Amazon is making the holiday season all the merrier by offering customers a Amazon gift card with the purchase of select Chromebook hardware. Google's take on the future of portable computing, Chromebooks run the search giant's Chrome OS, a streamlined operating system built entirely around Google's ecosystem of apps and productivity software.When you consider how affordable the bulk of Chromebooks are to begin with, this Amazon deal is certainly hard to ignore. It would be easy to assume that a "cheap laptop" equates to dismal performance, but several models offered as part of this deal come close to hitting the sweet spot between price, power, and features.With models like the Acer Chromebook R 13 Convertible, which includes a full HD touchscreen display and 4GB LPDDR3 memory on board, already discounted by over $50, the savings keep on coming.

For those seeking a laptop that packs a bit more punch, Google's own recently announced Pixelbook comes not only with a $50 Amazon giftcard, but also knocks $100 off the retail price. The Pixelbook  edges its way into the powerful laptop category with 8GB of memory and a 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 processor inside. When you combine those specs with 128gb of flash storage, it's no contest that the Pixelbook is the Chromebook to beat. And hey, if you're buying a Chromebook for somebody else, no one has to know you kept the gift card for yourself.

Need some inspiration on what to do with your newly acquired Amazon gift card? Be sure to check out our Most Wanted Holiday Gift Guide.

Source: Amazon