10 Things I Love And Hate About Google's New Chromebook Pixel Laptop

In my experience, the touch screen was a clever addition, but it still felt awkward to use.

Multitouch gestures like pinch-to-zoom only works on a few Google apps and didn't really add much to the laptop. I imagine once Google and app developers work together to make more apps and touch features for the Pixel I'll grow to like the touchscreen.

I think The New York Times' David Pogue said it best, "...web sites aren’t designed for finger operation -- links are generally too small. So the addition of the touch screen is a little superfluous, and of course it adds thickness, weight and cost to the laptop."

The Pixel's has a high-resolution display with a density of 239 pixels per inch. That's slightly sharper than the resolution on Apple's MacBook Pros.

Text is crisp and clear and pictures and HD video look brilliant.

After looking at the Chromebook for a while and then switching to a lesser-quality screen, it took a second for my eyes to readjust.

All laptops need high-quality screens like this. 

Chrome's app selection isn't that great. It's missing popular apps like Spotify, a dedicated Evernote app (not the web version), and more offline apps.

The Pixel would be an awesome buy if users could download Android apps alongside Chrome apps.

The Pixel comes with 3 TB of free online storage for three years through Google Drive. It's an amazing deal, and worth just as much as the laptop itself.

With Chrome OS, Google is pushing users to do all their work online, and so much free storage is a step in the right direction.

Plus Google Drive makes a great alternative to other services like Dropbox.

A high price is the biggest barrier standing in the way of the Pixel and success.

It's too expensive. 

The Pixel starts at $1,299 for a 32 GB storage drive and WiFi only. A 4G LTE version is also available for $1,449. That gets you 64 GB of storage and another monthly bill.

Most Chromebooks are much, much cheaper than the Pixel, so it's a bit odd that Google decided to price this one so high. It's a great device, but still offers fewer features than regular laptops. I think that alone justifies lowering the price a bit.

As soon as you open the lid, the Pixel springs to life.

The Pixel is ridiculously fast and perfectly optimized for the Internet. This incredibly speed is thanks to a perfect marriage between the device's processor and memory.

In case you aren't aware, the Pixel uses an Intel 1.8GHz dual-core i5 processor (with integrated graphics), 4GB of RAM, and a solid state drive. While these aren't top of the line components, when combined they provide a really snappy experience. 

The Pixel would be better if it had more than 32 GB or 64 GB of physical storage.

What if I wanted to load up the Pixel with movies for a trip where I don't have WiFi? Or what if I wanted to look at photos that aren't stored in the cloud?

I think 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB storage options would be perfect.

I kept the pixel unplugged most of the time I used the Pixel, and I never had a problem with battery life.

Google estimates that the Pixel gets up to five hours of active use, and in my experience this proved to be true.

Google has really stepped up the file management system. It now functions more like a regular computer, letting you store downloads and other files either natively on your computer or in your online Google Drive account.

But I wish that apps like the Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Talk didn't live exclusively in a tab.

I realize that these are by nature Web apps, but allowing them to run in the tray at the bottom and pop up on their own would make a better experience and free up tab clutter in the browser.

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