I have just bought a new samsung chromebook....

zzzLazyDaisy

Firstly, apologies if this is on the wrong board, please feel free to move it.

I have posted here, because I suspect that I may be coming back for techie advice once the thing arrives...

I have just ordered the new (oct 2012) Samsung Chrome book from Amazon at £229. I paid with my topcash amazon vouchers so it was 'free'

Why did I go for this machine?

• I need a lightweight netbook for when I am away from home. It weighs 1.1 kilos (a big plus point for me).
• I am moving more and more towards storing stuff on the cloud so I have access when away from home. You get a free 100gb cloud storage for two years with the chromebook.
• Virtually the only time I use a netbook away from home is to access the internet, check emails, facebook etc. I only stay with a few friends and family members and they all have wifi. I also have a data package on my mobile and could tether if I found myself with no access to a wifi (though in that case I'd probably use my mobile anyway).
• The main reason for needing it is because I do a small amount of consultancy work and sometimes need access to a 'proper' keyboard to type advice, letters etc (I am hoping that skydrive and mobile office will work for this). I know I could use an online keyboard and/or a wifi keyboard/tablet combination, but just call me old fashioned.... A proper keyboard is a must.
• I am fed up with long boot times, and a recent hard-drive failure has put me off carting around another netbook with a HHD (this has SSD, and boots in seconds)
• Ultrabooks that meet my needs are way to expensive.

So on the face of it, this machine is the way to go.

What I am less sure of is what about all the times I see a picture/quote/document/reference material on the internet and save it to a folder on my hard drive. I am assuming I can save them directly to a folder in the cloud instead?

I also accept that it does have its limitations - I understand that I can't watch lovefilm on it, and I can't use photoshop elements, or my graphics tablet with it. But I would be at home on my main laptop if I was doing those things.

I am also a bit confused about the issue of printing from the chromebook (though I don't print a lot, and in an emergency I could just e-mail the doc to another computer)

So I guess I am looking for any pointers about using this new (for me) technology, any drawbacks, workarounds that I should probably know about. Any tips, shortcuts? Any recommendations for chromebook for dummies tutorial or book?

Thanks in advance for any helpful tips and comments

Dx

closed

too late to cancel?;)

You will probably become the resident expert now

bod1467

A distant friend of mine has bought one of these, wiped it and loaded it with Linux Mint.

sabretoothtigger

What spec would that be? Seems a nice price especially with vouchers, you got those at better then cash par I guess

SSD is amazing, yes good choice but smaller size which I think is fine

I am assuming I can save them directly to a folder in the cloud instead?

nothing wrong with cloud generally so long as you can connect reliably

zzzLazyDaisy

closed wrote: »

too late to cancel?;)

You will probably become the resident expert now

Hahahaha!! Ooops

neilwoods

Obviously tied to what chrome web store offers in terms of apps, which isn't many. As for printing, think you need a cloud ready printer, which prints over the web. Or if using google docs, save it to online and just print from a pc at home.

Personally I think the chromebook may be short lived, due to android and the constant price drop.

zzzLazyDaisy

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

What spec would that be? Seems a nice price especially with vouchers, you got those at better then cash par I guess

Yes, 5% uplift for amazon vouchers.

It is this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Chromebook-Wifi-Latest-Model/dp/B009RF0AQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355244068&sr=8-1

Sosdon

I could just e-mail the doc to another computer)

Thats the way to go , i email anything that needs printed to my works email address ....

sabretoothtigger

ah I get why seems cheap now, this is very cutting edge. Its not even an offical PC exactly, more a hybrid type with a chip they normally use in phones.

Very 21st century, I like they are trying to do more with less

dual core ARM

This is british design rather then Intel who are USA and dominant for 40 years. I think Windows 8 will work with ARM but you must stick to online type 'apps' It doesnt do normal big office programs which you are already fine with.

I'm sure the whole sector will expand, its a move away from bloatware where people have way too much to handle. So long as it plays youtube I cant see its really that restricted, you can upload presentations to that website and carry on from there

short lived, due to android and the constant price drop.

This seems competitively priced vs MS surface or other big type devices like the Apple Ipad.
I know there is cheaper in theory but for your average buyer, google/asus should do well

Does Ipad not allow for a keyboard also?

zzzLazyDaisy

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

I think Windows 8 will work with ARM but you must stick to online type 'apps'

Does Ipad not allow for a keyboard also?

It is chrome OS, it won't run windows at all, as most of the gubbins is in the ether (sorry for technical jargon) but I understand the new version has a desktop look-alike approach for people like me who want to pretend there is windows in there somewhere.

I did consider ipad, but it doesn't meet my need in terms of being able to plug in a portable hard-drive/memory stick, and it doesn't have a card reader for my camera like the chromebook does. Also ipad/keyboard set-up is much more expensive. In addition I would then have to buy more cloud storage as I am moving that way, whereas the chrome book has 100gb thrown in. (tho having said all that, I do like the ipad, I just can't justify it!)

Johnmcl7

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

ah I get why seems cheap now, this is very cutting edge. Its not even an offical PC exactly, more a hybrid type with a chip they normally use in phones.

Very 21st century, I like they are trying to do more with less

No, they're doing less with less - the Cortex A15 is one of the highest performance ARM chips there is in production right now but even for that the Chromebooks are fairly basic.

This is british design rather then Intel who are USA and dominant for 40 years. I think Windows 8 will work with ARM but you must stick to online type 'apps' It doesnt do normal big office programs which you are already fine with.

Windows 8 only runs on X86, it is Windows RT which runs on ARM processors (currently the Tegra 3 platform) which looks identical to Windows 8 but is obviously very different underneath and it can't run any legacy X86 code.

John