Starting circa 2007 (during the days of Blogspot’s glory and hosted domain names/blogs), right down to switching to a dot com on the same platform before officially migrating to self-hosted WordPress circa 2012, I’ve indeed come a long way in the business of blogging and sharing my opinions online.
With over 20 successful sites created and run through this period, it’s right to say I’ve had my own fair share of the blogosphere, especially the last major paradigm shift which entailed commenting on blogs in one’s niche in order to drive visibility and build links.
I’d say, (from the above – and much more), that I’ve paid my dues.
However, when I was stuck recently on a matter relating to blogging and the blogosphere, I was completely clueless and was taken aback. Simple as the issue was, I had no clue (then). I also did not find suitable answers online when I decided to spread my tentacles to the internet.
The challenge was simple and quite straight to the point: what is the best Chromebook for bloggers and blogging?
Simple as this question was (and still is) I didn’t come across a satisfactory answer. Accordingly thus, when I eventually cracked the code, I believe, more than ever that I need to share this knowledge with you, my fellow blogger. And, if I succeed in helping you avoid the numerous hours and painful decision processes I had to go through to get to a valid answer, then, this article would have brilliantly served its purpose.
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What Is The Best Chromebook For Bloggers?
The best Chromebook for bloggers and blogging is the HP x360 14a Chromebook. It is the best Chromebook for blogging irrespective of whether one is blogging for pleasure or business.
This conclusion has been reached after months of research, questioning other Chromebook users (who also blog) and eventually, buying the HP x360 Chromebook and using it for a year for blogging and writing, exclusively.
If you’ll love to take a look at the Chromebook directly, you can do so on Amazon or Walmart.
However, if you’ll appreciate the fine points on why you should consider this Chromebook brand and why a Chromebook is even a better option for blogging in the first place, keep reading.
Why The x360 Is A Perfect Fit For Bloggers
Talk is cheap. So cheap in fact that, almost every adult human can afford it. This is why, when someone says something, he/she needs to show you the ‘workings’ or to put it clearer, the reasoning behind the conclusion so that you know as of fact that you’re actually listening to someone you should be listening to (in the first place).
This is my style. And, typical of me, there are a ton of reasons, clearly spelled and ironed out indicating why I sincerely and honestly believe that you cannot get a better Chromebook for the money than an x360 from the stables of HP.
Shall we?
1. A Perfect Size
Once upon a time, TVs displays all came in one common, dominant size – the magical 14 inches. It was either you wanted them that size or had to pay considerably higher amounts of money for any other size. For most families, that was simply it: the 14 inches were left alone.
After years of use and getting accustomed to the glorious 14 inches, the PC came happily along and in that spirit, towed the path of its elder sibling. They all came in 14 inches – at least for the most part. And, we were all hooked, just like the TV era and its famous size. So fixed were we all with this size that attempts to offer other size points, especially for the machines largely used for typing, failed woefully – as the sales figures show year after year.
The net result? The 14 inches stays whenever personal computers are discussed. At least, for now.
This is the screen size of the x360 Chromebook…exactly 14 inches. It is super perfect for blogging and writing that when using it, you aren’t going to miss anything display-wise nor will you have to simulate anything to get the rendering you desire.
It is that perfect, display-wise; something that cannot be said of the plethora of Chromebooks available in the market today (smaller than 14 inches) or the many traditional laptop options (that are usually larger than 14 inches).
The 14 inches the x360 offers is thus the perfect fit.
2. A Convertible Reality
A blogger is a playful human…I know I am. I also know many of my friends who are bloggers and are also perfect fits for this description. As a matter of fact, I DO NOT KNOW any sad blogger or one who takes life too seriously. This is a prerequisite trait for surviving in the craft, year after year, beating search engine updates and keeping both bots and humans happy.
It is also the secret sauce that ensures that readers are kept glued to your pages as long as they need to be and importantly, heed your CTA at the end – no matter how obscure it might be 🙂
After a long and tiring day at work (wherever that may be), you’ll need to relax as a blogger and unwind so that your next blog post will tick all the boxes and bring you closer to your dreams. To do this? Simply turn the x360 into a tablet and enjoy your time with it!
Beyond that, what if you consider other facets of creativity such as drawing? Simply turn the display over to a tablet/tent and draw away, with a compatible stylus.
Want to watch a movie? Simply switch into tent mode and let the magic happen! There has never been more joy and practicality all bundled into one piece of an awesome working machine as this Chromebook!
3. A Great Keyboard For Typing Long Articles
Once upon a time, a blogger (any blogger, as a matter of fact) could rank any article by simply stuffing keywords and letting Google do its SERP magic, all the way. Usually, such articles were no longer than 300 words. That was between a decade and a decade and a half ago.
Since then, things have changed; with AI, semantic search improvements, and a whole lot of technology, that has effectively changed and is now mostly in the past (and, forget it, even ChatGPT cannot save you from Google today). Now, your best option for ranking is content – and in appreciable and meaningful length. The data suggest that 2,100 to 2,400 words is a great length to aim for and is the median length of articles that cover Google’s majestic front SERPs.
What the above means is quite simple: amongst many other brilliant things you need to do to stay ‘woke’ on the SERPs, one of the major ones is great article length. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible with a cramped-up, poor keyboard that is less than the standard size or orientation…unless you want to wrap up with sore, cramped hands after each article typing attempt.
This is where the keyboard of the x360 Chromebook from HP truly excels. As a matter of fact, I came from the HP EliteBook designed for Windows; a laptop that also doubled as premium. The truth? This considerably cheaper Chromebook has a better keyboard and I enjoy typing on it for hours without any form of finger fatigue.
4. An Insane Battery Life
The reason why I chose the life of a writer and blogger is primarily for the location freedom and the power to work anywhere in the world I so choose, once there’s an internet connection and I have my device with me (or can easily access another with a connection). My bet is that this is what prompted you to this lifestyle too.
Unfortunately, one of the greatest enemies of this nomadic lifestyle before now was poor battery life. Using my aging HP EliteBook as an example here, I needed to buy external battery packs and also keep spare batteries around – just so that I could get decent uptime. This worked for the most part but was highly inconvenient…and sometimes, these batteries were rejected outrightly at transit stations!
The net reality was a gross battery anxiety which meant I was always looking out for my battery indicator to see if I had run out of juice or estimating when I’d probably run out of juice if I continued working and the battery kept draining at the rate it was depleting at that moment.
This meant a dip in my productivity: usually, my brain is strange and can only focus on one thing at a time. Once I need to bother about any other thing, things begin to go south and it starts showing in my writing. I hated the process and for some time, even used this sad reality as an excuse to become unproductive, deliberately canceling things and postponing others.
The x360 Chromebook changed that narrative: with a battery life of over 14 hours when new and well over 13 hours after a year, I have forgotten what ‘battery anxiety’ means. More than ever, my blogging and productivity have taken powerful boosts that I never even imagined possible as a professional blogger and writer.
This could be you, too.
5. An Ultra Slim, Weightless Reality
The life of a blogger, especially a professional one, is one of mobility. So mobile are bloggers that they primarily chose this manner of lifestyle and work reality in the first place for the sole reason of the freedom and flexibility it ensures. I know this first hand because this is what attracted me to blogging and writing professionally and I’m sure this is the major reason for your attraction to the reality too or at least, one of the major reasons.
If my guess is correct (and I highly suspect it is), then, a slim ultra weightless reality should ideally be one of the major issues you should be looking at; after all, you’ll need to be taking the Chromebook from place to place, majorly in your backpack and any ‘dead’ weight, no matter how ‘practical’, isn’t what you need when you’re shuffling from place to place or moving from one corner of a room to another almost on a daily basis.
At an impressive 3.28 lb (1.49 kg), this is where the x360 Chromebook truly excels.
The workhorse simply maintains a weight point that conceals its existence completely and makes you even wonder if it is there in the first place and placing the same in a backpack, handbag or simply holding it on the hands has no effect on your person at all.
I was drawn to this Chromebook partly because of this; many bloggers also love this amazing weight point and this is the reason why the device is so popular with bloggers in the first place and ultimately, is their go-to machine for blogging.
If you’ve not yet made up your mind, this is a great reason to, at this point.
6. Touch Screen And Stylus Ready
A decade or so ago, the touch screen and stylus reality were mostly the exclusive preserve of Apple products, meant to be enjoyed by their users alone. Samsung soon joined in on their offers, especially with the Note series and the built-in stylus and the rest, they say, is history.
However, as widely adapted as the touch display and its twin, the stylus is, the Chromebook and laptop world are only playing catchup slowly and wondering if ever things will be as smooth and fluid with their world as it is with tablets and smartphones at the moment.
While that is left to the seen, the x360 doesn’t share that promise to the future – it has all the offers as relates to display enhancement at the moment and has absolutely no need to look into the future for this. With a standard touch display that is very responsive and stylus ready, you can take notes on the Chromebook, either in its clamshell mode or tablet mode and this will go beautifully with whatever it is that you’re interested in.
This reality is particularly helpful for games and apps that make sense only with touch or are designed primarily for a touch use and experience. With the touch display and the ultra-sensitive stylus capabilities, you are likely not to even notice when you are into app terrains that are reserved for touch use while using the device.
Personally, I’ve run into most of these apps and if it weren’t for the touch responsiveness of the machine, I would have been stuck. The same, I believe, will also hold true for you, when you transfer your professional blogger life to this Chromebook and allow it wow you.
7. A Perfect Price Point
There was a time in the past when blogging was synonymous with making a ton of money and others who were not in the business model erroneously believed that bloggers were the richest set of folks in the whole wide world. The idea then was that the ‘streets’ of the internet were paved with pure gold and anyone who knew how would simply reap the process, earning serious dough in the process.
Wrong as the notion was at that time, it stuck and that was the reality of things.
Fast-forward to this point in time, there has been a change; families and friends of bloggers now know and clearly understand that money isn’t littered on the ‘streets of the internet’ and as a matter of fact, the online business model choice is still business – just a better and more flexible model when compared to the brick and mortar reality.
This comes with a staggering implication, both for bloggers and their loved ones: we aren’t that rich, after all.
While some professional bloggers can easily afford machines that cost north of some $5000, for some, even an expenditure of $500 will need to be planned carefully, given the fact that it takes quite some time to earn that amount of money, small as it might appear.
For others who are in the professional leagues and are living on the income of blogging, they may still have a challenge spending that much on a blogging machine, especially since it is easy to get an option that will serve brilliantly for far less.
On whatever end of the spectrum you are as a professional blogger, one thing is certain: a good deal in the form of a blogging device isn’t what you want to pass you by.
Fortunately, the x360 Chromebook retails for well less than the price of either a comparable Windows or Mac machine. This is one of the most important reasons why I hold that it is the very best option as far as blogging and the business of blogging are concerned.
Why Do Bloggers Need A Chromebook Instead Of A Traditional Laptop In The First Place?
Traditionally, laptops have always come in either the form of Windows or macOS. So prevalent were these options that for many, they simply are the only ones they ever even consider exist, especially Windows.
However, given the fact that not everyone needs the bulk, bloat and cumbersomeness these two giants represent, Google set to work and brought something out that was lighter, better, and cheaper. It was called the Chromebook.
Google as a company is clearly one badass entity; however, the issue is and remains this: why do bloggers need a Chromebook instead of a traditional laptop in the first place? Or simply put: why is a Chromebook a better blogging machine when compared to Windows and macOS options?
1. Better Security
From the onset, the ChromeOS project and its developers had one single aim in mind: security that will beat and shame both Windows and macOS. A tall order – but definitely doable. And that is what the company set out to do and eventually, achieved with all brilliance.
To achieve this, the developers from Google working on the project made certain that periodic updates were pushed to these devices over their lifespan, and these updates covered both bugs and security. This strategy is super brilliant in the sense that it allows the device to silently update itself in the background while it is used and apply the updates on the next boot and startup, all without wasting one second of your time for this task.
You are thus protected from the biggest threats online by means of periodic updates without needing to do anything special: just plug, use, shut down, and restart and everything takes place quietly in the background. The best part? These updates are usually light, many of them well under 100 MB! This presents no challenge even for metered internet connections!
Periodic updates that are pushed into the system, silently while you work and changes applied on the next startup is only just the beginning in the sphere of security, deployed by the developers. ChromeOS is by design completely incapable of running executable files – making it completely foolproof to the trillions of viruses and malware that have been specially developed over the years for both macOS and Windows. In light of this, a Chromebook is the only OS where you don’t need to actively have and use anti-virus to stay and keep safe.
Further to this security move and in line with ensuring that your security is prioritized and data protected at all times, tabs opened in the system are sandboxed, meaning that, should a virus or malware somehow find its way into the system, it will remain trapped in the open tab from where it came through and once the tab is closed, everything is ‘closed’ with it, nothing spreads from there or even has a chance of attacking the system from that tab of entry.
Isn’t this pure genius?
Finally, assuming a virus or malware gets through to your Chromebook and unfortunately, the tab of entry isn’t closed and you are fond of leaving your tabs ‘alive’ (aren’t all bloggers guilty of this? 🙂 ), then, what happens is that, when the Chromebook is finally restarted, it goes through what is known as a ‘verified boot’. This check confirms that the system’s OS is the same as the registry files on Google’s servers. Even if there’s a light change that is only just a period, the compromised OS copy on your machine is replaced with a fresh one from Google’s servers, all within an extraordinarily fast boot period of between 3-5 seconds!
Can any OS beat this, especially regarding this extreme suitability for a blogger?
2. Better Battery Life
This point has been hammered upon in the section (above) where I argued why the x360 is a perfect fit for bloggers. However, beyond the argument that this Chromebook beat other Chromebooks to their various games and offers 13-14 hours of battery life new (while many competing Chromebooks only offer 8-9 hours when new), it is also pertinent to add that the x360 does not just beat its peers hands down, it also beats other laptops, running Windows and macOS, especially options that are offered around its price point.
To get a Windows or Mac that offers an impressive 10+ hours in terms of battery life, one thing must give: be prepared to spend at least, a thousand dollars or more. For example, the Dell XPS 13 offers an impressive battery life, around the point the x360 Chromebook delivers. The same goes for the Macbook Air, offered by Apple and powered by the M1 chip that the macOS supports.
All laptop options that have a battery life of 10 – 15 + hours, running on either Windows or macOS make certain that you spend thousands of dollars for that reality. Options that cost close to the $500 mark that the Chromebook under discussion here retails for well under will give you a battery life of 3-5 hours max – nothing more.
Now, with the x360 HP Chromebook retailing for well less than $500 and at the same time, offering value better than Windows and Macs around both the $500 mark (and options well in excess of $1000) is a true engineering feat and mastery that you need to especially consider when taking a look at this device.
You can’t simply beat it!
3. A Cloud Reality
There is nothing as annoying as losing a document either by means of corruption of the document, accidental deletion, virus/malware invasion, or outright theft of your computer. To mitigate this challenge, bloggers have been coming up with solutions that are ingenious, over the years. However, none of these solutions beat the inbuilt ones that simply work, without you having to even think about it.
Let me take you back, a few years as a professional blogger…do you remember when the backup plugin, BackUp Buddy came on board and how it was the hottest thing after the Thesis Framework and its unique skins? Then, backing up a site was quite novel (and things like SSL weren’t widespread then and very few bloggers bothered with either).
Do you remember the pains one had to undergo to manually back up a site (using a plugin) or pay some token for periodic (read: daily) backups that were done to one’s email or even one’s servers (especially the era before hosting companies started offering the backup service as part of a bundle?)
That was well over a decade ago; but do you know why the BackUp Buddy plugin was an instant success and made so much sense? The answer is simple: it backed up both files and database (something most of the plugins did not, then) and then, fired them up to some remote storage (not your server), automatically and periodically. I remember vividly that it was hotcakes then and quite pricey: many bloggers couldn’t even afford it, yours truly included 🙂
Fast forward to today and the Chromebooks ensure a breath of fresh air to the backup-conscious mind that BackUp Buddy provided way back. Typing? Ditch Word and Pages and instead, opt for Docs: you’ll never lose even a comma of your work and importantly, will have your works stored up in the clouds and accessible anywhere you have an internet connection.
Your device is stolen? Simply shrug off your shoulders and buy a new one, after all, they’re dirt cheap. Log in to the new one and have all your files and customizations restored, even the way and manner your previous desktop looked: no file lost; no customizations or preferences lost as well.
The list is truly endless…and a joy and absolute delight for any blogger. The best part? If you’re new to Chromebook or any of these offers from Google, you may qualify for the numerous perks specially meant to welcome new members with offers as lengthy in time duration as a whole calendar year.
Can you beat that?
Wrap Up
Almost everything else in the world is open to debate: not the best Chromebook available for the money today for bloggers, however. Irrespective of who you ask or how you look at it, no Chromebook in production today beats the HP x360 14a when it comes to overall badassery and suitability for the task of blogging.
Just like Toyota; the x360 from HP is certainly not perfect; far from it. It has a display that isn’t so great in the sun and a few other negligible challenges here and there. However, these flaws aside and taken as a whole unit, factoring everything, just like a typical Toyota, the x360 beats the rest hands down and like a Toyota too, will keep up at its duty post long after the others have packed up.
It may not be attuned to extreme luxury or look particularly beautiful (like most of Japan’s export); it may not also be the most powerful or even qualified to be called ‘powerful’ in the first place…but, if you want something that will serve your blogging needs now and in the years to come in an uncompromising fashion, you should consider the HP x360 14a.
Unfailingly.