Intel-based Chromebooks
chrome.blogspot.com
chrome.blogspot.com
Hopefully you won't have to wait for the next Chromebook Pixel, but will be able to buy a more 'regular' laptop with a similar screen in the near future. I think high-dpi screens are posed to make a big impact on the market.
@drivebyacct2 "(For those that may wonder, I have to rmmod/modprobe a chromeos_laptop module after boot"
I had that problem earlier, but it resolved itself with a new kernel (3.10.11 iirc) and config. If you want I can pastebin my config when I get home, but I think the only relevant change I made is I stopped building chromeos_laptop (and dependencies) as a module. I think the root cause was something about the order or timing of the touchpad and I2C stuff being brought online.
It is a bit limited, but for $200, it is a great deal. I have a chroot installed where I can do anything I can't do with the vanilla ChromeOS, and I am strongly considering upgrading the RAM. I don't think I will buy the full 16GB this thing supports.
I could also upgrade the storage, 16GB is getting a little tight.
And before someone says it, no "I'll stick Ubuntu on it" isn't a valid answer to the problem as you're still supporting them by buying it.
Mainly, non-free software repositories, and the amazon integration in unity.
One positive is that with chromeos being more stable and backed by google should be able to seriously take on windows in this category unlike the mess with linux when the first netbooks were released.
I think that Google has been neglecting the non-intensive tasks that people still perform on their computers locally, not through a webbrowser. Not supporting Crysis, SolidWorks, Microsoft Office, or Eclipse... that is all fine, regular users don't really need that sort of stuff. Not supporting something with the functionality of VLC or a good image browser seems like a big oversight. Those sorts of tasks could be done well with ChromeOS, with their programming model and in that form-factor, but from what I have seen that stuff just isn't ready.
Whether or not it fits with the motivation of the OS, it is what the OS needs if it wants to be something I can recommend to anybody. They are making an OS for people that, as far as I can tell, do not exist: technically inclined and willing users who have very restricted requirements.
I know, I know, "most people do nothing but Facebook". That is the standard justification of ChromeOS, I've heard that all before... In my experience however those people still perform some (really quite minimal) non-intensive local tasks that ChromeOS falls flat on. I'll sooner tell those people to get an iPad than a Chromebook.
And to be clear, ChromeOS does let you browse images locally, so that is already something they have consigned themselves to doing. ChromeOS isn't saying "this isn't something that you can't or shouldn't do". The problem is that they do it poorly; the UI is shoddy.
Especially with the lousy lousy internet connection that I have.
I haven't seen a Chromebook's handling of locally stored photos, but it's a shame if it can't handle it nicely.
The only thing stopping me from getting a Chromebook now is the lack of functionality without an internet connection (I'd install a Linux, but that feels like a weird solution).
The moment you start to market these things as real computers at a low price point, somebody's grandmother buys one and starts calling support because they can't run Office (or some other arbitrary Windows software on it). Word gets out, it gets distorted until everyone thinks that the hardware is useless/broken/worthless and you end up with a repeat of MSFT's Surface/Windows RT debacle.
Google has very carefully positioned this platform in the market. They've been very clear that a Chromebook is not just another laptop & buyers should not expect them to be one. The few additional sales they'd get from Linux geeks are not remotely worth the brand dilution that would occur from selling them as anything else.
Why are they even providing a support line? I'm not sure why a laptop should qualify for support when a tablet doesn't.
When you buy a new car there isn't a Hyundai Support Line to call.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromebooks.htm...
They really should stick to ARM-based $250 Chromebooks. But this time please put at least a 10" tablet-battery, not a 7" tablet battery inside the Chromebook.
As much as I had been rooting for arm a few years ago I'm totally soured on the utter crap support situation. If ARM starts bleeding market it will totally be on their own shoulders for not doing anything about the closed drivers situation.
The current line of ARM processors has been a major roadblock thus far.
OTOH, Google may be giving kickbacks for Chrome OS as well.
To the downvoters, this was supposed to be sarcastic :)
You hate it and I hate it, but the vast majority tolerate it.
A 14-inch screen not large for a laptop.
It's particularly striking because the Nexus 10 has the same processor as the ARM chromebook, so anything you could run on the chromebook you could conceivably just run on the Nexus 10 as well.