the Help icon app will get a live agent to help answer questions about the Google Chrome or the device and help troubleshoot the problem. It's like Mayday features of the Amazon tablet. App connects you with a support center in South Carolina, and lets you video chat with an agent. They can show you the items on the screen, or activate screen sharing and remote access to help resolve any problems that may come up. Covers Samsung Chromebook 2 (XE500C12-K01US) with one-year warranty.