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Google Announces 'Chromebook' Laptops, No Word on Chrome-Based Tablets

thermodynamic said:
Ah, but if customers knew what they were giving into - apart from the upfront cost of the machine...

Again, the URL of the year goes to: http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-12691-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=71841&messageID=1388017

(People should be using their IP for themselves. Not to hand over free copies for Google to make more use of, and like others on the net have said, do you or I have more clout than the cloud provider - particularly one as large as Google? )
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you might want to read it again. Pretty much what is it is saying is anything you post publicly threw Google, Google has the right to use it and change it.

Is that really a big surpise that if you post something where it can be publicly access that other gain the right to use it.
 
alent1234 said:
As a beta tester, these suck

I can buy a real laptop or tablet for $500 that doesn't need Internet access to work
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Agree! IMO, this is nothing but one big and expensive market survey project. I bet Google is underwriting the hardware and curious to see how much market penetration these devices get. Just a matter of time before someone ports Linux to these and makes them useful!
 
I was interested in these since I love to use Google Chrome and other Google services, but I was expecting the notebooks to be around 300 dollars. Can Google just sell the OS for cheap so I can install it on a cheap net book?
 
FroMann said:
I was interested in these since I love to use Google Chrome and other Google services, but I was expecting the notebooks to be around 300 dollars. Can Google just sell the OS for cheap so I can install it on a cheap net book?
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Most likely, or at least chromiumOS
 
Tried the Chrome OS in Parallels. Very restrictive. It's sort of like trying to speak or type without using the letter "v". Sure you can do it, but you expend so much effort doing so. Would not want to live with it.

blackpond said:
Watch the keynote, friend. No web browser does what Chrome OS is offering. Not without a bevy of 3rd party plugins, anyway.
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They all do what Chrome does. That's the point of the web and standards. By your "not without a bevy of 3rd party plugins", this just means Google effectively pre-load those plugins. And the actual value of those will be subjective. Anything actually inside the browser can be done by any other modern browser. Pretty much by definition.
 
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My Fun Experience with a Google Cr-48 Laptop

I have a Google Cr-48 Laptop as part of their Pilot Program, like any other laptop & OS, it has it's pros and cons.

Pros:
Inexpensive, a no worries if I ding it laptop
Even though a prototype machine it was better than consumer level dells etc
Battery life is great, Web browsing is great, Google Docs... what can I say, they just work (sound familiar?)

Cons:
Not very many if you keep in mind what it's designed for.

In fairly short order I will have a 12.1" Samsung Chromebook, which for this laptop addict is just one more of the many lappys I enjoy.

Bottom line? NOTHING Beats my terrific 15" 2010 Maxed Ram SSD equipped MacBook Pro, uh... unless it's my 13" or 11" MBA. Oh what the heck, it's great having a selection of choices on hand. :cool:


http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/09/google-cr-48-chrome-laptop-preview/
 
I've seen and used these things. They're garbage. You need internet connection, and all it really does is Chrome, which any computer can do anyway. I'd rather have an iPad if I wanted a notebook, and it would have way more capabilities. :)

I especially laugh at people who use them at my school, which has a "student" wireless network that students cannot use. The only place to get wifi is the library. Have fun taking notes in a wifi-less classroom :D
 
chro-magnon OS ;-)

AP_piano295 said:
This seems like the probable future of computing.

But the future hasn't arrived yet I think google may be trying to rush this development w/o the infrastructure to back it up.
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This is the first sensible comment in this thread. People this IS the future of computing and I for one can't wait. I am looking forward to the time when I don't have the responsibility for backing up my data and also having access to my personalised OS everywhere without carrying around a bricks worth of weight on my back everywhere..... As to this implementation the suite of web apps in chrome will not satisfy me for some time yet and will be irrelevant until the media online storage and streaming war has been settled. The real benefit IMHO is that it might push apple to fast track it's own solutions....

BTW. Does anyone know how much online storage google will offer adopters - is it the standard chrome package or more for users of chrome OS with these dedicated hardware netbooks?
 
1)Google has been talking about this for years...literally. Now here we are almost 1/2 way through 2011. I'm not impressed.

2)The world already has the Wintel and non-Wintel (Apple) laptops. So now Google Chrome is going to be a 3rd?


Hey, I'm all for cheap notebooks that can do some nice web surfing...but they have to be able to 100% support some of the basic thick client apps like MS Office, iTunes, Adobe Reader, AOL Chat, and a quality video playback app. As far as I can tell by quick glance, Chrome does none of the above.

Besides, there are some really nice $650-$750 Wintel notebooks out there with Windows7 (even though I far prefer XP)...not sure why I'd buy a $500 Chrome machine if 15% more cash will get me something that's not 1.0.
 
ericinboston said:
1)Google has been talking about this for years...literally. Now here we are almost 1/2 way through 2011. I'm not impressed.

2)The world already has the Wintel and non-Wintel (Apple) laptops. So now Google Chrome is going to be a 3rd?


Hey, I'm all for cheap notebooks that can do some nice web surfing...but they have to be able to 100% support some of the basic thick client apps like MS Office, iTunes, Adobe Reader, AOL Chat, and a quality video playback app. As far as I can tell by quick glance, Chrome does none of the above.

Besides, there are some really nice $650-$750 Wintel notebooks out there with Windows7 (even though I far prefer XP)...not sure why I'd buy a $500 Chrome machine if 15% more cash will get me something that's not 1.0.
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Yeah, you'd also kinda need a home computer if you had one of these. With the iPad, someone who only needs work applications and a few games could use only the iPad without a computer and attach a monitor and keyboard (which is possible). The Chromebook would basically be a waste of at least $300 for anyone who already has a laptop (which is more people than those who have desktops). You couldn't use just a Chromebook without a computer unless you want to go without iTunes, iLife, Terminal, and any other app that you might need.

The only thing that it has is Chrome and a few Google apps like Docs and whatever, but that would not be enough.
 
CFreymarc said:
Agree! IMO, this is nothing but one big and expensive market survey project. I bet Google is underwriting the hardware and curious to see how much market penetration these devices get. Just a matter of time before someone ports Linux to these and makes them useful!
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Google has been working up to this. Free online stuff including Docs + overly advertised web browser + search engine... They must have been planning this for a loooong time.

But in the end it's still useless, see my other post :rolleyes:
 
faroZ06 said:
Yeah, you'd also kinda need a home computer if you had one of these. With the iPad...
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The iPad REQUIRES a computer. As soon as you power on your brand new iPad it DEMANDS to be hooked up to a computer. That's one of the things that kills me about the iPad (I own one)...the total RELIANCE on iTunes and your computer. $10 says that even iPad 3.0 will require a pc. And it's not just a one time reliance either...software updates, syncing (I can't sync wirelessly?!), etc.
 
ericinboston said:
The iPad REQUIRES a computer. As soon as you power on your brand new iPad it DEMANDS to be hooked up to a computer. That's one of the things that kills me about the iPad (I own one)...the total RELIANCE on iTunes and your computer. $10 says that even iPad 3.0 will require a pc. And it's not just a one time reliance either...software updates, syncing (I can't sync wirelessly?!), etc.
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The difference is that all of those things are maintenance, just like backing up your computer REQUIRES an external storage device (internet, hard drive, DVD, etc). Not a built-in limitation of its features.

And once it's set up, iPad doesn't require iTunes at all, any more than running your Mac REQUIRES you to use the OS DVDs. Buy music, videos, apps on the device. You choose to keep your existing stuff with you, and update to the latest and greatest OS, so, yeah, if you want to do that you've got to transfer it all somehow. You don't have to do any of those things. You can buy music, videos and apps on the device, or stream content.
 
I'm getting one. $350 for the Acerbic is a drop in the bucket. Cheap enough to play with it.
 
Apple makes $500, Google fanboys call it a waste of money, useless, and stupid.


Good makes $500 web browser, Google fanboys *** buckets.
 
batchtaster said:
The difference is that all of those things are maintenance, just like backing up your computer REQUIRES an external storage device (internet, hard drive, DVD, etc). Not a built-in limitation of its features.

And once it's set up, iPad doesn't require iTunes at all...
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Yes it does...and it's not just maintenance:

1)Some apps have trouble installing via wireless...so you need to use your computer...this has happened to me twice...and has been reported by numerous other people. Totally random.

2)Want your music or videos or pictures? Gotta physically connect.


It's not often, but it's enough to be a pain. iTunes should have allowed wireless syncing since iPad 1.0 if not earlier (for us iPhone users).

Apple basically advertises the iPad as a computer-free computer now called a tablet. But alas, you need a computer...no matter how you slice it. Heavy sigh.
 
Lame name

Nifty contraption that could definitely compete with netbooks and possibly the iPad. However, the name is downright laughable (Chromebook, really?!) If anything, it's a nod in Apple's direction, highlighting their recent success in the notebook market. Let's hope they rename this thing (ChromePadTouch, perhaps?)
 
diamornte said:
wow. what an original name. :confused:

...I'll wait for Google's Chromebook Pro. :rolleyes:
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"Macbook" is original? That's just a take on "notebook." And the "pro" moniker has been used for ages to differentiate the higher grade from the lower grade of the same product.
 
As long as it has Angry Birds, I'm all in. And so are my children.

angry_birds_jwl.jpg
 
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