ROB WAUGH: The Pixelbook Go is deliciously slim and worth the money


I’m finally being dragged out of my dinosaur-ish tendencies by Google’s Pixelbook Go. It’s deliciously slim, affordable and can do pretty much anything a ‘real’ PC can

Google Pixelbook Go

From £629, store.google.com

You realise as you advance in years that some habits are basically flying a massive red flag showing exactly how ancient you are.

I notice when I sit down with a laptop and immediately plug in a mouse, young colleagues are staring at me with amused bafflement, as if I arrived on a steam train or possibly riding a dinosaur.

Google’s Pixelbook Go. I realised that it can actually do pretty much anything from word processing to website editing

So I made a big effort to overcome my dinosaur-ish tendencies with Google’s Pixelbook Go. It’s a Chromebook (basically running a browser, but with a few additional apps).

In previous years, I’ve thought of Chromebooks rather as toys, and not fit to shine the shoes of a ‘real’ PC.

But after a few hours with Pixelbook Go, I realised that it can actually do pretty much anything from word processing to website editing.

The keyboard is one of the best I’ve seen in a laptop, with a pleasingly tactile ‘click’ as you type. Yes, I’m aware I should probably get out more.

The keyboard is one of the best I’ve seen in a laptop, with a pleasingly tactile ‘click’ as you type. Yes, I’m aware I should probably get out more

The keyboard is one of the best I’ve seen in a laptop, with a pleasingly tactile ‘click’ as you type. Yes, I’m aware I should probably get out more

Better still, the deliciously slim touchscreen device will go for 12 hours off one charge, a feature you’d usually pay a hefty premium to enjoy.

In previous years, Google’s flagship laptops cost £1,000 or more. The one I tested is £629, which is closer to the ‘sweet spot’ where sane human beings actually buy them.

Sure, it can’t play the latest PC games – but who am I kidding, my wife never lets me play them anyway.