I spent way more time shopping for a cheap laptop than I care to admit. Used, refurbs, outlet deals...I looked everywhere for a halfway decent sub-$300 laptop that ticked all my boxes; lightweight, powerful enough to handle basic tasks (web browsing, emailing, office functions), at least somewhat "future proof", and not completely devoid of basic external connection capabilities. Nothing in the Windows OS world really offered everything I needed.I wound up narrowing my choices down to Chromebooks. This little Chromebook is, so far, perfect for me. It's not prohibitively expensive, but it's also no horribly cheaply made. I've owned a couple of cheap Chromebooks, and while they were plenty functional, they felt like toys. The build quality of this Chromebook is top notch. It's super speedy, boots up in an instant (as most Chromebooks do), and has all the basic functionality I need. The two USB ports are a huge plus, as is the availability of a Bluetooth connection. The screen quality is excellent. The display is bright and vibrant. So much so that I had to turn it down to 60%. Sound quality is lacking, but that's not really relevant, as no one's buying a Chromebook because they need exceptional sound quality. I'm not too fond of the trackpad. I can't quite find a mouse speed setting that moves the cursor just the way I like. It's not a big deal, though. It's more of a personal preference issue, and I use my external Bluetooth mouse most of the time.As a whole, this Chromebook is a solid 5 star purchase. For the price, it really doesn't get much better than this.