Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch) Reviews
I remember seeing the release of the first gen Chromebooks a few months ago, and they really piqued my interest. At the time, I did not have enough money to purchase one, so I decided to wait. Once again, waiting paid off. When I saw the commercial for the new Samsung Chromebook, and that it was only $249, I knew it was what I've been looking for.
I waited almost four weeks to receive my new Samsung Chromebook. It was definitely worth the wait! I'm a sophomore in college taking multiple online courses, and I needed something light and portable for those typical college student coffee house trips. I have a Motorola XOOM wifi tablet that I love to death, but it just wasn't cutting it. I have a three year old HP G-series laptop that I have been wanting to replace for about six months. Its battery only lasts 10 minutes, rendering it almost completely useless when it comes to mobility. I almost got another Windows computer, but I am so glad I didn't.
This computer is extremely lightweight. What a difference between it and my old HP. I love the fact that there is no fan, making this the quietest computer I've ever encountered. Startup is lightning fast. It takes maybe 8 seconds to turn on, and about 3 seconds to wake up from sleep mode. The small 16GB hard drive kind of worried me at first, but the included free 100GB of storage on Google Drive definitely makes up for the lack of built in storage. The build quality is excellent in comparison to its price. The keyboard is firm, and the trackpad somewhat reminds me of those on a MacBook. The auto dimming feature is pretty cool, although it can become aggravating. I would have to say that my favorite app so far is the Chrome Remote Desktop Beta app. It's basically like having all the data from my old HP put onto this sleek new Samsung device.
I will say that at first I was skeptical about how useful this laptop would be, but after a day's use discovering all the cool features and tricks this little Samsung has rolled up its sleeve, I can now see that this is probably the smartest buy I've made all year.
I wasn't expecting a whole lot and I got way more than I bargained for. I still can't believe this laptop is only $250. I have been an Apple user since 1989 and this is the first non-Apple computer I've ever purchased. I got this as a second (or third) computer as I have an iMac as my main system and an ailing MBP circa 2007 that is still chugging along. I was looking at replacing the MBP with a Macbook Air, but was balking at the pricetag. I really didn't need it to do any heavy lifting in terms of video, photo or web work, but mainly to catch up on email, keep up with scheduling, do some research and use office documents. I've since found a lot more uses for it...
For me the killer app on this system is the Remote Desktop app which means that you can access your main system remotely and use any app on that system, save to Google Drive or Drop Box and you're good to go while away from your office. It is small, light and very quick. I've had zero issues in the three weeks I've had it. I'm happy to be free of Apple's spinning beachball (curiously never happens when I'm buying something from their store...), the weight of my old MBP and am super happy that this cost me a sixth of the cost of a Macbook Air!!!
Cloud computing is easy to get used to. Google makes it ridiculously easy. They will need to beef up their app store to make this viable in the long term and I believe they will do it.
A quick note for Canadian customers. You're going to have to purchase this in the US and bring it back with you. A lot of Google's products like Google Play for music and movies don't work in Canada which really sucks. You only need the wifi version as the 3G is pointless here. There are plenty of great apps to do what you normally do in those bloated, overly expensive Mac apps (can't speak for Windows), it's just a question of finding the appropriate equivalent. To be honest, my MBP is sitting on my desk with the lid shut collecting dust. I don't have to think twice to take the Chromebook with me as it is so small and light. The build quality is really impressive, maybe not as sexy as a MBA, but definitely well built. Samsung and Google have really done an incredible job! Well done!!! I can't recommend this little laptop and Chrome OS highly enough. If you're on the fence, get off and pull the trigger.
Now please get those great apps working in Canada. If it is about local authorities and licensing, then let us know exactly where we as citizens of this country can put pressure to get our monumentally stupid politicians to relax the rules so we can all play - happy to do it, just need a target for the arrow.
I had waited a few weeks after purchasing because Amazon was out of stock. The Chrome Book showed up earlier than Amazon had predicted which was nice. It's not a power house laptop but it's great for web surfing, email, youtube, and all of the apps that come with it. I found that I can use Google's Remote Desktop app to connect to my Windows 7 and Ubuntu boxes and use them in full screen mode, basically simulating a Windows or Linux laptop, which is amazing. The keyboard is perfect. The video camera is a little slow in response time. I like how quickly the laptop boots up and comes out of standby. The power seems to last for a while without needing to be recharged. One more of my favorite things is how it's silent (no fans) and doesn't get hot since everything is solid state. I'd highly recommend this to everyone. Thanks!
Just received the Samsung 11.6 Series 3 Chromebook. It was constantly on back order on Amazon, so I just ordered it on Nov. 10th. Nov. 16th I got an ETA of end of November delivery but it actually shipped Nov. 21st. Model-S/N sticker on the bottom has an Oct 2012 factory date.
I ordered from Canada and used a cross border shipping service to get it here. This added about $100 to the price, but a chunk of that was 13% HST taxes, there was no duty, and the shipping charge was fair, especially when you consider that Amazon did not charge a U.S. tax and shipping was free.
So, if you want this and it says it's on back order, I recommend to just order it and you should get it fairly quickly. And be sure to post a review. These are new products and could disrupt the M$ and Apple's of the world, meaning greater choices for us through greater competition. Fair reviews are helpful in encouraging people to give this product a try. I think Google has a winner!
This Samsung Chromebook performs flawlessly and *as advertised*. Many lower ratings of this Chromebook on Amazon are actually rooted in buyers not doing a basic overview of this product before purchasing. Most complaints are because you can't load Windows programs (.exe), they did not know this is essentially an internet kiosk with nearly everything residing in "the cloud" (No, it does not come with and you cannot install MS Word/Excel) or did not realize Netflix does not yet work (it will one day; be patient - consider it an "early adopter tax" and relax, knowing you're living on the "bleeding edge").
This machine is simple and just works. Nothing complicated about it. If you're a techie, you can move from the "stable" channel to "beta" or "developer." Otherwise, just leave it the way it comes and it will simply work.
-It boots fast, it shuts down fast and it browses fast. Boot and shut down is faster than any computer I have ever owned.
-No viruses, so no need to purchase additional virus software.
-Upgrades without any intervention.
-Great battery life. Better than the 6.5 hour spec, in my case.
-Having read all the reviews of the mediocre screen, I will say that it is better than I anticipated. I have to turn down the brightness in a dark room. Limited viewing angles but not an issue for me. I like the matte screen, as there are no reflections. I would pay $50 more for a great IPS screen but this is perfectly fine, especially for a $250 laptop.
-Great keyboard. Really great keyboard. Way better than my much sleeker, much more expensive ASUS Zenbook UX21 ultrabook or our our brick of a Dell laptop. It has tonnes of available keyboard shortcuts. People say that there is no delete key and you must do an alt+backspace (or something like that) to delete, but this is not my experience. The backspace deletes the previous letter(s) you typed. That's all I need it to do. I love the integrated search/back/forward/reload/maximize keys. Great modern additions.
-No issues with the touchpad. I'm not a touchpad fan at all (read: hate them); this one doesn't annoy me, which is saying a lot. Two finger scrolling of pages is perfect.
-small power cord. No one ever mentions this in laptop reviews but it's important, and as many power cords are massive bricks, making it far less portable.
-Be sure to buy a sleeve/case for this, as the plastic casing will scratch easily, no different than similar products (Have you ever seen a "well used" Macbook Air? Not pretty).
-Printing to my flaky HP eprint printer works flawlessly.
TIP: I use Google's 2-step verification (multi-factor authentication), which I recommend everyone try out (use all the backup options when you set it up). Be sure to try it for 30 days before making up your mind, as the extra sign on step takes getting used to. If you use it, too, and want your Chromebook to be "trusted" (does not require a verification code every time you sign in) after providing the verification code the first time, under Settings > Users > Manage Other Users > check: Show Usernames and Photos on Sign-in Screen (default). ** If you want to force a verification code every single boot (what I do), do NOT check: Show Usernames and Photos on Sign-in Screen. This will require you enter your username, password and verification each time. Warning: It will also require you to have internet access to sign in.
These are good, solid little machines. Google and Samsung have figured out a path to success. Now, let's see if they can increase supply to match demand and then keep up the marketing effort to build market share. I wouldn't touch the Acer model, though, and hope that Google keeps the price down without resorting to allowing bad pieces of hardware on to the market with this OS on it. First impressions count and bad hardware will hurt them in the long run. They should be picky and this great Samsung Chromebook should become the minimum standard, not the gold standard.
I plan to buy one or two for the kids to do their homework on after testing this for a few months, so they are not grabbing this one constantly. If it breaks, I can live with the $250 loss. If it gets stolen, valuable documents will still be accessible in "the cloud." The constant auto-save and previous versioning of Google docs has saved us numerous homework headaches.
As far as first impressions for this Samsung Chromebook, it's great. It just works, as it should. No more, no less. Faster than most machines and, hopefully, it will continue to improve rapidly, as people try out Chrome OS for the first time.
This Samsung Chromebook is the sleeper hit of the year.
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