Acer announces first Google Chrome OS netbook
Summary: Acer has nabbed the bragging rights to being the first to produce a Google Chrome OS-powered netbook, to be released some time next year.
Acer has nabbed the bragging rights to being the first to produce a Google Chrome OS-based netbook, to be released some time next year, according to a Digitimes interview. And the rest is being kept hush hush.
The netbook company has been working on the yet-to-be-named device since much earlier this year. They've also dallied around with Google before on the Acer Aspire D250 (seen above), which has dual-boot Windows XP and Google Android capabilities.
While we don't have an exact date, or even sample specs or prices yet, it's likely that this is only the first of an oncoming slew of Chrome OS-powered netbooks. Don't forget you can also get Chrome OS on your laptop already. And with the preview having been available for some time now, PC World has some additional tips to help you get it if you're having trouble.
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Talkback
ChromeOS as dual-boot option
When you want an instant on, fast, secure & no maintenance OS, for internet access, boot into ChromeOS. When you need a specific desktop application, boot into Windows or Ubuntu.
As HTML5 web apps (with offline support & desktop app performance) gain momentum, the need to boot into a full desktop OS should diminish.
That would only make sense to me if....
If you do not need Windows, maybe a multicore ARM system that would run in a very low power state in ChromeOS would hit the spot.
I think these are exciting times in the portables market.
The problem with that
Even more to the point ... the only time I ever reboot ...
All other times, my laptops, desktops and netbook resume from sleep in < 2s.
It's faster for me to resume my machine from sleep than shut down Windows (where I do the bulk of my work/surfing/etc) in order to boot into ANY other OS.
Sorry Google, this is still a fail.
Why is this a "fail"?
Have you been beta testing it? It hasn't even been been released yet.
I'm as big a Windoze basher as anybody but I at least waited until it (Win7) was released and I used it before I commented on it.
Sheesh...
Yes I've tried it out.
It was everything I expected and nothing I need.
http://lifehacker.com/5408932/chrome-os-virtual-machine-build-ready-for-your-testing
Dual booting is too much complexity. To get something that is fool proof
Yes, they will have to offer local applications
whose data is backed up on the cloud. If anything
ever goes wrong, you just re-flash it.
Nothing in life is that simple, Donnie
Get a CLUE.
Netbooks are crap
Netbooks are a very poor value, and the average consumer does not understand their limitations. We're fighting various departments here on campus who just look at the dollars and think netbooks are just small, inexpensive laptops.
The cause for celebration will be when....
Idiotic Posts?
books. I bought one for each of my children and
honestly in MY opinion, those are nothing more
than a glorified email reader. It?s rare that I
waste money but in this case, I sure as hell done
just that! For a couple hundred more each I could
have given the children a ?real? and ?functional?
portable PC.
Your failure to....
What I take exception to are sweeping generalizations like "they are crap" or "they are perfect for everyone". There is a multitude of user's needs out there and there is a considerable variety of products to meet them.
And I am sorry you spent money on a form factor you later regret buying. When you try to do the best you can for your children, it is not a nice feeling that you have wasted your money. Consider looking for used notebooks for their desks. You can probably pick up decent used ones for a very reasonable sum, especially if you can live with dead batteries (use them as desktop replacements).
LOL - well said. My wife and daughter thought
Support costs
I have to deal with the mental midgets with alphabet soup after their names who will purchase a netbook and then demand that we make it work as fast as their laptops -- the laptops with twice the memory, 6 times the processor speed, a display with more pixels, etc.
After all, they are PhDs (or even post-Docs_ so that implies that they are experts on any topic.
Hmmm... coming across as a trifle bitter here.
"a trifle bitter"
The "bitter" part however is straight out of the left field. Anybody who makes sweeping generalizations about a product's value/suitability, and in particular when the product is selling well, needs to do a reality check.
Do I think such statements are stupid? Yes. Does it make me bitter? No. It has noting to do with me. It does not affect me or reflect on me in any way. It does however speak volumes about the person making the generalization(s).
Actually, Netbook screens are getting bigger, processors more powerful,
The sweet spot by the end of next year will be:
1) 11.5 inch screen.
2) dual core, 1.5 GHz
3) 2 GB memory
4) full size or nearly full size keyboard
5) $250
6) 64 GB SSD
7) 12 hour battery life
8) Chrome OS!!
Shipments will double every year as prices drop,
processing power goes up, memory goes up,
battery life goes up. The screen size will top
out at about 11 to 12 inches though, for size.
Yes, there will be some idiots screaming the
whole time. Nobody will listen.
You need 2GB and a 64GB HDD for ChromeOS? WHY????
Why, therefore, will it need machines with dual-core CPU's fitted with 2GB RAM and a 64GB SSD/HDD??????
More likely, the sweet-spot for ChromeOS devices will be:
1) 10" screen
2) Single-core 800MHz ARM CPU
3) 1GB memory
4) 90% size keyboard
5) 8GB SSD
6) 12 hour battery life
7) Chrome OS
8) Mobile broadband card & 2 year contract with horrendous early-termination fee FAR exceeding the cost of an outright netbook purchase
9) $99
Again, without an internet connection, ChromeOS is nothing more than bits.
Agreed. Netbooks are crap
This Atom 1.3 with GMA 500.. total crap. And (more crap) they all look like clones of a reference design. I bet half the people that buy an Apple product do so because it looks like the company hired an actual designer.
"Here is what people want:"
Did it ever occur to you that there are MANY different needs and wants out there, and that you cannot see past you own nose?
Of course not. If that occurred to you, you would not make such stupid posts.
you are the only one!