Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch) Reviews
I'm writing this review on the Chromebook wi-fi version and still can't believe how nice the keyboard feels. It's a very similar experience from my MacBook Air -- chiclet style keys with a good "pop." The only downside is that the shortcut keys on the top row are arranged different from my MBA. I find myself accidentally hitting the 'back' and 'forward' button on the Chromebook while trying to dim the screen and so on.
My Favorites:
Music/Cloud Sync
During my undergrad years I was a huge music snob (oh university radios) and had accumulated tons of music. It was a nightmare trying to transfer them whenever I would upgrade laptops. I tried lugging around a external HDD large enough, but found myself defeating the whole point of having a laptop. I was really glad when Google Music offered 20,000 songs (I was at about 19,000, I hope they'll allow more in the future) as I can have access to my music collection wherever I go. The Google Music App with my iPhone works well with my unlimited Data plan from StraightTalk.. I really don't know the last time I actually synced music files onto it! I do notice that the music player plug in will crash on the Chromebook if I pause and resume too quickly.
Apple's iDrive or iCloud or ... iWhatever was always so confusing to me. 'Oh it's called iDrive now? Wait now I have 10gb allotted for pictures? Huh?' whereas Google it just synced everything on its own. I was fortunate enough to have a Legacy Plan so I'm not worried on running out of space any time soon. Also the additional 100GB/2years included was a pleasant surprise. The best part was that the Google Drive space is independent of my music collection! I'm a hobby photographer so it's nice to know that my pictures are safe floating around in the cloud space.
I dug around and found that my Legacy plan will stay intact after the 2 years, and if I have accessed the free 100GB, those files will still be available with the caveat that I won't be able to add more files to my Gdrive. Unless I pay for additional space of course.
I have an iPhone that I changed to use Chrome by default via Cydia. I love that it syncs all my bookmarks and surfing history across my gear. I briefly had a Nexus 4, but had to stick with the iPhone because most of my medical software are on iOS only. It wasn't a preference of brands, I just want convenience as my backpack gets more full with each new gadget out on the market!
Documents/Office Productivity
I also find myself no longer dependent on thumb drives. I work as a researcher for a hospital so I'm constantly hopping back and forth free computers to enter in data or make corrections. We recently made the jump to Google Docs so that we can all edit documents simultaneously. Before this, if someone had left a certain document open on the network, others would not be able to edit it. A huge hassle as a witch hunt would ensue to find which "n00b" left the document open. Oh lab grunts.
Cons:
Netflix/AVI playback
Like others have mentioned, Netflix is still not available on this certain model. I hope it gets fixed soon!
AVI playback seems hit or miss for me
Conclusion:
So I had bought this on a whim, the price tag was really appealing and I bought it as a toy. Little did I know it would become part of my professional life.
I wish I had waited for the 3G model, 100mb/month doesn't seem much but I could see it being extremely handy in a cinch. I was waiting for a flight back home at LaGuardia where the only option was to pay for Boingo. I believe that in the long run the savings could be substantial
Pros:
- light and attractive
- instant-on and speedy
- included go-go in flight credits are a fantastic additional value
- 3g wireless is great in an emergency
- surprisingly good keyboard and trackpad
Cons:
- moderately scratch-prone
- screen could have better viewing angles and have higher resolution
- limited as a primary computer
- included on board storage is limited
The Samsung chromebook is likely the perfect computer for anyone who wants to surf the internet on the go. It is just a portable as a tablet but is much more compatible with websites. The keyboard is great as is the trackpad for moderate content creation. The self-updating and built-in anti-virus features are great.
For certain people (grandparents or younger children) this could be a primary computer. But most people will likely benefit from this as a second computer for use while traveling or in a coffee shop. For that purpose, it is perfect and highly recommended.
I have a Galaxy S2 phone and naturally thought I would love the Galaxy Tab. I found myself looking at my phone instead of the tablet because I had to search for items on the internet the same way, and was comfortable using my phone. I decided on the Chromebook after reading the reviews and love it. It fires up immediately and set up was a breeze (I'm not tech savvy). The keyboard feels sturdy and is easy to type on. It has a totally different vibe than my phone or the tablet. Overall, an excellent product for the money.
Pros: Very light and portable. Nice keyboard and plays streaming video smoothly, even in HD. Attractive design, and super fast 7-sec bootup. Instant on from sleeping. Great battery life. Easy to use, great 2 finger scrolling and finger-tap mouse clicks. Nice assortment of ports: SD, USB 2,3, HDMI. Plug n play mouse works without any problems. Heavy-duty flash games run no problem. Google docs, which can be used offline as well if you choose not to use the cloud.
Cons: Sometimes text is too small initially on a webpage and have to enlarge the magnification. Can get a bit slow if lots of flash heavy things or lots of text on a page. (Things I think they are working on: 1)some sites like yahoo news articles will redirect you to the mobile webpage instead of the regular. 2)netflix doesn't work)
Overall, highly recommend as a second computer, for casual browsers, travelers, etc.
I am a bit of a computer\gadget guy and have always been curious about the chromebooks. The earlier versions seemed priced to high and they weren't available in Canada anyway. I read the reviews when the new Samsung Chromebook was being released and was amazed by the price, battery life, weight and overall look. When we were vacationing in the U.S. I picked up the Samsung and I am pleasantly surprised by what it offers.
I really like both the device and the operating system. This is clearly no frills computing that just works. I love the simplicity and as a Google Apps for Business user really like the integration with all things Google. While the chromebook is targeted at Google users it works just as well accessing Outlook.com and Skydrive. Pretty much anything you can do on the web you can pretty much do on the chromebook with the exception of Netflix which will be available for this ARM based chromebook pretty soon.
If I could change one thing I would upgrade the screen but I'm spoiled there as my primary PC is a MacBook Pro with retina display and my iPad also has a retina display. In comparison to those higher resolution IPS displays the chromebook display is pretty plain. A version with a better IPS screen for around $299 would be perfect.
If you're not use to a retina display the display on the chromebook will not disappoint. It is certainly adequate for the price and overall this is a great little machine. I look forward to travelling with this computer because it is so light.
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