Samsung Chromebook Review

Excuse me while I get my inner nerd out on the table - but I have been wanting to do this review for a long while. However, I let some time pass before I starting writing so I could really use it and know if I liked it or not. I still have it and I bought it back in March I believe so that should tell you something.

Here is my review on the Samsung Chromebook by Google!

Before we get started, I should give you a background on what a "chromebook" is. It isn't like every other laptop on the market, and no it isn't like an ultrabook either. Chromebooks are a line of laptops Google has created in conjunction with computer manufacturers like HP, Samsung, and Acer. What is special is that this device is solely an internet device. The operating system is literally the chrome browser. So everything you have and do is on a browser and stored in the "cloud" or in this case Dropbox and/or Google Drive.

These are not capable of using outside software, so if you want to use Microsoft Works or Photoshop or even iTunes - go look somewhere else. If however, you just want to wander around the internet aimlessly for a while and maybe write up some papers or do regular mundane stuff...then take a look!

Because everything is on the browser doesn't mean you can't write up a document, make a slideshow, or do a spreadsheet. You'll just have to use the apps in Google Drive; which are pretty comparable to other programs like it. I wrote an 8 page paper with research all on this machine with Google Docs and it was awesome.

So yeah, this machine is pretty much for storing documents in the cloud and the internet. No 3rd party programs wanted here. But honestly, when you think about all the activity we do on our computers today probably a good 90% of it is on the web browser anyways. I decided to dedicate my MacBook for my design work and school work because I can have my Adobe Suite software on there. But anything else I come to the Chromebook, it is the perfect hang out, bring anywhere, internet device.

So while there are a few different Chromebooks out there, the one I have is the latest Samsung version. Here are the specs:

Name: Samsung Chromebook

Price: $249

Weight: 2.4 lbs/ .7 inches slim

Screen Size: 11.6 inch

Memory: 16GB Solid State Drive (and 100GB of space in Google Drive free for two years)

Average Battery: 6.5 hours

Boot time: Less than 10 seconds

Other stuff:

Dual Band Wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n

Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor

VGA Camera

One USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port

HDMI Port

Bluetooth 3.0 Compatible

So what are my pros and cons about it?

I love the size for one, it might seem really small at first but the screen is a great size. I watched all the episodes of House of Cards on it on Netflix and the picture was amazing.

I love the simplicity of everything. Gettings to apps is super easy and the mail and browser button are right on the bottom left of your screen. You can also change your background screen so it almost feels like you're on a desktop. All the Google apps are really helpful and you find out there are a lot more than you ever thought there were!

The keyboard feels a little less responsive than what I'm used to on my Mac but all in all pretty solid, and the I would say the trackpad while not smooth like the glass trackpads Apple puts on their computers; it's pretty good. Just remember it isn't Apple so no crazy finger swiping.

Lastly, it is a pretty fast machine, and I get almost 9 hours of battery on a single charge! Charging time is very quick too which is great. And it is $249. Can I just repeat that? TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE DOLLARS. That's awesome!

So what could my cons be?

In the start it would reboot and restart itself a lot. There is an easy fix to this. There are 'channels' like beta, developer, stable. I changed my channel to beta from stable and I haven't had the problem since! But it was a pain in the butt to have it happen.

Also, the screen isn't fantastic in certain angles. It is a matte finished screen which I think is why but not my biggest qualm.

Something personally for me, is that I can't seem to write blog posts on Wordpress on my Chromebook. The site freezes up and pictures are the worst when you have to move them around on a post while writing. It is a terrible experience so I just do my blog stuff on my Mac.

[caption id="attachment_2204" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Back of device with the ports[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2205" align="aligncenter" width="640"] side profile[/caption]

Finally, I think for the price what you get is pretty standard and reasonable but I hate that it is a wifi only device. That said, because the whole computer is based on the web browser you literally can't do anything if you don't have internet. With a Mac for example you could at least do stuff around the desktop and in programs.

I have to check but I believe with some of the Chromebooks you can buy a data package from Verizon to use but who really wants to shell out that money?

All in all I give it an 8 out of 10 and would definitely recommend this to anyone who isn't looking for a high powered machine!

Go here to read more about this Chromebook and the others available Chromebooks!