Is there a better alternative?

There are quite a few options at the Chromebook 514’s price of $500. If you’re willing to step up in size, then you can opt for a 2-in-1 with the Acer Chromebook Spin 15 for $450. You’ll get roughly identical performance except for multitasking thanks to the same Pentium processor but only 4GB of RAM in the larger laptop.

　　If you’re willing to spend a little more and the flexibility of a 2-in-1 appeals to you, then you could consider the $600 HP Chromebook x2. That’s our favorite overall Chrome OS device, offering a detachable tablet format with an excellent keyboard base that works as well as a clamshell. It’s also slightly faster thanks to its Core m3-7Y30 CPU, but its 4GB of RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage fall behind the Chromebook 514.

　　Other Chromebooks that you might want to check out if you have a higher budget include the Google Pixelbook and Samsung Chromebook Pro.

　　If you need even more performance than you could consider the Acer Chromebook 13, which equips a very fast 8th-gen Intel Core i5-8250U CPU. It’s very similarly built and slightly smaller, and you won’t get the same all-day battery life. You’ll speed through any task you can throw at a Chrome OS laptop, but you’ll also spend considerably more at $800.

　　As we mentioned earlier, you can also save some real money and benefit from the Chromebook 514’s great build quality, keyboard and touchpad, and display if you can give up a little performance. For just $350, you can drop to a Celeron N3350, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.

　　

How long will it last?

The Chromebook 514 is well-built and should last as long as you’ll need as long as you treat it with reasonable respect. Its CPU isn’t the latest nor the fastest option, but we don’t anticipate Chrome OS advancing to the point of rendering it unusable for quite some time. The standard one-year warranty is less than we like, but you won’t find many laptops with better.

　　

Should you buy it?

Yes. For the money and given its excellent build quality and good battery life, the Chromebook 514 is a safe choice that’s unlikely to disappoint.

　　If you’re hoping for a discount, make sure to check the best Chromebook deals as well as the best laptop deals today.