Dell's Chromebook 13 takes aim at the workplace

[Shawn Knight]

Chromebooks have gained more traction than most probably expected, a trend that Google is hoping will carry over to the workplace. The latest entry in its enterprise push comes from Dell in the form of the Chromebook 13.

Dell's newcomer joins the Asus Chromebook Flip and the Chromebook Pixel in the Google for Work program, doing so in impressive fashion.

The system packs a 13.3-inch FHD IPS touchscreen display, a fifth generation Intel Core processor, a carbon fiber cover, backlit keyboard, magnesium alloy palm rest and a glass trackpad. Battery life is rated at a full 12 hours.

These are the kind of amenities that certainly grab one’s attention but it’ll take more than some nifty hardware to even gain consideration from enterprise clients. Fortunately, Google and Dell seem to have that taken care of as well as the Chromebook 13 includes a number of security-minded and productivity-focused features.

For example, it is supported by Dell’s unique IP from Dell KACE which provides inventory management and service desk support. The Dell SonicWALL Mobile Connect (VPN) app provides secure access to company resources, access reporting and tracking while optional content filter subscription services available with Dell firewalls provide URL filtering and browser protection to ensure employees aren’t using the notebook for productivity-killing purposes like checking Facebook.

The Dell Chromebook 13 starts at $399 and will be available for purchase as of September 17.

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[Someone8MyPosts]

Still not a player. IT departments don't want to adopt yet another slew of applications and hardware to support VPN, etc., which they'll already have had in place (in many cases). Cheaper and functional is great. Storing data securely is even better. Running apps both local and from the cloud (synced) is great, as well. If you really want IT departments to take this seriously, you're going to have to do better than this.

I've been eyeballing Chromebooks for a while, and I can see many benefits to having them in the workplace for simplicity, speed, cost, etc. However, without the security we need, to include encryption (not just VPN), and the ability to employ inventory management realistically (do you really think IT departments will do away with the gear they've already invested a ton of time and money into?), then this is half-baked.