Google launches Chromebook Pixel, a $1 300 curiosity

It was rumored that Google would bring out another Chromebook, and it has. Google’s launched the Pixel, a US$1 300 laptop with a 12.85-inch display,  a 2560×1700 touchscreen, an i5 CPU and a free terabyte of cloud storage for three years, care of Google Drive. The price above is for WiFi only, lord knows how much the LTE version will cost.

Techcrunch reports that the Pixel will soon launch with LTE , and partnered with Verizon users will get an astonishing 100Mb a month for a two-year period. Pity there isn’t a sarcastic font for astonishing, as it’s a pathetic amount.

It’s all about the screen this time around, as it’s still a Chromebook at heart, albeit an exceptionally expensive one. The 239PPI screen looks exceptionally sharp and clear in the screenshots and videos, and even manages to trump the MacPro Retina Display, which is 220PPI. Google even boats that “it has the highest pixel density of any laptop display.” This means that the screen is not 16:10, but 3:2.

“There’s a set of users who are really committed to living completely in the cloud,” says Google VP Sundar Pichai (optimistically). Oddly, the LTE version will ship with a limited amount of internal memory, 64GB. The Wi-Fi version gets 32GB.

The touchscreen Gorilla Glass is a beauty and Google says that this will preserve picture quality, while still delivering “smooth interactions”. And it’s premium, the word is liberally tossed around throughout the press release. Premium “car door” design for the screen hinge, an industry leading aluminum body, a top-notch product meant for premium users. This is a premium device people. No budget need apply. “We also wanted to design something very premium for power users – people who spend money on their laptops,” says Google. So why not just spend the money on a decent laptop such as any other Ultrabook or a MacAir? Regardless, someone will buy it. Here’s the full rundown of the Pixel’s specs:

INPUTS
Gorilla® Glass multi-touch screen
Backlit Chrome keyboard
Fully clickable, etched-glass touchpad
HD Webcam 

SCREEN
12.85″ display with a 3:2 aspect ratio
2560 x 1700, at 239 PPI
400 nit screen
178° extra-wide viewing angle

 

DIMENSIONS
297.7 x 224.6 x 16.2 mm

3.35lb / 1.52kg

 

PORTS
2 x USB 2.0
mini-display port
2-in-1 card reader supporting: SD, MMC

INNARDS
Intel® Core i5 processor (Dual Core 1.8GHz)
Intel® HD Graphics 4000 (Integrated)

Users can order the Pixel from the Google Play store.