The Geek in Me

For the first time in my entire life I have a product in my hands before its publicly available. I feel an obligation as a geek to post something about it. The Samsung Google Chrome laptop becomes avail on Tuesday June 14th. I tried to get on their beta test list to get a free one in Dec 2010, however didn't make it. They did however give me the chance to order one early with an email last week!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/stub-official-samsung-reveals-chrome-os-laptops/

I like it. Still working through some printing issues (seems to not like sending duplex jobs to my network attached printer), and will have to figure out how well it works with my current digital cameras and picture organization. Also some confusion on plug in's (doesn't view embedded windows media player file out of the box).

Power on time is really nice compared to my Thinkpad x60, and suspend/wake time is awesome. I look forward to trying out the 3G this weekend when we do some travel.

This laptop doesn't run windows, doesn't run linux, is just an environment running a super browser and it keys in to my extensive use of Google Applications. Because of this people will complain that the cost of $500 is too much, but I disagree. Its got a specific purpose and it does it well. ALSO in my personal use, web based content is 95% of what I need.

Pro's

• Camera/Mic/Speakers are serviceable
• Web browsing without the bloat of a zillion installed programs, virus scanners, task management
• Responsive and intuitive setup of wireless and login to access existing google information
• Multi SD card readers and USB 3.0 USB 2.0
  

Cons

• Duplex Printing to our printer seems not possible
• Heavier than I expected for the size of screen (mac books have ruined us all on this front)
• Won't be possible to store and manage even the last 3 months of my personal photo and video content

If you have not made any attempts to get into or understand "the cloud" this device combined with a google account would be a feasible place to start. If you already leverage google documents, contacts, calendar in your life this device will be GREAT!