I think the main problem I have with Chromebooks is that they're either cheap pieces of junk that I'd never buy or it's the Chromebook pixel which is a nice piece of kit. The issue with the Chromebook Pixel is that it's begging for a better OS.
If it has a decent network stack and video, it can be a perfect replacement
for the new "terminals" running VDI or used to RDP/VNC...
Will VMware offer a Horizon View client for Chrome OS?
Very promising, I'd say...
EDIT:
There is a Horizon View HTML5 client that can be used on Chrome OS devices http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtwBLNVBL4I
But hopefully VMware and/or Google add a native client...
I wouldn't be surprised if my company replaced our Lenovo Thinkpads with Chromebooks, for those who travel a lot. We use Google Apps for business, our software product is SaaS, there really is little need to lug around a heavy laptop.
Did I prefer using a Chromebook to using my regular tools? No, not really. Is it possible to do and come back home with your sanity intact? Sure! That's probably something we couldn't have said 12 or 18 months ago, and it's why Chrome OS is so interesting—it doesn't do everything a PC can do, but Chromebooks do enough of what a PC does that they can pose a credible threat to low-end laptops. And in case you hadn't noticed, that's where a lot of the volume of the PC market comes from these days.
Netbook, v.2.0, anybody?
The Netbook v.1 was dead the moment MS made manufacturers install Win7 Starter (no-go on an Atom CPU, 1GB RAM).
There is no such threat this can happen with Chomebooks...
Google learned quite a bit about MS' "good enough" philosophy...
In 2013 2.5 million chromebooks were shipped world wide and it is predicted that that number will double this year. They will never replace a windows or mac pc how ever if your computer is used for mostly internet and skydrive or google docs than they become a very credible computer. Low power consumption,fast bootup and shut down, auto backup to the cloud, a simple O/S, compact size and weight, low price are just some of the reasons that this will appeal to many of us that are not as computer literate as you computer geeks out there
It looks like Canadians are getting ripped off on Chromebooks. The Samsung Chromebook XE303C12 is $225.00-$249.00 on Amazon.com. It's $330-$597 on Amazon.ca. The Acer C720 Chromebook is $199-$260 vs $299-$399. The HP Chromebook 11 is $339-$399 vs $399. The HP Chromebook 14 is $299-$368 vs $320-$539. (The HP models seem to be the only ones where prices are close to comparable.) They are out of stock on Google Play (Canada) so there is probably some profiteering going on. My take is to wait a few months and prices will drop when supplies increase.
I'm hesitant to purchase a Chromebook online (via Google Play, or otherwise) until I can verify that the keyboard layout is not the bilingual one up here. I just picked up the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook, and I can't stand the shortened left SHIFT key. Keep hitting the accented characters key just to the right of it.
We cracked the screen on our 303 Samsung. How? Closing the screen onto the keyboard. The keyboard actually cracked the screen. That's how cheaply they're made.
I really don't get the point of these. I can see special use cases like pointed out earlier where a company is in the Google Eco system and does everything productive in the cloud anyways, sure but for a general use computer? An HP laptop with Windows is only $40.00 more.
The fee had been $50 per unit for devices at that price point, but now it will
cost manufacturers just $15. Bloomberg says that the price reduction was a response
to Google Chromebooks, which have been doing extremely well in the sub-$300 market...
What do you do if you have an operating system that nobody likes? If you're Microsoft,
it looks like you bundle it with a search engine that nobody wants to use either.
In three years the number of Chromebooks sold should match the number of Macs Apple sells.
Assuming they can break out of the North American market that consumes 82% of them.
But it doesn't look like Microsoft will give up this market without a fight...
The hype around tablet type devices is waning even Apple is rumored to be testing arm based laptops with OSX. Microsoft of course is concentrating on keyboard mouse users as well for the upcoming Windows 9. Interesting times, thanks for sharing.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
1.7M posts
114.9K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to Canadian TV, computing and home theatre owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, displays, troubleshooting, styles, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!