Notice: Discounted R500.00 for Cosmetic Imperfections.
The C740 Chromebook is a basic upgrade over the best-selling C720, making just a few tweaks to the model released almost two years ago. The external hardware has improved with subtle changes, but the biggest improvement comes in the processor, which keeps the same great performance but bumps battery life by one or two hours - up to nine total. The keyboard and trackpad are unchanged and just as good as they were before, but the same can't be said
Those few tweaks don't actually change how the C740 Chromebook feels, and honestly the change in look is extremely minimal as well. But after using the C720 for over a year, I have to say I wasn't dying to see any changes. This Chromebook is still built to be bumped around, tossed in a bag, hit on by little kids and come away looking no worse for the wear.
In general the design is still kind of a hot mess of different textured plastics, with lightly-sparkly grey inside, matte black on the bottom, glossy black around the screen and now a faux brushed metal on the lid. This is not an attractive laptop even by last year's standards, and is further from cutting edge design compared to the 2015 competition. Looks aren't everything, and I'm hardly embarrassed to be using it in public, but there's nothing about the C740's look that will draw any envy from your friends when they see it.
The port layout is as basic as the design, and everything is where you'd expect it. Power, HDMI, USB and headphone/mic line the left side, with a lock slot, USB and SD card matching it on the right. The ports have plenty of room to work with multiple things plugged in, and that's possible because the C740 is a little thick by today's standards. And at 2.87 pounds it still lands in the light and portable category for sure - I usually draw the line at three pounds for laptops 13-inches or smaller - but other 11-inch offerings are coming in at least a half pound lighter, and that's a noticeable difference.