6/7/11 – Google is finally rolling out their long hyped Chromebook which CPD was fortunate to get our hands on as early testers. The lightweight laptop boots up in 8 seconds and runs only the Chrome web browser with a number of browser apps availble including chat, docs, etc. The laptop supports 1 USB port and can run for almost 8 hrs of battery life. This is Google’s attempt to reinvent the personal computer and demonstrate the power of cloud computing which Google has been a pioneer in bringing to life.
Samsung and Acer have developed the hardware for this new to market technology which is set to release on June 15. The price is yet to be revealed, but some reports guestimate it in the $350-$400 range. Monthly leasing is also available for $28/mo for businesses or $20/mo for education.
CPD Review
To be honest, not that impressed. My prediction is that this will not take off much past 2011-2012 despite Google’s big pockets for marketing. With the evolution of tablets and all that can be done in modern day smartphones, I don’t see the need for a ‘web-only’ system. Yes there are perks – fast, automatically upgraded, portable… but it is not for me. I also don’t think that this will get off the ground at all if the price point is the $350 range that reports are estimating. I feel that the only way it is competitive is less than $100 otherwise you would be better off buying a tablet. This will be a fun one to watch and see how it does…
