Pixelbook (i5, 8 GB RAM, 128GB) (GA00122-US)

I have owned a Pixelbook (base model) for 45 days now (having owned a Chromebook Pro, my first-ever ChromeOs product, for 30 days prior) and after reading countless professional and owner reviews I wanted to write one captures the essence of the Pixelbook and what makes it so attractive and why it is worth its price to many who would cross-shop it with Windows and Mac alternatives. I will try to explain why this is the best laptop/convertible currently sold for those with the budget to spend $1,000 give/take for a laptop and, importantly, for those who have been able to determine either that ChromeOs (including Android App access) will meet their needs and/or that they own a Windows or Mac device that will provide the capability needed for use cases that the Pixelbook/ChromeOs presently do not support.I'm about to go down the path of paraphrasing what another Amazon reviewer, Dave Levy, already stated more succinctly than I will, but the purpose of my comment is to add depth to Mr. Levy's review for those who found his words persuasive but may still feel some hard-do-describe level of skittishness to "pull the trigger" on a Pixelbook. In no particular order:1) The Pixelbook ("PB") is absolutely on-par with or well above it's competitors in the premium laptop/convertible market with Mac Os or Windows 10 from the standpoint of user experience.2) The PB is best-in-class (again, the highest end of the laptop/convertible market segment) - or tied for best - in these areas of hardware look, feel and response: a) keyboard; b) trackpad; c) display; d) stylus (with both the Google branded version or several other "Wacom AES" alternatives I've tested); e) connectivity (both wifi and bluetooth [4.2].3) The PB is below class-leading, but still fully acceptable, in the following areas: a) audio quality (acceptable for most laptop use cases, but fair to say headphones or auxiliary speakers are needed for high quality/room-filling sound); b) keyboard backlight (fine for dark ambient light environment but weak for "dusk" type ambient lighting, when some assistance is helpful but the backlighting is not as bright or complete as preferable and as provided by some of its peers, including some lower priced devices; Google should improve this through software update or next hardware update cycle, but it's very far from a deal-breaker); c) user authentification (in 2018, a premium device should have easy, fast biometric authentification as an option and the PB does not; this is a must-fix for first hardware update cycle.)Other than items noted in 3), above, there is no aspect of the user experience in which the PB can't be described as the finest laptop/convertible user experience available today - or ever produced - in this size and price class.4) It is in no way accurate or fair to call the base model "overpriced 'for a Chromebook'" or "overpriced" in any way. This device is so beautifully designed (though this is a matter of taste) and so brilliantly executed that, IMO, it is the finest piece of electronic device kit I have ever had the pleasure behold and use. It's really that gorgeous, that perfectly made, that smooth and fast to respond - in the ways that a fine luxury good (in addition to computers, smartphones and tablets, automobiles come to mind in comparison - might stand out as being. It makes me smile. I look forward to whatever task I approach when I realize I'm about to use my Pixelbook to get it done!I guess you have to be a person who really notices and cares about design and quality for this to matter to you. Nothing wrong with someone who doesn't - in fact, you will save yourself many hundreds of dollars by purchasing either a Chromebook Pro or Asus Flip CS-302 if you want a good, strong, well-made Chromebook and just don't care so much about the finer points of design, engineering and craftsmanship because those alternatives have all the ChromeOs goodness and same features as the PB though they may lack only at the margins some of the storage (though the other 2 have micros SD card support while the PB does not) speed, thermal control, keyboard/trackpad quality and overall excellence of the PB (and, in the case of the Asus, active stylus support.)This is clearly a luxury purchase. And, in fact, I've spent 45 days now - last day of return window: tomorrow! - equivocating over whether I can justify to myself indulging in this luxury. (My decision is a little easier because I got my PB when Amazon had a pre-Christmas deal for $800 and Google had promotions, including a $62 credit against my Netflix bill, $40 worth of free Google Drive subscription fees - that I have been and would've continued paying - and a $50 credit to my Google Store account - for apps or devices - as a concession because Amazon didn't offer the Google Home device and Google was throwing in a free Home speaker if you bought it from Google. Thus my true cost for the PB was effectively $710, a price point many have noted they would feel more comfortable paying. Just between you and me, I would still be buying it if my cost was $999 ;)If you can afford it and you want a very high end device and you've determined a Chromebook has an important place in your device arsenal, you couldn't find a more certain way to spend $400 extra and be certain it would bring you so much enjoyment. I suggest you buy it from a vendor who provides preferably 30 day trial with full refund option. Again, presuming you had already concluded you want/need a chromebook and it must have what for chromebooks are the higher end spes, I imagine you may go through the same process as I have and, what you decide as your return window closes will inform you as to how much you truly adore the design/execution of this product and whether you can justify the $400 luxury indulgence. My guess is that you will make the same decision as I did, even at the full retail price of $999!

Bought in June 2018 for 7th grade son for use at school. Researched all of the Chromebooks and thought that this one was the best. Great design, solid state drive and touchscreen are all big pluses. For some unknown reason, about a dozen keys on the keyboard stopped working last week which 18 months after purchase was now out of warranty. Not abused, dropped or any evidence of physical damage whatsoever. Begged and pleaded with Google to fix on phone and through email (they don't fix anything - only replace but only if under warranty) but they couldn't care less, even when I offered to pay for repairs. Escalated from customer service representative to supervisor to group manager - heard endless sorry's but won't do anything to help as it's out of warranty. Brought it to their repair partner ubreakifix who spent two hours looking at it and couldn't do anything - they only really replace broken screens (kudos to them who did everything that they could to help us and didn't charge us a penny). In the end Google said only option was to buy replacement one for $550 plus tax (about $600 total) through ubreakfix's full replacement program. Nice. I spent $750 on it brand new now they want me to basically rebuy it all over again because the keyboard failed and they don't offer replacement parts for it. Like buying a car, driving it for a year and then bringing it back to the dealer for repairs only to be told that they can't fix it and I have to rebuy the car. Google searching on defective keyboard shows many people have this problem but after a quick 12 month warranty expiration they're also out of luck. Can't believe that one of the biggest tech companies in the world treats their customers like this and this is actually legal to do. If I knew their warranty was so stingy and that any repair (broken screen) is at least $450, I would have gone with a Macbook or other less expensive Chromebook options such as Samsung. Can't tell you how exasperating and disappointing the whole episode was going through this. In the end, I wound up filing an extended warranty claim through my credit card company so let's see how that goes. If that doesn't work then I have a $750 brick that I can basically just throw in the garbage. I certainly wouldn't buy another Google product if this is how I can expect to be treated. Thanks Google!