Just seems like a self indulgent folly to me, a very expensive device that does a bunch of stuff badly. Google starting to believe their own publicity? Chrome OS didn't sell as a replacement for Netbooks because tablets (and android as well as ios) killed the market they designed it for before it took off, so now they try going for the other end of the market hoping to make it look desirable and "exclusive".
I can only imagine it's purely vanity and a reluctance to say "we misjudged it or the market has moved on" that prevents Google from burying what is fundamentlay a pointless OS, especially given Android's succcess.
As far as hardware is concerned, it's OK but nothing mind boggling for the price irrespective of the OS. There's always going to be someone daft enough to buy one though I suppose.
I'm all for innovation and as much as I generaly dislike Google as a company I can see the point and great work they've done with the Nexus devices but this just seems, odd. I genuinely wonder if it's a pet project of someone with enough sway in the company to drive it through despite concerns. I just really can't see a market for another OS, there's better options out there, including Android.