I was about ready to jump in on the Pixelbook, which still seems like the leader. But once I’ve confirmed how much the Pixelbook will cost, I should then do a double check of what can be done for the same amount of money. So in quick and dirty equation, we can say the Chromebook will be $600, pen $100 and then a Pixel 2 (phone) $200, so we’re looking at about $900 plus shipping and handling. We can take an opportunity to ask, if we’re shelling out $900 for hardware, what else can we get for the same amount of money, and how does it compare?

Galaxy Note:

We can do a quick comparison against a full-on note setup. Galaxy Note 8 ($300), Chromebook Plus V2 ($370), DexDock($40), 15 inch 4k monitor ($300). So we end up with around a thousand dollars. I guess the 4k monitor isn’t needed since i have a fullHD model at home. So we basically have around $700 for a computer and phone combination. And then $200 leftover to spend on Raspberry Pi stuff or commissions.

Normal Computer:

Options are Dell XPS 13 and Thinkpad X1 carbon. I’d be tempted to go with the X1 carbon if I can find a 1440p model for a decent price. Though I can’t find either of these computers are a price that costs less than both a chromebook and a phone. So there’s there’s that. The only normal computer that I think I would consider is the Surface Laptop 3, and that’s out of my price range.

So the main comparison that we’re down to is the combination of a Pixelbook with a Pixelphone, or a Samsung Galaxy with a Samsung Notebook (or a NexDock). In general there isn’t too much reason that I couldn’t buy a Pixelbook and a Samsung phone, but I really like the idea of having two different devices that use similar design language. The main reason that I want a Samsung Galaxy phone is that the idea of having Dex sounds really appealing. I really like the idea of being able to have a phone, pop it into a dock, and then be able to use the phone as a desktop.

The main issue is that I would like to try this approach or have this option available. I don’t have much time to sit down at a desk very often, so I should go with the device with a better laptop functionality and that’s the Pixelbook. Also right now the Samsung phones have Dex enabled, but if desktop mode were to become an option on the Pixelphones, then that would make the case for the Pixel-family really one sided. As that’s the main reason I have for leaning towards Samsung in general.

The other comparison to make in this situation is the Chromebook experience. In terms of flat out Chrome usage, I don’t see much reason to choose the Pixelbook over the Chromebook Plus V2. Since I would be using both for light emulation, browsers and terminal availability. It’s mostly the idea of putting Linux on the device is what gives the Pixelbook massive advantage over the Samsung options as the 64GB on the Chromebook Plus v2 would quickly become a limiting factor. As for the pen, I really like the idea of having a store the pen on the Chromebook Plus v2. But that’s in the case of ChromeOS. Otherwise in practical application I don’t mind leaving the at home, and being able to use the pen only when at home, and using the computer as a standard computer otherwise.

I still have a few more questions to address. How much would the Pixelbook be compared to the Zenbook I have now? And which version of the Pixel phone makes the most sense?