Who's getting a Chromebook?

[gogoblender 3,070]

Google unveils Acer Chromebook

 

 

 

 

Google just showed off a new 11.6-inch Chromebook from Acer at Google I/O promising an eight second boot time with an Intel Atom N570 CPU, 16GB SDD, instant-on, two USB ports, webcam, HDMI and 6.5 hour battery life. It's cheaper than the Samsung Series 5

 

 

 

 

See more here

[gogoblender 3,070]

So...how powerful are these things. Can we play Sacred 2 on it, or... just baby stuff for now till the technology gets better?

 

 

gogo

[chattius 2,527]

16gb solid state disc. I think Chrome OS is designed for people with internet and reloads data from internet (google owned servers) rather than disc. So if you are a 16 year old who wants to do homework when driving 90 minutes from school to home, forget it.

We had a parents meeting at school some weeks ago which netbooks/notebooks will be bought by school in summerbreaks to equip the class. I was against these ones. They are surely not for people with limited internet access.

 

16GB is way too small to be independant from data reloading while at bus/train. And using an usb-stick: I think our count is at 4 broken usb-connectors yet. In a full bus where some kids stand, some one pushing someone, hitting the stick and the connector is broken. If bad stuff happens a part of the motherboard connected to it is gone too. A netbook for school use has to be robust, no other parts attached, ...

Edited May 12, 2011 by chattius

[gogoblender 3,070]

Notavailable in Canada yet

 

 

 

gogo

[wolfie2kX 528]

So...how powerful are these things. Can we play Sacred 2 on it, or... just baby stuff for now till the technology gets better?

 

 

gogo

Kinda weak actually...

 

1.) Chrome is it's own OS based on Linux.

2.) The only apps you can (ATM, anyhow) use on it are Google Apps and Google products and stuff you can do in a browser. Chrome, of course.

3.) Everything on these things is done on the cloud - meaning if you can't connect - you can't work. Everything is stored online.

4.) No, you can't play Sacred 2 on it. It doesn't run Windows.

[gogoblender 3,070]

So...anywhere I can use wifi I can use this?

 

 

gogo

[Stormwing 40]

Instant rejection from here. Relaying almost only/only cloud is bad bad bad... They aren't reliable enough, in my books, that is. And there should be an option to do whatever it is needed (not internet related, ofc) offline.

[chattius 2,527]

I saw something like this on a computer-show last year. A keyboard on one side and a graphic tablet on the other. You could just turn the keyboard on an axis connecting it to the netbook. It was just a working idea and not functionable at that time:

 

 

I considered it useful for kids when I saw it - if it would be made working in a not so easy destructable way.

[wolfie2kX 528]

So...anywhere I can use wifi I can use this?

 

 

gogo

 

Depends on if the puppy comes with some sort of cellular data plan/package. But otherwise, yes. Wifi is required to access your data and programs.

 

Instant rejection from here. Relaying almost only/only cloud is bad bad bad... They aren't reliable enough, in my books, that is. And there should be an option to do whatever it is needed (not internet related, ofc) offline.

 

Funny thing about that... A while back Google put out a video or two about reliability issues. The guy walked through the motions of creating a flyer for a lost dog - including uploading a picture, setting the text, phone numbers, and such - and at each step the laptop was taken away from the guy and utterly destroyed in some ludicrously scenarios. The guy simply picked up another one off the shelf, typed in his user name and password and continued on pretty much where he left off. So in that regard, Google might have something.

 

But then again we are talking about handing over potentially private info - namely your documents - to Google. I'm not so comfy with the idea of handing over potential corporate secrets to anyone - not that I have any such information at the moment... It's just the principle. Accounts can be hacked. Especially for users who are too lazy or forgetful to use a good, strong password.

[Stormwing 40]

Wolfie: Yep. Same reasoning here. Just remembering PSN's hacking, and some stability issues with cloud-using services...

I must admit, cloud has it's uses, kinda just not for me.

[masteff 64]

It's better than an iPaddlemyself by virtue of a keyboard and the number of interface ports (USB and media cards).

 

If I didn't already have a cheap laptop, then I might consider this. My current cheap laptop is basically an internet device. And what little else I do on it (minor spreadsheets, editing photos, solitaire) can all be found on the net.

 

My problem w/ the fad tablets and w/ netbooks is the lack of a DVD player. I want to lay in bed or fly on a plane or go where ever and watch a movie w/out needing a 2nd device of the exact same size (ie a portable DVD player).