ComputerWorld
By: Jared Newman
Google’s lineup of low-end Chromebooks no longer lacks a 4G LTE option.
Best Buy is now selling a 4G LTE version of the HP Chromebook 11, with coverage from Verizon Wireless, in select stores. At $379, the price is $100 more expensive than the Wi-Fi version, but users can get a $50 rebate after activating service.
Strangely, neither Google or HP has made an official announcement on the Chromebook 11 with 4G LTE. Details have only come from Best Buy’s product listing and a press release by chip supplier Altair Semiconductor.
The LTE version is otherwise exactly the same as its Wi-Fi sibling. It has an 11.6-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1366-by-768 pixels, a Samsung Exynos dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of solid-state storage, and it comes in the same slick white chassis with blue accents.
It’s not a particularly powerful machine, and battery life could be better, but it’s lightweight and fast for getting onto the Web, so it’s a good fit for 4G LTE connectivity.
Just keep in mind that the Chromebook 11 only works in areas with 4G LTE coverage, so it won’t fall back to 3G when faster coverage is unavailable.
This is the first cheap Chromebook to support 4G LTE data, and appears to be the only Chromebook with mobile broadband on the market right now. The luxury Chromebook Pixel has LTE connectivity for a cool $1449, but it’s out of stock through Google’s website . Samsung’s year-old Chromebook had a 3G option with 100MB of free data per month, but it’s no longer being sold through major retailers.
It’s unclear when the HP Chromebook 11 with 4G LTE will be more widely available, but we’d expect online sales to begin soon.