Gadgetory

unlike Chromebooks from Samsung Acer and HP the Google design pixel has both high-end hardware and a high-end price tag but is it built like a premium laptop or a low-end netbook let's find out I'm Bill Detweiler and this is cracking open with pricing that starts at twelve hundred and ninety nine dollars us the pixel costs five times more than the top-selling $249 Samsung Chromebook why the huge difference Hardware the base model pixel has a 1.8 gigahertz dual core Intel Core i5 processor intel HD 4000 graphics four gigs of ddr3 RAM 32 gigs of local storage and a touch sensitive screen that has more pixels per inch than even the MacBook Pros Retina display and not only is the pixel the best-equipped Chromebook on the market its thin profile and sleek design make it the best-looking but that's all on the outside I'm more interested on how this machine is put together so let's get cracking luckily opening the pixel isn't too difficult first remove the four rubber feet that are held to the bottom cover with a little adhesive then remove the screws underneath next we need to pop loose two metal Clips one on each side that hold the cover in place and finally lift it off the pixels internal hardware layout isn't quite as clean as the MacBook Airs but it's not bad the 59 watt hour battery is located at the front of the case with speakers on either side the motherboard and cooling assembly run along the back and most components like the RAM and SSD are soldered to the motherboard our work inside the pixel begins by disconnecting and removing the battery the speakers come out next followed by an empty circuit board that serves as a placeholder for an LTE card which is available on the more expensive pixel the fan and cooling assembly are next to go and after the task a bunch of cables and removing a few screws the motherboard also comes out if you wanted to separate the lid and screen from the case you could by removing these screws likewise the SD card reader and SIM card slot if your machine has one this machine doesn't can easily be removed as there isn't really anything special for me to show you by removing these parts I'm going to leave them in place overall the Chromebook pixel is built just as well as other high-end ultra-thin machines and cracking it open wasn't difficult but like many laptops these days there really isn't much you can do once you get inside nearly everything is soldered to the motherboard and there really isn't anything to upgrade as for whether the pixel is right for you that's a tough question it certainly has the hardware of a high-end laptop but other than the touchscreen I'm not really sure how much that hardware improves the user experience if the point of Google's Chrome OS is to have the cloud be your hard drive and handle the heavy lifting for most tasks do you really need $1,300 worth of hardware I think the jury is still out on that now for more information on the pixel including real-world tests check out Seth Rosenblatt's full CNET review and to see more tear down photos and read my full Hardware analysis go to TechRepublic comm forward slash cracking open I'm Bill Detweiler thanks for watching