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Samsung Chromebook |OT|

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ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ


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$249 Wi-Fi · $329 3G · October 22, 2012




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  • Height: 0.7 inches (17.8mm)

  • Width: 11.4 inches (30cm)

  • Depth: 8.1 inches (20.6cm)

  • Weight: 2.42 pounds (1.1kg)




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  • CPU: Samsung Exynos 5 Dual @ 1.7 GHz

  • RAM: 2 GB

  • SSD: 16 GB*

  • Screen: 11.6 inch (29.5cm) 1366 by 768 (matte, 16:9)

  • Webcam: Front-facing VGA (640 by 480)

  • Battery: 6.5 hours

  • Bluetooth 3.0

  • Fanless

* 100 GB of Google Drive storage is included for two years from purchase date.




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  • 1x USB 2.0

  • 1x USB 3.0

  • 1x SDXC

  • 1x HDMI




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"As far as I'm concerned, the Chromebook keyboard provides about the best laptop typing experience you can find today. … The new Chromebook's trackpad is no less impressive: It's smooth and responsive, with accurate motion and support for a range of one- and two-fingered gestures."
- ComputerWorld

"Even with the 46% battery left I’m looking at right now, the machine has nearly 6 hours quoted as being left – and the machine has been out and on for at least 12 hours without need for a charge. … Its worth noting that it appears the quality of this machine is above that of every tablet we’ve had our hands on thus far – if only because the operating system is made to handle notebook operations."
- SlashGear

"Samsung says its battery will hast for six and a half hours. Mine lasted for over seven on a single charge. … The Chrome OS interface itself is, as ever, a pleasure to use. … This Chromebook represents the true future of the PC. It's cheaper than any device that's remotely comparable to it be it tablet, laptop or any of the hybrids. … This really does change everything."
- ZDNet

"In practice, this Intel-free design means that the Series 3 is light, fanless, diskless, completely silent, and at $249, cheap enough to grab your attention … it's $1,000 worth of design made with $100 worth of materials. The trackpad is light years ahead of the terrible component that Samsung specced on the original Series 5 — smoother, much larger, and far more able to capture gestures like two-finger scrolling. … in practice, I never felt like I was missing out on some vast reserve of Intel processing power — in fact, had I not known that it was an ARM chip, I would've never guessed."
- The Verge




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ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
Wow looks hot, how does the Chrome OS work again? Is it online only?

Various apps can run offline. Google Drive can, for example, and there's an offline version of Gmail too. The apps that are just URLs for the most part don't run offline, even if they technically can be.

The new version of Chrome apps, coming in Chrome 24 (current version is 22) are offline by default and feel much more like desktop apps, running in their own windows by default and given more power.
 

Ryck

Member
Various apps can run offline. Google Drive can, for example, and there's an offline version of Gmail too. The apps that are just URLs for the most part don't run offline, even if they technically can be.

The new version of Chrome apps, coming in Chrome 24 (current version is 22) are offline by default and feel much more like desktop apps, running in their own windows by default and given more power.
Thanks for the info, going to do some research as I am in the market for a small laptop. I already use Google Drive/Docs a lot so this would be perfect.
 
I don't know much about Chromebooks. Can you put Windows on these or are they locked to ChromeOS?

What's stopping Samsung from giving it a touchscreen and putting Windows 8/Windows RT on it and selling it for $300 or $350?
 

dwebo

Member
the 100gb of google drive storage is valid for two years, though apparently after that point your files are still accessible (indefinitely?). still, you'd be paying >$120 for that alone otherwise
 

Kiraly

Member
this is SO much more appealing to me as a complement to my Galaxy Nexus than a Nexus 7. Hmmm.

Same here, I'd much rather have this than a Nexus 7.

I don't know much about Chromebooks. Can you put Windows on these or are they locked to ChromeOS?

What's stopping Samsung from giving it a touchscreen and putting Windows 8/Windows RT on it and selling it for $300 or $350?

The $250 price tag is probably subsidized by Google.

Windows RT (the ARM based Windows 8) might be able to run on it, will be interesting to see what hackers can do with this little thing.
 
Unbelievable that Google actually maintains and supports 2 different OS's, how come they dont just use Android in these, its an honest question, I dont understand.
 

genjiZERO

Member
Fuck yeah. Can't afford to get another Mac, and don't want a PC. When I have to get a new computer hopefully the Google OS laptop market will be more developed.
 

womp

Member
Reposting for the new thread. :p

How could I hook my in-laws HP all in one USB printer to one of these? Is it even possible? Still relying on cloud print? :|

I mean, drivers etc...
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I don't know much about Chromebooks. Can you put Windows on these or are they locked to ChromeOS?

This is an ARM machine, so Windows won't run unless it's WinRT, and that isn't available for purchase separately from the hardware it's made for.

What's stopping Samsung from giving it a touchscreen and putting Windows 8/Windows RT on it and selling it for $300 or $350?

Nothing I guess, but a touchscreen would likely push the price up further than that.

This device was made in partnership with Google, so it's unlikely it'd be repurposed unless it was changed so much as to be unrecognizable.

I'd only buy it if I could put Linux/Windows on it. The build quality/specs seem pretty solid for that price tag.

If it's like other Chromebooks, there will be a jailbreak button that allows you to get root access. Last I heard, only a couple Linux distros have been successfully ported to prior Chromebooks.

Reposting for the new thread. :p

How could I hook my in-laws HP all in one USB printer to one of these? Is it even possible? Still relying on cloud print? :|

I mean, drivers etc...

Fairly sure Cloud Print is the only way for now. However, you can add local printers to it so it's really up to the drivers, which vary so much I can't really give an answer.
 

falastini

Member
This sounds perfect for my mother, who needs a new laptop. The only problem I see is Skype. Is there any way to get it working on this?
 

giga

Member
Regular windows apps like Skype, Spotify, iTunes, etc aren't running on this people. It's called Chrome OS. Think of it as running Chrome full screen 100% of the time.
 
Would love Windows in it.

Why? The whole point of a Chromebook is that you just open it up and go straight to the internet, without all of the silliness that Windows brings. Same issue with putting Android apps on it, I think. Although, I haven't used Chrome OS since my CR-48. It seems like they have gone more toward a normal desktop environment, which I think is a mistake.
 
Regular windows apps like Skype, Spotify, iTunes, etc aren't running on this people. It's called Chrome OS. Think of it as running Chrome full screen 100% of the time.

I understand that. Spotify needs to get with the program, though. This literally might push me to Rdio.
 

Futureman

Member
Unbelievable that Google actually maintains and supports 2 different OS's, how come they dont just use Android in these, its an honest question, I dont understand.

I don't think Chrome is really comparable to maintaining a true OS like Anroid. It literally is the Chrome browser. They are obviously fully committed to mainting Chrome as a browser, so it isn't much more work to run it as a light, web-based OS.

I've always wondered about Android and Chrome possibly merging. Most of the "in the know" GAFers usually put that idea down.... I'm wondering is it any more viable at this point? Has anything changed in the past year or so?
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I'm not a tech guy, so... other than the price point, what's so great about this?

- 2-6 second boot time (not resume, boot.) Resume in 1-2 seconds.
- Auto-update silently installs in the background, no more annoying "Remind me in 4 hours."
- Likely the securest consumer OS available due to a combination of Chrome sandboxing, disability to run native apps, the Linux kernel, and auto-update.
- No maintenance headaches. Will always run as fast as the day you got it, if not faster thanks to Chrome upgrades.
 
I don't think Chrome is really comparable to maintaining a true OS like Anroid. It literally is the Chrome browser. They are obviously fully committed to mainting Chrome as a browser, so it isn't much more work to run it as a light, web-based OS.

I've always wondered about Android and Chrome possibly merging. Most of the "in the know" GAFers usually put that idea down.... I'm wondering is it any more viable at this point? Has anything changed in the past year or so?

Thats the thing, Chrome Os is an entire OS with drivers and a file system, the only difference is that the API is not open so the only app in it is "chrome".

I really do hope that one day they merge the 2, I cant think of a reason not to.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I don't think Chrome is really comparable to maintaining a true OS like Anroid. It literally is the Chrome browser. They are obviously fully committed to mainting Chrome as a browser, so it isn't much more work to run it as a light, web-based OS.

I've always wondered about Android and Chrome possibly merging. Most of the "in the know" GAFers usually put that idea down.... I'm wondering is it any more viable at this point? Has anything changed in the past year or so?

What is your idea of them "merging?" Because it likely would mean that everything special about Chrome OS is stripped out.

Chrome is on Android, that's about as far as it will go unless Google starts listening to the crazies.
 

Kiraly

Member
I do believe they'll be merging one day, but that will be in a long ass time as the line between smartphones and tablets/notebooks begins to fade.
 
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