
New $250 Chromebook - ConstantineXVI
http://chrome.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-new-chromebook-for-everyone.html
======
AYBABTME
"A Chromebook for everyone"; cool. The article talks about the author's
childhood in India, how he dreams of bringing computers to everyone. The price
makes it a device that could be bought by anyone. The size of the computer,
the autonomy, the low power, everything looks like it's meant to really
democratize computers to an even wider audience, say in developing countries
where 3G/LTE networks are surprisingly developed and cheap (depends on the
country, of course).

But then, its bundled with Verizon, limited to the US and the UK. What are the
3G frequencies? Is this thing locked with Verizon? Say I want to give one to
my friend in Vietnam, so he/she can get access to a computer, will the 3G
modem support the carrier's frequencies there? Unknown: it's listed as "WLAN :
802.11 a/b/g/n, WWAN : Verizon 3G". Great.

The device is nice, the price is nice. But marketing it as "a Chromebook for
everyone" is just wrong. It's a laptop for people in the US, that's it. And
really, I wonder what kind of "humanitarian" problem it's solving. I
understand the low price is to create a following for the product, but I find
the "Chromebook for everyone" brand phony.

Unless "everyone" == "Verizon customers living in the US".

~~~
meaty
"A Chromebook for everyone" (who wants to be tethered to the Google ecosystem
and the preying telcos).

A "laptop for everyone" is far easier. There are thousands and thousands for
$100 or less on eBay that are far more powerful, easier to repair, have local
storage and don't tie you to an ecosystem or a telco. Grab a Lenovo T61, chuck
Mint on it and you've got something several orders of magnitude more useful.
They even work in space:

[http://www.wirefresh.com/images/space-station-10-years-
think...](http://www.wirefresh.com/images/space-station-10-years-
thinkpad-1.jpg)

Sorry but I don't get it. It's a rather expensive (for the limitations)
toaster.

~~~
steevdave
I have a thinkbook. I love it to death, but I can't leave it on for more than
15-30 minutes before the sound of the fan going annoys me too much. Same with
the MacBook Air for that matter. A friend of mine has one and as soon as he
launched WoW on it, the fans kicked in and I was amazed at how loud the Air
was.

These have no fans. No moving parts to worry about. That is one of their
biggest advantages. I can use an ARM netbook while my SO is sleeping next to
me. Not so for an actual laptop.

~~~
zarify
I don't think this is a fair comparison. You might as well compare a tablet
running a web browser to a laptop running a 3D game.

For anything other than gaming, I don't even notice my Air has a fan (I agree
it's -very- noisy when it's running, but the point is for the stuff you're
going to do on a Chromebook the fan isn't going to be noticeable on any other
laptop either), and that's the same for most modern laptops I've used.

~~~
steevdave
That isn't what I'm comparing though. My use case is obviously different. For
me, I'm working on software, I'm compiling software. On an ARM machine with no
moving parts, this is a silent activity. On every other machine, this is far
from silent.

I brought up the Air mostly because I didn't know what the noise was when he
started the game. I thought that the Air didn't have any moving parts. In
fact, I'm still debating getting one, but a machine that's silent at 250 that
can do what I want it to is a much faster decision than one that is ~1000.

I know my use case isn't typical, but it is the one I rely on when deciding
what to get for myself, and silent is good for my needs, and how much noise
the computer makes when I've got all cores running on a compile is a factor,
for your needs it may not be, or you may not do the same type of work.

The point I'm getting at is that no matter what I do on a machine with no
moving parts, it's going to be silent. An older laptop on eBay may be more
useful for some people, and I'll never fully move away from a workhorse
machine until ARM performance is on par, but it's still nice to have when
she's sleeping and I'm still mulling over a fix.

~~~
eropple
The newest Air uses a different type of fan (as does the retina MBP). It's
quieter (perceptibly so) and is nothing like the traditional "whining" fan; it
sounds more like white noise. In my rMBP, I'll intentionally max out the fans
when playing a game (to reduce heat on my hands) and the sound isn't really
noticeable at all. It sounds like the ambient noise from my air conditioner or
the highway near my house; in fact it's so close that I literally can't hear
the laptop if I'm sitting on my balcony.

That said, I think you're significantly overstating the noise of a modern Mac
in the first place. Some of the non-retina MBPs run pretty warn, but my last-
gen Air was silent unless I tried to play games on it. Even when writing code.
I could build a ~500 file Java project in IntelliJ and it wouldn't even get
warm, let alone kick on the fans.

~~~
steevdave
The only Mac experience I have personally is a core duo version (one of the
first intel MacBook Pro) and then listening to the coworker's air. I'm glad to
hear that newer ones are quieter, and that's definitely going to weigh in on
my next "workhorse" laptop.

~~~
eropple
Cool. FWIW, my retina MBP idles around 45 deg C, goes up to about 65 when
watching a Flash video (maybe 55 for HTML5 video), and as high as 90 deg C
when playing XCOM in Parallels (at which point I manually crank up the fans
because OS X tends to prefer heat over noise and I do not).

------
jpxxx
Weird future moment: a 21st century industry titan has to use puppies,
kitties, and children to sell a machine that freely dispenses the sum total of
humanity's knowledge.

~~~
jpadvo
<passionate_rant>

Since I learned I was going to be a dad (in 7 months!), I've found these kinds
of advertisements increasingly unsettling, in an uncanny-valley kind of way.

I love my tiny one. I've heard the quick little heartbeat. I'm largely
responsible for if this little person grows up happy and healthy. The enormity
of the ensuing feelings is impossible to express.

Uncanny valley situations arise when a simulation looks almost real, maybe 96%
real, but the 4% difference is very unsettling because it just looks _off_.
You feel a creeping sensation that something is wrong.

In this video, Google very poignantly portrays a bunch of vibrant people,
children and fathers prominently featured. They are picking at the deepest
heartstrings I've ever known. At the deepest anxieties and aspirations that it
is possible to have in the human experience. It's 96% poignant.

But...they're doing this for what reason again? So they can sell me a $250
piece of electronics and absorb my family into their ecosystem? It's a 4% that
makes the entire rest of it feel fake.

Turns out that cognitive dissonance relating to your children, even
peripherally, is really uncomfortable. :/

</passionate_rant>

~~~
haberman
I don't mean to deny your gut/emotional response. But isn't all of capitalism
based on the idea that two entities can make an exchange that is mutually
beneficial?

On the purely economic level, Google is offering a hunk of electronics and
software for $250. (There are secondary economic effects too; the Chromebook
will encourage the use of Google services, etc).

On the emotional level, Google is offering an an experience and trying to show
how it could be a part of your family life and make it better. And you are
offering Google employees a chance to feel like they're making the world
better (speaking as a Googler, I can say that I definitely care about that
sort of thing).

As a completely honest question: do you feel this way about ads that sell
diapers/baby-food/etc?

ps. Congratulations on fatherhood!

~~~
jpadvo
Thanks!

No, I don't really have this visceral reaction (or at least not nearly as
much) to baby companies, but that is probably because none of their stuff that
I've seen feels as starkly personal as this video. Maybe their stuff is 50% to
80% compelling, and thus doesn't make it into uncanny valley territory.

Also, because products more fundamentally require themes of babies / children
/ parenting, so discordance is limited anyway.

That's an interesting thought about the emotional exchange, I never thought of
people in a company as recipients in an emotional exchange with their
customers. Fascinating.

------
cs702
It's obvious now that Google intends to keep improving Chrome OS, the devices
on which it runs, the services that come with it (100GB of free online
storage!), and the cost & headaches of maintaining it -- while aggressively
cutting prices.

I'm expecting a $199 Chromebook within a couple of years, and a $99 model
within the next five years. This has the potential for upending the prevailing
business model of traditional PC vendors.

~~~
chaz
Google's revenue is very closely tied to the amount that people use the web in
general. So much so, that they will make more money simply by encouraging
people to use the web more. As a result, their strategy is largely to reduce
the barriers to the next click and the next session, and thereby moving closer
to the next Google search. Faster connections, faster browsers, cheaper
devices, more ubiquitous access, etc.

It's almost like oil companies subsidizing the cost of cars to make more
money. Reminds me of the start of the Michelin guide book, which was created
to encourage people to drive to interesting places in France.

~~~
snogglethorpe
... and this means Google has a strong incentive to prevent the public from
getting trapped in walled gardens (facebook, iOS, etc).

This a good thing, as it means they're powerful advocates for a more open
internet.

~~~
gurkendoktor
I'm not convinced:

The 'open internet' is often just a reverse walled garden. Things used to be
locked down on your device, now they are locked down on remote servers where
you couldn't even pry them out if you tried hard & ignored the law. (Unless
you're the US government, in that case things have gotten much easier.)

The only advantage is that there is no middle-man between you and using any
app (website) you want. But no company has _ever_ tried to restrict web access
on its devices, so where's the advantage?

And judging Google by its products: Google+ actually seems a lot more closed
to me than Facebook (hardly any API?). Android itself is open source, but it
is hardly about pushing the open web either. (At least it stopped pushing
Flash)

~~~
aviraldg
While I don't entirely disagree with your point about the "open internet"
being another kind of walled garden, there are definitely companies and
organisations that have taken steps to ensure that the open web is actually
"open," and Google is one of them. Evidence: <https://www.google.com/takeout>,
which lets you export data from almost all of your Google services.

Some major innovations from Android have inspired sister projects for the open
web, like <http://webintents.org/>

Also, I think you're misinterpreting the term "open internet" ; it usually
means "open" for the developer, not the user. However, it's still better for
users, as competition between open standards and technologies means that they
usually get the best solutions (exceptions being things like h.264) This is
certainly better than the classic walled garden where one company gets to
decide what developers may or may not use.

In short, it's better because it's: \- unfiltered (mature content, etc.) \-
unrestricted in terms of technologies used \- partially open for users

~~~
Evbn
takeout is not the same as interoperability. Google's new products have very
weak interoperability (APIs to non-Google clients)

------
polshaw
> Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor

So cortex A15 has finally landed.. no mention of RAM or size of on-board SSD,
i'm guessing 1-2GB and 8/16GB respectively (e: 2/16). Disappointing battery
life ('over 6 hours', same as the x86 one), i guess the battery wasn't spared
from the cost-cutting. Exynos 5 also means USB 3.

And do we know if you can definitely get linux on these (==interesting), or
might they be super locked-down?

Definitely a device worth recommending to the former netbook/ 'only use my
computer for facebook' crowd.

e: the battery is 2 cell, AFAIK even cheap x86 laptops come with 6-cell
batteries, so it is a case of cost-minimizing.. shame, i'd lap this up with a
12-18hr battery life.

~~~
ConstantineXVI
Oddly, the 3G model (which I can't understand why it isn't LTE) is listed on
Amazon[0] as packing an Exynos 4210 instead, which is over a year old.

[0] [http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XE303C12-H01US-
Chromebook-3G-1...](http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XE303C12-H01US-
Chromebook-3G-11-6-Inch/dp/B009M2YNWI/)

~~~
ConstantineXVI
Indeed is a mistake, Samsung lists the Exynos 5 Dual on the 3G model[0].

[0] [http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/chrome-os-
devices/XE303C1...](http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/chrome-os-
devices/XE303C12-H01US-specs)

------
ChuckMcM
"100 MB of internet per month, for free, from Verizon Wireless."

So I'm really sort of conflicted by Chromebooks, I love the concept, but
wonder why it doesn't come with 4G/LTE (seems like a 'new' device should),
what sort of data plans and are they dynamic like the iPad? (month to month)
And 100MB a month? Seriously? That is what 5 minutes of 3 mbit video? 10
minutes of cheezy 1.5mbit video a month? Web sites that start up a youtube
embed video when you visit? poof go the mBytes. Heck the WSJ is like 20 - 30MB
per issue these days. Seems like 2.5GB is a healthy net allocation for a
tablet/laptop experience, that 25x more.

Looking forward to seeing one 'in the flesh' as it were.

~~~
tobyjsullivan
"why it doesn't come with 4G/LTE?"

Because that would eat your 100MB data plan in 42 seconds. Not too mention it
would probably increase the price. Nobody actually needs 4G yet, we just like
it in our fancy things. It has no place in budget (attainable) hardware.

"And 100MB a month? Seriously?"

Because that is what Verizon, a company that makes its money off selling
wireless data, is willing to give away for free (or a subsidized price paid by
google). I'm sure they will not hesitate to sell you more if you are in the
minority who need to watch 3Mb videos on the bus...

~~~
niels_olson
Cr-48 owner here. You will go through the first 100 MB in a week, maybe you
make it almost to the end of the month. By month 3, you want that 1 gb plan to
autorenew so you don't have to think about it.

~~~
3825
have you had a problem where the wifi disconnects ifnyou move the cr 48 at
all? :-(

------
kitcar
Here's the actual product landing page:
<http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/landing.html>

~~~
EmergencyKnave
Yes, I so wish that people would cut out the middleman when posting these
types of announcements.

~~~
tobyjsullivan
But the landing page doesn't have the awesome (seizure inducing) video!

~~~
skeletonjelly
I realised the video wasn't aimed at me when there was a focus on the "who"
and not just a list of specs

------
ConstantineXVI
The ARM bit is quietly hidden away on the specs page[0].

Can't find anything yet either way if these will still have the developer
switch. If the build is as good as the 550 and this particular Exynos has
decent performance; it'd make an awfully good cheap Linux laptop (not to say
CrOS is worthless, far from it).

[0] [http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/samsung-
chromeb...](http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/samsung-
chromebook.html#specs)

~~~
stcredzero
_> not to say CrOS is worthless, far from it_

I think that the biggest ingredient of Apple's success is the "it just works"
aspect. iOS and CrOS are much closer to this ideal than desktops have been. It
is also possible to get even closer.

~~~
quattrofan
Argh I HATE that phrase, they "just work" as often as any Windows PC since XP
has. In the past week in fact one of my designers was complaining of problems
getting some work finished on her Mac that "just works" because guess what? It
didn't JUST WORK!

~~~
stcredzero
Note the phrase "much closer to this ideal." And actually, I switched away
from XP in 2003, because XP did't just work when trying out new video codecs.
OS X did.

~~~
quattrofan
I should add I am not a MSoft fanboy, I've owned a Mac Classic back in the day
and recently a Macbook Pro. But the Macbook pro had all kinds of issues with
my outboard soundcard and midi interface that my windows PC never had and in
the end was glad to get rid of it.

~~~
Evbn
"It works" and "it is compatible" are different. Apple does more former than
latter. MS is reverse, on the hardware side, for obvious business model
reasons.

------
nsns
250$? I really don't get it. Three years ago I bought a Gateway LT23 Netbook,
with a 160GB HD and 1GB memory, it runs Windows7 and cost me 300$. Aren't
Netbooks better? And have been availbable for many years now?

~~~
fr0sty
Comparing:

Processor: Atom n450 (single-core 1.6ghz vs Arm 15 (dual core 1.7ghz)

Fan: Yes vs No

HDD: Spinning rust vs. SSD

Weight: 2.75lbs vs 2.lbs

Screen 10.1" 1024x600 vs 11.6" 1366x786

Innovation continues apace from what I can see.

~~~
mark-r
So they're lying when they say it can play 1080p videos - the screen is barely
larger than 720.

~~~
fr0sty
1080p is via the HDMI port, I reckon.

------
MatthewPhillips
Until Google upgrades their apps, or write new ones, that utilized advanced
HTML5 capabilities, I have to assume they aren't serious about the platform
and neither should anyone else be. They didn't release Android without apps,
Chromebooks should get the same treatment.

~~~
ditojim
Google Apps uses a ton of HTML5. For this reason, they recently discontinued
support for Internet Explorer 8: [http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/our-
plans-to-support-m...](http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/our-plans-to-
support-modern-browsers.html)

What other "web apps" work better these days than Google's? What is your basis
for saying Google's apps don't have advanced HTML5 capabilities? Have you
heard of Offline Google Drive for example? How do you think they pull that
off? HTML5...

~~~
esrauch
The page you linked to says they are discontinuing support for IE7 not IE8.

~~~
ditojim
good catch...that's last year's announcement. here is the IE8 announcement:
[http://googleappsupdates.blogspot.com/2012/09/supporting-
mod...](http://googleappsupdates.blogspot.com/2012/09/supporting-modern-
browsers-internet.html)

------
metatronscube
I made the mistake of getting the Acer chromebook in the UK when it came out
and it was probably the worst computing experience I have ever had. Slow,
laggy, frequently crashed, terrible video playback (couldn't watch YouTube
videos), cheap hardware (screen developed a crack which split corner to corner
completely), terrible battery performance, no cellular connectivity and flaky
wifi behaviour. All for 400 quid! It looked like a fisher price toy and
behaved like one as well.

------
dholowiski
I'm skeptical about the 'for everyone' part. Will I be able to buy this in
Canada? Or is it really just 'everyone' in the USA and UK?

~~~
unicornporn
Came here to write the same comment, but replace Canada with Sweden.

~~~
rplnt
The only UK shop doesn't seem to ship outside of UK. And as usual, the price
is almost $370, so there you go with the $250 Chromebook.

------
TomAnthony
I'm very confused! They say it starts at $249, but the 550 is at $449. What is
the model number of the new one here?

It links to this PC WOrld page for the UK model which just confuses me
further:
[http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/chromebook-1460-commercial.htm...](http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/chromebook-1460-commercial.html?cmpid=display~chromebooksQ3UK~crosB)

I was interested in buying, but I'm totally confused. Wikipedia also just
lists the 550 model as the one released now, and has nothing matching the spec
in the Google post.

Anyone worked it out? Sorry if I've missed something...

~~~
richbradshaw
Yeah, I can't work out if PC World even have it listed? It doesn't seem to
have a model number, it's just Samsung Chromebook, which doesn't really help!

~~~
sltkr
I'm pretty sure it's this one:

[http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-
series-3-xe303c12-11-6...](http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-
series-3-xe303c12-11-6-chromebook-silver-19273052-pdt.html)

But it's 300 GBP, or 484 USD (excluding shipping), almost twice the price
advertised!

------
mtgx
So glad they finally did this. I've been begging them to do a $250 Chromebook
since day one, because I think that's the sweetspot for a "Chromebook", and
the only way they could've achieved that, while also having good build quality
and whatnot, was to use an ARM chip, and not an Intel one, so I'm glad they
finally did that, too. I think it's long overdue, but perhaps they were
waiting for the Cortex A15 chips to come to market, which I guess makes sense.

If Google would partner with Verizon or AT&T to offer these things for _free_
(much better marketing than say a $50 price) with LTE and a 2 year contract, I
think they would see even more sales, especially from businesses and
professionals. Obviously they should be getting the data plans they get with
an USB modem, not the amount they get with a cellphone plan.

------
andyking
$250 in the US, £249.99 from PC World in the UK. That's just over $400. Even
if you take off 20% UK sales tax, that's still $320.

Last time I checked, the exchange rate wasn't £1=$1!

~~~
adam-a
The PCWorld website seems to suggest £199.97 [0]. Perhaps that is without VAT
though.

[0]
[http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/chromebook-1460-commercial.htm...](http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/chromebook-1460-commercial.html?cmpid=display~chromebooksQ3UK~crosB)

Edit: The pictured models at the bottom of the page start at £250 but the copy
at the top says "Starting at £199.97".

~~~
corin_
The £199.97 model: [http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-5-wifi-
chromebo...](http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-5-wifi-chromebook-
white-10822634-pdt.html) (Intel CPU)

------
monkeyfacebag
If Chrome OS had a package manager hooked into Debian's (or anyone's) repos,
I'd be all over this. I do almost all of my non-programming work in the
browser, but I can't leave the batteries included world of Linux behind just
yet.

~~~
wickedchicken
Is your programming done via SSH to a linux desktop or VM? You can SSH from a
chromebook no problem: [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-
shell/pnhec...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-
shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo)

~~~
mjn
Most of mine is done offline, which is so far the dealbreaker for the
Chromebook for me. I need to be able to run vim on a local filesystem on a
plane. I hear it's possible to root the Chromebook though?

~~~
wickedchicken
It's pretty straightforward, and as long as you don't modify the hardware it's
completely reversible:

[http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-information-
fo...](http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-
os-devices/samsung-sandy-bridge)

------
fierarul
I hope this gets released in the rest of the EU too. You couldn't even get the
previous Chromebooks in Germany, let alone Romania.

A 250 euro Chromebook (VAT included) would be a nice buy. This means an ARM-
based Chromebox should be around 150?

It's unclear from the announcement if Flash works or not since Youtube could
be streaming H264.

Edit: Specs, including prices on
[https://sites.google.com/a/pressatgoogle.com/samsungchromebo...](https://sites.google.com/a/pressatgoogle.com/samsungchromebook/specs)

~~~
ukdm
There's 2 models listed in the UK at £229 and £299. Not sure why, the only
spec diff I can see on PC World is one says LCD the other says HD LCD. Yet the
resolution is listed as being the same.

------
benvanderbeek
I have an iPad 3 and a Chromebook. I like and use the Chromebook much more,
because of the built in keyboard. I know plenty of people who would hate using
a Chromebook and much prefer their iPad for everything. To each his own.

------
mtgx
Why was the title modified? I think the fact that it's ARM-based is very
relevant.

~~~
andybak
There seems to have been a rise in over-zealous post title modifications
recently. New employee at YC Towers?

------
wmf
A few details from one of the developers:
[https://plus.google.com/109993695638569781190/posts/6MDhf9Hu...](https://plus.google.com/109993695638569781190/posts/6MDhf9HuiPB)
"...getting a regular u-boot on these to use as generic linux hacking
platforms isn't all that hard..."

------
dkhenry
Why won't they take this same kind of device and scale it up. I love most
things about the chrome book, but I would rather have a 14" laptop with a
bigger battery. O know you'll be competing with "full feature" laptops, but
honestly chrome books have most of the features I would want ( I would like to
see better native support for the development life cycle, but i can get by
with ssh )

~~~
chris_mahan
I use my ($350 in 2008) Acer One a lot more than my cr-48. Although the cr-48
is decent for remoting into VMs via ssh.

------
bitcartel
Seriously, shut up and take my money?! 100GB of Google Drive storage for 2
years is included in the price. That storage alone would cost $120 ($5/month).
So if you were already in the market for extra storage, you can get an ARM
Chromebook for $130.

~~~
danso
Didn't realize it was a 2-year limit. I wonder if Google Drive space is what
ink is to the color printer business.

~~~
darkarmani
If it was you'd only have 14 days worth of storage, like the undersized ink
that comes with new printers.

------
DanBC
I love the idea of this. I'm tempted to get one to replace my eee pc 701.

I am gently curious how Google avoids the trouble that MS ran into when they
tied IE into the OS and pre-installed it on the desktop. How is it okay for
Google to ship product that uses all their services? Especially when Google
trawls for ad relevant data to make money?

(Note: I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm just wondering what the difference is.)

~~~
mtgx
The same way Microsoft can bundle Office and all their other services with
Windows RT. These markets are very niche right now. However, I do hope Google
is able to bundle Quick Office with Android next year, at least on tablets.

I'd like to see a regulator try and say that it's not fair for Google to
bundle their very little known Office suite (relative to MS Office), while
Microsoft can bundle their very known Office suite with Windows.

------
TheMagicHorsey
The weirdest thing about these Chromebooks is that they are terrible machines
to code on. You would think that Google would make some sort of effort to put
some free development tools on them to promote their technologies like
AppEngine, DART, Go, etc.

Instead we are left with various garbage pail cloud IDEs.

I would totally get one of these, but I'll probably install Ubuntu on it (at
least as a dual boot).

~~~
skeletonjelly
Weirdest? Did you see any developers in that video? I think you're
misunderstanding who this is targeted at.

Having said that they would make nice dev machines, it'll just take a bit of
effort.

~~~
TheMagicHorsey
But that's my point. People have been trying to get kids to start coding. What
better way than to make the price of entry less than $300.

------
netcan
I really think there is a fundamental problem with the ChromeOS idea. Android
& iOS seem much better.

If they could get a good android laptop to market @ under $500, I would
definitely buy one for my Dad, maybe for myself as a second machine.

I thought chromeOS was a great idea when it was first announced. You could get
most things done on the web. On a browser only machine, you wouldn't need to
worry about managing your machine. Installing apps. Worrying about OS
versions. Keeping your file system straight. Malware. Things most users were
completely lost on. A browser-only machine would give you 80% of the power
with 20% of the problems at 50% of the price.

Along came Android & iOS.

They're platforms where finding, installing and uninstalling apps is safe, fun
& easy. OS updating & general admin is manageable. Malware isn't as much of a
problem. Some things like the level of access a user has to the file system
(and therefore needs to know about) are till unsolved. But, overall the
complexity that a browser-only machine bypassed became a much smaller problem.
Ipads can be figured out by 4 year olds and computer illiterate adults quickly
and enjoyably.

On the other hand, the web is having trouble solving the last 20% of the
problem. Just before android OS was announced, the momentum for things moving
on to the web seemed unstoppable. The last 20% has been slower. Browsers have
been getting more capable at a great pace but when I look at the web apps that
most people use, they are not really that different. Sure, you can use Google
docs and edit photos online and read books and watch youtube, but its still a
compromise in some cases. Users have the option of using webapps on an ipad,
but in many cases they prefer native.

Basically, a webbrowser-only OS _is a compromise_. It's not an deal breaker
compromise, but it is a compromise. And if iOS/Android start coming in
notebook form, I don't see any upside to making it.

------
klrr
Can I install GNU/Linux on it?

~~~
recuter
Second this question, if it can be "jailbroken" so you have a terminal with
root privileges and a standard environment underneath it becomes an
interesting option.

~~~
brokenparser
Current Chromebooks require a signed kernel on a separate partition. No grub,
no BIOS. Not falling into that trap again, don't see why the new crop would be
any better.

~~~
mdwrigh2
If you flip the developer switch on the side, you can load whatever you want.
Here's a guide for loading Ubuntu on one:
[http://www.devchronicles.com/2011/10/installing-ubuntu-on-
sa...](http://www.devchronicles.com/2011/10/installing-ubuntu-on-samsung-
series-5.html)

------
podperson
What puzzles me is why the ChromeBox, with no display (and I'm not sure if it
comes with a keyboard and mouse) costs $329 and lacks HDMI. If it were $199
and had HDMI it would seem like a very compelling device.

~~~
mikeevans
The Chromebox has 2x DisplayPort and DVI though. Could always get an adapter
for HDMI.

I'm with you on the price thing though.

------
balancdreviews
Flash forward a few years...

With the amount of cash GOOG has, and the droppping costs of hardware, they
can take an AOL approach if they so choose. Instead of free CD's, they could
distribute free computers. Load them up with Goog default search and all sorts
of reconnaisance functionality to enable them to deliver more enticement to
advetisers.

It's like signing up for AOL. It's hard for people to drop it after they've
gotten used to it. Could people get used to free computers? I think so.

------
protomyth
I'm glad they switched to ARM and keep working on this, but...

I just cannot get into the idea of a thin client given that storage keeps
getting bigger / cheaper and bandwidth doesn't seem to be getting cheaper (a
case could be made is more expensive). I like the cloud for backups / sync,
but I still dream of an pocket device with a couple of terabytes.

~~~
missing_cipher
> and bandwidth doesn't seem to be getting cheaper

Google seems to be working on that. :)

~~~
protomyth
I would believe that if they had bought Sprint, T-Mobile or won the spectrum
auction; but fibre in one city is not very exciting if you're not in that
city.

------
nzealand
Perfect for Grandma except..... no skype.

~~~
gurkendoktor
Wow. I hadn't thought about this, but Skype is one of the defining apps of the
internet for me. Now it feels just weird looking at the Chromebook (same as
the PlayBook with its front-facing camera, yet no Skype).

------
dror
They really need to find a way to provide an integrated Android/Chrombook
experience.

Hardware: * Touch screen * Detachable keyboard so you can use it as either a
tablet or a computer * 8+ hours battery life. Keyboard can have an extra
battery.

Software: * Android * Chrome browser with all the abilities of the chrome OS

Price: $400 and under.

~~~
netcan
I've seen a lot of people travel with a laptop/netbook/ultrabook + tablet. For
example a An Air 11" + ipad. Laptop for using in the airport & hotel. Tablet
for using at the conference & plane. If they could do both without botching
simplicity & elegance, they could probably sell a fair few @ $1000+. It's not
an easy not to crack though.

------
bravura
Is this good for programming through an SSH shell?

I am looking for the most portable device that I can use for programming. The
key concerns are: Weight + size, and keyboard layout. Since I code through an
SSH shell, the laptop's mem + CPU specs are not very important for me.

I believe that the Mac Book Air 11" has a good enough keyboard. (I haven't
tried it for long, but the keys are the same size as the 13", just closer
together.)

The Chrome book is only slightly thicker (0.8" vs. MBA 0.7"), only slightly
heavier (2.5 lbs vs. 2.4 lbs), and wider (13.2" vs. 11.8"). Weight and
thickness important here. It's also much cheaper.

What do you think are the downsides of using the chrome book (or a macbook air
11") for primary coding through an SSH shell?

[edit: Is there some store I can play with a chromebook in real life?]

~~~
huggah
They're great. For a while, Chrome would take over keys needed to use Emacs
and other terminal applications. However, internally a lot of Googlers user
Chromebooks + Chromebox as their only window to their dev box. It's what we
give interns now.

I'm particular to XMonad, and like being able to run a few GUI applications,
but I used a Chromebook for a while and the dev experience was nice enough
that I almost switched. One great thing is that the SSH client is smart enough
that you don't have to use screen to handle network interruptions . The
trackpad isn't as good as a MacBook, but other than that the device feels
great.

~~~
skystorm
Chromebook/-box indeed sounds great for remoting into a dev machine, but damn,
what did they do to the keyboard on the new Chromebook? Lots of stuff moved
around...

[http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/assets/common/images/de...](http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/assets/common/images/devices/samsung-
chromebook/large-8.jpg)

------
JVIDEL
I'm more surprised that it took Google so long to launch a really cheap
chromebook, after all previous models were almost the same than a lowend
laptop with a Windows license.

Its weird since there were not many models to begin with and Google could
easily make a ton of the things to bring down costs and thus price. They seem
to be doing even more now, switching from x86 to a dualcore ARM, so its no
longer a laptop/netbook but a smartbook and that explains the sub-$300 price.
I wonder how small the SSD must be since its not even listed, only the size of
the cloud gdrive is.

As for success, I don't know: it seems like a good offer but I get the feeling
it would far more popular if it ran Android instead, though it would need a
touchscreen for app compatibility.

------
navs
I'm in New Zealand so guess I have to wait...longer. My concern is the Samsung
aspect. I have one Samsung netbook at the moment and while it's certainly a
rugged machine, it leaves much to be desired in the performance department
(especially running Chrome for any length of time). I understand it's a
netbook and they aren't made to be power-horses but how are other Samsung
notebooks?

I also have a Samsung android tablet and I despise using it. It's cheap,
flimsy and slow.

Overall, based on my own experiences with Samsung hardware, I'm not exactly
enthusiastic about this being a Samsung device. Maybe it's just me or maybe my
expectations are too high but I'll wait for a complete product review before
considering this buy.

~~~
fmstephe
Another kiwi here. I have one of the first commercial chromebooks to come out
from Samsung. For me the build quality is one of its best features. It's all
plastic, but it has a great hinge and a very good keyboard.

------
wcchandler
I would really like to see derivations of this. While Google generally touts
itself as being "open," I feel like this is an atypical implementation. It
would be nice to see a more FOSS version using Gecko/Mozilla with some kind of
personal cloud based storage like dropbox or ubuntu one. I'd even like to see
Microsoft release a build that ties directly into MS products -- sky drive,
azure, office365.

While arguably, that's what other products are for, it'd be nice to use the
chromebook as a base to help drive down hardware cost and increase user
adoption. I want to think of this as the IBM for the cloud generation.

------
bdg
For $200 (and that's after 13% taxes in Ontario) I picked up a cheap netbook
with an n2600 inside it, which came with a windows license. I installed Arch
Linux with LXDE. My system uses about 60MB of ram from console, 90MB of ram
when I'm running LXDE. I boot up chrome and I'm at 170mb used. Processor use
is for the most part almost always under 10% (and n2600 is gutless).

What I'm saying is that for $200 I can get a computer suits the needs of
facebooker/instagram/pintrest users... and burn money on a windows 7 license,
and whatever profit Acer made from the sale. Chromebook's over-priced.

~~~
Evbn
Resolution? RAM?

------
vibrunazo
This smells like the best cost efficient device to use as a media center for
the living room. Cheap, put Ubuntu on it for VLC. Leave it on and plugged to
your big screen tv 100% of the time. Use my main laptop on my couch to store
files via lan, and remote control it.

Is there any better alternative to this? Today I just plug my laptop in and
out of the tv when I want to watch, and use my tablet as remote control. I
have a xbox, but it's so bad compared to having full vlc. I would pay 250 to
save me the trouble of connecting my laptop to the TV. It would be the perfect
setup of my dreams.

~~~
ralfd
An Apple TV costs only 99 dollars.

You don't need to use iTunes. Mountain Lion and a newer Mac can mirror their
whole screen natively. For older Macs or Windows PCs there is the third party
software "Airparrot" (10 dollars).

Short VLC demo with 1080p Apple TV:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0lM_R7LQ0Y>

For Windows:

<https://twitter.com/AirParrot/statuses/232201363235418112>

<http://airparrot.com>

~~~
rustynails77
YMMV with Apple TV. Specs are here, <http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html>

If you're like me, it will play about 10% of my collection. WDTV Live, on the
other hand, plays everything.

If you're in the Apple eco-system, Apple TV is great. For those who aren't,
it's Apple's way or the highway. I'm half in Apple, half out of Apple, and
it's a total nightmare.

~~~
ralfd
That's the nice thing with screen mirroring, so you can just use VLC with the
ATV to play all kinds of video formats.

But you are right that there are other boxes available and they all cost way
less than $250.

------
Karunamon
I remember when I was a little kid, getting one of those kid's "laptops" with
a monochrome display and a bunch of educational games.

The higher end ones cost as much as the low end chromebooks.

It's the future. Glad to be living in it :)

------
metalsahu
I have an iPad but it is primarily a consumption device and after a couple of
hours it starts to feel like I have reached 'the end of the internet'. A light
laptop with a really fast browser and a physical keyboard is paramount so I
can write, comment, chat, email and multitask. This Chromebook really hits a
sweet spot for me both with size and cost!

------
andyhmltn
Can someone please tell me why it needs to be $200? It's a web browser. That's
it. I'm not knocking it don't get me wrong but I won't buy one until they are
at least $100 cheaper. Google managed to release the nexus 7 that cheap so why
not this? It doesn't require heavy specs or even storage. Just a keyboard, a
phone processor and a screen.

------
lifeguard
These are interesting for users, but for hackers I always go back to sub-$300
laptops on sale from Fry's:

[http://www.frys.com/product/7147992?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT...](http://www.frys.com/product/7147992?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG)

I have got full Linux driver support on two other HP models in this price
range.

------
kryptiskt
US and UK only...

This pretty much has to be the last gasp for ChromeOS, it makes no sense to
differentiate the software this much between Android tablets and Chromebooks
with identical internals and just a slight difference in form factor. Next
time around they can just put a touchscreen on it and load it with Android
5.0.

~~~
tnuc
If that was the case then why aren't people installing Android on their PC's
or laptops? Or windows 7 on a smartphone?

ChromeOS and Android do different things.

~~~
kryptiskt
It's just a browser environment, nothing that can't run perfectly well under
Android. Why put resources into this stillborn thing, when they can leverage
their hugely successful mobile OS?

------
Metrop0218
I'd like it if they weren't telling two stories. We have almost opposing
operating systems being shipped by these guys.

We have Chrome OS on one hand which focuses on the web being the be all and
end all of computing. Then we have Android on the other hand which focuses on
client side processing.

Which one do they actually believe in?

~~~
mtgx
iOS and Mac OS are not the same. WP8 and Windows 8 are also not the same, just
look the same. That being yes, I'd probably prefer some kind of merger, too.
But the execution needs to be flawless, and they need to make a compelling
case for why you'd use ChromeOS over Android's Chrome when docked to the
keyboard.

~~~
Metrop0218
iOS/Mac OS and WP8/Win8 are much more similar than Chrome OS/Android. The
disjoint between the latter two is much more pronounced.

------
duxup
FOR SLEEPOVERS

They got me.

------
ilaksh
Does either the regular one or the 550 have hardware accelerated graphics? Do
they support WebGL?

------
waynesutton
This is great, but why don't chomebooks and the macbook air come with built in
4G/LTE? I mean remember netbooks? Mobile carriers were selling them with
contracts.

We're going in 2013 and everything should come with built in 4G/LTE. If the
nexus 7 had 4G it would be a winner.

------
dschiptsov
Just Chrome is not enough.

Add GNU emacs, evince (if chrome still not renders pdfs), terminal with
antialiased Source Code Pro Ligth font (same for emacs) and openssh-client and
I will buy it.)

Well, SBCL, MIT Scheme or, sigh, Racket, please.)

OK, just emacs and fonts and openssh - 'M-x term' would be enough.)

~~~
wickedchicken
> terminal with antialiased Source Code Pro Ligth font

Just have an ssh-able desktop/VM somewhere with emacs, install
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-
shell/pnhec...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-
shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo), and set the font to Source Code Pro
(font instructions are in
[http://git.chromium.org/gitweb/?p=chromiumos/platform/assets...](http://git.chromium.org/gitweb/?p=chromiumos/platform/assets.git;a=blob;f=chromeapps/hterm/doc/faq.txt))

------
Krutet
What they should do is cut back on the bezel. Iv'e started to hate the bezel
on most of my screens I have. It just feels and looks so unnecessary and old.
Cut back on the bezel and make it a 13 inch screen in the same package and you
have a clear winner!

------
ck2
Does chromeOS have printer drivers?

Because I doubt it would work with my Epson for example.

Unless it can use linux drivers.

~~~
jxi
Use Google cloudprint. If you sign-in, it should list all the printers that
are connected to any of your other computers where you're signed into Chrome
(i.e. through Chrome settings, not just signed into gmail).

~~~
Evbn
So I have to buy another computer just to send a file from my new computer to
a printer?

------
laktek
Anyone considering to use it for development? (Similar to the iPad + Linode
experiment?)

~~~
Cowen
I preordered one with the precise intention of using it for all of my portable
typing and development needs.

I've really liked Chromebooks for a while now, but I could never get past
their price point. Now, at $250 I wasn't really worried about it.

I'm considering posting something about it after a week or two, but we'll see
:)

------
mtgx
Looking forward to a Google+ or blog post from a ChromeOS developer about why
this Chromebook only has a 6.5h battery life, which is less than I would've
expected. Is it because Linux/Chrome OS is not that optimized for battery
life?

~~~
hiker
I'm a MacBook Air user and the battery life of my Chromebook is way longer
than any laptop I used before.

------
mokash
What happens to your data if you manage to fill up your 100GB quota of free
storage and you decide not to renew?

If you ask me, it's a very clever way to get people to continue paying for the
service after the two year term is up. Not a bad idea.

~~~
marban
you just can't add files anymore but nothing will be deleted.

~~~
lostsock
Here is the source for what marban said.

[https://support.google.com/chromeos/bin/answer.py?hl=en&...](https://support.google.com/chromeos/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2703646)

See point 4.

------
coob
1) Why the old Bluetooth? 2) I bet flash performance on this thing is
terrible.

~~~
nikcub
Flash performance is terrible on my $3700 12-month old Macbook Pro

~~~
zdw
Flash performance is terrible everywhere. And no longer supported on any
modern/popular phones.

------
RexRollman
I was lucky enough to obtain a CR-48 from Google, two years ago this winter,
and I still find it to be an enjoyable machine. The downside to the unit is
that it is useless without an Internet connection.

------
jasongullickson
They are getting better (although what's up with that hinge? Blech!). Still
not as cute or clever as it's ancestor tho: <http://litl.com/>

------
celerity
Another, indirect, effect that I hope to see from this is cheaper MacBook Airs
in the future. Competition! (I need a bit more than the terminal/SSH/text-
editor to do my development.)

------
alanh
I’m concerned that there does not seem to be any sort of warranty.

My family tried one of the original Chromebooks, and it lasted merely a year
before physically breaking from normal usage.

------
tapsboy
While $249 is good, ChromeOS should start seeing traction when they get this
one out for $199 and an ARM Chromebox for $99. Even better $49 for ChromeOS on
an HDMI stick.

------
ernestipark
Why does that blog post not have a single link to the product?

~~~
jorde
Here you go:

<http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/landing.html>
[http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/samsung-
chromeb...](http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/samsung-
chromebook.html)

------
aik
In all seriousness: At this stage yet -- does anyone care? What type of person
would buy/use this?

(I don't mean to imply it's not good -- I seriously don't know who it's made
for.)

------
adamc
A laptop I can't use when I don't have a network connection has pretty limited
value. Does the chromebook have some mechanism for offline editing, etc?

~~~
huggah
Limited. Google Docs work fine offline, but you can't code on them. More
Chrome apps might expand what you can do later.

------
vamur
Not bad, now if Google allowed installing at least some of Linux apps, such as
file manager, Libreoffice, VLC, this thing could be a winner.

~~~
robertha
I'm sure that if you go into developer mode you'd be able put Linux on the
machine--and with that all the software you mentioned (I know what you mean
though, it would be nicer if you didn't have to jump through hoops).

------
pgrote
Is the pre-ordering working for anyone? I've tried the Amazon link, but no
luck. It still says, "Pre-orders will start at 12pm PST."

~~~
juaninfinitelop
It's working now: [http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XE303C12-A01US-Chromebook-
Wi-F...](http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XE303C12-A01US-Chromebook-Wi-
Fi-11-6-Inch/dp/B009LL9VDG/ref=br_lf_m_2858603011_1_2_ttl?ie=UTF8&s=pc&pf_rd_p=1407236782&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=2858603011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0W6G8K10MZ40DPF7Z7W4&tag=crosB)

~~~
pgrote
Thanks. It redirected me to <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LL9VDG>,
which just offered to take my email address when it is available. I thought
pre-order meant I'd pay for it. lol

------
vrodic
Nice: Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor.

Another laptop (there are too few of them) with an ARM CPU. Too bad it will
not be available in Croatia.

------
kin
These devices are certainly getting better. Since it's so reliant on
connection, the 100MB free/month is appealing.

------
pajju
Aren't these Chromebooks subsidized by Google to get into mainstream faster? I
always felt there were big tie-ups. (See Asus Nexus tablet pricing)

And How much is a google user+account worth? An android or a chromebook device
is worth atleast $$$+ for Google on long-run. And users are Locked'in with
google's services! :)

It must be certain for every subsidized device that ships, Google must be
sharing revenues.

------
ryanhuff
Get Minecraft to work on it and you will introduce the Chromebook experience
to many, many kids.

------
obilgic
what is the battery performance for that thing, I am defiantly gonna get it,
if it can at least get me through a day with out carrying charger.

~~~
mikeevans
"6.5 hours of battery (Varies based on usage)"

------
thisismyname
How do I get photoshop on this thing?

------
bgruber
i'm surprised that google isn't selling this on the play store.

~~~
chanderson0
Coming soon!

[http://blogs.computerworld.com/laptops/21164/googles-new-
chr...](http://blogs.computerworld.com/laptops/21164/googles-new-chromebook)

------
WalterBright
It appears to have no local storage.

~~~
robertha
It has a 16GB ssd.

~~~
WalterBright
Thanks for the information. I couldn't find that on the announcement page.

