Chromebooks

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I recently bought a Chromebook - the Samsung Series 3 with the new Exynos 5 dual, but I've not seen a lot of chat about it on OcUK. So, I wanted to ask:

1) Does anyone else give a damn about Chromebooks?
2) If so, would it be best to talk about them in this section, or in "Laptops"?

I initially thought "Laptops", but people only want to talk about gaming laptops in there. Yes, a Chromebook is the same form factor as a laptop, but the type of things you would be using a Chromebook for is very similar to the type of things you would do on a tablet. Therefore I'm now more inclined to discuss them in here, especially since they are now using ARM based chips. With all this awesome new tech coming out e.g. Microsoft Surface, tablets in various sizes, Chromebooks etc, the lines are becoming very blurred between types of devices.

So, shall we discuss Chromebooks in here or shall I **** off back to Laptops and be...





http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/chrome/devices/

 

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^ Not sure if back-handed comment aimed at me, but yes, I imagine they are

Review:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/24/3549368/samsung-chromebook-review-series-3

 

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I've always thought that these would make excellent laptops for someone heavily invested in Android and Googles services.

Yep, that describes me pretty well. I use Chrome on my home PC, work PC (thank you portable apps), and my GN, so having all settings, bookmarks and extensions synced is very convenient for me.

What's the general performance like, how's offline functionality, are you finding it a great companion to your Galaxy Nexus?

On initial inspection: good! It plays 1080p youtube videos well. Although is stutters slightly when you open lots of tabs and keep the video playing in the background. Not really tested the offline functionality yet, but I'm pretty sure Google Docs and Gmail work offline now in the same way as the desktop browser. I'll try it tonight if I can.

As for playing nice with my Galaxy Nexus: yes and no. The Wifi hotspot works perfectly, but tethering via Bluetooth is a bit temperamental. I'm going to raise this on some more relevant forums. Generally I'd use the Wifi hotspot method for tethering anyway.

Things not tested yet:
- Playing video from USB. It has H.264 hardware encoder so I need to try some HD video playback.
- Streaming video and displaying on TV via HDMI.

 

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I did care about them , so much so that I was trying to secure 200 of them. Problem is Google pretty much blanked me so I told them to do one.

200! Wow. None of my business but, may I ask why you needed so many?

 

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Finally, an extensive review from Anandtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6422/samsung-chromebook-xe303-review-testing-arms-cortex-a15

Also some benchmarks from someone in the Chromebook forums:

That gives us an indication of the performance we'll see in the next tablets such as the Nexus 10.

I did some tests of my own last night. I connected it to my TV via HDMI, and eventually figured out how to switch the display output (Ctrl + maximise screen). It wasn't scaled correctly as my TV has a slightly lower resolution (720p), however, after some googling I found that the next update to Chrome OS will bring better external display options with scaling. 1080p youtube videos played fine on the TV, after about 1-2 seconds of stuttering. iPlayer also worked perfectly on the TV.

I also tried to play some HD films from an external HDD but I didn't have much success. After renaming the mkv files to mp4 the Chromebook recognised the format, but playback was stuttery and I didn't get audio. I'm sure there will be an optimum bitrate/codec/container etc but I wasn't going to research it. I know it has a h.264 hardware encoder, and it can play 1080p youtube videos so it must be capable.

My early conclusion is that, from a user experience perspective, a tablet would probably beat the Chromebook things like media consumption e.g. games, video. However, I think the Chromebook takes it for basic portable web browsing and document editing. Pretty much as you'd expect really.

 

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Just found out it's the second best selling on Amazon UK... not bad! Using it on the train now

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr...=laptop&ie=UTF8&qid=1352408250&rnid=340832031

 

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They ought to just have a laptop running android and ditch chrome Os, what's the point really?

You could, but you wouldn't be able to get the full Chrome browser on Android (yet). We've reached a point where ARM chips are becoming powerful enough to run "proper" Chrome, but not Android + "proper" Chrome. That's my understanding anyway.

Google have explicitly said Android and Chrome OS will converge. It's just a matter of time.

As for the Android vs Chrome OS argument: Buy an Android based tablet for casual browsing and media, or buy a Chromebook for a richer web browsing and anything where more typing is required e.g. emailing, document editing. An Android tablet is a "safer" bet for most people, and they are generally more polished devices i.e. slicker, more stable. In my eyes the Chromebook is, as a concept, more futuristic.

 

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Still enjoying the Chromebook, after owning/using it for a bit more time Sundance?

Yep, I'm still pleasantly surprised every time I take it out my bag. I looks like it's worth more than £230, and the keyboard and trackpad are decent.

My biggest gripe at the moment is the screen. For web browsing/typing it's adequate, but it's far from the quality you will get on any tablet so text can difficult to read. As a solution I use Ctrl +/- to zoom in on text if I'm reading for a decent length of time. Also certain types of flash players don't work well on the Chromebook. Oddly, BBC iplayer works well, but some BBC news videos and live TV cause the Chromebook to crash. Thankfully a crash isn't a big deal, as it only takes about 15 seconds to restart and log in again.

As a portable web browsing machine, it's unmatched for the price. I keep mine in my briefcase which goes everywhere with me. A tablet would do the same job (and more) most of the time, but it's more awkward when you want to type anything substantial. A standard laptop would be more expensive and wouldn't have the battery life or portability. An ultrabook would be better than a Chromebook in most respects but you pay 3/4 times the price.

Anyone know if the built in file explorer will pick up network attached storage, or are there any decent plug-ins in the store that will?

I highly doubt it at the moment, although I'm sure it's a requested feature. If you can set up some sort of FTP interface then that should work.

 

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You can run Ubuntu from an SD card if you're keen enough:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/22/googler-loads-ubuntu-on-an-arm-based-samsung-chromebook/

 

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How do you find the battery life? Does it really last over 6 hours? Did you also get the 100gb free on Google Drive?

Not tested properly, but I'd guess so. All reviews I've read say around 6:45 ish. And yes, 100GB offer works.

Hmm, 320gb mechanical rather than SSD, is that really the way to go?

I would've thought probably not. Must be a combination of cost saving and maybe marketing i.e. the masses might not realise what an SSD is yet - to them 320GB > 16GB end of story . I can't see anyone needing that amount of storage on a Chromebook. There is very little the file browser can do.

Ah well, for $200 you can't complain I suppose. Shall we take bets on what that'll translate to... £180?

 

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I'm fairly sure I've already seen it at £199, no?

Yeh I saw it on Google Play for that, although it's disappeared for me now. Not sure why they don't have the Samsung on there.

 

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http://googlesystem.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/chromebook-pixel.html

Wow

Think it's real?

 

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I am planning on installing Ubuntu on it so I can remote desktop control university computers with it;
my university isn't happy letting me RDCing via the Chrome browser app yet
so the IT guys recommended setting my a Virtual Private Network through Ubuntu.

It's a nice idea but I doubt anyone on here has actually done it. Chromebooks aren't too popular round these parts. Good luck with it though. If you do go ahead with it, post back and let us know what the performance is like.

 

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One of may favourite blog posts about Chromebooks:

The joy of following many other education technology people on Twitter is you get to find out loads of tips and suggestions for things to do to make education better in my school. Increasingly though, I find myself following people who, when they blog, post about iPads and how they are using them. That’s all very well, but is becoming increasingly irrelevant to my school, since we do not have any iPads.

"Hold on," I can hear you saying, "I thought this post was about Chromebooks". It is – kind of. I can hear other people saying, "Hold on! No iPads? How can you sustain school improvement without iPads?"

So the thing is, whenever I think about writing a post about Chromebooks, it ends up becoming a post about something else, so I don’t write it. For example when my students used storynory.com and Blogger to read, listen to and then review a story. They did all that on a Chromebook – but the key thing was the websites they used. Or when my students used Youtube and Google Docs to re-write the lyrics of a well-known song. They collaborated together on the same Google Doc, partly in lesson time, partly over the weekend. They used Chromebooks to do that, but it was Youtube and Google Docs that made the activity work.

I am caught in the trap of wanting to build up a bank of evidence to say that Chromebooks work in classrooms, just as others are doing with iPads. Every time I try to justify that argument I find myself focusing on a particular way of teaching and a particular set of web-based technologies that support that, not the actual Chromebook. Damn Chromebooks – they’re just so faceless, so lacking in charisma – they just let you get on with teaching.

I wish they had more shiny about them. If only they were more complex or more difficult to setup – for example if they took a good day of technician time to setup , then, at the least, the technician would know about them. But no. Not Chromebooks. They just work. The kids use them. For learning. Boring really.

There’s nothing else to say.

http://frogphilp.com/blog/?p=1100

 

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Really don't see the point of Chromebooks. They were supposed to be Googles answer to the netbook market and were released just in time to be made irrelevant by the Tablet market (ironically in large part by Android as well and iOS).

I find getting stuff done e.g. emails, browsing a lot easier on a Chromebook.

 

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Maybe I'm missing something but I don't think he mentioned anything you couldn't also do on a tablet or £250 laptop (which would then let you do other things as well). As a teacher does he really endorse having all the work his students do indexed by Google and then used for targeted advertising?

It would be pretty difficult to get any serious work done on a tablet. Firstly you'd need keyboard and some sort of stand. Secondly, you'd need a full browser to take advantage of the apps mentioned in the post. You could try and use mobile apps but it's unlikely you get the full functionality that a website offers. Android apps are more geared towards media consumption, rather than creation and management of content.

As for the £250 laptop, well yes, you could. But it would be pretty awful. Plus as mentioned by DeathStorm, being "limited" by the browser might not be a bad thing. Why spend time getting technicians to install loads of local applications when simplified web apps do the job? I think it's quite a modern way of thinking, and something not just education but also businesses should be experimenting with.

 

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Two new Chromebooks announced:

Acer C720 - http://www.theverge.com/tech/2013/10/10/4821234/acer-brings-haswell-power-to-the-new-c720-chromebook

HP Chromebook 11 - http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/8/4815792/google-multi-color-hp-chromebook-11-price-availability

The HP is on Google Play and elsewhere at £229. It's bascially the same as the Samsung ARM Chromebook but with a nicer build and an IPS screen.

The Acer C720 could be the game changer though. Haswell 2955U Celeron CPU, 4GB RAM, SSD, 8.5 hours claimed battery for less than the $279 US price of the HP. No UK price yet but it could come in at £199. Even at the same price as the HP, that's good hardware for the money. Still the crappy 1366 x 768 res but both new models seem to have nicer screens than the Samsung ARM.

I'm awaiting Samsung to announced their latest model, but if the trend continues then Chromebooks are getting way better value for money.

 

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Yes, local media support is poor. Is there a website that will decode and stream uploaded media files?

 

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HTML editing using FTP

I think this would meet your needs for local text editing: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...l/text/mmfbcljfglbokpmkimbfghdkjmjhdgbg?hl=en

Easier than editing stuff in Google docs probably.

 

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The Verge review of Acer C720: http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/23/4948120/acer-c720-chromebook-review

Pretty good score. Everyone going mad that it got a higher score than the Surface 2. I think I'll get one for my Auntie because she is always installing crap on her Windows laptop. We should have UK release within a week I think. Should be £199.

Rumours are that Toshiba and Samsung are making Chromebooks too.

My ideal Chromebook would be the internals of the Acer C720, but with 13 inch IPS display, slightly higher resolution and chassis of the HP 11. Do that for £280 it's a winner.