If you have a laptop with decent memory and an SSD, you will have many of the same benefits of a Chromebook, with few of the negatives. My new HP laptop with a 512 gig SSD boots up in less than 30 seconds and shuts down in 5. It operates very quickly, and is fairly light. Those spinning platter drives are pretty heavy compared to an SSD. I can't argue with the fact the Chromebooks are cheap, but my new 17.3 inch HP laptop with a 512 gig SSD and 1960 x 1080 resolution was less than $550.
My eyes aren't what they used to be and that large screen, for a laptop, makes it a lot easier to work with. :)