Toshiba Chromebook 2 puts 13-inch screen in 12-inch body

For its second Chromebook, Toshiba shaved off as much chassis as possible without sacrificing screen size or quality -- and without jacking up the price.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice

Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.

Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials

More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.

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Joshua Goldman

Sept. 3, 2014 2:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

A big part of the appeal of Chromebooks is their prices, which typically don't go beyond the $300 or £300 mark. Low prices generally don't equate to great build quality or design, though, something Toshiba aims to improve on with its second go-round, the aptly named Chromebook 2.

Toshiba's first Chromebook didn't look bad, but because it had a 13.3-inch screen, it was bulkier than the 11.6-inch models it was competing against. For the 2, Toshiba shaved off as much as possible so it is closer in size to those smaller-screen Chromebooks while keeping the 13.3-inch screen.

Toshiba's Chromebook 2 sheds some bulk from the original (bottom). Sarah Tew/CNET

Also, although the screen size stays the same, the Chromebook 2 will be available in an entry-level model with a 1,366x768-pixel resolution or a premium version with a full HD display using an IPS panel for better off-angle viewing.

You'll also find stereo speakers tuned by headphone maker Skullcandy that fire up through the keyboard, an HD webcam with a dual-mic array, one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port, a full-size HDMI output, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and an SD card slot. You'll also be able to pick up covers for it, so you can have it stand out a bit from the crowd.

It doesn't take much to run Chrome OS, something else that helps keep Chromebooks inexpensive. For the Chromebook 2, you'll get a newer, better-than-Atom Intel Celeron processor, 2GB or 4GB of memory, and 16GB of flash storage.

With those configurations, Toshiba is claiming up to 11.5 hours of battery life on the 1,366x768-resolution model and up to 9 hours on the 1,920x1,080-resolution model.

Toshiba says prices will range from $250 to $330 (£200 to £250), with US availability beginning on October 5. In Australia it looks like only one model will be available priced at AU$449 and also on sale from October. Pricing and availability for the rest of the world were not announced.