Everyone's talking about the two smartphones, so we put them head to head. Find out how Google's new Pixel compared to the iPhone X. USA TODAY Google's Matt Vokoun introduces the new Google Pixelbook at the San Francisco Jazz Center October 4, 2017. Why would anyone bother spending $1,000 or more for a Chromebook? After all, most vendors sell Chromebooks as sub-$300 alternatives to traditional laptop PCs. So, what was Google thinking introducing a product that, in some configurations, could be four times more expensive than its competitors?

Last time Google made the best Chromebook ever, it was the Chromebook Pixel. The boxy, beautiful $1,000 laptop wasn't designed to go everywhere with you so much as to be so outrageously impressive that it might prompt someone to ask, "Wait, that's a Chromebook?" Google made it to prove a point, not take over the market. This time, Google went a different way. For the Pixel Book, which the company announced today at an event in San Francisco, Google tried instead to build a thoroughly modern laptop, one that you'll hardly even notice in your bag. It has a 12.3-inch screen that rotates a full 360 degrees, so you can use the Pixel Book like either a laptop or a tablet.