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Why Microsoft has mocked Chromebooks: they are a real threat
- Thread starter ChainedMaster
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I too have experienced a huge amount of people in my circle who got a Chromebook, and all buying it knowing about it being an internet device, and all of them are starting to hate it. It's not fast, and the times they need it where there is no active internet connection, they hate it. The reality that they don't have constant internet connectivity hits them.
Almost all of them have returned it. I would like to see the return rates on the devices.
I think though, there is huge potential if they can somehow get 4G connectivity on it. All the web apps don't require much data so its good for the times when you're out and about, and will be great at home. Add the fact that some of the apps are adding offline functionality and I think it would be really great.
Helpless Hometown Motor
Member
Why isn't a smoother user experience important?
If they were that bad, then retailers would stop ordering them. Given that more and more retailers are starting to sell them, I'd wager that the return rates are not hugely out of the norm, anecdotes aside.
There are chromebooks with 4G, but that is something I really don't understand, why pay for a shitty overpriced capped 4G data plan for the 5% of the time I am out of range of a wifi hotspot or can't tether to my phone?
Oh yeah, a haswell refresh would be so good right now. Battery life is the only issue I have with mine, if they can get it to 8-9 hours it'd be incredible.
Microsoft should be very worried. The educational market is going to eat them alive.
We just ordered 3,000 Chromebooks at work and plan on buying another 7-8,000 more in the next 12 months. Our entire district, 3rd grade on up will be 1:1 then.
The number of Windows PC's that have been ordered lately: less than 20.
We just ordered 3,000 Chromebooks at work and plan on buying another 7-8,000 more in the next 12 months. Our entire district, 3rd grade on up will be 1:1 then.
The number of Windows PC's that have been ordered lately: less than 20.
Hey, I'm a videophile and the pixel's screen is gorgeous. I meant that you can't plug in a blu-ray external drive, and you can't...
But then amended that by thinking for two whole seconds and realizing people had probably figured out how to get at least one linux distro on there. For VLC.
CharlieDigital
Banned
This is why Google will eventually enter the wireless market and we will all get free Google wireless.
posting from one right now
its pretty great, honestly
0 performance issues. great battery. 32gb of storage(i dont really care much about this, but its nice to have i guess)
the touchscreen i dont really use much, but its nice to have there if i need to poike at the screen for something haha
edit: i pretty much got it for browsing, hangouts/chat stuff and some email or maybe evernote. and its pretty perfect for that stuff. its nice to just have on the coffee table for browsing. i pretty much had a nexus 7 for that, but man i forgot how much nicer having a real keyboard is if you need to type ANYTHING. i'm pretty happy with it
edit #2: also, the build quality is surprisingly solid. yeah its plastic, but its 300 bucks. the trackpad is better than windows trackpad ive used too
TheChewyWaffles
Member
Classy. What does he do, edit spreadsheets all day?
Orbis Tabula
Member
Yeah, that's the real problem. Chromebooks obviously can't do everything a true laptop can do. But they can do enough. And if Microsoft doesn't stop it, they'll slowly get better and push upmarket.
There were 2 batch of refub Samsung Chromebook 11.6" from Best Buy right after its lunch. I had one for 160 and let my friend brought it. I have been trying to get another refub but I haven't seen any from Best Buy.
Maybe the new buyers are more educated.
You can get free 200mb per month internet from TMobile.
Nonsense. Everyone who owns one seems to be more than happy. Comparing modern Chromebooks to netbooks is superficial, and neglecting the cost, performance, and battery improvements time has allowed is disingenuous at best.
They might not last, they might not ever become a serious threat to the dominant ecosystems, but that does not mean they are bad machines. Even by comparison, maybe especially by comparison, they are fantastic for their price range. I would go so far as to say unprecedented.
Chromebooks are more than capable for the purposes they are being sold. They aren't workstations, they aren't "do-everything" machines, but they are perfectly usable, often lightning-fast, lightweight, portable web browsing devices, with offline productivity options available. To dismiss them as pointless or to deride them as useless is foolish in either case.
TheLaughingStock
Member
A significant percentage of consumers wised up. Why should they put up with cheap HW or underpowered HW running full Windows? They'll likely have a much better user experience with Android, Chromebook, and iOS at a cheap price. Good for them.
HolyBaikal
Banned
Microsoft's software products are expensive. It isn't all that surprising that Chromebooks are disruptive. As, while they offer something much more limited, they are far cheaper than buying Microsoft based laptops.
If people want to do simple internet browsing, a Chromebook can be a lot better to spend your money on, than a PC. Chromebooks are an elegant solution to a limited number of tasks. Similar to how video game consoles and handhelds are focused on games.
That limited ability also only allows them to take a limited market away from Microsoft, though. As many people do want PCs for a variety of purposes.
If people want to do simple internet browsing, a Chromebook can be a lot better to spend your money on, than a PC. Chromebooks are an elegant solution to a limited number of tasks. Similar to how video game consoles and handhelds are focused on games.
That limited ability also only allows them to take a limited market away from Microsoft, though. As many people do want PCs for a variety of purposes.
Working retail, I can tell you we get a shit load of Chromebooks returned. We try not sell any to customers unless we make sure they understand what they're getting but during the holidays it's extremely hard. Which sucks for the people that are actually interested in them because all we have is open items since we get so little stock as it is.
On a related note, we sold a ton of Surfaces this holiday season. Surprised at how many people would come in asking for the surface 2.
On a related note, we sold a ton of Surfaces this holiday season. Surprised at how many people would come in asking for the surface 2.
ActStriker
Member
I like my Chromebook for what it is. Lightweight, durable, and the basics for web browsing, which is what I used my old netbook for. I have a powerful enough PC, so I really only use a laptop as a companion. Chrome Remote Desktop is pretty damn good enough for me.
Why? Because they have no idea how to use the product they bought?
I use Chrome Remote Desktop and I can access ALL my applications/everything from my home computer while at school for less than $200.
Angelus Errare
Banned
I love my Chromebook. I use it for all my writing, internet surfing, and wrok when I'm not home. I find it to be a much better piece of productive hardware than either iPad or Surface and I own them as well.
/shrug.
/shrug.
Yes. The average user isn't going to be interested in using a remote desktop application. Not that that makes a Chromebook a bad product.
Mmmhmm. This is a common sense thing at this point. If Chromebooks had super high return rates above average for this type of electronics, we would know. It would be everywhere in reports, and retailers wouldn't be stocking them. And they absolutely wouldn't still be selling faster and faster a year after they first started gaining steam. People (myself included at some points) were saying these things were "All probably being returned" 13 to 14 months ago. Here we are entering 2014 and the momentum is still increasing.
That's more than enough reason to suspect that people are buying them because they want them. We all know what high returns and languishing items on store shelves look like... it looks like those Blackberry Tablets and the HP Touchpads before the firesale. None of those things have been happening with Chromebooks.
Wiktor
Member
The only way they can still be called netbooks is if they're 7, 8 or 9 inches screen-wise. Anything more is just way to big for netbook.
RangersFan
Member
I use my c720 chromebook for everything. It's small size and long battery life has me using it all around the house for everything. If I need to do something on a more powerful machine I remote desktop to that machine with the chromebook. I initially bought it just for my lazy tv watching couch web surfing. Now it's my primary laptop.
Wiktor
Member
I feel a bit sorry for those kids.
Please, classic Netbooks are all 10.1"
ding ding ding.
these cheap net/notebooks, which were 'good enough' for most people to get-by with, but which came preloaded with this crap on them which eventually ground them down into slow messes gave windows net/notebooks/laptops a bad name.
dad got a samsung win8 laptop earlier in the year, and the thing runs like absolute crap via all the pre-installed bloatware and extra system processes. Try removing certain things, and it starts nagging you that it can't find it's proprietory samsung software, or worse still it starts bugging-out, hard. It's almost as though Samsung intentionally make bad Windows devices so that people think ''well my phone is samsung, and that is a much better user experience - i'll just double-down on the samsung ecosystem''.
with microsoft's distrubution partners farting around with chromebooks or linx machines, it's no wonder microsoft went with the surface. a 'clean windows' experience is x1000 better, and the surface far out performs my dad's laptop, despite his machine having vastly superior specs inside. It's all about the presentation, and having a pleseant experience.
I just can't understand for the life of me why Microsoft have fallen at the last hurdle and priced this incredibly attractive laptop/table hybrid (SPro) so astronomically high. People wont pay the price of a Surface Pro. As it stands, those people would probably jump at a cheaper-priced Surface Pro, but they are simply picking up a Samsung Galaxy Note or Tab tablet to go alongside their already-owned Galaxy S2/3/4 phones. Case-in-point my brother recently started-in on me about his new Galaxy Tab. Asking why I haven't got a screen protector for my Surface Pro like he has for his Galaxy. I said I didn't need one. He asked how I kept the screen from being scratched. I showed him how the keyboard cover folds over the screen to protect it. So he said 'so you're telling me every time you place your surface down, you fold the screen cover over it?'. I said 'to be honest I usually just leave it like this *flips kickstand out and flash a shit eating grin*. He was speechless.
People go with what their friends have, whatever the new 'hot' item is, no matter how much it is limited, and may sit in a drawer after purchase. My dad and mum bought a DS each exclusively for Brain Training and Suduko. My dad has a kindle, despite any laptop or smartphone being able to read ebooks. He never uses either. These are the same 'casual' people that MS 'should' be going after with bargain-bin Surface(RT)'s, almost giving them away so that they gain traction a la Amazon's kindles. Let people have this inexpensive device so they can get used to Windows 8.1, and touch controls in general etc. And then if they do require more, like having compatability with legacy x86 apps, they can buy a Surface Pro, and all their files will be already be linked - hassell free - via their Microsoft Account syncing and SkyDrive cloud integration... but SPro's should only be something like £500 brand new... otherwise only tech geeks like me will know their true value and be willing to spend the money on them. Everyone else, the somewhat uninformed, will continue to splinter onto android devices and MS will find themselves without a customer-base.
Johnlenham
Member
The Asus T100 has one usb, a micro sd and a micro HDMI? If that counts.
Also as a tiny thing I lvoe about getting my gf one of those, is that when she asks questions I can reach over and use the touch screen to navigate to the desktop or in chrome or whatever. Got to the point whereits so nice ot use I keep reaching out to my onw laptop and realizing it does not work ;(
Triggerhappytel
Member
I don't really know much about Chromebooks - what OS do they use? Are they like a normal PC, or do they use app-style downloads?
brotkasten
Member
Chromebooks run ChromeOS, a Linux-variant and the only app you can use on it, is your browser, Chrome. All apps are web-apps and that's all you'll ever need. Over time, they also added a Windows 7-style task bar and an offline for web-apps.
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