Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch) Reviews
First, I am a huge fan of the Chromebooks and had one of the last generation from my work. I bought the $250 Chromebook about two months ago as a personal laptop and have been very happy with it.
First thing to know, THIS IS NOT A REGULAR LAPTOP. You don't download and run programs like you do with Windows or Macs. Imagine everything you do in your web browser like mail, Google Docs, Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, web browser games, etc. Please make sure you understand what this laptop is and does. I use it for school and only the thing that didn't work for me was MiniTab, a statistical program which only runs on windows.
If you had an older version of a Chromebook, this is much lighter and thinner! I consider it a perfect travel laptop and have taken it on a couple of trips already. There is a trade-off between battery life and CPU speed, because the Samsung 5 was slower (to the point of being a negative) but the battery life was 9+ hours - really. I downloaded movie AVIs and literally watched movies for a 6 hour flight. So, overall I am happy with the trade-off and like the beefier CPU with 6 hours of battery. The extra USB port is good as I like to have a wireless mouse and sometimes put in a USB key.
Security wise, you can not ask for a better laptop. All code is signed and downloaded from Google. You can not add software unless you put it in developer mode, which you can clearly see warnings to avoid confusion. No malware can exist and Google has hacking bake-offs to find and pay information security researchers.
Overall, the 'Poor Mans MacBook Air' is a total winner at $250. Really: no virus, patching, reloading stuff, and the typical computer things you have to do. Patches apply automatically and since everything is stored in the cloud, you can wipe it and be working in minutes.
Last thing, if you need PC remote control - there is a Chrome Remote from Google. No frills or whistles, but it works.
The fact that the new chromebook does not have fans is odd and this thing just runs quiet and cold. It is similar to a tablet in that respect. So far compared to my old 11" Acer chromebook the performance is about the same, battery life is better but not by much, and the form fact is much better. (so thin). The camera is not great but works fine for #hangouts or other video conference.
The keyboard and trackpad are also a huge improvement and it is comparable to the MacBook Air (although the MBA feels more solid but it is pretty close for a system that is 4 - 5x cheaper depending on the model.
The Samsung Chromebook is a perfect computer for people who simply like to live on the Internet. This is not the computer for people who need to run Windows programs -- it will not run programs made for Windows. Anyone wanting to move from a Windows or Mac computer to a Chromebook must adopt a new way of thinking about the tasks they want to accomplish. Instead of Microsoft Office, you have Google Docs, etc...
Personally, I have enabled developer mode so I can get at the Linux internals (running a chrooted Arch Linux environment, etc). This machine has completely replaced my previous laptop. I have ssh, vim, and a web browser, exactly what I need.
The battery life is phenomenal, over 6 hours. The keyboard is a pleasure to type on, comparable to my Wife's MacBook Air (minus the backlight, of course). The screen, while only 1366x768, is actually pretty decent at this size. That said, I definitely notice the lower resolution when I switch from my Nexus 10. I do prefer the matte finish on the Chromebook though, as the glossy screens are completely unusable if you have any light sources behind you.
Are you someone who just wants to use the Internet from a cheap, lightweight laptop? Get this Chromebook. Are you a hacker or tinkerer who likes playing with Linux? Get this Chromebook. Are you an average computer user who likes to edit photos, home movies, play games, etc? This is probably not the computer for you.
Having spent a couple days using my new Chromebook, I've developed some initial thoughts. The points below are made in consideration of the $249 price:
Hardware: Simply amazing. While there are many laptops that approach or equal the Chromebook for sleekness and many offer superior materials, all of these options are 3-6x the Chromebook price. The keyboard feels great, the trackpad is sizeable and responsive. Even closing the laptop is a joy. The hinge resistance drops off at about 10 degrees where precise detenting provides an almost magnetic pull to close the device fully shut. Lastly silicone bumpers complete the closure with a reassuring "thump" rather than a plasticy "slap". This effect combine with the extremely thin result make me smile a little every time.
Keyboard: I do wish some keys such as tab switching and full screen were provided in place of the window switching and maximize keys. Also, I'd enjoy "home" and "end" buttons. Overall the plastic appears durable and is the right material for a cheap laptop that will be obsolete within 2 years (the lifetime suggested by google's 2 year cloud storage service)
Screen: The display is good. I know that high end laptops have much nicer displays but many offer the same quality as the Chromebook. The real story is how high end laptops are incorporating $80 displays not that the Chomebook falls short of an Apple retina.
Camera: The user facing camera (webcam) is only VGA but is decent under low light and angled just right. I haven't tried the mics yet but there are 2 of them so I'm guessing it's fine.
Speakers: can get very loud and sound good on hard surfaces
Ports: the headphone jack is reassuringly tight. I haven't tried the HDMI, SD, or USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports.
Computation: ARM processing was the right choice for the device. At times, I can't help but feel the device is slightly underpowered; opening a few heavy webpages can cause Rdio to stutter very briefly. However, I've managed to adjust pretty quickly to this minor limitation by keeping fewer tabs open. ARM really shines with regard to thermal performance. Even as I write these words in a warm room with the Chromebook on my fleece pajama pants, the laptop is barely warmer than my skin. The dead silent operation and lack of an exhaust breeze (or any moving internals at all) is extremely reassuring initially but quickly you stop thinking about such things entirely which is probably the point.
Chrome OS: The OS currently has a few limitations and bugs. Loading a dozen tabs can cause some to refresh and I've seen reports of some folks losing long posts during these refreshes. I write my posts in google docs which auto saves every few seconds so this isn't much of an issues for me. Some pages like Amazon instant videos and Netflix streaming (hulu works well) aren't yet compatible with Chrome OS (apparently both are being worked upon). I switched to the dev channel which allowed Amazon prime streaming to work initially but it has since stopped working. Most other things work very well. WiFi connections work very well and quickly. I have a tethering shortcut on my phone which allows me to launch tethering, pop open the chromebook and with a few seconds be loading pages. The screen wakes up after opening the lid within 2 seconds (~10 seconds from full rebooting). Heavy pages load within seconds and perhaps only 1-2 seconds slower than on very fast SSD driven desktops. My guess is that Chrome OS on ARM isn't yet fully optimized and that every 6 weeks (google's update cycle) the Chromebook will get slightly faster.
Apps: I haven't played with these too much but I've found that Citrix doesn't work for either my wife or my work logins. I use Keepass as my password manager and this isn't supported in the Chrome App store (I switched to LassPass). Chrome Remote Desktop is very easy to set up (perhaps I can help mom with tech support now!) but I haven't turned on my desktop much since I got this toy... Other random things like FitBit syncing via ANT likely won't work anytime soon. Over the weekend I'll be setting up cloud printing and hopefully getting access to my network accessible storage thru the Synology app. My hope is that as Chrome OS gains popularity, more developers will make more and better apps.
Extras: 100 GB of cloud storage is very generous and I doubt I'll be able to fill it anytime soon. The 12 GoGo in-flight passes will be very enjoyable during future flights and will be just about right for 2 years. While I wouldn't have purchased $250 worth of these extras - it feels like a great deal to make use of them.
As you can probably tell, I'm pretty happy with the Chromebook. Although the device clearly isn't a "full computer", the cheap price allows me to put more money into my desktop machine to make it an even better media machine. More importantly however, the limitations of the Chrome OS experience (closing extra tabs, a lack of system notifications, desktop files, etc) combined with the refreshing lack of heat or noise, allow for a distraction free experience. The closest technology analogy is probably reading on a kindle. I'm happy that Google hasn't felt compelled to incorporate Android into Chrome OS. In time this may work but for now I'm happy to be in "work" mode on my Chromebook. When it's time to play, I'll pick up my Nexus 7 or plot down at the desktop. Less is more; Chrome OS is my 5th screen.
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