New MacBook for me? No, Samsung Chromebook on the way
Summary: My MacBook is getting long in the tooth and I have been thinking for months what I would do to replace it. Those spiffy MacBook Airs look nice, and that new MacBook with Retina Display is really cool. In the end I decided to get what will work well.
My 13-inch aluminum MacBook has served me well for years. It has at least a million words on it along with hundreds of thousands of miles of travel. It's still ticking, too, although showing signs of fatigue. I have been looking at a replacement for my old friend, and surprised myself by going cheap with a Chromebook.
I am an acknowledged gadget freak and I would love a shiny expensive toy for my every day work, but after careful examination I realized that would be overkill. I am platform agnostic, I regularly switch working among the MacBook, Windows desktop, Windows laptop, iPad, Android tablet, well you get the picture.
The truth is no matter what gadget I am using, I am always, without fail, doing my work in the Chrome browser. Google was ahead of the game by releasing the Chrome browser on all of the major platforms. I can do my work, without compromise, in the Chrome browser.
That realization made me look anew at the Chromebook. It runs an OS that is an extended Chrome browser, and that fits my work needs perfectly. Google updates the Chrome OS regularly and those updates just appear on the Chromebook without intervention. The idea of having a laptop that updates itself all the time is liberating to me.
Finding out I could get the latest Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook for $450 sealed the deal, and one should be arriving at my home office today. I can't remember when I have been so excited to get such a cheap laptop, but I think the Chrome OS has evolved to make it a perfect fit for my work needs.
I will be sharing my thoughts on the Chromebook when I get some time under the hood, but for now I am anxiously awaiting for the man in brown to arrive. It's not a solution for everyone, but I think it's the right one for me.
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Talkback
Interested
My concern with Chrome is how deeply is Google in my private realm? Security is a big issue for me with them. I stopped using the Chrome browser over it.
Chromebook Security
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_does_google_protect_your_data_in_the_cloud.php
http://dev.chromium.org/Home/chromium-security
Within a 6-week period this summer, I replaced a Chromebook prototype that had been dropped on concrete one too many times, and my wife's 5-year old Macbook 13 (the ones with the white cases that crack, and optical drives that fail). We first bought a MBA 13, but it died after 10 days, so we ended up with a more flexible, but heavier and slower MBP 13.
Getting all my wife's data off her old Mac proved to me more trouble than expected, and some of her software will not run under OS X 10.8 (aka Mountain Lion). Setting up my new Chromebook required less than 15 minutes, with no data migration or software issues. Her new Macbook Pro is pretty to look at, but feels it like a stone compared with my new Chromebook. I have yet to see her do anything but use the web with it, so basically the Mac was a waste of money, and a Chromebook would have met her needs at less than half the cost, half the weight, and far less than half the startup speed.
You have bought a dodo
And why is that?
Yeah, that web thing is a passing fad
I've done it for long stretches
As soon as they are available in this country, I'm getting one.
New MacBook for me? No, Samsung Chromebook on the way
We know, but you are clueless
Read slowly: HE DOES NOT NEED THOSE "apps and browsers".
What part of that do you not understand?
Trade-offs
A very compelling model for both Grandma and modern web-centric techies and young people.
Good choice James
Best of Luck.
Dietrich T. Schmitz
Your Linux Advocate
So glad you joined us
So DTS, I started looking up instructions on how to install a different OS on the Samsung Chromebook. I discovered that Samsung has implemented something called "OS Verification" that prevents you from modifying the OS on this otherwise perfectly normal x86 compatible hardware. To turn that verification off, and I'm not making this up, you have to open the case, remove a bit of tape and flip a small switch.
http://cr-48.wikispaces.com/Set+Developer+Mode
This is Linux being anti-choice. This is Linux being evil. This is horrible. Where is the outcry in the Linux community about this behavior?
DTS, your reputation has been soiled.
Not entirely
http://chromeos-cr48.blogspot.in/2012/04/chrubuntu-1204-now-with-double-bits.html
Dual-booting Chrome OS and Ubuntu 12.04 is quite interesting.
P.S. DTS, good to see your posts here again.
You are more than welcome to stop by G+ where I post most often these days
I followed your link and it said exactly what mine did
...
Entering Developer mode is easy:
1.Remove the battery.
2.Peel off the sticker that hides the developer switch (see image 1).
3.Flip the developer switch towards the battery connector (see image 2).
4.Put the battery back in.
5.Turn the device back on.
6.Press Ctrl-D at the scary warning screen.
7.Wait 5-10 minutes and any saved information on your device will be erased.
8.Congratulations, enjoy hacking in Developer Mode!"
This is complicated for end users. Out of the box, this thing will not let you install any other OS. The fact that you can you go through complicated steps was always irrelevant when it came to Windows 8 secure boot so I'm sorry Mr. Monkey, I will not accept that argument here.
Unless now it is okay to release something in secure mode as long as there is a way for users who are really interested in dual booting can follow a process for turning off the secure mode? If so, I would like to see you on the next SJVN attack piece telling him that he is wrong to hate Windows 8 secure boot. Will I see you there?
Hi!
Turn Off Chromebook.
Locate recessed switch to the upper right side of the keyboard.
Switch Switch.
Enjoy Developer Mode.
Does that disable secure boot?
Re: Thus making the device less secure?
I'll forward you to the link, you make up your own mind
http://www.zdnet.com/another-way-around-linuxs-windows-secureboot-problem-7000000829/
"Yes, you can disable it. But 'disabling' something that's 'secure' makes you bad."
Not my words, not my logic. Take from that what you will.
Not a security hole
Expect to see a selection of future Chromebooks aimed at end users that do not have the switch.
Your argument is flawed.
And your information is not relevant to commercial Chromebooks. The tape was only on the Cr-48, which was Google's limited distribution beta test device.