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A very good computer with a few drawbacks at a very good price,
***Updates To My Review At The End***
My background: I’m a gadget geek but I’m not super devoted to any platform. I do love Google’s web products but never used their hardware. My laptop is a 13″ MacBook Pro and my desktop is a Mac Mini that runs both OS X and Windows 7 (I spend more time on Win 7 these days). I have an iPad (3rd gen) and Motorola Droid Razr Maxx along with a docking station. My wife has a Win 7 ultrabook, Kindle Fire HD and Razr Maxx, all of which I purchased for her.
I’m an editor for a web-based publication so my usage is primarily writing and some light (very light) image editing. I’ve done most of my writing on Google Docs for a long time because it automatically saves and I hate writing directly into the CMS. We also use Google Apps Business for e-mail, calendaring and doc sharing so that rocks.
The last thing I need is another computer but Chromebook called to me. A couple of reasons:
– The docking solution wasn’t great. The keyboard was crap, my phone got unusually hot and interacting with the CMS was hit and miss with the phone OS. It was good for e-mails.
– An iPad with a keyboard is garbage. I’ve tried it and hit the same issues. It is just clumsy for my primary work. I still travel with an iPad because it is light and its battery is a rockstar and can do in a pinch.
– The laptop is fine but it is a beast to carry. I just got back from a week-long jaunt to three conferences and I think my shoulder is broken from my shoulder bag.
– I love my phone and tethering has been a lifesaver. No complaints.
Okay, enough background. Now to the actual review.
Unboxing wasn’t particularly impressive but I don’t really care. Standard laptop box with the laptop, an AC adapter and Chrome sticker. I plugged it in and it was at about 75%. Now about an hour later, it is nearly charged.
When I pulled it out of the box, it almost felt like a laptop that didn’t have a battery in it (remember that?). Anyway, it feels solid closed up. I don’t have any problem throwing this in my engineer’s bag and feeling like it will get screwed up. The AC adapter is your standard black box with two cords.
I opened up the lid and it started immediately. It asked me to connect to my wifi connection and then proceeded to download the latest update of the operating system (version 23 according to the info in Chrome). After a quick reboot, I put in my Google credentials and it loaded everything I use in my Chrome browser normally, including my apps and bookmarks.
Opened up, the build quality showed a few weaknesses but nothing major. There’s a little give on the keyboard and palm rest. I didn’t feel any problems holding the laptop from its corner. It feels very solid overall. The thing to remember, of course, is that I came from a unibody MacBook Pro so take that for what it is worth.
The keyboard blew my expectations away. I figured it would be fairly cramped and that my typing speed would suffer. I figured the action wouldn’t be very good either. But, coming from a MacBook Pro chiclet keyboard to this was a cinch. I feel very little difference in typing speed or accuracy. This was really a big deal for me. I tried the HP Mini a few years ago and it was awful. A few millimeter difference is it.
The trackpad is very good though not as top notch of a comparison as the keyboard. It is very Mac-like in using it. The two finger swipe gestures, right-clicking, dragging, etc… it all operated like I expected. I’m a tapper, not a clicker so that may have something to do with it. It doesn’t seem like it is quite as accurate or response as the MacBook Pro but still very good.
The screen isn’t great but it isn’t a dealbreaker. For text, it performs adequately but not spectacularly. For video, it is quite adequate, maybe above average but again, not fantastic. The screen brightness isn’t what it could be, I feel like it is a tick or two off what should be standard brightness. But, I am also used to glossy screens and even with the brightness, the matte screen seems to do okay. I work right next to south-facing windows and even though we have no sun here in Seattle, it gets fairly bright and it seems good in these conditions. The viewing angles aren’t going to impress anyone but it works for me.
The speakers seem to be pretty good and loud enough. They are optimal for use on a desk rather than a lap though as the sound gets muffled a bit by clothing. I put on Pandora One and the sound through my nice $100 studio headphones sounds pretty good with the top volume topping out just right. Using my Apple headphone/mic combo, it worked well in a hangout. One thing is that the headphone jack seems very tight.
I hit my first snag when I tried to do HDMI out. It didn’t seem to work. Then I read a bit more and got it to work with the Ctrl+Full Screen and that seemed to do it…
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|Surprises Inside and Out *STUDENT REVIEW*,
I’m a student. I need something to carry around that I won’t worry about losing, breaking, or someone stealing. I won’t bring my Apple laptop to school due to theft increases lately. On that note, I wanted something for web browsing, typing papers in the library egg chairs and had a keyboard/trackpad combo. I found it.
This is not for a poweruser. Don’t fool yourselves, people. It’s a tablet on steroids. Get that through your head when you purchase and use it. If you have any other expectations like some of the reviewers, well, you’re honestly not the target audience. It’s meant to be light and cost affordable. Sure, the screen isn’t high resolution and it lacks expandable RAM and HD space. That’s NOT what this computer is.
I’ve had the computer for a few days now and I love it. It’s not super fast by any means; however, it gets the job done in regards to web browsing, finding papers for literature reviews and listening to rdio or Pandora. That’s what I need this for. And most likely the average consumer. Face it, most college students buy $1000 Macbooks to look cool. For what? To facebook, stream music, and browse the web. Most people who do photo editing buy the 15″ models with maxed out specs (like me). I don’t want to bring that to campus. That’s too much money to be slinging in my bag to just browse the web.
So, let me be clear. This laptop is excellent. The build quality is amazing for the price. Build quality is great of which I was surprised. The keyboard reminds me of the Macbook and the track-pad keeps up with my fast paced motions quite well. It’s light and I can have four to five tabs open running different processes at ease. It does like to stutter when I do multiple things with a video running though. Expected for a tablet processor though. It keeps cool and charged for a days use. The front camera is great for chatting.
I will admit, this little computer will replace your daily use computer you lug around currently. I used the Chrome Remote Desktop today on campus and was amazed at the speed and ease. I was using my Macbook at home on campus without any hiccups like I experience with Logmein or those other clients. Accessing the 100GB of free storage was as simple as clicking a link. My music, documents and life are on the cloud. I can access them with ease. Printing is no problem for me, either.
This little beast will surprise you. Although, please, don’t expect the world from this laptop. It’s $250, folks.
P.S. I typed this from the Chromebook. No problems handling my typing speed. And ask questions if you need them answered.
UPDATE 11/24:
I’ve been using this for a good while now and I haven’t had any regrets. The computer does what I need, when I want and I only miss running Netflix at school. That’s ok though, I have other avenues for watching movies. They do plan on updating and that’s a problem with Netflix, not Google. Printing is simple as it seems to be a very common question. To clicks on your computer and you’re done. They have been updating the OS and the Chromebook is acting a little better now. Overall, I’m still loving it. Just remember, it’s NOT for everyone.
UPDATE 02/06/13:
I love this computer. It is all I use around campus and for class lectures. I barely use Microsoft Office for my notes or spreadsheets in class. Google Drive and their office version is just awesome. If you do a lot of team-based activities, please, just use Google Drive. Keep your documents available to you at all times and collaboration is simple. It has made my life much easier. Just thought I’d let you all know.
UPDATE 04/11/13:
Netflix now works!
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|Fantastic Value,
I’m based in the UK and bought my unit there. However, physically this model is nearly identical to ours (to my knowledge only the keyboard layout and socket you need for charging it differs) and I’ve been using Chrome OS and previous Chrome hardware for a while, so I thought I’d give my take on this device.
I’ve owned the Cr-48 for a while, which was a kind of test unit Google sent out to people to beta test the operating system. That came out a long time ago and none of the commercial units have felt good enough to me to justify buying, up until now. They were always a little too expensive, despite the obvious advantages.
This will be a long review. For those wanting a short summary, I’ll include one at the end.
The software
For those unclear, Chrome OS (which the Chromebook runs) is fundamentally different to a Windows, Mac or Linux-based laptop, desktop or netbook. This is because it runs the web. No native applications exist specifically for this machine. There are apps (sometimes referred to as Chrome apps) but they also work in the Chrome browser.
Because this computer runs what many call ‘just a browser’ it has several advantages, as well as disadvantages when compared to a Windows machine. I’ve chosen Windows for most comparisons here as more people typically use Windows than a Mac or Linux machine.
Security
You cannot install Windows applications (or other native software) on Chrome OS. This means that the computer can operate more securely than a Windows machine simply because the computer knows what should be installed. If something is there that shouldn’t be there, the computer will erase all local data and install a version of the software that’s stored in a secure area. Once you’re connected to the internet, you’ll be updated to the most recent version of the operating system. As your settings, bookmarks and Chrome applications are stored by Google, they are also restored after the machine is reset and you log in. Typically the operating system is updated every 6 weeks, meaning bugs get fixed pretty quickly (important bug fixes will arrive more quickly) and new features are released quickly, too.
Getting things done
This is where the big problem is for some people; you can’t install Microsoft Office, Adobe’s Photoshop or other software packages. You’re limited to software that’s delivered through a website. Most people are perfectly comfortable with using things like Facebook, Twitter and email this way. The web offers some pretty powerful tools, though. For instance, pretty sophisticated image editing software exists on-line, as do audio and video editing tools. Using the massive resources of the internet (typically referred to as ‘the cloud’) means that video editing and other resource-intensive tasks can be made dramatically quicker than doing it locally. Make no mistake though, if you do need something like Photoshop it’s just not possible, unless you use software specifically designed to deliver ‘normal’ software through the web. Companies like Citrix offer products that can do that, but given the additional cost, it’s usually only big businesses that use them.
If you don’t need extremely-specialised software though, there’s a lot available. Google, Zoho and Microsoft all offer tools that will let you create, open and export documents in popular formats, such as Microsoft Office. There are advantages to this approach, too. Google Docs (as an example) allows individuals to use their on-line document, spreadsheet and presentation software free of charge and, even better, you can collaborate with up to 50 people on the same document, practically in real-time. This sort of thing just isn’t typically possible with traditional software. Where it is, it’s likely to be clunkier than a web-based tool as a website just lets you login and work.
Calendars, Angry Birds, finance tools (Sage and QuickBooks are available through the browser) are all also available in this way. It’s worth checking out if the things you’ll want to do are available in this way before ordering a Chromebook.
There are also many off-line capable applications. That is, things that will work without an internet connection. These include Google Documents (editing and viewing) Google Docs spreadsheets (viewing) and things like Google Calendar. Keep in mind though that this is primarily a device for accessing the internet. Without a connection, this device is extremely-limited. Applications delivered through a browser will get more and more capable over time, though.
Other drawbacks
As I’ve said, not everything is available through a browser. Critical things that people take for granted either aren’t available or are very different on a Chromebook.
It’s not possible to watch AVI or MKV video files (at the time this was written) for example, without converting them. That’s a…
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|A perfect anecdote to the horror of actual internet dates,
This book is like hanging out with your best friend as he mines all of the pain, awkwardness and embarrassment of internet dating for comic storytelling gold. Told with humility and intelligence, each of his chapters is painfully funny in it’s sharp insights into the bizarre nature of the human species as we attempt to find love, happiness, or at least make it to second base. For better or worse, you will recognize yourself as Brian tries to navigate his own insecurities and put on his best game face while attempting to decipher what the hell could possibly be going on in the other person’s head. If you want to check Brian out before you buy he writes for Thought Catalog […] But trust me, you should just buy it, you won’t regret it.
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|Hilarious light hearted fun read!,
I can’t believe how funny this book is. I didn’t expect it to be this funny!
Please don’t use it as a guide or reference for online dating. It’s a good reminder how messed up people can be and what you can do to make the best out of the thing called being human.
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|Laugh out loud funny,
I tried reading this while on a treadmill, but its hard to run and laugh at the same time. This is a seriously funny book with some practical insights into the world of internet dating. It opened my eyes to the idea that even disastrous dates are still worth the lessons learned and the tales to be told later.
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