A Laptop Built for Business Travelers

Take a moment to consider what you need to get done on your computer today. Chances are you can accomplish all of it with a value-minded Samsung Chromebook 2 ($400), a 3-pound laptop with a leather-like cover that runs Google's browser-based Chrome operating system and has all the trimmings of a top-of-the-line computer. To wit: a bright and glare-resistant 1080p, 13-plus-inch display and an eight-core processor that speeds through web-based applications such as videoconferencing in Google Hangouts, creating and editing documents stored on Google Drive or watching YouTube videos. With only 16 GB of storage, the Chromebook 2 isn't built to hold much of anything for offline use, but it'll let you write e-mails, edit files and check your calendar. Best of all, Google's continuous online updates should help you--and your cloud-based data--stay safe from malware.

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Samsung Chromebook 2 Photo (C) Ben Alsop

Should you run a business with Google's apps?

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Though Chromebooks are a recent phenomenon, Google's browser-based OS has been around for six years. Rajen Sheth, director of product management for Google devices for business and education, says the system heralds a new way of working, with computer users shifting away from programs stored on hard drives to cloud-based applications.

That anywhere/anytime access is nice, but it's the long-term cost savings that Google is counting on to drive adoption. According to Sheth, recent widespread deployment of Chromebooks in the education space dropped IT-support hours by 92 percent and deployment hours by 69 percent. "That makes it appealing to IT departments," he says, "because the total cost of ownership is a lot less."