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Chromebook Pixel vs. other Chromebooks: fight!

Google raised the bar considerably for Chrome OS computers with the Chromebook Pixel -- but just how badly does it bruise other mainstream Chromebooks in the ring? We won't lie: for the most part, it's an outright thrashing. While it doesn't have as big a screen as HP's Pavilion 14 Chromebook or last as long on battery as Samsung's ARM-based Chromebook, the Pixel is technically superior in most every other way. That 2,560 x 1,700 display resolution, 1.8GHz Core i5 and support for LTE put Google's PC in a different class altogether, and that's when excluding freebies like the 1TB of Google Drive storage. It's even slimmer than some of its peers. The one clear obstacle is the price -- at $1,299, you're paying six times more than you would for an Acer C7 that manages a bigger (if much slower) hard drive. As you'll see in the chart, though, being part of the premium club has its perks.

Chromebook Pixel

HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook

Acer C7

Samsung Chromebook (late 2012)

Pricing

$1,299 (WiFi), $1,449 (LTE)

$330

$199

$249

Known Dimensions

11.7 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches

13.7 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches

11.2 x 8 x 1.1 inches

11.4 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches

Weight

3.4 lbs

4 lbs

3 lbs

2.4 lbs

Screen size

12.9 inches

14 inches

11.6 inches

11.6 inches

Screen resolution

2,560 x 1,700 (239 ppi)

1,366 x 768 (112ppi)

1,366 x 768 pixels (135ppi)

1,366 x 768 pixels (135ppi)

Screen type

LCD touchscreen

LCD

LCD

LCD

Battery

59WHr

37WHr

2,500mAH, no WHr specified

30WHr

Internal storage

32 / 64GB SSD

16GB SSD

320GB HDD

16GB SSD

Expansion

2x USB 2.0, Mini DisplayPort, SD card reader

3x USB 2.0, HDMI, Ethernet, multi-format card reader

3x USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, SD card reader

1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, HDMI, SD card reader

Front-facing cam

"HD"

"HD"

Yes, unspecified resolution

0.3MP

Wireless

802.11n WiFi, optional Verizon LTE

802.11n WiFi

802.11n WiFi

802.11n WiFi, optional Verizon EV-DO

Bluetooth

3.0

Yes, unspecified version

None

Yes, unspecified version

CPU

1.8GHz Core i5

1.1GHz Celeron 847

1.1GHz Celeron 847

1.7GHz Exynos 5 Dual

RAM

4GB

2GB

2GB

2GB

Battery life (official)

5 hours

4.3 hours

3.5 hours

6.3 hours

Free extras

1TB Google Drive for 3 years, 100MB per month of LTE for 2 years

100GB Google Drive for 2 years

100GB Google Drive for 2 years

100MB per month of EV-DO for 2 years