Last week we reported that HP was ready to announce a few new Chrome OS devices and while we’ve been privy to them since late last week, we were finally able to share a bit about these three new Chromebooks with you all this morning. From a very-affordable HP Chromebook 14 G6, to the mid-range HP Pro c640 to the ultra-high-end monster that is the HP Elite c1030 Chromebook, there’s a little something for everyone being unveiled by HP today.
In a turn that is still a bit surprising to me, HP is choosing to make the unveiling a public event and let anyone interested tune in to watch what I would assume will be a pre-recorded showcase for the new Chromebooks. The press event we attended last week was more of an informational Zoom call that got us all up to speed on what to expect, so it was fine for communicating info, but not terribly engrossing.
My bet is today’s virtual event will be a bit more produced and consumer-friendly as HP shows the world what it has been working on in the Chromebook space. The devices look great and, depending on what the prices end up being when they actually start shipping, they could have some real winners on their hands. Though I’d assume the big, bad HP Elite c1030 Chromebook won’t be cheap, there’s a ton of cool tech going on with it and it could possibly become the newest king of Chromebooks when it arrives later this summer.
While there is a clear and present focus on enterprise customers with these devices, the fact that they chose not to append ‘Chromebook Enterprise’ on all the model names tells me these devices could pull double-duty as great devices for workers and general consumers alike. After all, the Chrome Enterprise licenses that are offered with them are simply account-driven add-ons, so it is not a stretch that HP could simply offer these Chromebooks at Best Buy without that license to general consumers, too.
If you’d like to see HP show off all their new wares, join us in watching today at 1PM EST. You’ll need to follow this link and then you’ll need to click on ‘sign in’ under the Public heading and then the small ‘Don’t have an account? Sign up’ link under the login screen. See the images below if that is at all unclear.
While this isn’t exactly a polished access experience, it is what HP is asking for in order to view the unveiling. Last week they were first requesting you fill out a survey in addition to this, but users were still being asked to do these account creation steps as well. While our post earlier outlines what we expect HP to show off in this event, we’ll cover down on any additional details that may surface as well in the event you don’t want to register for an HP account just to watch the show. Either way, new Chromebooks are on the way from HP, and the top dog of the bunch could be the best Chromebook available once it arrives.
