
Google Announces $1,299 Chromebook Pixel With 2560×1700px Touchscreen - aaronbrethorst
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/21/google-announces-1299-chromebook-pixel-with-2560x1700-32-12-85-touchscreen-core-i5-cpu-1tb-of-google-drive-storage-optional-lte/
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quaunaut
Look, I really like the idea of the Chromebook, but I feel like Google's kinda
moving in the wrong direction here.

What power user lives completely in the cloud?

* Coders obviously can't use this machine.

* Designers need photoshop or other non-web apps.

* Writers are not gonna migrate from Word to something like this, because either they were already using Google Docs and are fine with their crappy old netbook, or they like Word and are gonna stay with it, because writing is still just plain better in MS land.

* Video editors obviously need real apps

* Social media experts will just continue to use their iPad3 or Nexus 7/10

* Gamers can't go without DirectX seriously

What power users are they talking about?

~~~
jrockway
There is an SSH app for Chrome. If you're "in the cloud" you have a computer
to SSH to to code on. I do this with my Chromebook and it works fine; windowed
Chrome apps don't steal keys anymore, so C-w is kill-region, not "close the
tab".

There is also nothing stopping you from porting your favorite development
tools to NaCl. This is something I'm planning to look into in the near future.

 _they were already using Google Docs and are fine with their crappy old
netbook_

Also, Google Docs looks really nice on a Macbook's retina display;
significantly nicer than on a regular display. If the Pixel renders it the
same way, it _is_ a nicer experience.

~~~
correctifier
That seems like a reasonable use for a $250 computer, but using a $1300
computer with a 2560x1700 display as a dumb terminal is a bit of a waste.

Your average end-user is going to be pretty disappointed when they find out
that all they can do with their expensive laptop is browse the internet.

It seems like the best use of this of this might be to run Linux, but if you
accept a slightly lower resolution, you can get a pretty decent Thinkpad or
Envy that has a lot more flexibility.

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fatbird
Paying an extra thousand dollars for a much improved experience of a device
that you'll look at 5-10 hours a day for several years, doesn't seem to me to
be out of line, even if it does act as a dumb terminal.

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taligent
So why wouldn't you spend the few hundred more and get a MacBook Pro that
isn't a dumb terminal ?

~~~
fatbird
I was going to reply to this with a reasoned response, but below you've gotten
silly and abusive, so enjoy yourself.

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fatbird
Seriously? Downvoted because I won't engage with someone being abusive?

Okay, fuck HN.

~~~
3amOpsGuy
Whoever down-voted you was a dick, there's still more decent folk than dicks
though, just ignore it. And, have some karma back, good point for discussion
above.

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rayiner
So a little bit lighter and thinner than the Macbook Pro, with a slightly
higher-resolution but smaller screen, but with a much slower CPU (1.8 GHz
versus 2.5 GHz), and a much smaller SSD (32 GB versus 128 GB), for $200 less.

I'm not seeing the value proposition here. What can you even run on a
Chromebook that would need a Core i5 CPU?

The more interesting one is the $1,449 model with LTE and 64GB, but I don't
think it's particularly compelling. I have a Verizon 4G LTE hotspot and the
highest plan is $90/month for 10 GB. I blow through that in 20 days or so even
though I don't watch Netflix, use the office wi-fi whenever I can, etc. That's
a lot of money to pay to use apps (GMail, Google Docs) that aren't even very
good.

~~~
clicks
> I'm not seeing the value proposition here.

I think what they're going for is the computer-on-cloud concept taken to new
heights -- not worrying about viruses or malware (Google is effectively the
new system administrator of your machine), not worrying about data being
unavailable going from one device to another is the value proposition they're
offering.

If you really consider what the bigger half of people use computers for
(watching videos, social networking, basic word processing, etc.) it suits
their needs well, and the value proposition will probably resonate with them.

~~~
rayiner
> If you really consider what the bigger half of people use computers for
> (watching videos, social networking, basic word processing, etc.) it suits
> their needs well, and the value proposition will probably resonate with
> them.

A tablet suits those needs a lot better than a $1,300 device that can do less
locally than a $500 iPad.

~~~
clicks
My mom is in her 60s, speaks very little English, has great difficulty using
computers... but she's gotten down the routine of how to access her 'addresses
of contacts' list (basically just a document in Google Docs, with names of
people and their addresses/phone numbers). She can do that anywhere, anytime
-- she logs into Gmail, clicks Google Drive and there you are.

She cannot do this with normal desktops (she doesn't know how to use file
explorers).

You're underestimating how valuable it is to have your data be available
anywhere, anytime, you're underestimating how much of a burden very basic
desktop usage is for the average Joe out there. Sure, that's probably not as
true for the newer generation, but lifting the burden of system administration
(managing data) is a pretty significant deal.

Personally I hate the idea of anyone but me being the guardian of my data --
to me this is just an excellent method for Google to introduce their ads into
everything. Even to access my own static data I will keep getting served with
ads, I hate that -- but it looks more and more that this is how things will be
in the world of tomorrow.

~~~
simonster
It's still not clear why a Chromebook is better than a tablet for this
purpose, but even if it were, I'm not sure there's a compelling reason for
someone like your mom to buy a $1300 Chromebook as opposed to a $200
Chromebook. The text may look better on the $1300 Chromebook, but most people
who aren't technologically literate (and many people who are) would probably
prefer to read off paper anyway.

~~~
selmnoo
> It's still not clear why a Chromebook is better than a tablet for this
> purpose, but even if it were, I'm not sure there's a compelling reason for
> someone like your mom to buy a $1300 Chromebook as opposed to a $200
> Chromebook.

For the same reason a good chunk of my neighbors upgraded to iPhone5 from
iPhone 4S (even though some of them didn't have the iPhone4S for more than a
few months, and probably had to pay full (non-subsidized) amount to make the
upgrade). Notice Google's marketing and branding efforts for this Pixel being
eerily similar to Apple's, the pitch that the device somehow transcends in
value over all of your other silicon-based products. They're trying very hard
to have their brand be in the same rank Apple is in. It's a thing you're going
to use to keep your pace in the 'Keeping up with the Joneses' game, it's like
a Gucci bag, it's an alternative to the Macbook for when you're in Starbucks.
There's no good reason to buy a Benz over a Corolla, but a lot of people do.
Worse, a lot of people who probably shouldn't do.

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dignati
Why is Google calling it's products things they aren't? Google Chrome was the
first browser which basically eliminated the Chrome. Google Drive replaces a
Drive with an online service. Chromebook Pixel is the first Chromebook which
doesn't let you see Pixels.

Is this a common naming strategy or Google specific?

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ChuckMcM
This is pretty cool, I was thinking that the next Macbook Air would be a iOS
device kind of like this.

I find it really amazing we've got these choices, MBPro, MS Surface Pro,
Google Pixel. All of the variables are getting cover (high res / low res)
screen, local/net storage, local/remote compute, attached/detached keyboard,
cellular/wifi-only connectivity.

PCs and laptops had gotten so boring, but now, they are interesting again.

~~~
dopamean
I'd like to throw the new Vizio laptops into the list you mentioned here. I
think they're really fantastic and a brilliant idea.

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fusiongyro
"Unlike previous Chromebook versions, the Pixel is aimed at power users who
fully live in the cloud."

I thought that was always the point.

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calinet6
Wasn't the point of "fully living in the cloud" that you wouldn't need a
powerful client? Wasn't "thin client" the dream?

Then again, I guess that's why the emphasis here is on portability and screen
quality... so that makes sense.

Then again #2, you need a powerful client these days to run all of the
Javascript being used... so the i5 CPU makes sense.

Okay, this is moderately interesting.

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dragonwriter
> Wasn't the point of "fully living in the cloud" that you wouldn't need a
> powerful client?

No, the point was that you could seamlessly move between different clients in
the event of hardware failure, being away from your primary device
unavoidably, etc.

> Wasn't "thin client" the dream?

"Thin client" may have been someone's dream, but it certainly hasn't been
Google's rich clould-based apps vision.

~~~
taligent

       > No, the point was that you could seamlessly move between different clients
    

One word. Dropbox.

I work on three computers every day. Documents, Preferences etc all sync
immediately. And how does living in the cloud help me when there is network
failure ?

~~~
dragonwriter
>> No, the point was that you could seamlessly move between different clients

>One word. Dropbox.

Yes, Dropbox is an example of using the cloud to make it easy to move between
client machines.

> I work on three computers every day. Documents, Preferences etc all sync
> immediately. And how does living in the cloud help me when there is network
> failure ?

Using Dropbox to provide immediate sync of document and preferences _is_
living in the cloud.

And "living in the cloud" works fine in network failure, if you have a
mechanism to operate offline when the network is unavailable and resync when
the network is available -- whether that's because you use a desktop OS and
local apps with synchronized cloud storage or webapps with offline
functionality, the latter of which is a feature Google pushed very hard for
years on.

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adamnemecek
I wish that laptop manufacturers were not so blatant about copying Apple
designs. Apple designs were not successful because they found some mysterious
perfect design but because they were different enough and look reasonably
good. But there is still a lot of things that can be improved on that design.

~~~
adestefan
I like Apple's design because they've managed to pack a really good keyboard
and an excellent trackpad into something that is relatively light and thin.
The problem with most of the knock offs is the okay keyboard, but terrible
trackpads.

~~~
tiziano88
I don't know about yours, but my MacBook Pro has one of the worst keyboards I
have ever seen in a laptop. Lenovo, they make good keyboards (or at least,
used to).

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PankajGhosh
Who is target user of this laptop? Question for people who own a chromebook
already: Would you recommend your chromebook or chromebook-pixel to other
developers?

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jrockway
I have the $249 ARM Chromebook. I like it better than a regular laptop because
I rarely use a laptop, and every time I need to go somewhere, my normal laptop
is out of date and not sync'd with anything. The end result is that I mostly
use my laptop for updating its software, not actually using it. Chrome OS
handles all this automatically, so can just turn it on and it's ready.

For $249, the ARM Chromebook is built pretty well. It's small, light, and the
battery lasts a long time. The screen is fine. The keyboard is fine. Sometimes
it feels a little slow, but so does my 8-core i7 desktop :)

~~~
PankajGhosh
Exactly, a "$249 ARM Chromebook" hits bulls-eye what Chrome OS laptop should
be. Developers(and other users though less likely) would not mind paying $249
for a laptop which obviously has constraints compared to its more powerful and
more expensive counterparts.

Chrome Pixel looks like a powerful laptop plagued by the limitations of Chrome
OS. Chrome Pixel is not going to be (in my opinion and probably Google doesn't
expect it to be either) a sellout product but it highlights Google's vision of
how laptops would be in coming years.

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rdtsc
Just needs to run Ubuntu on it well and I might just get it. Having a nice
resolution screen for coding is worth it for me (but keyboard has to be good
as well!).

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publicfig
The problem is that Ubuntu (at least in my experience, please correct me if
this is wrong) just does not handle high resolution screens right now. Maybe
it's just something I have set up wrong, but I've had nothing but trouble
trying to get Ubuntu work well with a high dpi screen without making
everything incredibly tiny.

~~~
rdtsc
Have you tried increasing text size? Or is it not just text but also images?

[http://askubuntu.com/questions/60044/how-do-i-change-the-
fon...](http://askubuntu.com/questions/60044/how-do-i-change-the-font-dpi-
settings)

~~~
publicfig
I really appreciate the help! I've tried this in the past and it doesn't
really seem to solve the problem, just compensates for some of them. It ends
up being weird though when some elements are small and others are the size you
would expect

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barredo
Google changed his mind, from 2010:

> Schmidt says Chrome OS devices will be 'disposable,' priced like netbooks

[http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/20/schmidt-says-chrome-os-
de...](http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/20/schmidt-says-chrome-os-devices-will-
be-disposable-priced-like/)

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mchristoff
Can you wipe it and install Android?

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beagle3
Does anyone know if it has a "developer mode" switch like the ARM Chromebook,
that lets you give up DRMd content apps and in return get full control of the
machine (and install e.g. Ubuntu, or since this is an x86, maybe even some
flavor of Windows?)

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Posibyte
I'm not sure I could justify that much for an internet-only laptop. The
hardware isn't half bad, to be honest, but the software offerings seem like
something more suited for an internet tablet than a more-powerful laptop.

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Taylorious
Why wouldn't they support USB 3.0? Is that a typo in the article?

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duaneb
Err, why would they? I don't envision any high speed data transfers occurring
on a regular basis, or really anything but a phone or a keyboard being plugged
in.

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habosa
With a screen of that resolution 3.0 might be nice to watch 4K videos stored
on a USB drive.

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jfb
Which 4K videos are those? In addition, you don't need 3.0 to get a decent
enough bitrate to stream 4x1080p H.264 even today.

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NegativeK
Here's a list of 4K videos on Youtube:
<http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5BF9E09ECEC8F88F>

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dromidas
100mb/month LTE? Awesome. Lets see... for a 1TB google drive, that would
take......... 873 years to fill up that google drive.

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jcomis
Seriously, what is even the point of that offer? You can eat up 100mb on
verizon LTE in less than a minute.

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dangrossman
It's probably enough to check your e-mail and calendar all month as long as
you don't download/upload attachments.

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dromidas
Or accidentally have any background processes running which happen to use
data... I imagine most likely whats going to happen is you'll be on wifi with
like 18 tabs open and one of them will have a stupid flash ad and wifi will go
down for 5 seconds but in that time the ad will refresh and sync a new video
and all your bandwidth will suddenly be gone. :P

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dewiz
If only Microsoft understood it should release a laptop like this... just
256/512SSD + 8Gb RAM, I would be happy to pay 2K for it. No borders, a lot of
vertical space, why is it that hard to copy a MBP and put Windows on it ?

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nsomaru
1tb free online storage and 100mb/month free data. that's hilarious. is the
cost of mobile bandwidth still ridiculously high in the states?

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adestefan
...given that the web still focuses on content that is meant to be displayed
horizontally...

What is this nonsense?

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account_taken
HA, my gay friends might buy this. It has the I'm gay rainbow sticker on it.

Other than them, I'm not seeing how this sells. A refurbished Retina MBP is
cheaper. And even at full price, $200 for a superior OS that can run apps like
MacVim, VirtualBox, keep my stuff local, has much more storage and sync to my
private 250GB storage. That's priceless.

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lhnn
I see people talking about installing Ubuntu on this.

I remember when the Retina display came out, there were issues with Ubuntu's
UI scaling to the high DPI of the device.

If I put Ubuntu on the Pixel, would it look good?

