Maximum PC: Where Chromebooks currently thrive is in the education field, so it makes sense to focus on durability when designing new models. That's what Dell did with its Chromebook 11, the company's second generation Chromebook that will be available to order later this week. According to Dell, the Chromebook 11 is "schoolyard tough" and can handle bumps, drops, spills, and other hazards that students encounter on a daily basis.
Maximum PC: Microsoft really should rethink its relentless "Scroogled" campaign and in particular its vendetta against Chromebooks. We're not saying Microsoft should readily embrace a competitor's ecosystem, but the more hardware partners that join the Chromebook movement, the sillier Microsoft looks for disparaging the platform. We bring this up because Dell, the world's third largest PC maker, just announced a Chromebook of its own.
The Dell Chromebook 11 is a very good alternative to a Windows 8 PC, particularly if most of your needs can be satisfied online or with Chrome OS offline programs.