A Samsung Chromebook that I had ordered a couple of weeks ago finally arrived while I was out of town. I was hoping to test it on my last trip. In case you hadn't heard of these before, they have the form factor of a laptop but must be connected to the Internet to be truly useful. In this case, it's closer in weight an size to an 11" Macbook Air at 2.4 lbs and 0.7" thick. No hard drive or optical drive but has 16GB of local storage and includes two years of 100GB Google Drive cloud storage. Also included are 12 coupons for Gogo Inflight Internet access. All for $249. No fans, no spinning drives, no noise. But everything has to be done in a browser.
So far, I have been able to connect with all four of my email accounts, three different cloud storage options, configure x.509 certificate base wireless network access (Eduroam), as well as SSH into multiple Linux servers that I manage. Everything that I normally need a laptop for. Google docs are functional enough for me and there is an offline mode for those times when the Internet isn't available or too slow to be useful. Right after I logged in, all of my bookmarks and extensions came across from the Chrome browser on my Macbook Pro.
The only unusual thing I needed to do was to turn on a simple WPA2 wireless SSID for the initial configuration on first boot. It needed to contact the Google mother ship to validate my credentials. So far, I'm impressed at what you can do for ¼ the price of the cheapest Macbook Air. The materials and build quality aren't the same as the Apple product but then again, look at the price! After a couple of weeks of daily use, I'll post another update.
Posted with Blogsy
Very interesting Richard. So all word processing/spreadsheets/visio can be done in the cloud? What about processing photos using say....google photos?
ReplyDeleteI don't use Visio but there are numerous photo editing tools in the Chrome App store (all free as far as I can tell) though I haven't tried any of them yet. There is also an SD card slot but I'm not sure whether it's for additional storage or for camera cards. I haven't tried it yet.
DeleteMacbooks can be darn heavy. Ours is at least 5 years old and feels like a brick compared to the newer ones.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of the Samsung Chromebook though so thanks for the info.
The older Macbooks are really heavy compared to the current models. Even my 15" retina Macbook pro without CD/DVD drive still weighs in at 4.46 lbs. But it really would be an apples and oranges comparison as their use cases and functionality are so different. The Chromebook would be useful for someone who can do everything using a browser. If you are serious pixel pusher or video editor, it's not something you'd want to even consider. If the primary use is web, email, average office automation type of apps, AND you have regular Internet access, then it might work for you.
DeleteRichard:
ReplyDeletethis sounds like a good solution for you. Can the Chrome handle photoshop or video editing ? otherwise I am stuck looking at a fast Ultrabook.
Right now I am using a tablet at home for emails and browsing forums, seems easier than using a laptop but I think I still need a laptop.
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
I haven't tried any of the photo editing web apps and since it doesn't run Windows or OS X, it can't run any regular applications. I haven't heard of any video editing apps but then again I haven't looked either. Just because something is a web app doesn't necessarily limit its potential capabilities but it really does limit the size and complexity. I would agree that you would need a laptop.
DeleteBut for things like commenting, blogging, email and general web browsing, it's a reasonable solution. Especially for a university environment where there is wireless Internet everywhere. The iPad, or any other tablet, has more functionality since it isn't tethered to the Internet. But they are hampered by their most attractive feature, the touch interface.
I use the same Samsung Chromebook, and love it. It's hard to get used to a laptop that requires Internet access, but you can use also use the hotspot on your smartphone. I also found that Google Drive will store documents locally allow you to edit/compose locally, and then sync online later.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting and commenting. For me, this is sort of an experiment and may be classified as a skeptic with the whole cloud computing. Yes, the phone could be used as a hotspot when needed but since I am not one of the "unlimited" users, I see myself as running into the data cap sooner rather than later.
DeleteBut so far, I really like using it...
Richard, is this the one?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+11.6%26%2334%3B+Chromebook+-+2GB+Memory+-+16GB+Flash+(eMMc)+Memory+-+Silver/6869096.p?id=1218810049489&skuId=6869096
dom
Yep, one and the same. So far, no issues or complaints. Completely useful if you have Internet and still marginally useful without. Off-line Google Docs and email really do work as well as many other apps.
DeleteThanks, my oldest son needs something like it for school
Delete