Chrome OS Laptop Debuts At CES 2014

The Toshiba Chromebook is now officially a reality. The company on Tuesday unveiled the Chrome OS-based laptop at CES 2014 and as expected, it’ll be available on the cheap: starting February 16, Toshiba will begin shipping the Chromebook at a pretty mind blowing $279, well below several of its competitors.  

“We see great potential in Chrome OS as it offers both consumers and educators a simple and easy-to-use computing experience,” said Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division in a press statement. “We believe that bringing a more versatile 13-inch model to market will help drive the entire category forward by giving customers an option that opens new doors for productivity, not only for consumers, but also students and educators.”

While the spec sheet isn’t exactly drool inducing, it isn’t too bad, either. The Chromebook is the first laptop running Google’s operating system that comes with a 13.3-inch screen. It’s powered by a Haswell Celeron 2955U CPU and boasts 2GB RAM, 16GB storage space and an SDX card slot. Additionally, the laptop weights just 3 pounds and has a rated battery life of nine hours. As far as connectivity goes, there’s an HDMI port (not mini) and two USB 3.0 slots.

“The Toshiba Chromebook will super-charge productivity for consumers, schools and businesses, with its 13-inch screen and long battery life,” said Caesar Sengupta, vice president of product management, Google. “With this new addition to the Chromebook family, consumers have even more choices at very affordable prices.”

In terms of aesthetics, it would be fair to say that Toshiba’s Chromebook borrows more than a little from the MacBook Air—in particular, the black-on-aluminum keyboard. The laptop is svelte, shiny and even tapers a bit in width at the end.

All in all, the Chromebook is a bargain and a well conceived one at that. What remains to be seen is whether it will find a market.