Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the 2014 Chromebook survey. Certainly not exhaustive but the numbers do indicate what folks are evaluating when considering a Chromebook. Take a look to see if you agree or disagree.

Survey Synopsis

Design

• Build Design: Clam Shell
• Build Material: Polycarbonate Plastic
• Build Finish: Faux Metal or Black

Performance

• Preferred SoC Architecture: Intel x86
• Acceptable Octane Score: 9000 to 10000
• Minimum RAM: 4GB
• Minimum Storage: 32GB
• Smooth Performance: @ 5-10 open tabs

Visual Experience

• Touch screen: Not required
• Resolution: 1920×1080 Full HD
• Screen Panel: IPS
• Screen Surface: Matte
• Screen Size: 13.3″

Usability

• Keyboard: Backlit
• Touchpad: Enhanced with pinch to zoom
• Battery: 8 HRS minimum typical operation
• Battery: Full Charge in less than 2 HRS
• Speakers: Enhanced upward facing
• Webcam: 720p
• Microphone: dual noise cancelling
• Memory Card Reader: Standard SD

Connectivity

• USB Ports: USB 2 & USB 3
• Thunderbolt Ports: None
• Bluetooth: Advanced v4
• WiFi: 802.11 a/b/c/n & 802.11 ac
• Video Out: HDMI

Value

• Target Price: $400.00 US

Survey Details

 Design

I was surprised how few votes the hybrid design received (7%). Although heavily marketed in the Windows ecosystem a quick look at the best selling laptops on Amazon’s confirms the dominance of the clam shell design. The Lenovo Yoga design was voted as the next best alternative to the clamshell.

Although Apple prides itself on its metal designs many folks are saying polycarbonate is acceptable in the Chromebook ecosystem.

I will admit this question is entirely subjective and founded on personal tastes but it is a very important consideration when designing a product. Some designers would state black and white are conservative and colors more daring. A faux metal finish honed from polycarbonate is an interesting choice. The Toshiba Chromebooks are a good example of this and early reviews of the Chromebook 2 are generally favorable. The obvious middle ground to color is to offer covers/skins which cater to those who want something more.

 Performance

Intel’s dominance in the laptop space has to be respected. Although ARM is gaining in performance the real competitive advantage to ARM is price. The new Nexus 9 certainly speaks volumes about Google’s commitment to ARM but for this survey folks expressed a preference for Intel by a three to one margin.

Using Google Octane as the yardstick to measure acceptable performance, about half of the respondents stated a value of 9000 to 10000 would be acceptable. None of the current ARM SoCs meet this standard and only some of the Intel. My observation is folks with a Chromebook or a Chromebox powered by an Intel Celeron 2955U are satisfied with its performance. Some may argue with the right mix of features and price an Octane score of 8000 is sufficient.

Hands down folks want and will spend extra for 4GB of RAM.

Not typically offered in Chromebooks, but respondents voiced the desire for 32GB of local storage. The driver for this may be the ability to store off line content.

Where is all of this horse power going – 10 to 15 open tabs.

 Visual Experience

This was another surprise to me. Touch screen is heavily marketed but most folks said no thanks.

• 1920×1080 Full HD

• IPS Panel

• Matte Finish

• 13.3 Inches

 Usability

Back lighting is the most requested keyboard option. I believe what folks are really asking for is a keyboard which can be seen in low lighting. There may be other ways to achieve this result without back lighting.

A touchpad with pinch to zoom makes perfect sense without a touch screen. This may be a Chrome OS software enhancement.

• Eight hours or more of battery performance is today’s standard.

One of the early complaints of Chromebooks was the amount of time required to recharge the battery. With today’s longer battery life this may not be much of an issue.

The Chromebook Pixel set the design standard for speakers and for best quality they need to face up.

• HD webcam is today’s standard.

If you are going to hang out with your friends noise cancelling microphones are pretty much a requirement.

• I agree, a standard SD card reader is very convenient.

 Connectivity

Another surprise for me. Folks want USB v2 & v3 ports. Maybe the real answer is USB v3 with backward compatibility to v2.

• No thanks

Got to have bluetooth and make it v4.

As Chromebooks depend upon WiFi so heavily, leveraging the fastest possible WiFi makes perfect sense.

• Without question, HDMI is the new standard for video out.

 Value

Here is the million dollar question – can a Chromebook be manufactured to these specs and sold for $400?

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