Chromebook

[Kumabjorn]

I've been looking at the meager offerings of Chromebooks. They are surprisingly inexpensive, but unfortunately they aren't offered in Sweden. Has anyone here used one? Are they practical, or is it impossible to accomplish anything when you're not online? Do they have multi-lingual support? How about privacy? Is everything you do on them tracked by Google?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I've been looking at the meager offerings of Chromebooks. They are surprisingly inexpensive, but unfortunately they aren't offered in Sweden. Has anyone here used one? Are they practical, or is it impossible to accomplish anything when you're not online? Do they have multi-lingual support? How about privacy? Is everything you do on them tracked by Google?

Haven't used one yet, but I planned on getting the Samsung Chromebook next week during the Black Friday deals. Not sure it'll happen, because Best Buy took the ad down. They were going to offer it for $199 (regular $249).

Google has two Chromebooks in their Play Store - one by Samsung ($249) and a just released one by Acer ($199). In their Chrome Store, they have these two plus another one by Samsung ($449).

I have no intention of using it offline. When I disconnect the internet, I turn my computer off. To me, a computer is worthless without the net.

So I'm afraid I won't be much help to you.

[fjtorres]

The Chromebooks remind my of Larry Ellison's "Network Computer" fiasco of the 90's.
They suffer from the same issues: the price of the NC was comparable to a fully functional, offline-capable computer and often undercut. It was cheaper to buy fullPCs and use them as both terminals and PCs than to buy the less capable NCs. Once MS got serious about remote PC management the whole idea collapsed.

At US$249 those Samsung Chromebooks match the price of quite a few Netbooks at the local WalMarts. Put the Chrome browser on a netbook and you have a Chromebook *and* a Windows or Linux computer on the side.
The world neets to get a whole lot "Cloudier" before pure internet terminals start to make sense for the majority of online denizens.

[kennyc]

Sun started it back in the beginning "The Network IS the Computer"

http://www.aiim.org/community/blogs/...S-the-Computer!

http://webexplorations.com/blog/?p=75


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gage

The whole cloud computing meme is all in the same vein. I see the advantages, but also the problems. There is no "perfect" technology.

I'm tempted to try it out though and have been trying a few things with google docs, music, etc. with my tablets.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The Chromebooks remind my of Larry Ellison's "Network Computer" fiasco of the 90's.
They suffer from the same issues: the price of the NC was comparable to a fully functional, offline-capable computer and often undercut. It was cheaper to buy fullPCs and use them as both terminals and PCs than to buy the less capable NCs. Once MS got serious about remote PC management the whole idea collapsed.

At US$249 those Samsung Chromebooks match the price of quite a few Netbooks at the local WalMarts. Put the Chrome browser on a netbook and you have a Chromebook *and* a Windows or Linux computer on the side.
The world neets to get a whole lot "Cloudier" before pure internet terminals start to make sense for the majority of online denizens.

I was under the impression that a Chromebook was closer in specs to a laptop than a netbook. An I mistaken?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

At US$249 those Samsung Chromebooks match the price of quite a few Netbooks at the local WalMarts. Put the Chrome browser on a netbook and you have a Chromebook *and* a Windows or Linux computer on the side.

I won't pay $249, but I will pay $199.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I was under the impression that a Chromebook was closer in specs to a laptop than a netbook. An I mistaken?

The main difference I would be concerned about is the OS itself and the applications available. You can't run windows apps on a Chromebook.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I won't pay $249, but I will pay $199.

only fiddy bucks man!


It does look like the best of the three in the store..

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by kennyc

The main difference I would be concerned about is the OS itself and the applications available. You can't run windows apps on a Chromebook.

I am aware of that limitation but the Chrome Docs etc is good enough for text input. It's not like I would give up my HP laptop, on the other hand that is not a device I care to schlep around. So a Chromebook would be more of a complement to my other devices. The problem with my ASUS Transformer is that the keyboard isn't that type friendly. So I want something with a regular keyboard but not weighing in at 1 kg or more.

[HarryT]

I'm waiting for the Windows 8 Pro Surface tablets. They look very promising - the portability of a tablet with the ability to run legacy Windows apps.

[Kumabjorn]

But will they be light and portable enough?
I think they will be just like any Win7 laptop, clunky but feature rich.

[tubemonkey]

Key specs of the 3 Chromebooks currently available from Google.

Acer C7 -- $199

• Display: 11.6" -- 1366 x 768 -- 135 ppi
• Processor: Intel Celeron 847 dual core
• Speed/ RAM: 1.1 GHz -- 2GB DDR3 RAM
• Boot Time: 20 seconds
• Storage: 320GB HHD -- SD card slot
• Battery: 2500 mAh / 3.5 hours
• Dimensions: 11.2" x 8.0" x 1.0"
• Weight: 3.0 lbs / 1.4 kg

Samsung 303 -- $249

• Display: 11.6" - 1366 x 768 -- 135 ppi
• Processor: Samsung Exynos 5250 dual core
• Speed/ RAM: 1.7 GHz -- 2GB DDR3 RAM
• Boot Time: 10 seconds
• Storage: 16GB SSD -- SD card slot
• Battery: 4080 mAh -- 6.5 hours
• Dimensions: 11.4" x 8.1" x 0.69"
• Weight: 2.4 lbs / 1.1 kg

Samsung 550 -- $449

• Display: 12.1" -- 1280 x 800 -- 125 ppi
• Processor: Intel Celeron 867 dual core
• Speed/ RAM: 1.3 GHz -- 4GB DDR3 RAM
• Boot Time: 8 seconds
• Storage: 16GB SSD -- SD card slot
• Battery: 6800 mAh -- 6.5 hours
• Dimensions: 11.5" x 8.5" x 0.83"
• Weight: 3.0 lbs / 1.4 kg

[tubemonkey]

BTW, the Chromebook 303 and Nexus 10 are both made by Samsung and both use the same ARM Cortex A-15 chipset (Samsung Exynos 5250).

[steven522]

So really, between the two sub $300 Chromebooks, you are deciding between more internal storage and way shorter battery life or a small SSD and about twice the battery time.

Anyone know how well a "Samsung Exynos" processor performs in the real-world?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by steven522

So really, between the two sub $300 Chromebooks, you are deciding between more internal storage and way shorter battery life or a small SSD and about twice the battery time.

Anyone know how well a "Samsung Exynos" processor performs in the real-world?

Well, not really just those things. With a chromebook everything is on-line anyway so the storage is pretty irrelevant. There is also size and weight and processor speed...

in other words it all matters depending on your needs.