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Dell aims for a more premium Chromebook with its Inspiron 14 2-in-1

Dell aims for a more premium Chromebook with its Inspiron 14 2-in-1

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Putting the chrome back into a Chromebook

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Dell isn’t new to the Chromebook game, but most of its previous efforts have been focused on education-facing devices — not bad computers, per se, just ones more designed for the lower demands and rougher treatment of younger students than for serious work. But that changes this year at IFA 2018 with the company’s new Inspiron Chromebook 14 2-in-1, which is meant to offer a more powerful, mature Chromebook option similar to the company’s (just revamped) midrange Inspiron line.

To that end, the Inspiron Chromebook 14 is made from aluminum, not plastic, with an 8th-Gen Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of internal memory. It’s not offering the hardware power or design as, say, Google’s Pixelbook, but for a $599.99 Chromebook, it’s better than the bulky, plastic designs that have come to dominate the space.

I was able to briefly try out the Chromebook 14, and it’s certainly a nicer spin on the Chromebook than a lot of what we’ve recently seen in the field that hasn’t come from Google, although it suffers the same issue of Dell’s other Inspiron products with slightly cheap-feeling aluminum.

Still, it’s good to see that companies like Dell aren’t just content to write off Chromebooks as an entry-level computer for middle schoolers. The Inspiron Chromebook 14 2-in-1 is set to launch in the US on October 23rd.