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Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

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Re: Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

#3
When I first saw the Chromebook, I figured it would be priced around $150, so that it was a no-brainer decision (especially with it's limitations over a normal laptop). But at $349, its still $75 more than an Acer Aspire One.

Make it $100-$150, and I'll buy it. As it stands though, its too much money and too little benefits.

Re: Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

#5
Don't buy one. I got the Samsung Series 5 3g Chromebook a month ago, and I definitely regret buying even at its low price point. The OS is still very unstable and not performant. The speakers are very bad (but I wouldn't watch video or listen to music anyway - YouTube/Pandora/Turntable.fm tend to crash quite a bit). The screen is not that great. The only upside is the long battery life but you're better off spending a couple hundred more and getting an Air.

Re: Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

#6
They've been on sale for over 10 days now. I don't see them flying off the shelf.

I've been thinking about buying a 12.1" Samsung Series 5 3G or a 12.5" Lenovo X220 or an 11.6" Macbook Air or an 11.6" Samsung Series 9. If I could get emacs on a terminal, with ssh access I would be sold on the Chromebook. Does anyone know if ssh + emacs + term is possible? (w/ the same battery usage - i.e. I don't want to bother with installing Linux if I can only get <2 hours of mobile use).

Re: Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

#7

Is the main market for chrome books (a) people who want to install Linux and other OSes on them and (b) people who do not want the hassle of adminning a traditional OS?

If it's secure, easy to use and browses "the Facebook" I could see giving them to a relative and saivng a fair amount of tech support time. Granted an iPad fills the same nitch but it costs twice as much.

Re: Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

#8

Is the main market for chrome books (a) people who want to install Linux and other OSes on them and (b) people who do not want the hassle of adminning a traditional OS?

the theoretical market for chromebooks is people who only want a computer for facebook and email and want to buy something simple and cheap.

in practice, i think the market is just nerds who want to play with a chromebook because it's new and cool. i appreciate what google is trying to do with chromeOS, and i think it's a good idea, but they have failed miserably at marketing it to non-techies.

Re: Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

#9
Wow, that seems a little pricey for what is offered. I would think they would be able to use an "off the shelf" netbook that already costs ~300 dollars, without Windows, and sell it for ~200. Windows accounts for a nice chunk of the price of a netbook, does it not? I know they don't pay store prices for Windows, but I'm sure they are still paying a decent amount. Does anyone have an insight in to how much Windows adds to the price of netbook hardware?

Re: Chromebooks on sale at Amazon for $349

#10
post #5

Don't buy one. I got the Samsung Series 5 3g Chromebook a month ago, and I definitely regret buying even at its low price point. The OS is still very unstable and not performant. The speakers are very bad (but I wouldn't watch video or listen to music anyway - YouTube/Pandora/Turntable.fm tend to crash quite a bit). The screen is not that great. The only upside is the long battery life but you're better off spending…

A couple hundred dollars more? A MacBook Air is $650 more expensive than the price listed on Amazon. For that price you could buy almost 3 Chromebooks.
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