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The Chromebook Pixel

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Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#71

Post by DigitalTurk »

The Verge has more pictures.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013480/google-chromebook-...

It looks an awful lot like a Macbook: Just witness the aluminum-like color and the black bevel around the screen. Where it looks different, it's uglier. The hinge looks particularly bad. And judging by the pictures it's an awful lot bulkier than a Macbook Air.

Chrome OS strikes me as an underpowered OS. That is, there's a lot it won't do and it seems mostly suitable for underpowered machines.

UPDATE: this paragraph is wrong; I stand corrected! -- The ChromeBook Pixel has a 4:3 display. Now, I recently came across an old laptop of mine that had a 4:3 display and it looked off. I'm not saying that 4:3 aspect ratio a bad choice in an objective sense, but it strikes me as a bad choice from a marketing point of view.

For one hundred dollars less you can get a 13" Macbook Air. For two hundred dollars more you can get a 13" Macbook Pro with Retina Display. Both these machines seem better than the Chromebook Pixel in every way, including battery life (7 hours versus 5).

In conclusion, I think this is going to fail badly.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#72

Post by Vervious »

Why didn't they just turn it into a tablet? The trackpad seems almost extraneous, and the keyboard could be an add-on. Not to mention the square form factor that makes it look bulkier than it really is.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#73

Post by picklefish »

jjcm wrote: post #45

I know this is going to seem like a nitpick, but laptops without magnetic power connectors these days just feel cheap. It's such a simple addition that greatly improves the product. I don't see why larger companies aren't all converting over to them. I know apple has a patent on them, but there's tons of prior art for heaven's sake. I think the only non-apple product out there I've seen with them on it is the microso…

Maybe this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagSafe

Apple exclusively owns US Patent No. 7311526 ("Magnetic connector for electronic device", issued in 2007) and does not license the MagSafe connector or the patent.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#75

Post by ConstantineXVI »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #61
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #48

That is one beautiful laptop (note that it's not 16:9 either). I feel like we're missing something, there's no way Google would be blind enough to build such a powerful machine (vs existing Chromebooks) that's so limited by the OS. There's either something we aren't being told or Google's jumped entirely off the deep end. (Alternative: there's no way they could do a "Retina" Chromebook for reasonably cheap, but the N…

It's not really limiting though. Between NaCl and WebGL you can do everything from 3D gaming, to Remote Desktop clients (an RDP client already is in the Web Store). It's true that a lot of the software still needs to be created, but what is going to spur that to happen if not hardware that is tuned for it?

You can't build for NaCl from CrOS, and as it stands you don't have the toolchain (editors, debuggers, shells, etc) one's used to on other platforms. I understand a $400 phone not being able to run it's own toolchain, a $1300 computer less so.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#77

Post by yuxt »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #51
speeder wrote: post #31

I think it is purely amazing the specs for that price. But I am really bothered by the fact that it is... A Chromebook. I hate "cloud" stuff, I like to have stuff where I know where they are, and who can see them. Also I live in Brazil, where internet is patchy, at best. And it is sad it does not support Ethernet... I like Ethernet! It is faster and more stable! But impressive, very impressive, well done Google. If a…

>I think it is purely amazing the specs for that price. The display specs are amazing, but storage is a paltry 32GB so I guess it's compensated there.

They also provide "One terabyte of Google Drive cloud storage, free for 3 years"

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#78

Post by rayiner »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #65
rayiner wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things Apple avoids is $1,300 products that are conceptual beta-tests. It's blatantly obvious that "life in the cloud" isn't feasible for most people yet, not when 10 GB of Verizon LTE costs $90 here in the US, then $10/GB. But with that tiny 32GB of flash, that's clearly what the Chromebook is designed for. It's bold, but it's not going to sell. The reviews are going to rip this to shreds ("nice screen, b…

People get by with 16GB iPads just fine, think you're wrong here.

People who "live in the cloud" with a 16GB iPad have very un-demanding needs. They're people like my mom, who take some photos and send some e-mails. They're not going to buy a $1,300 machine to do those things when a $500 iPad does them just fine.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#79

Post by taeric »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #61
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #48

That is one beautiful laptop (note that it's not 16:9 either). I feel like we're missing something, there's no way Google would be blind enough to build such a powerful machine (vs existing Chromebooks) that's so limited by the OS. There's either something we aren't being told or Google's jumped entirely off the deep end. (Alternative: there's no way they could do a "Retina" Chromebook for reasonably cheap, but the N…

It's not really limiting though. Between NaCl and WebGL you can do everything from 3D gaming, to Remote Desktop clients (an RDP client already is in the Web Store). It's true that a lot of the software still needs to be created, but what is going to spur that to happen if not hardware that is tuned for it?

I think I am just used to hardware lagging the demands of software. This just seems, odd. Especially considering how much more this computer can do with something other than chrome os. (Correct me if I'm forgetting something, but is there anything chrome os can do that another OS can not already do?)
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