# Google Pixelbook

19 Hacker News commenters recommended Google Pixelbook and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 9 years (5 owners).

**Verdict:** Owners praise its build quality, hardware design and long life, with many still using it years later. Common caveats are ChromeOS limits and battery problems.

## Why people recommend it

- Still works years later (5 comments): "My 9 year old Pixelbook is still supported and will continue to get updates for one more year!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116503)) "Somehow I'm still using the Pixelbook today and it chugs along." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48112210)) "I use my 2016 pixelbook every day. Best laptop ever made." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896015))
- Excellent build quality and hardware (3 comments): "Sure, ChromeOS is fairly boxed in but the Linux VM was reasonably good and the built quality was just something else." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48115516)) "I loved the hardware design and the taller aspect ratio screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48113188)) "I loved my Pixelbook, fantastic piece of hardware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48112214))
- Reasonable Linux support (2 comments): "Sure, ChromeOS is fairly boxed in but the Linux VM was reasonably good and the built quality was just something else." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48115516)) "You can install linux on the old PixelBook or Chromebook Pixel." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48117031))
- More usable than expected (2 comments): "it was surprisingly much more usable than I had expected" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48125230)) "surprisingly much more usable than I had expected" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48125327))

## What people warn about

- Recurring hardware and software problems (3 comments): "there was too many small annoyances like needing to fix the keymap every time I did a clean install" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48113321)) "They all suffered from severe hardware issues that got never fixed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48113206)) "Feels like a languishing product that's also not stable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49161489))
- ChromeOS limits what it can do (2 comments): "Sure, ChromeOS is fairly boxed in but the Linux VM was reasonably good and the built quality was just something else." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48115516)) "it had a lot of limitations, ChromeOS being the major one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48113718))
- Battery swells or needs replacing (2 comments): "the battery has started to significantly swell pushing the back panel apart" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46091030)) "I would still be using the Pixelbook if I could have replaced its battery" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48051614))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend
- [Apple MacBook Neo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo.md): 707 recommend
- [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend
- [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend
- [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Google+Pixelbook+12+inch+Chromebook&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Google Pixelbook", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pixelbook/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).