HP Chromebook 14b 2024, Intel N100, 4GB, 64GB eMMC, Blue

The HP Chromebook 14b is a budget 2-in-1 Chromebook that nails the basics: responsive touchscreen, good battery life, and easy setup. The 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage are serious limitations for multitasking and storage-heavy users. It's a great first laptop for kids or a secondary device, but not a primary machine for power users.

The Intel N100 is a 4-core chip that can boost up to 3.40GHz, and for ChromeOS it's... fine. Our data puts the CPU in the 15th percentile for this category, which means it's near the bottom of the barrel compared to other 2-in-1s. But ChromeOS doesn't need much horsepower. Web pages load, videos play, and Google Docs works without complaint. Just don't expect to edit 4K video or run Linux apps with any enthusiasm.

The integrated Intel graphics are listed as "4K Graphics" in the marketing, which is a fun way of saying it can output to a 4K display, not that it can game at 4K. Our GPU score lands in the 28th percentile, and the gaming score is a brutal 4 out of 100. This is not a gaming machine. Not even a little. Stardew Valley might chug along, but anything more demanding will have you staring at a slideshow.

One thing to note: a few owners mentioned occasional slowdowns and one reported overheating during streaming. That's not surprising with a fanless or minimally cooled budget chassis. Keep it on a hard surface and you'll probably be fine.

Stacked against something like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, this HP looks like a toy. But that's not a fair fight. The X1 Carbon costs several times more and targets business users who need durability and performance. The HP Chromebook 14b is for a completely different buyer. Same goes for the Apple MacBook Pro M1 Pro, which is in another universe entirely for performance and price.

A more realistic comparison is against other budget Chromebooks and 2-in-1s in the $250 to $350 range. The ASUS Vivobook TP3407SA-DS74T offers more RAM and storage in a similar convertible form factor, though it typically costs more. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge is a premium ARM laptop that outclasses this HP in every way except price. If you're shopping this HP, you're shopping on price first, and that's okay. Just know what you're giving up.

At $280 USD renewed, the HP Chromebook 14b is cheap. Not "suspiciously cheap," but definitely budget territory. You're getting a touchscreen 2-in-1 with a decent display and ChromeOS simplicity for less than a lot of Android tablets. The affordability score in our database is in the 93rd percentile, which tracks. But value isn't just about the sticker price. The 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage mean you're making compromises every day. If you can stretch to 8GB of RAM, even in a slightly older Chromebook, you'll have a much better time. For a kid's school machine or a secondary device, this is a reasonable buy. For a primary laptop, it's a stretch.

The HP Chromebook 14b sits in that budget 2-in-1 Chromebook space, the kind of thing you grab for a kid's first laptop or a cheap couch machine. At around $280 USD renewed, it's not trying to compete with premium ultrabooks. It's trying to be good enough for homework, YouTube, and light web browsing, and for the most part it gets there. The 14-inch FHD IPS touchscreen with the 360-degree hinge is the headline feature, and it's a genuinely nice screen for this price bracket.

Under the hood you get an Intel N100 processor, 4GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. Those are modest specs, and our database puts the RAM and storage in the bottom 4th percentile for this category. That's not a typo. If you're wondering whether this Chromebook is good for multitasking with a dozen tabs open, the answer is a soft no. ChromeOS is lightweight, but 4GB is 4GB.

What it does well is the basics. It's easy to set up, the touchscreen is responsive, and buyers consistently mention solid battery life. It's a Chromebook for people who want a Chromebook, not a Windows laptop in disguise.

Skip this if you need a real workhorse. The 4GB of RAM makes heavy multitasking painful, and the 64GB of storage means you'll be living in the cloud whether you like it or not. If you're a developer, a video editor, or someone who keeps 30 browser tabs open, look at something with 8GB or 16GB of RAM, like a used ThinkPad or a mid-range Windows laptop. Gamers should look elsewhere entirely. And if you're buying this as your only computer for the next five years, the reliability concerns from a few owners might make you think twice. For a kid's first laptop or a couch browser, it's fine. For everything else, spend a bit more.

Should you buy the HP Chromebook 14b? If you need a cheap, simple laptop for a kid, a student with light workloads, or a second machine for browsing and streaming, yes. It's a solid little Chromebook with a nice screen and good battery life, and the renewed price makes it easy to justify. The touchscreen and 360 hinge add real flexibility for tablet-style use.

But if you're an adult looking for a daily driver, or you plan to keep more than a handful of tabs open, the 4GB of RAM will frustrate you. The storage is tight, the ports are limited, and the gaming performance is a non-starter. This is a machine with a specific job: basic web tasks and schoolwork. Within that lane, it's a good buy. Step outside it and you'll feel the walls closing in fast.