Samsung Chromebook 3, 11.6", 4GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, Chromebook (XE500C13)

This thing is great! I bought the 4GB model which will hopefully last me a few years but it's nice and snappy now. The 16GB of SSD storage is perfect as I use it for school and the biggest file I might be storing would be a picture. It integrates perfectly with my google account! This thing boots up super quick and it sleek and beautiful. It's lightweight, has a long battery life and although it's smaller than a standard laptop, the keyboard is easy to use.Google and partners have done great with Chromebooks and have plenty of features to accommodate. There are multiple physical keyboard shortcuts running along the top of the keyboard to quickly adjust settings. There are also several different hotkey menus which are accessed by keyboard combinations.The only thing I'm bummed about is the lack of Google Play. I'm still giving this thing 5 stars because the Play store should be released soon as it is already available on other Chromebooks.I would highly recommend this to anyone, but especially to someone wanting something that is affordable, easy to use and just a bit more than a tablet.UPDATE 7/21/17 - STILL ROCKSI've gotten more use out of this thing than I first envisioned. I have a Samsung Galaxy S8 and can easily access my Google Drive files that I create and edit on the Chromebook via Goggle Docs. It's still nice and snappy; I have Amazon Prime music running in one tab, working on a Google Docs file in another and browsing Reddit or searching something on a third tab and there's no hesitation. I've enabled the beta build and enjoy several Google Play Store applications. I added an SD card which has expanded on the 16GB of storage. I'm getting very used to the multiple finger shortcuts on the touch pad when navigating Chrome. For instance: putting 2 finger tips on the touch pad and swiping left or right will act as the forward or back button. Also, "clicking" on a link by using 2 fingers and pressing on the touch pad, you bring up a menu to open in a new tab among other things. I watch Netflix and HBO Now and can definitely notice the lack of 1080p but it's a "get what you pay for" situation, and I knew that going in. This thing is still fantastic for what it is. If you want a proper laptop then buy one -- this is a Chromebook. I'll be back to give another update in a few months.

I'm a heavy user and completely in the cloud and this is my only computer. I use it for business. I have it linked to my Android Note 8 (through a third party Chrome app) and it's seamless. It will run apps from the Google Play store. I usually have many multiple tabs open, expect it to operate like a full blown PC laptop and it generally does exactly what I want it to do. I watch videos, do photo editing, type thousands of words a day on it, stream movies and create Google Docs, Slides and Sheets. I bought this to replace my three year old version of the same Chromebook because all of the letters were worn off the keyboard and some of the keys weren't working ... I'm actively using my Chromebook probably 8 or more hours a day so it would probably last even longer for most people. It's lightweight and fits easily in a tote or backpack. It holds up well. I use it sort of all day and night and I haven't found anything it won't do. The only place I notice this being slow is ironically when I open up Google Inbox and then I get to practice patience for a minute. Occasionally it will get sort of slow and then I'll go to settings and clear the image cache and that takes care of it. I handle a lot of images so the memory fills up a bit after a while. It comes with 100 gigs of free storage for two years from Google and I'm sold on Chromebook. I usually run it off home wi-fi but I can also tether it to my phone or use public wi-fi. The bluetooth connects easily to everything. The keyboard is nice. I type 100 wpm and I like the keyboard and touch pad a lot. The keys are responsive and quiet. It's a nice, clean, simple design and easy to keep clean. The only thing I wish Samsung would do is make a little indent where the power cord goes in to help guide the plug in because you kind of have to look when you're plugging it in. The power cord is super compact and is just the plug and cord with no big clunky thing on it. I've been able to find cloud based solutions for every piece of software I was using previously and I don't miss the PC at all since I went into the cloud in 2015. I really don't miss having to constantly update my system and all of the software. Google updates are super fast. You basically just restart and you're ready to go. It boots in seconds although I usually just leave it on constantly. I set my browser downloads to save to my Google Drive so there's no personal information stored on the Chromebook at all. It's under $200 and it's better than my $1200 PC laptop I replaced when I switched to Chromebook three years ago. It's absolutely silent. No fans grinding away. I sit with it in my lap all day long and it never gets hot. I don't play video games but I imagine that it would play cloud-based games fine. I've inadvertently had more than a dozen YouTube videos playing at the same time and it was sort of noisy but it wasn't lagging. And when you want to replace it, you just backup anything you've stored on the small hard drive and run the power wash on it. The only program I couldn't find a cloud solution for was Scrivener. But now you can get a virtual hard drive in the cloud for a fairly reasonable monthly rate and run any software you want on the Chromebook. It holds up to constant use and it's really sturdy despite being really slim and lightweight. The screen hinge is super strong and it's hard to imagine it breaking unless you dropped it.