I never thought Google was going to pick me as one of the reviewer of their CR-48 Chrome OS laptop computer. Who can blame them, if ever I did not get this laptop for free? I am nobody to them, just a regular joe-shmoe. I was surprised when I got a notice from UPS about a 6lbs package that I don't remember buying. Well, lo and behold, it's the CR-48 knocking on my front door.
When I first opened it, it's just a usual laptop packaging except for a business card shape paper saying "If you cracked this open, you'd find Intel". Google also emphasizes though that you recycle the packaging materials, I like that since I too recycle in the house. I also posted a video in youtube about the unboxing.
The CR-48 became my primary laptop before I said it would be. As a fan of Google, I always said that I will make this the only laptop to use. Of course it cannot be the only laptop as I have several here lying around our place. But it quickly became my go-to mobile PC computing around and outside the house. I surf the web, read post, tweet, and interact in social media everyday, not to mention shop through eBay and look for deals in the internet. Cr-48 is the perfect device for those. I just recently collaborated a document using Google Docs in that notebook. I was really anxious to use the Cloud Print, but I can't seem to login to my Cloud Print account from my computer. There seems to be some cache problem. Maybe I'll report with this later on.
It is a very easy to use notebook that ones this is in the market, I will have my Mom and Dad buy this for them because this is so perfect for these people where all they do is just read email and may read off the internet. The size and form factor of this device is even better for their use. Quick wake and instant is really genius, and since this all sync up to their Google account, I don't even have to worry if something went wrong and they would lose anything, if there is something. It has the webcam and mic to video chat using Google Talk built-in to the browser. Although, that is somewhat a limitation.
Another brilliant idea is that this notebook is sandbox in terms of security. There is no updating of antivirus, no scanning, no patch tuesday and no click this allow or disallow. All are handled by the OS through the cloud. And my personal favorite, when I need to change device, all my work, settings, bookmarks, and even themes are sync the the device I will be using next.
I have to say though, there are some I believe is lacking this notebook. I have friends and family that lives off Skype. Unless Skype offers web-based video conferencing, I'm out of luck and stuck. If I need to download a physical file, there's a popout dialog at the bottom right corner of the screen where you can open the file if its supported by Chrome. Like PDF's, office documents like word and excel. Is the file is not supported, it will obviously just say not supported. There's a little bit of issue too in the hardware. I am a person who is hardcore in tabs. I tend to open tabs and leave it there for weeks until I'm ready to do something about the open tab. Because of this, the notebook becomes sluggish and slow to the point that I get frustrated. I believe the processor is an Intel Atom, and probably the reason why it slows down. I am not anymore at least touching the netbook that's lying around our place because that thing is so slow for me. I hope this CR-48 doesn't become like it.
I still need a little bit getting to use to the new keyboard keys. When I was collaborating in a document I kept on looking for the Home and End key. I am not also utilizing the new keys at the top that replaced the F keys. Although personally, I love the search key that replaced the Caps lock key. It may a limitation to others but I know I like it. Besides all this can still be put back in the settings.
I am also experiencing some touchpad issues. It's funny that when I was writing this and I happen to glance on my twitter feed engadget just tweeted that there's an update for the touchpad. http://engt.co/gKq1H3. Unfortunately, it did not fix the problem on my side.
Overall, this is a laptop I would use for everyday use, especially for content consumption. Lightweight and portable. Easy to use and quick boot. Nothing to worry about viruses and malwares. Secure and durable. And with a long battery life (about 5-6 hours use), this notebook will bring you a long way online. I can't wait when manufacturers starts to bring to the market. With the reasonable price, I could say this will kill the netbooks for good.
When I first opened it, it's just a usual laptop packaging except for a business card shape paper saying "If you cracked this open, you'd find Intel". Google also emphasizes though that you recycle the packaging materials, I like that since I too recycle in the house. I also posted a video in youtube about the unboxing.
The CR-48 became my primary laptop before I said it would be. As a fan of Google, I always said that I will make this the only laptop to use. Of course it cannot be the only laptop as I have several here lying around our place. But it quickly became my go-to mobile PC computing around and outside the house. I surf the web, read post, tweet, and interact in social media everyday, not to mention shop through eBay and look for deals in the internet. Cr-48 is the perfect device for those. I just recently collaborated a document using Google Docs in that notebook. I was really anxious to use the Cloud Print, but I can't seem to login to my Cloud Print account from my computer. There seems to be some cache problem. Maybe I'll report with this later on.
It is a very easy to use notebook that ones this is in the market, I will have my Mom and Dad buy this for them because this is so perfect for these people where all they do is just read email and may read off the internet. The size and form factor of this device is even better for their use. Quick wake and instant is really genius, and since this all sync up to their Google account, I don't even have to worry if something went wrong and they would lose anything, if there is something. It has the webcam and mic to video chat using Google Talk built-in to the browser. Although, that is somewhat a limitation.
Another brilliant idea is that this notebook is sandbox in terms of security. There is no updating of antivirus, no scanning, no patch tuesday and no click this allow or disallow. All are handled by the OS through the cloud. And my personal favorite, when I need to change device, all my work, settings, bookmarks, and even themes are sync the the device I will be using next.
I have to say though, there are some I believe is lacking this notebook. I have friends and family that lives off Skype. Unless Skype offers web-based video conferencing, I'm out of luck and stuck. If I need to download a physical file, there's a popout dialog at the bottom right corner of the screen where you can open the file if its supported by Chrome. Like PDF's, office documents like word and excel. Is the file is not supported, it will obviously just say not supported. There's a little bit of issue too in the hardware. I am a person who is hardcore in tabs. I tend to open tabs and leave it there for weeks until I'm ready to do something about the open tab. Because of this, the notebook becomes sluggish and slow to the point that I get frustrated. I believe the processor is an Intel Atom, and probably the reason why it slows down. I am not anymore at least touching the netbook that's lying around our place because that thing is so slow for me. I hope this CR-48 doesn't become like it.
I still need a little bit getting to use to the new keyboard keys. When I was collaborating in a document I kept on looking for the Home and End key. I am not also utilizing the new keys at the top that replaced the F keys. Although personally, I love the search key that replaced the Caps lock key. It may a limitation to others but I know I like it. Besides all this can still be put back in the settings.
I am also experiencing some touchpad issues. It's funny that when I was writing this and I happen to glance on my twitter feed engadget just tweeted that there's an update for the touchpad. http://engt.co/gKq1H3. Unfortunately, it did not fix the problem on my side.
Overall, this is a laptop I would use for everyday use, especially for content consumption. Lightweight and portable. Easy to use and quick boot. Nothing to worry about viruses and malwares. Secure and durable. And with a long battery life (about 5-6 hours use), this notebook will bring you a long way online. I can't wait when manufacturers starts to bring to the market. With the reasonable price, I could say this will kill the netbooks for good.
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