Was skimming through an article that popped up from Chrome Unboxed, and I started to ponder if it would make sense for a cheaper Pixelbook.
We saw a number of people who loved the Pixel 3a because it offered a lot of what was in the Pixel 3, but at a cheaper price. I commented in a recent article that the caveat of the Pixel Slate was the price. Though people hated the Slate, the consensus is love for the Pixelbook. The problem is people are not spending $1000 for a chromebook. No matter how Google try and slice it, there are a number of options that work just as well for half the price.
So if Google could find a way to drop the price of the Pixelbook to half, while not losing a lot in performance, could this be the chrome device people run to?
Yes it could, but don’t see this happening.
As much as I would love to see a cheaper Pixelbook, the reality is we have that in all the other chromebooks that are on the shelves. I remember talking to a Google rep a year back about this very topic at Best Buy. The rep was talking about their Google hardware, particularly the Pixelbook. And my response was frank in that no one is going to pay macbook type money on a chromebook. The appeal for chromebooks are the prices, so the $1000 Pixelbook is going in the wrong direction.
The reality is there are a number of other manufacturers offering an awesome version of chromebooks at a cheaper price than the Pixelbook. At the time of my discussion with the Google rep, I had purchased a Samsung Chromebook Plus. And for me it is good enough as it fits perfectly in my price range.
Another chromebook that I was able to do a side to side comparison with the Pixelbook was the HP Chromebook x2. At the time, the price difference was about $300. And I will admit the Pixelbook had a better display and build, but the HP Chrombook x2 had the option of removing the display and going into tablet mode (ie Asus Transformer tablet). Since that comparison, the HP Chromebook x2 can be had for under $400 while the Pixelbook is still going for $999.
Though a cheaper Pixelbook would be ideal for fans, the question is if Google would be able to profit in a sea of other mid price Chromebooks. Especially if Google do not provide the hardware that makes it worth buying their device over the competition.
