iGeneration

Charlie Osborne

Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

By Zack Whittaker | June 9, 2011, 1:34pm PDT

Summary: Chromebooks are now available for pre-order; shipping begins on the 15th June, and pricing has been announced, too.

Google Chromebooks have finally gone on sale at Best Buy and Amazon. Available for pre-order in the United States at this stage only, the devices will start shipping from the 15th June; just under a week’s time.

Google tweeted a couple of hours ago:

“Nothing but the web: Samsung & Acer #Chromebooks now available for pre-order from @Amazon and @BestBuy in the US http://t.co/LpY0jWU“

Since 2009 when the slimmed-down laptops were first announced, many have waited for this day. Google tempted testers and developers with the Cr-48 prototype notebook, but since bowed out to more powerful hardware provided by Acer and Samsung.

There are half a dozen new Chromebooks available, and prices range from $379.99 through to $499.99.

I for one, however, will not be buying one. Whether these devices are truly compatible with student — at seemingly such a steep price for little desire from either the hardware specifications or the ‘nothing but the web’ appeal, only time will tell.

Students, however, will be able to buy a Chromebook for $20 per month. Nevertheless, it is a relatively sweet deal for those in education; roughly equating to $180 throughout the academic year.

A Google spokesperson told me today that though Chromebooks will be launching in six European countries including the United Kingdom, “pricing has not been announced yet” for these regions.

The $20 a month price also includes a web console, updates, warranty and replacements, as well as support for central administrators.

Though Chrome OS will be largely cloud-dependent, the devices will have 3G access and offline functionality. ‘Offline mode’ allows users to work on Docs, Gmail and Calendar and other applications while working whilst disconnected from the web.

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Google Inc., Chromebook, Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, a criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, Canterbury, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

owlnet 9th Jun

Chrome book make sense if it could be sold under $99 for just browsing the web or checking mail for those who just do these two things. Otherwise its an ill-fated idea.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

Aerowind 9th Jun

@owlnet I agree. For these prices, just go get your self a net/notebook.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

auntaru 10th Jun

@Aerowind
http://pantestmb.blogspot.com/2011/06/chromebooks-first-chromephones-next.html

What if chromebooks are another test ( after cr48 ) ,
and the final products will be the CHROME-PHONES ?

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

chadhs 10th Jun

@owlnet i agree that they are not for everyone yet and it would be nice to see a ~$300 or sub $300 price point option. however i think some of you are being a little short sighted as well. it's an almost zero maintenance stateless device; with all the html5 web apps in the chrome webstore you can really do 90%+ of what a power user would do on a laptop already, imagine in another 12 months.... cool

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

ypsrudy 10th Jun

@chadhs Why would anybody want to put all their files, photo's and work on the web totally! No sir I don't want Uncle Sam being able to just go on the cloud and swoop up all the information they want.... I want to have time when they coming knocking at my door so I can Terra form my stuff into thin air. Just because I can!

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it will be booting linux and windows in a week or two..

ursulus 10th Jun

@owlnet
Just wait for the brainiacs to crack this one.. I see it as a fairly cheap Windows net/notebook..

Malcolm

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so?

ewertz Updated - 10th Jun

@ursulus : Who cares? At that point it will be different from no other netbook in terms of features or price.

It's not like it's being subsidized, like a game console or anything. So what's your point?

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

ypsrudy 10th Jun

@ursulus Doesn't the zoom or galaxy tab do the same thing?

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

Bit-Smacker 13th Jun

@owlnet
I thought the same thing until I read that they INCLUDE two years of Verizon 3G access. At that point, the device is almost free. For people who are always mobile, it's a good deal!

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Contributr

Will you be buying a Chromebook?

zwhittaker 9th Jun

Is the future of computing cloud-based features and online web applications, or is the hardware effectively "too powerful" for the bare-bones operating system that it runs on? Could Chrome OS knock Mac, Windows or Linux off the market share ladder, or is the cloud-based features to this bare-bones operating system simply not ready for an already booming hardware market? Have your say.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

josh92 9th Jun

@zwhittaker

I'm looking forward to seeing what the public has to say after the Chromebooks have been out for a while.

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In a few weeks, perhaps a few months, they'll be known as CrummyBooks.

adornoe@... 10th Jun

Even many of the people who buy it initially just because it's a "novelty" or because it's from Google, will be demanding their money back.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

ItsTheBottomLine Updated - 10th Jun

@zwhittaker
"Could Chrome OS knock Mac, Windows or Linux off the market share ladder..." I didn't' think so. We have three here at work arrived earlier this week. I played with it a little bit. It's OK, that's the best thing I can say about it at this point. There is a mental shift that the consumer/student will have to get over. That is the concept of a windowed environment and the feeling you have control. Using for about 30 minutes I felt trapped in the browser, and I kept wanting to close that and go some where else. Even WP7, iOS and Android allow you to leave the application your in and get back to a "home" area.

The other part is you are relying on connectivity for most of the functionality - appears at this point anyway - that you do not have control over, and data plans will come into play big time. It will be interesting, because they have a niche I think it's way to early (infrastructure, data plans, mental shift for people) for a device like this.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

HypnoToad72 10th Jun

@zwhittaker - I create content and intellectual property. There is no way in New Jersey, or anywhere else, I'd trust Google. Especially when I'm paying money out of MY pocket, when contrasted with their terms of service/use.

This bears repeating, given its significance for all of us that actually work for a living:

http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-12691-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=71841&messageID=1388017&tag=content;col1

Given what they do in their TOS, any smart student should demand google pay them for their work and intellectual property they intend to put on these things.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

Cylon Centurion Updated - 9th Jun

"Could Chrome OS knock Mac, Windows or Linux off the market share ladder?

No. It won't even come close. Sorry, Google fans, but ChromeOS (and pure cloud operating systems - AKA JoliCloud) are DOA.

Pricing is off.
Does less than a full feature MacBook or Laptop PC.
Totaly incompatible with student's lifestyle. Especially in dorms, students will lean toward a laptop that can do it all - DVD's, games, Facebook, music, and Microsoft Office.
Oh, and there's the little fact of no local storage coupled with the poor bandwidth colleges have. That won't make for a pleasant experience.

Also, it is going up against a tech savy generation of consumers. These aren't the people you find in the office afraid to touch the computer or flood your helpdesk Queue everytime an icon dissappears off the desktop, or God forbid, after an OS upgrade. These younger consumers know the ins and outs of Windows and MacOSX and aren't afraid or put off by all the features of full operating systems.

Not to mention, ChromeOS is going up against Windows (Which consumers or businesses won't be ditching anytime soon), MacOSX, and to a lesser extent, iOS on the iPad. Quite frankly it might as well as be an army of people armed with brooms going up against Napoleon, Ghengis Khan, or even the German Wehrmacht. I honestly just don't see it going anywhere at all. It's not like Google can sneak this onto people's machines like they can their browser.

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think again

MSFTWorshipper 9th Jun

@Cylon Centurion Grandma will like a Chromebook. She has no need for local storage or much of anything besides web services.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

Cylon Centurion 9th Jun

@MSFTWorshipper

Grandparents who actually have need for a computer are few and far between. Neither of mine have anything of the sort, and have no interest in having one.

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I agree with Cylon Centurion

Mister Spock 9th Jun

@MSFTWorshipper
I hear the term "but Grandmother will like this" yet I know of very few, if any Grandmothers (in the sense of the word as it is being used) that have a computer, let alone desiring one at their age.
plain

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

farwest101 10th Jun

@MSFTWorshipper Grandma doesn't even know about storage - and that's why the ipad is such a hit. Instant on for dummies. 95% of users want a device to work like a TV - switch it on, and switch off the brain (what little was not preoccupied by the latest juicy tabloid gossip or stuffing their obese bodies)

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

levinson 10th Jun

@Cylon Centurion: My mother (who is a grandmother) wouldn't want one of these, she uses a real computer and this wouldn't be sufficient for her needs. But I would agree, she is one of those "few and far between" grandmothers!

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

cboquin 11th Jun

@MSFTWorshipper
I know many people like this. No hassles, just some thing to log on, check your account(s) with *total* security,, visit a few news sites and leave the message on for messages from the family. No time to worry about OS problems or threats.

That is exactly what will cause the next uptick in internet scares, breaches and concerns.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

chadhs 10th Jun

@Cylon Centurion people are too afraid of change and often not forward thinking enough. trust me i like having my data on hand (all my base are belong to me), but to ignore the benefits of stateless devices like this is short sighted. imagine a mobile sales force using chromebooks with googleapps, salesforce.com, etc (or hosted exchange for that matter). huge savings in hardware costs and support costs, and that's just one future scenario. i'm sure you'll see microsoft and apple move more into this space soon as well.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

fdaugherty 10th Jun

@Cylon Centurion
"Oh, and there's the little fact of no local storage"
the devices will have 3G access and offline functionality. ?Offline mode? allows users to work on Docs, Gmail and Calendar and other applications while working whilst disconnected from the web.

"students will lean toward a laptop that can do it all - DVD's, games, Facebook, music, and Microsoft Office."

DVD = Netflix online
Facebook you have to be online - most are using phones for this app anyway
Music = Pandora, and 100 other online services
Google Docs is fairly useful for most anything a college kid needs, besides Office is way too expensive

While could is not for everyone and there are huge concerns about privacy - 90-95% of everything done on a personal computer is done online. The only thing that I can't do online is maybe TurboTax, but they may have the ability through a https site that I don't know about.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

unknownenemyzero 12th Jun

@Cylon Centurion

I believe Chromebooks has a good idea. Not perfect of course.

Working for a college computer services, I think its a good idea and will work for education and a decent amount of consumers.

People who already tech savvy definitely look down on it. However even though were in a generation of tech savvy youth, it's still surprising that no one properly shuts down a computer, doesn't know how to save documents properly, and doesn't even know the difference between file extensions. The number one hardware problem coming across our student's laptops is hard drive failure yet you'd be surprised how many people don't understand how common that is and fail to backup their own data.

This isn't even getting into malware/antivirus, defragging, and basic maintenance of Windows machine.

No processing power of any average laptop or macbook will come close to what PS3/360/Wii can accomplish. Consumers have already invested more into gaming on console than PC to begin with. Just walk into Gamestop, PC gaming is on a huge decline. Macbooks have sold well, even without the need of gaming. Not to mention Blu-ray compatibly and Netflix which are non-gaming media.

I do not agree with everything though. Prices definitely need to be adjusted and automatic updates without your knowledge is a bit troubling.

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Microsoft beware!

MSFTWorshipper 9th Jun

Ballmer is shaking in fear of the Chromebook!

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I doubt that very much

Mister Spock 9th Jun

@MSFTWorshipper

plain

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Ballmer is shaking...

dazzlingd 9th Jun

@MSFTWorshipper ... with laughter!

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

Return_of_the_jedi 10th Jun

@dazzlingd

That spells success for the product. Him laughing is a good thing. Just ask Steve J.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

HypnoToad72 10th Jun

@Return_of_the_jedi - barring the obvious giveaway in the subject line, which "product" might you be referring to? A toothbrush? (These generic filler words, like "product", are so pretentious...)

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Slow-motion Whack-a-Mole

Robert Hahn 9th Jun

It seems like every ten years or so, the "thin client" rears its ugly head and causes much fulminating in the tech press... until it gets whacked over the head by reality, which is that no one buys them. Then it goes away for another ten years, only to be brought back again.

Sun tried this, Oracle tried this (Larry Ellison was gonna give them to poor people), Wyse tried this, and now Google.

I wonder what they'll be called next time.

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Perhaps the third time is the charm.

kenosha77a 9th Jun

@Robert Hahn

Like Zack stated, 180 dollars per year could appeal to students world wide. However, I wonder what the cost would be for a replacement Chromebook should an unlucky encounter with a cup of coffee occur?

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Contributr

RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

zwhittaker 10th Jun

@kenosha7777 You're right. Basically, there are too many unanswered questions. I'll see about getting some answered.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

levinson 10th Jun

@kenosha7777 There are plenty of students worldwide who can't afford $50 per year, let alone $180.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

Nikata 10th Jun

Seem most of the users won't buy the Goolge Chromebooks from their comments.Well,the number will plus one.I don't think there is any reason we need to buy it.Full desktop,laptop,iphone,ipad, these can meet all the need of users...Another important reason for me is that only google's app can be supported.what's that? I like using Avant browser,IDM dowmloader,opera browser and IE spell.None of them can used if I use chromebook.

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Ok....

Gis Bun 10th Jun

Why would anyone want an overpriced netbook with another Linux distro on it? Who is going to buy this aside from the geeks/techies and Linux fans? Consumers don't know Linux - no matter how well you dress it.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

funnyusername 10th Jun

Given you can buy an Android tablet that'll do everything this can, and more, for $199 this is going to die in a big way, and fast

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After 3 years, it's chaper just to get a netbook for that long -

HypnoToad72 10th Jun

even then, at $20/mo for students, that's way too expensive.

The reason is here:

http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-12691-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=71841&messageID=1388017&tag=content;col1

Given what they do in their TOS, any smart student should demand google pay them for their work and intellectual property they intend to put on these things.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

Heatlesssun1 10th Jun

Bottom line, what does this do for its price that we don't already have? Nothing. You could argue that its more secure but security in the cloud is becoming rapidly a bigger issue than local security, just look at all of the cloud attacks recently.

Browser-in-a-box. Just boring when you compare it to something like Windows 8.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

ypsrudy 10th Jun

I think that the asus transformer it about the closest thing to a chromebook. But the advantage here is the transformer becomes a stand alone super thin Tablet and touch activated to boot. Sorry Chromebook, 2 thumbs down...LLAP

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Is that ALL?

itsols 10th Jun

I don't think the cloud is the place to go right now. At least not for students. I'm a teacher AND developer.

Students and teachers have to often do research and document work, tutorials, etc. But as a developer, I NEED the terminal and I need to be out of the browser as well.

Call it what you want to but this is nothing new. I'm happier with my P4 laptop. I can have both local and online ops. What's more, I'm a heavy Ubuntu user.

After all they DID build on linux... They shouldn't have brought these restrictions.

It's not worth it.

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High price for a dumb terminal

Pazooza 11th Jun

Remember those? You can get a full functioning laptop for that money.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

cboquin 11th Jun

We've gone as far as we can go on portable. Now we are starting to repackage the same product in different boxes/styles - laptop, netbook, Ipad, etc. With (hand) portables you've had the Ipod Touch, Palm, etc. The PC has gone through even more flavors - cube, monitor all-in-one, AT, MAC, etc. Everything has gone from one level to the next, a new design, better (and faster) processors, multi-tasking (some better than others), but all basically still the same. The ONLY item which has gone through a DRAMATIC and OBVIOUS change are the phones that we use today (compared to the phones from yester-year). But now, even that has stagnated. What changes-camera resolution location features, GPS, more memory? What you will see now, in my view, the same product, re-packaged. With new lipstick, rouge and color. The same pig will seem new and more beautiful, but will forever remain, the same pig from before. So thinketh I.

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RE: Google Chromebooks finally go on sale: Available 15th June

cboquin 11th Jun

why by soemthing new and (yet really) untested? Just use Linux on a laptop or PC that YOU ALREADY have, and customize it to your needs. Don't use someone elses models. Once VISTA dies off and is no longer updated, homey will switch to Linux, once and for all. Why shouldn't I? I own a laptop that has outdated and no longer supported software and another laptop that has XP that will still be supported for some time more. No brainer. Once XP dies off, again, that laptop will end up in Linux. So who loses? Apple - no thousand dollar machine to run what I am used to running (already). Microsoft - no thank you. Been there done that. What happens if Linux goes to pay-for use? Not sure. Maybe, just maybe, I'd consider leaving the internet for some happy reality. MAYBE! grin

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Master password?!

billcheng 12th Jun

Does anyone know how my online banking password will be stored? Of course it will be encrypted, but with what key? Will Google be choosing a key for me? That would be a non-starter for me because I don't trust Google to hold my keys! Or will Google finally do the right thing and let me choose a master password to generate a key to encrypt everything?