Toshiba Chromebook CB30

Went from a 2nd screen to my daily driver – My daughter told me that her school were going to be buying a bulk lot of Google Chromebooks, I was intrigued, so I did some research and when I happened across the CB30-007 cheap online (~$200), I snapped it up. Setup was a breeze, (the thing boots in less than 5 seconds!) keeping in mind that you'll need a Google account to get the most out of your Chromebook. Being heavily invested in the Google eco-system, this was no problem for me. If you're not that in to Google and their services, I doubt there would be much of a learning curve to get yourself up to speed.

A Chromebook is, essentially, the Chrome web browser in a laptop. It's super simple, super fast and the more I use it, makes a lot of sense.

The Toshiba is very thin and very light. Its design is very similar to a MacBook air, however the build quality is incomparable. The cb30 is 100% plastic, has exposed screws on the underside and is a little flimsy; I would image that it could be easily damaged - but then, I guess most laptops are easily damaged! The use of plastics does not detract from the usability of the device, which I must say is a pleasure. The keyboard is perfect, trackpad is large and responsive and the display is sharp, bright and colourful. In fact, the display is actually stunning when you consider the price - nicer even than my HP Elitebook which comes in at just under 2k.

The speakers are also worth mentioning, "tuned" by a company called "skullcandy" they lie hidden underneath the keyboard and are surprisingly full and loud.

Like most Chromebooks, the keyboard is missing the CAPS-LOCK key, DELETE key and all the Function keys. The function keys are easy to do without, as Toshiba has replaced them with keys specific to the laptop, like volume, brightness etc. However I do miss the CAPS and DELETE, and still find myself searching for them when typing.

The 10-11 hour battery life rumours are true - something that still impresses me a few months in.

If you're thinking of giving a Chromebook a try, this is the one. It's become my go-to daily device. Outstanding value for money.

Lovely little PC, fast and zippy – This is a great extra PC to have around the house. It boots up in seconds, has amazing battery life (I've had nearly 10hrs out of mine) and is crazy affordable. We like to save everything to the cloud these days, so are happy to forgo memory space for speed. Love the Chromebook.