I got my hands on my first Google Chromebook at CodeStock on Saturday. I have to say, that I was utterly unimpressed and severely disappointed. What is a Chromebook? It’s a severely limited netbook with a severely scaled down version of Linux that runs only ONE program… Google’s Chrome browser. That’s it. That’s all it does.
How much does it cost?
As of right now, none are available, but they WILL be in mere days. Samsung is offering one with a minimum buy-in price of $429. THAT’S the key, right there… The price. Why? Because you have to consider what alternatives you can get for the SAME price (or less).
What can you get for $429 or less?
How about these two netwooks from mwave.com?
These have more memory, more storage, run a full blown version of Windows 7 (which means you’ve got a legal license for Windows 7 to boot (pun intended)), have more connectors, and guess what? They can run the Chrome browser (and any others) and do EVERYTHING any Chromebook can…. FOR LESS!!!
And… You can even install the Chromium OS on these netbooks to make a full blown Chromebook yourself… FOR LESS!
So, I’m not necessarily knocking the idea of going completely to the cloud and doing all your work in a browser. Hey, whatever floats your boat. I *AM* knocking the idea of blowing your hard earned cash on an intentionally crippled piece of hardware when you could get so much more for less money.
So, what do you get with a Chromebook that you don’t with these easily found alternatives?
A smaller checking account.