Chromebooks

[benny!]

Hi all,

 

I am thinking about buying a Chromebook for toying around (meaning laying on the couch, surfing the forum, play a HTML5 game, watch some WebGL demo and maybe also watch a movie).

 

Despite of the fact that the chromebook is currently not availbale in Germany   - does anyone of you own one and/or can recommend a model?

 

Would be of course interesting to know before buying one.

 

Best,

benny!

[rich]

I love the look of the Pixel, but damn that's a lot of money. I could get a decent Mac for not much more

[benny!]

Yeah - Pixel seems to be the premium version. For "couch surfing" there are some cheap models available which should hopefully do.

 

The Samsung Chromebook looks pretty nice, too.
 

[Tommyttk]

I still don't really 'get' chromebooks. I'll probably be purchasing some kind of mobile / semi mobile device later this year to replace my Vista based laptop from 2008 but I'm still more inclined to purchase a Windows laptop like a Lenovo Ideapad or something. 

 

Can anyone vouch for the chromebook?

[Rune]

Interestingly enough, Chromebooks apparently use an HTML5 client with DRM for their Netflix app. 

[doobdargent]

The resolution on the Pixel is pretty impressive Oo.

[benny!]

Allright. The smallest chromebook, the samsung 303c12, was finally available in germany. I ordered it some days ago - and today it arrives.

 

Just unpacked it. On the first look its a super cool netbook (compared to the price). I am using it for an hour now and I really like it so far. I bought it primarily for couch-surfing (surfing the inet while sitting on the couch).

 

So, so far - I really can recommend it. If you need more infos - feel free to ask.

[orange08]

Hmm... I personally wouldn't have recommended purchasing a chromebook... from what I've heard, google has done a bad job in their production. I don't know this firsthand, but I've been told by a computer guru that the hardware they're using for chromebooks isn't very good.

[deis]

Google has nothing to do with the hardware. That is up to Samsung, Acer, and the others. I have one of the first Samsung Chromebook models and it is a fantastic little device. Great for couch surfing, HTML5/Flash gaming, Netflix/Hulu watching, editing documents on Drive, or even coding with some of the new web based IDEs. If you can find a used one for under $200, they are a superb device. Highly mobile and the battery, at least on my model, lasts forever. I have used it and then let it sit unplugged for a week hibernating and had nearly no drain.

 

They are actually quite speedy little devices too as long as you stick with ChromeOS. I installed Ubuntu on it once a few months ago and while it was a fun thing to do, I found the battery drain to be much worse, the keyboard mapping was never right, and the touchpad would act a little funny. So I went back to ChromeOS and everything was perfect again.

 

The Pixel is an amazing device, but unfortunately ahead of its time. We aren't quite ready to get rid of our desktops in favor of a pure web experience just yet. But, that time could be coming for some users, even developers.