Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch) Reviews
Is it going to run Quickbooks or Grand Theft Auto IV? No, but it's a great surfing device, and a pretty good computer. It pretty much needs to be online all the time to be useful, so as long as you have a fast and stable internet connection at home, you'll be fine. Chrome OS works great, the browser is solid and works well. Occasionally it feels a tiny bit slow when you have a bunch of tabs open, but it's not intolerable. It plays Youtube videos fine, but not Netflix videos. Apple Quicktime videos won't play in browser, but they will play fine when downloaded. I'm really happy with this purchase.
I spent sometime researching this computer before purchasing it and i couldn't be happier with the decision!! First of all the computer arrived before expected. Then as i started to register all my Google information (the computer has no windows) i realized that the memory is not a huge deal bcuz you get 100gm on a cloud for Google. I would deff recommend this product, it has all the perks. Its very cute and has great battery life and its exactly what i needed as a laptop.
I have owned this computer now for a bit over two weeks. I bought it strictly for bed side web use, and it excels at this task. I prefer to use this in bed over my tablet because the keyboard base holds the display nicely for me while I am being lazy and laying on my side. The computer boots up extremely quickly. I never bother using the sleep functionality...when I'm not using I just shut it down since it boots in the matter of seconds anyways. Also, I was pleasantly surprised with the keyboard. There is a fair amount of travel in the keys which makes typing a breeze. In my normal use, I only notice VERY slight checkerboarding when I attempt to two finger scroll extremely quickly. Under normal use, I never see it. Speaking of scrolling, I love that Samsung has integrated two finger scroll gestures into the very large touch pad. This is one of the best touchpad and keyboard combos I have used on any laptop, regardless of price. Granted, it is not as good as a thinkpad, but the feel is at least equal to that of my old macbook air (2012). The ARM processor in this thing is more than adequate for running a web browser. In my experience, I have been getting 7 hours or so of battery life during normal usage. Of special note is that this puppy is completely silent (fanless) and stays remarkably cool. One thing I do miss wholeheartedly is the backlit keys. The only other complaint is screen quality/brightness, but for the money, it is acceptable. This is not an IPS display, but what it does offer is a matte screen with even backlighting (albeit dimmer than most)...and I think that is all you should expect at this price point. Overall build quality is pretty good (7/10). The case is made of plastic and it does seem scratch prone, but the pieces are put together well and the keyboard and touchpad and worthy of a machine costing 4 times as much.
I love using the Chrome OS and the Chrome browser on all of my devices(i phone,windows PC and android tables and more)it's the best.I used the Chromebox for about 3 months to see if I wanted to take the next step,The Chromebook. The first Chromebooxs for me were way over priced. This time Samsung and Google got it right with the price,and just enough power for what this device is.This is not ment to be a high power laptop that runs all kind of programs like a Windows or Mac OS devices.Please people know this before you buy.
Now that's not to say you can't do most of what these other devices do.This is all about using the web browser and the cloud. But with the offline save I use my Chromebox and Chromebook just like any of my other PC. I use a 64g sc card and usb stick for music, movies and docs. I am good to go as much as with any laptop or tablet.
I can't say enough about the remote desktop app. I use it to access my pc to use almost all of my Windows programs. Most work great but there is a little lag, but not much.The app is still in beta but it a good beta,love it love it.For me Chrome OS has still got a little ways to go before it's a Windows or Mac OS. But this device is a good way to learn grow with what I think may be the future of how we use the web.
What it does need is more support for Netflix,Skype and Slingbox and others.Amazon movies work great on this devices as well as their mp3's. With the HDMI out port You Tube and other movies and video have never looked better on my TV.
I say do your homework,research this devices on other sites,Read as much as you can before you buy.This devices is not for everybody but it has been just right for me.Fast and lite and at a low price,LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT
I just changed jobs and had to give up my company provided iPad. I wanted something tosurf the web while surfing the sofa at home. My first impressions of this device are fantastic. It feels very well built but it is very light. As many people have commented, the keyboard is very nice. I do like having the physical keyboard over the tablet touch screen. I love the quick "boot up". It's fast. Not as fast as an iPad obviously, but fast enough. I have quickly picked up on how to use Google services that I never used. The Google drive for storage (with 100GB for free) works like a champ. I had my printer set up to print from the Google cloud in about 10 minutes (not that I'll use it much). The screen is not as crisp as an iPad but does the job nicely. You simply can't beat this as an extra device for email and web use. I'll be traveling with it next week and will post an update.
UPDATE - Five days later, I still love it. Worked on a document while offline and on a flight with no issues. Battery life is great. Performance is smooth. No complaints at all.
I was not impressed by the initial Chromebooks. I simply couldn't justify to myself paying that much for what amounted to a seriously crippled laptop only marginally less expensive than a low-end real thing. Now this Chromebook came and it changed everything because of its significantly lower price and a the clear improvement in quality, features and performance.
I've only used mine for a few days now but I can tell already that it's a keeper.
THE BIG PLUSES
- It's affordable. Big time. You simply can't beat the price for anything decent 'laptop-like'. Yes, you could get a Nexus 7 for about the same price, or a Kindle but...
- Screen size. Related to the above. There's a lot more square inches of screen on the Chromebook. Yes, much lower pixel density when compared to current tablets but...
- Keyboard. Try to write a few dozen emails or THIS review (I'm writing it now) on a tablet. Not a pleasant undertaking. Sure, keyboards come with most laptops but...
- Light as a feather. Well, 2 pounds is not exactly feather-weight but you'd be spending a lot more for a decent laptop.
- No fans, no moving parts, not much heat.
- Safe. As in "it doesn't matter if your Chromebook gets stolen, shatters into a thousand little pieces or melts" for as long as your data goes to the cloud. All you need is a new one - hopefully it was under warranty when the accident happened - or you can get to your data from a friend's Chromebook or access it through whatever it takes to get to your storage area in the 'cloud'.
- Quality stuff. It really is. The Keyboard compares favorably to the the ones you'd normally pair with a tablet and even to MacBook's.
- Ports. Not all laptops and tablets come with HDMI ports and even fewer have USB 3.0.
- 100GB of free storage on Google's cloud forever. Well... sort of. Whatever you place there for the first 2 years stays there forever but you'll have to pay for additional storage after 2 years.
I've been using computers and related gadgets since... I can remember and not many triggered a 'wow' reaction from me but this is one of them. For background, we have probably 3 dozen 'things' on our home Wi-Fi network at this time: a desktop, media servers, a few laptops, more tablets than I can count, smart phones, game consoles (both large and portable), Internet radios, receivers... you name it, all eager to serve our many work and entertainment needs (large family) but I can see how I won't be this Chromebook's only user for more than one reason.
- Larger screen than a tablet's makes for a better video watching experience.
- Attached keyboard makes in the preferred choice when emailing or text-chatting.
- Quick boot time (5 seconds?) makes it always available when needed, unlike laptops, desktops.
- Connectivity and 'ports' allow for easy expansion. My favorite is pairing with some decent Bluetooth speakers when watching a movie.
THE MAJOR MINUSES
Of course, not everything is perfect. Nothing ever is.
There are some reasons to be concerned, mainly having to do with the availability of your data and its safety. It really comes down to 'do you trust Google with your data?' and to 'do you trust Google to always be there to provide you access to your data?'. My take on this is: do NOT store anything on anyone's cloud that you wouldn't share with a stranger and you wouldn't care much if you lost it. I always keep my personal and confidential data backed up more than once and on devices that can't be easily accessed by 'everyone'. My experience with Gmail is that Google's cloud is quite reliable for keeping casual information and I have no intention of storing anything other than casual content on Google's cloud in the future unless I find some perfect encryption scheme.
The other issue is the availability of 'apps'. Google is in full control of what you can run on your Chromebook. If Google decides that you may not run Netflix tomorrow, Netflix is gone. And it's unlikely that you'll ever see Microsoft Office at Google's store. So, it all comes down to how happy you are with what Google offers you today and how confident you are that you are going to be happy with Google one year from now. But, to me, at this price, this is not big deal.
I LOVE IT
Which explains my 5 star rating. I know, love needs not be explained or justified but, since I have a pretty good idea why I love this Chromebook, here it is. The price makes up for most of it, then it's the near-instant availability, the near-worry free availability of the apps expect to use most with it: entertainment, emails, text and video chats and the reasonably well engineered body that's light, comes with a decent display, good keyboard, most essential expansion ports.
I love my new Chromebook. It is a great internet reading device and great for light email (not heavy on MS attached files). I already used Chrome as my preferred internet browser and gmail as my email service so it was a breeze to begin using this device. I like it better than a tablet because of the keyboard. It is light and easy to carry around the house or on a trip. It holds a charge for a long time and it is very low maintenance. Set up was simple and I am delighted with the purchase.
I've only been using the newly delivered chromebook for a couple days, but it's exactly what I wanted. Simple, web-based, communication and word processing machine. Chrome OS is easy, and from the moment you sign in it looks and feels like the way you have chrome configured already. We print using google cloud print so that worked out of the box too.
One tip, if you get the 3G version, you can only activate verizon a day after you start using the chromebook. We have two for our family and it was the same both times. The 3G speeds are passable if you need to do some simple browsing in a pinch. Again, exactly what I wanted.
I bought this for the simplicity and great price. Use it primarily for surfing and email and works just fine so far. Much faster than my desktop, instant on. Don't have to buy virus protection and haven't missed Windows, can open and send Word and Excel if needed. Can print through regular printer on your network as well as wireless printers. Handy size to carry around but would like a larger version as well. I have a tablet but hated not having a real keyboard and this is much easier to use than a touch screen.
I used to have many laptops in my life, I tried many brands of these machines. I am a businessman so this is a tool for my work. I am on a business trip minimum 20 times per a year in the light of these facts a laptop computer is indispensable fellow traveler for me. In connection with a laptop is it important me to be small, has a discreet and elegant design and has enough hardware to do my works. This Samsung Chromebook fulfill all of my needs. Not incidentally I think it has an amazing design, this chrome coating is breathtaking. It is one of my best if not the best laptop I have ever owned. My mark is 5 stars! I recommend it for everybody who likes the good computers.
Skype didn't work for me in IMO but I got gtalk to work within gmail by joining google+.
The battery is replaceable which isn't true for ipads, etc.
bluetooth I have read will not work with headphones or speakers. It says it's for a mouse. Maybe a mouse that is used for a cellphone with swiping?!! Not sure.
I had some lag when i opened more than 7 tabs but other than that, it was fine.
I tested it in every way to see if I wanted to keep it. It passed.
Printing from staples stores from gdrive worked for me. I had some problems with the keyboard in that I had more typos than I usually have. The touchpad requires me to tap hard but I think that can be adjusted.
I say get this. It's so cheap and it's the way to go, but I'd keep a laptop or desktop for heavy work as they want you to work online. When I design websites, I could do it online at photoshop.com, etc but I think it's important to have a high-powered machine if you are doing anything with images.
Bought this for my daughter for her to do her high school homework. She wanted something slim and light but still allowed her to access the web and do word processingand presentations. This works for just that but you have to rethink the whole concept of home/office productivity software that you are normally use to with a regular laptop where you have MS Office on your hard drive and then save things to your computer. With Chromebook, you create a gmail account and use software and hard drive storage on the internet in the Cloud. Once you get this concept and don't get hung up on having MS Word and Powerpoint as installed programs on your computer, this can really work. Downside is you have to be connected to the net to access and edit your documents. Excellent for most everything you would use a tablet for but with a real keyboard that's super light weight. Love the matte screen as well which means no glare, which is awesome outdoors.
I needed a compact notebook with a long battery life for travelling. I went into the store intending to purchase a MacBook air, and left with this little gem. For someone who uses his computer almost exclusively for browsing and email, this is perfect. It is light, simple to use, and has a great keyboard. The Chrome OS is completely intuitive, fast, and starts up in seconds.
Like many others, I've been waiting a long time for a netbook that doesn't run Windows, and there was no way I was going to learn Windows 8 just to browse the web. I haven't tried watching movies on it yet, which is another thing I use computers for, but I have my iPad for that if it doesn't go well.
Overall, an outstanding value and one of a series of products which will likely drive Windows out of the netbook market within a year or two. Be very very afraid, Steve Ballmer.
Buy Now
No comments:
Post a Comment