Ipad or Chrome Notebook for 249.00?

[gogoblender 3,068]

The Chromenetbook just came out here in Montreal... 249.00

Was hacking around with it at Futureshop, and it's VERY cool

 

Anyone here got one yet, feedback?

 

gogo

[wolfie2kX 528]

Welp... It's GREAT if you're near somewhere that has WiFi. But otherwise...? It's pretty much a paperweight. It has no local storage. It has only one local app - the browser. You do everything in the browser. Which IS OK, I suppose, if all you're doing is stuff that can be done in a browser.

 

But should you not have wifi handy, or should it go kaput (it happens) you're not going to get much of anything done - simply because Chrome OS doesn't allow local anything.

 

Me, personally, I'll pass. I can get a full blown laptop for that kind of money that runs Windows (or Linux, should I ever choose to do that) and gives me the OPTION to run whatever *I* want. And gives me the option of storing my work locally - not on Google's servers.

 

Speaking of Google's servers... I'm not entirely 100% sure how private your files actually are. I, for one, would not want something I'm working on to become Google's property... If I was running a business that had sensitive documents - I certainly would NOT want to go there.

 

Nor would I opt for an iPad. Apple annoys me for plenty of reasons. The primary reason - at least with iOS devices like the iPad - is that their apps are limited. iWorks for the iOS is not up to doing the same work as the OSX version of the suite and when you sync a document, presentation or spreadsheet you've worked long and hard using the OSX version, certain features get removed - without so much as a warning. And should you sync the document back to the desktop, the changed/truncated version overwrites the one you've slaved over... Stuff like Speaker Notes in presentations, footnotes, tables of contents and such from word processing files, and so on. The only notification of this being a "feature" was a note buried in the tech support documents and you really had to go looking for it.

 

Apple is not known for making life easy for their users. Which IS odd since they apparently DO want your business - evidence the Mac vs PC ads which quite stupidly claimed that the most exciting thing you could do on a Windows machine was spreadsheets..? Uh.. Seriously? Spreadsheets? I suppose the ad company that came up with that nonsense never heard of the 4 Billion dollar per year PC Gaming industry.

 

And the most exciting thing you could do with a Mac? Why, organize your photos into albums and burn them to DVD. Really? I've got come across at least half a dozen Windows based apps that do the EXACT. SAME. THING. Besides, I'm sure they've got games that are Mac friendly - I think there's even a version of World of Warcraft for OSX.

 

And then there's the issue with their built in database. They've incorporated a full blown SQL product into their OS. Sounds great. It is until you try to migrate your data from your PC to it. You can migrate simple things - name, address, phone numbers, email address' and any fixed length fields. But you can't migrate your notes. Why? Because notes are free form blobs of text like this post. Every post on FDM consists of at least one text BLOB. They contain things like commas and other punctuation.

 

And the only means to import the data is by way of a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file format. That means, anytime you have a sentence with a comma, the import routine will consider the record terminated and it throws the next part of your text into - the next field. DOH! The previous sentence would have got placed into at least 3 distinct fields.

 

I have a client who wanted to jump ship to Apple products. He looked into changing his data from a Windows based contact manager and switching to an Apple product. He couldn't convert the 15 YEARS worth of data which ran his business.

 

Meanwhile, If I wanted to import data from other data sources - and I'm using Windows - there's this little thing called ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) and this allows me to import files from dBase to MS SQL or ANY other database format as long as I have a driver for it.

 

I could also go into how anal retentive their app vetting process is, but I think you've already gotten the point of how little I think of Apple and their overblown products.

 

If you want a tablet, go with the Kindle HD - same stunning graphics, but a MUCH lower price. Or if you want a full on system - look into the new Microsoft Surface Pro laptops. They're a bit more money, but they run a FULL blown copy of Windows 8.

Edited April 8, 2013 by wolfie2kX

[Stormwing 40]

Uhh, personally of those too I'd go Chromebook any day. I might've said it before, but I seriously diss Apple. They have some nifty things, but their policies, pricing, etc blows big time...

Still, as Wolfie stated, Chromebook is a brick without wireless network. Which is it's bigger downside.

Gogo: I assume you put it up in Canadian dollars? If so, that money could get you few other nice things beside the said two products.

[chattius 2,520]

It always depends on what you will do:

IPad allows to remote control a Canon Camera, Chrome-thing doesn't (yet?). Nice for animal photos, another remote control to rotate the camera.

IPad has a nice adapter to our bicycle: maps, speeds, calories used, ...

 

And we have no cellular phone net in most of surrounding forests...

 

But I would prefer a nice Linux netbook anytime where I have full control.

[wolfie2kX 528]

Uhh, personally of those too I'd go Chromebook any day. I might've said it before, but I seriously diss Apple. They have some nifty things, but their policies, pricing, etc blows big time...

Still, as Wolfie stated, Chromebook is a brick without wireless network. Which is it's bigger downside.

Gogo: I assume you put it up in Canadian dollars? If so, that money could get you few other nice things beside the said two products.

 

My point exactly... Amazon just released the Kindle Fire HD - which runs Android. It's got local storage (so it's not a brick without WiFi.) The display is touted as being as sharp as the iPad's retina display.

 

Tho... I do see a possible problem. The Kindle Fire line isn't available in Canada - yet.

 

So Gogo.. Fancy a trip across the border?

 

It always depends on what you will do:

IPad allows to remote control a Canon Camera, Chrome-thing doesn't (yet?). Nice for animal photos, another remote control to rotate the camera.

IPad has a nice adapter to our bicycle: maps, speeds, calories used, ...

 

And we have no cellular phone net in most of surrounding forests...

 

But I would prefer a nice Linux netbook anytime where I have full control.

 

Chromebooks have no such tools and never will. Chromebooks are best compared to a dumb terminal in the body of a laptop. It seems you CAN get Cellular service for a Chromebook - as an extra cost (of course). But it's limited to 3G. DOH! But the main focus is on Wi-Fi... That means you're stuck in the house, or at a coffee shop that has it, or the office.

[Stormwing 40]

Hmm, one could always use tethered connection of a smartphone, with a suitable data-plan.

Did that with my laptop when I was visiting parents during Easter. An old Toshiba AC100. Updated to Jelly Bean by yours truly.

But the connection should be absolutely more than 512kbs. That's the slowest data-packet around here, and also cheapest. Was kinda pain to browse around. And the reception was kinda bad. Small town and all. Kept swiveling from HDSPA to 3G...

But enough of ot. I'm considering about getting a tablet meself. And Kindle could be one possibility. Given I have the fund and I don't have to order it from other side of the world.

[Kiyeri 34]

I want a new Kindle soooo bad. I have a second gen and have been a fan ever since they came out... crossing fingers I get the new one for my bday .