The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review • Hacker News Board

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#21

Post by oliwarner » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 4:40 PM UTC

sombremesa wrote: post #3

resoluteteeth wrote: post #2

The real review here seems to be by BittenRottenApple in the comments, rather than the actual anandtech article. In particular I think this part sums up the main issue I have with the Chromebook Pixel: The entire conceit of Chrome OS is that it's sort of a diet computer. It does the basics, and just the basics. Chrome OS will give you internet, basic word processing through Google Docs, video via YouTube, and the res…

You don't need to replace the OS with linux, it is already linux based. If you enable developer mode you can get to the terminal, and if your linux-foo is strong that should be all you need (and you'll still be able to use ChromeOS). This is what made my (free) Cr-48 awesome. Does it make the (expensive) Chromebook Pixel awesome? I don't know.

Technically, yes, but not in the way the parent meant. Getting access to a few GNU tools is not the same thing as a real fully-featured desktop and software repositories.

That's before mentioning proper support for closed-source x86 applications. Most developers target Ubuntu, not ChromeOS.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#22

Post by yincrash » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 4:43 PM UTC

DrPsion wrote: post #20

I wish Google had an official way of putting a Linux distribution on these machines. I know they want people working in Chrome OS but for me it just isn't enough. If I could buy the Pixel and have an official way of putting Debian or something on it to make it a proper laptop I probably would buy one. I love the design, the specs are very decent and the display is beautiful.

Crouton is essentially that 'official' way. It's maintained by a hardware engineer from Google. https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#23

Post by gygygy » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 4:48 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #10

The battery life is great, but the thing that worries me about all non-Apple laptops with sealed batteries is the lack of an official battery service. If I buy an Apple laptop, I know that for $130-200, they'll swap out the battery pack once it's capacity goes down. That does wonders for resale value. What's the story with the original Pixel?

If that is your only reason for selecting an apple produce over something else, then that's just a little naive.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#24

Post by sharms » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 4:59 PM UTC

gygygy wrote: post #23

rayiner wrote: post #10

The battery life is great, but the thing that worries me about all non-Apple laptops with sealed batteries is the lack of an official battery service. If I buy an Apple laptop, I know that for $130-200, they'll swap out the battery pack once it's capacity goes down. That does wonders for resale value. What's the story with the original Pixel?

If that is your only reason for selecting an apple produce over something else, then that's just a little naive.

I share the same concerns - due to the small form factor of these laptops, it isn't a standard, commodity you can find easily.

Especially in the Pixel's case where it is a limited production run to begin with.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#25

Post by IkmoIkmo » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:01 PM UTC

The Pixel is probably a little bit like an overpowered Nexus line:

1) Set a high standard for build quality and all for all the other Chromebooks.

2) Create a consumer perception that Chromebooks can be high quality devices of substantial value

3) Create a powerful playground for testing with heavy Chrome apps & getting native Android apps to work on ChromeOS and other such features that will come to the cheaper Chromebooks a year later.

All leading to the $300 Chromebooks feeling like high-quality bargains with ever increasing functionality.

Beyond that, the device seems ridiculous unless you put a different OS on, you're either better off with a cheaper Chromebook, or an equally pricy Windows Laptop (e.g. Dell XPS 2015) or Macbook. So I really think the Pixel is more of a strategic asset (see above) than something meant to be a popular revenue generating consumer device in and of itself.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#26

Post by karmicthreat » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:02 PM UTC

gygygy wrote: post #23

rayiner wrote: post #10

The battery life is great, but the thing that worries me about all non-Apple laptops with sealed batteries is the lack of an official battery service. If I buy an Apple laptop, I know that for $130-200, they'll swap out the battery pack once it's capacity goes down. That does wonders for resale value. What's the story with the original Pixel?

If that is your only reason for selecting an apple produce over something else, then that's just a little naive.

Thinking about the problems you will have with something you buy is naive? Considering a wide variety of parts on a laptop are proprietary I think serviceability and turn around time are big considerations.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#27

Post by vmlinuz » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:03 PM UTC

resoluteteeth wrote: post #2

The real review here seems to be by BittenRottenApple in the comments, rather than the actual anandtech article. In particular I think this part sums up the main issue I have with the Chromebook Pixel: The entire conceit of Chrome OS is that it's sort of a diet computer. It does the basics, and just the basics. Chrome OS will give you internet, basic word processing through Google Docs, video via YouTube, and the res…

Assuming by "the real review" you mean "the mostly cut'n'pasted rant against the first Pixel, published by Sam Biddle on Gizmodo 2 years ago".

http://gizmodo.com/5986031/every-reason-not-to-buy-the-googl...

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#28

Post by awalGarg » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:04 PM UTC

Really like the new Pixel and see great potential in it.

My only wish is that the display was slightly wider. Not necessarily 16:9. 3:2 is too much squarish for me :P I do understand vertical scrolling and all but it's just my personal preference, I guess. And also, 128 GB storage would perfect :)

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#29

Post by yincrash » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:05 PM UTC

cjbprime wrote: post #13

guylhem wrote: post #8

My only question: can you physically have a 512Gb ssd inside that thing? Anything else is irrelevant to me. The previous Chromebook pixel had the mini PCIe port used by the WWAN modem wired with only the USB lines, meaning you couldn't do that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0_u8bjQFzg I won't buy a chromebook pixel until I can at least get a decent storage. It doesn't have to be sold with this storage. The motherb…

Same. No, the SSD is soldered down, and the SD card slot is hooked up (again) via USB2, limiting it to ~20MB/sec.

Do you have a link for this?

Re: The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review

#30

Post by tedunangst » Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 5:06 PM UTC

notsony wrote: post #9

guylhem wrote: post #8

My only question: can you physically have a 512Gb ssd inside that thing? Anything else is irrelevant to me. The previous Chromebook pixel had the mini PCIe port used by the WWAN modem wired with only the USB lines, meaning you couldn't do that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0_u8bjQFzg I won't buy a chromebook pixel until I can at least get a decent storage. It doesn't have to be sold with this storage. The motherb…

> * It's likely that it's still soldered to the motherboard which makes replacing or upgrading it impossible. Given that the Pixel can only be disassembled using suction cups and a great deal of force I'm not able to actually look inside to check. * So it seems this "review" didn't even attempt to open up the laptop to check out the motherboard. Disappointing.

That's how reviews usually work. They evaluate a product to see if it does what it's supposed to do. They don't tear it apart and attempt to to repurpose it for some other use entirely.