I've Got a Cart Full of Chromebooks, Part 2: HP Pavilion 14 Tour

The machines issued in the TCS English and math 8-12 classes for the 2013-2014 school year are HP Pavilion 14 Chromebooks, most notable for their 14-inch screens.

Check out the short video below from SlashGear for a little tour of the Chromebook you'll be working with, which includes information on the available ports, battery life, and other features.

So what does this mean for our daily classroom use?

First up, the USB 2.0 ports allow you to access files for upload and use in web apps (think photos needed for presentations and photo-editing apps or Microsoft Office documents you might want to access via Google Drive).  You can also use these ports for peripherals like USB headsets or mice.

The HDMI port is handy for video output and will allow you to display your work on a separate monitor, TV screen, or through some projectors.  Most of our classroom projectors use VGA instead, though, so these aren't likely to work with them.  The good news is that everything students and teachers might create and want to project will be stored in the cloud and easily accessible from any computer with an internet connection, so swapping out machines attached to a projector in class probably won't be necessary.

The 4-5 hour battery life means that on days of heavy use you may want to plan for a quick mid-day charge to keep your devices going until the last bell.  Your mileage may vary when it comes to battery life, so gauge your usage in the first few days and weeks, and establish a plan that works best for you.

You'll also note that there's no option to hook up a Chromebook to a printer.  There are work-arounds, but the best advice I've heard is this: "Don't print.  Create, publish, share."  The how of that will come in blog post form soon.

Do you have practical tips about the Chromebooks or observations to share? Post them in the comments below!

This post is Part 2 of an ongoing series intended to orient teachers to their new devices as part of the Tuscaloosa City Schools 1:1 digital conversion.  You might also be interested in Part 1:

I've Got a Cart Full of Chromebooks, Now What? (classroom setup basics)


Laren Hammonds is an 8th grade English teacher at Rock Quarry Middle School.  She's @_clayr_ on Twitter and blogs about her classroom experiences at Game to Learn.