How much would you pay for a cloud-centric computer? With its new $249 Samsung Chromebook -- a system based on the idea of doing almost everything online -- Google is hoping it's finally gotten the price right.
The new Samsung Chromebook runs Google's Chrome OS operating system. Chrome OS is all about the cloud: Instead of using locally stored programs, it relies on Web-based apps like Gmail, Google Docs and Google Drive. You can do quite a bit offline -- an important option that was missing in early versions of the software -- but the Web is definitely the platform's main focus.
Value seems to be the distinguishing feature of the new Samsung Chromebook, which is available for pre-order now and will ship next week from Amazon, Best Buy and Google's own Play Store. At $249, the new Chromebook is a full $200 cheaper than the higher-end Samsung Chromebook 550 introduced earlier this year. It's also a $100 cheaper than the first-generation Series 5 model that was released in mid-2011. (That device was removed from Google's official Chromebook site this week, leading me to believe that this new model will effectively replace it as the lower-end option.)
So what's the new Samsung Chromebook actually like to use? I've spent some time getting to know the device. Here are my impressions.
Thin, light and sleek
Make no mistake about it: This is an attractive computer. It's 0.8-in. thick and weighs 2.5 lb., making it quite practical to carry around. The Chromebook has a silver-colored plastic design with "Samsung" and a Google Chrome logo printed on its front; the general appearance is in line with the higher-end 550 Chromebook device, not the lower-end Series 5 model from last year.
The new Chromebook boasts an 11.6-in. 1366 x 768 display. That's slightly smaller than the 12.1-in. 1280 x 800 displays on the previous Chromebook models, but at a glance, it's hard to tell much of a difference. The screen certainly isn't the most eye-catching, high-def display you've ever seen, but with its matte finish, it's easy on the eyes and perfectly suited for things like Web browsing, email and document-oriented work.
Above the display there's a webcam and microphone for online video chatting. The Chromebook has a headphone jack and SD card slot on its left side; along the back you'll find one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port, the power connection and a slot for a SIM card. This last appears to be nothing more than a placeholder -- Google confirmed to me that this model is Wi-Fi-only and that a 3G-capable version will launch at some point in the future.
While the device includes 16GB of local SSD storage, buyers also get 100GB of cloud-based Google Drive storage for two years -- a subscription that would cost $120 if bought outright.
Feels great to use
The Chrome OS keyboard has been a standout feature of Chromebooks from the start, and this latest model is no exception. The new Samsung Chromebook utilizes the same chiclet-style keyboard used in past devices; the keys are well spaced, responsive and a pleasure to type on. As far as I'm concerned, the Chromebook keyboard provides about the best laptop typing experience you can find today.
And like its predecessors, it's been customized with numerous keys specific to the Chrome OS environment. In place of the function keys typically present on the top row of a Windows system, for example, the Chromebook has keys for such functions as navigating forward or backward in the browser, refreshing a page, toggling between windows and adjusting the device's display brightness. In place of the caps-lock key, it has a search key that brings up a universal search box and list of available applications. (You can opt to remap the key to a more traditional caps-lock function if you want.)
The new Chromebook's trackpad is no less impressive: It's smooth and responsive, with accurate motion and support for a range of one- and two-fingered gestures. Swiping in any direction with two fingers, for instance, scrolls up, down, left or right on a page. Pressing anywhere on the trackpad with one finger left-clicks, and pressing with two performs a right-click command.
Surprisingly good performance -- to a point
When I first saw the specs of the new Samsung Chromebook, I was a bit worried about how it would perform. It has only 2GB of RAM -- the same as the first-gen Chromebook, which had a tendency to get bogged down and pokey when you had multiple tabs open or conducted any significant multitasking. (The more expensive 550 model has 4GB RAM and does not suffer from these issues.)
The new Chromebook has surprised me, though: Equipped with an ARM-based processor -- the Samsung Exynos 5 Dual, which, incidentally, is fan-free and emits no audible noise when running -- the system manages to keep up with light to moderate usage without suffering any slowdowns. It powers on in about 10 seconds; after you type in your Google account credentials, it takes just about five more seconds before you're online, in a browser and ready to work. In my tests, I was able to open numerous tabs and windows -- and navigate among them -- without any noticeable problems.
There is a limit, though. Once I had about a dozen tabs opened, I started to see some slowdowns. Switching among tabs was slower and sometimes resulted in pages refreshing for no reason (presumably because the system was running low on RAM), and scrolling through pages became noticeably more labored and difficult. The effect grew more pronounced as more tabs were introduced and seemed particularly problematic when resource-intensive Web apps, such as TweetDeck or the Pixlr photo editor, were in use.
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