Chromebook

[Ravynmagi]

Looks pretty nice for $250. I just don't know about Chrome OS. If it ran Android, I might be a bit more excited actually. Not sure why Google is pushing Chrome OS when they have Android, can't it do all the same things and a lot more already? I guess the good thing about Chrome OS is manufactures can't screw it up with customizations and never update it.

I think my money is probably better put towards a Windows 8 tablet. Will cost me more than 3 times as much, but I suspect I'll be more than 3 times happier with a Windows 8 tablet too.

 

[dagamer34]

What's weird is I see the Chromebook as Google trying to fight last was (desktop operating systems) when it clearly should be fighting the next war (mobile operating systems). And the longer that Chrome OS is separated from Android, the worse off they will be.

 

[lopri]

Apple's changed their product pages a bit so it's less similar I think, but there's definitely a LOT of resemblance still.

Now that I think about it again, I would not be surprised if Google/Samsung did make the product page like Mac's on purpose, as a parody of recent patent debates that Apple brought to public attention. Hey, you want to patent rectangles with rounded corners? How about white background and black letters?

What's weird is I see the Chromebook as Google trying to fight last was (desktop operating systems) when it clearly should be fighting the next war (mobile operating systems). And the longer that Chrome OS is separated from Android, the worse off they will be.

Agreed.

 

[Muyoso]

Looks pretty nice for $250. I just don't know about Chrome OS. If it ran Android, I might be a bit more excited actually. Not sure why Google is pushing Chrome OS when they have Android, can't it do all the same things and a lot more already? I guess the good thing about Chrome OS is manufactures can't screw it up with customizations and never update it.

I think my money is probably better put towards a Windows 8 tablet. Will cost me more than 3 times as much, but I suspect I'll be more than 3 times happier with a Windows 8 tablet too.

What is interesting is that with the Chromebook now on ARM, there is very little needed for Google to allow Android applications to run on ChromeOS. I hope that is part of their plan, but IDK.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

chromebooks are awesome and the samsung ones are really nice quality with the best touchpads out there. windows touchpad scrolling is and always has been awful, but in chrome os its almost as good as on apple. samsung chromebooks have been unreasonably priced until this one, this may be the beginning of the chrome os assault on windows, at least on windows notebooks. most people are going to find that chromebooks are more convenient for 95% of what they need to do

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Looks pretty nice for $250. I just don't know about Chrome OS. If it ran Android, I might be a bit more excited actually. Not sure why Google is pushing Chrome OS when they have Android, can't it do all the same things and a lot more already? I guess the good thing about Chrome OS is manufactures can't screw it up with customizations and never update it.

I think my money is probably better put towards a Windows 8 tablet. Will cost me more than 3 times as much, but I suspect I'll be more than 3 times happier with a Windows 8 tablet too.

the advantage of course is being able to run the desktop version of chrome with tabs

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Acer Aspire One 756 is a better deal from Best Buy for 250 bucks. Dual core Celeron 877, 2GB of ram, and 320gb of storage.

except that samsung chromebook build quality is much better. that aspire one has an awful touchpad, its almost unusable.

 

[lopri]

The more I look at it, it's a just perfect replacement for my mom's nettop. (Yeah it's one of those early Aspire One) for over 2 years now. All she does is internet (email, banking, shopping, games) anyway.

How does ChromeOS handle Flash? I know Flash is on its way out but there is still a lot of games out there relying on Flash and as far as I know those are the ones that my mom plays.

 

[BladeVenom]

pardon the obvious, what happens if there's no wifi?

Society will collapse.

Or you could get the 3G version. http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/19/3g-samsung-google-chromebook/

 

[bearxor]

How does ChromeOS handle Flash? I know Flash is on its way out but there is still a lot of games out there relying on Flash and as far as I know those are the ones that my mom plays.

I don't know, but I imagine being ARM-based, not well. It is an A15 though.

 

[s44]

Most interesting thing to me: if this device can be $250, maybe Google *can* hit some absurdly low price point ($300? less!?) with a Nexus 10 running the same internals...

 

[Red Storm]

This would be uber useful for college students on a budget. And if you wanted Office you could always use the free web apps version (I'm assuming it will work since this runs desktop Chrome).

 

[Roland00Address]

The more I look at it, it's a just perfect replacement for my mom's nettop. (Yeah it's one of those early Aspire One) for over 2 years now. All she does is internet (email, banking, shopping, games) anyway.

How does ChromeOS handle Flash? I know Flash is on its way out but there is still a lot of games out there relying on Flash and as far as I know those are the ones that my mom plays.

If you do not want to get her windows get this. (Aka harder to get virus, less features, but specialized so it is simpler)

If you want to get her windows get this for $279.99. Also 11.6" and 2gb of Ram (has 2 slots and can go up to 8gb.)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+A...8602&cp=1&lp=1

• Celeron Dual Core 877 has a passmark score of 1416. Underneath it all is sandybridge technology but at a lower clock speed and no hyperthreading
• Atom n270 single core has a passmark score of 303
• Atom n550 single core has a passmark score of 569
• Atom n2600 single core has a passmark score of 603
• AMD C-60 dual core has a passmark score of 487
• AMD E-450 dual core has a passmark score of 806
• AMD E2-1800 dual core has a passmark score of 873

So in sum it is about double or triple the speed of the competition yet small, light, and under $300

 

[dguy6789]

This looks pretty interesting to me. Couple it with a phone with really really good wifi hotspot battery life and bam awesomeness.

 

[bearxor]

*snip*

An alternative, one I've been looking at:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+1...&skuId=5732421

14" instead of 11.6". Still pretty compact. Uses a Pentium B970, essentially the same processor as the Celeron 877, but clocked 900mhz faster. Just $20 more, comes with 4GB of RAM instead of 2GB (though RAM is cheap, so whateves).

Either way, really good machines, the both of them. The only reason to pick AMD in this space right now is if you need the "extra" GPU oomph.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

This would be uber useful for college students on a budget. And if you wanted Office you could always use the free web apps version (I'm assuming it will work since this runs desktop Chrome).

I imagine it's a PITA to use web apps. What do you do when you DON'T have wifi?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

I don't know, but I imagine being ARM-based, not well. It is an A15 though.

imma litta worried about that as well. some of the reviews mentioned delayed characters when typing and a little choking on web pages

 

[Red Storm]

I imagine it's a PITA to use web apps. What do you do when you DON'T have wifi?

Many web apps have offline functionality. But, what exactly are you planning to do with this thing without internet connectivity (there's a 3G version for $80 more too)?

 

[TuxDave]

imma litta worried about that as well. some of the reviews mentioned delayed characters when typing and a little choking on web pages

Yeah I was reading about that too. I got burned on the first gen netbook because "it's so cheap why not". Turns out, I don't enjoy throwing away $200. I think I'll be waiting for the next one to see if the sluggish issues go away.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I wish Google was shipping this with Jelly Bean instead of Chrome OS. Android's tablet interface actually works well with touchpad and keyboard input and Exynos 5250 would run it very well.

 

[Ns1]

I imagine it's a PITA to use web apps. What do you do when you DON'T have wifi?

looked it up, there's offline gmail and offline google docs (coming soon).

there's also a 3g version coming out that gives you 100mb/month for 2 years for an extra $80.

 

[shortylickens]

I imagine it's a PITA to use web apps. What do you do when you DON'T have wifi?

You shouldnt get one of these unless you have Wifi.
If you dont have it at home, that should be your first priority.
If you dont have it at school, get a regular laptop, and Office.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

somebody go buy one of these and tell us about it......

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

You shouldnt get one of these unless you have Wifi.
If you dont have it at home, that should be your first priority.
If you dont have it at school, get a regular laptop, and Office.

But it's mobility. It's like having an iPod touch vs iPhone. You easily feel the constraints. Even if you live somewhere like San Francisco or New York where there's tons of free wifi hotspots, it's a constraint. Yes I guess with a Chromebook you want a work environment rather than pulling it out like a phone.

With a laptop I already feel like I can't do much work without the internet. But I have no problem doing a lot of offline stuff on Office and Acrobat, etc. But to do this all on a Chromebook? Even more limited, etc. Plus, webapps suck even with offline functionality.

I guess having one of these in front of the TV at home is fine though. It's kinda like the tablet. You either want to have some offline content you can take to go or you want internet on the go. Otherwise its better as a device at home.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

But it's mobility. It's like having an iPod touch vs iPhone. You easily feel the constraints. Even if you live somewhere like San Francisco or New York where there's tons of free wifi hotspots, it's a constraint. Yes I guess with a Chromebook you want a work environment rather than pulling it out like a phone.

With a laptop I already feel like I can't do much work without the internet. But I have no problem doing a lot of offline stuff on Office and Acrobat, etc. But to do this all on a Chromebook? Even more limited, etc. Plus, webapps suck even with offline functionality.

I guess having one of these in front of the TV at home is fine though. It's kinda like the tablet. You either want to have some offline content you can take to go or you want internet on the go. Otherwise its better as a device at home.

not to mention that most public wifi bumps you like every 20 minutes so youre contantly having to log on again.