The pandemic forced most businesses to embrace teleworking, even if they didn’t yet have robust remote programs in place. The good news is that this massive uptick has demonstrated that remote employees can be just as efficient and productive as onsite workers. As businesses ponder what comes next, the hybrid work environment, where remote and in-office employees seamlessly collaborate and work together, is gaining traction.
Making that vision a reality, however, may require a new way of assigning and using technology as remote employees come into the office on an as-needed basis, or when frontline workers require a laptop or device for a limited window of time.
The HP Chromebook 11a seems ideally suited for a hybrid environment. The laptop is powerful enough to handle almost any business application and can be managed through the cloud.
The HP Chromebook 11a Is Portable Yet Powerful
Although it is extremely portable, the 2-pound unit offers users many of the features found in larger laptops, including a full-size keyboard to maximize productivity, a 2-gigahertz processor and 4 gigabytes of SDRAM to support almost any business application.
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The screen size is also generous for such a portable unit. The 11a has an 11.6-inch display with a native HD resolution of 1366x786. The LED screen is also quite bright, and images displayed on it looked good in standard overhead office lighting.
The HP Chromebook 11a comes standard with a 720p HP TrueVision HD webcam. When combined with stereo speakers and a dual array microphone, it makes the 11a a good videoconferencing tool. There is also a 32GB solid-state hard drive, so users can make the laptop a personal device. It’s also possible to keep all employee data in the cloud and just have the machine load up personal desktops and files as needed.
The HP Chromebook 11a is well suited to operate in the emerging hybrid work environment. It strikes a great balance between performance and value that would make it a good fit in almost any office or workspace.
HP Chromebook 11a Is Ready for Workplace Rigors
As great as the features on the HP Chromebook 11a are, there is one other major factor to consider for business environments: battery life. Especially if the laptop is being used as part of a shared technology program, having enough battery life to last for a full shift plus any unexpected overtime is going to be key to productivity.
The design of the HP Chromebook 11a has a lot going for it in terms of battery life. All its components are solid-state, so there are no moving parts. The Chrome OS was made to maximize power efficiency in devices that run it. The 11a also comes equipped with a 37-watt-hour lithium-ion polymer battery optimized for longevity.
To perform battery testing, a fully charged Chromebook 11a was loaded up with typical office productivity tools. A web browser was also opened. Running scripts kept the office tools engaged as if a user was constantly working.
In that maximum productivity scenario, it was surprising to find that the Chromebook had enough power to last for a little more than 14 hours. Charging it back up to full power took about an hour.
More typical usage — because nobody works for 14 hours straight without a break — would provide even more runtime. It’s not inconceivable that that the HP Chromebook 11a could operate for two typical eight-hour workdays without needing to recharge.
Great battery life makes the HP Chromebook 11a a good pick for shared technology programs or for workers who go for long stretches of time without access to power plugs. It also means that the new Chromebook 11a won’t mind any unexpected overtime.
Specifications
PROCESSOR: MediaTek MT81823 8-core/2GHz
MEMORY: 4GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: 32G SSD
SCREEN SIZE: 11.6 inches
DIMENSIONS: 11.2x7.6x0.7 inches
WEIGHT: 2.36 pounds
