Google not only updates Chromebook OS, but slashes prices

It's holiday season once again and while everyone is dodging each other for that latest and greatest smartphone or tablet, Google would like to remind you that there are other options. Options such as their Chromebook, which they've now commenced a fresh push on, including an updated interface and some much more competitive, and festive pricing.

Google are slowly changing their Chrome OS to be more like a Windows laptop, or as user-friendly as an iPad. In May, Google introduced a file system and laptops with working SD card slots, which is a huge upgrade from the once only cloud-based launch. While Chrome OS and Chromebooks are still cloud-heavy, you can now side-load files and even download them to an easily accessible file area on the system.

Where Chromebooks make it easy, is beyond the usual Google/Gmail sign-in, there's no setup. Nothing. Nada. Zip. For those with a Gmail account, you just sign in like you do on an Android-based tablet or smartphone (something I utterly love) and from there, it'll sync your data, contacts, e-mail, photos (from Google+ and others). It really is a no hassles, easy setup process.

The entry-level Chromebook has dropped from the $429-ish mark to $299. Spec-wise we have an Intel Atom processor, 16GB of SSD storage, 2GB of memory and a new price of just $299. Is this enough to sway you toward a Chrome OS-based laptop? I see some people finding these in their stockings on Christmas morning at that price.