Samsung Series 5 Wi-Fi 12.1-Inch Chromebook (Titan Silver)
- Processor: 1.66 GHz Intel Atom dual-core N570 processor
- Storage: 16 GB solid-state drive (SSD)
- Communications: Wireless-N Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
- Ports: Two USB 2.0, 4-in-1 memory card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC)
- 12.1-inch LED-backlit show; Built-in stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jack
Innovatively designed to go as long as you can, the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 lets you spend the whole day surfing, streaming, and working on the web on just one charge. With less than 10-second booting and an incredible 8.5 hours of battery life, the light and sleek Chromebook Series 5 gives you the ultimate web experience that you won’t find on any other laptop. Search for the best web experience and you’ll find the new Samsung Chromebook Series 5 (see larger image). The Chrome-based operati
List Price: $ 429.99
Price: $ 429.99
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Chromebooks Go Production,
I’ve been testing the prototype Cr-48 since February. I expected to just use the device for a few weeks and then go back to my desktop system. But instead I changed a few of my habits and stayed with it ever since. There is very small difference between the Cr-48 and the production Samsung. Size is about the same, keyboard nearly identical. Cr-48 was coated with a rubbery material that you either like or despise. Samsung is more traditional glossy plastic.
Both machines have very bright and crisp displays in a wide format. The screen itself is of the traditional non-glare type. I can’t imagine why anyone would want a screen with glare but I notice many new systems come that way. I guess if you work in a really dark room the glossy screens are fine. The second version of the Chromebook from Acer is said to have a glossy screen for anyone that wants that.
I’ll second what others said that this machine is not for everyone. If you a huge user of Apple products and pleased with their “roadmap” to the future, stay with them. If you need all the specialized software that only runs on Windows, then you’d better stay there too.
But… If you are tired of running virus scanners, clean-up utilities, disk defragmenters, firewalls, and tired of having to question a relative or neighbor to get your machine working again (or worse having to pay someone to do it) then cloud-based computing may be for you.
Chrome OS is a slimmed down (very) version of Linux that boots in 8 seconds and awakes from sleep nearly instantly. There is no desktop, so the graphical interface is the Chrome web browser which takes up the whole screen as soon as you log-on to the machine. There are some “hidden” aspects to this OS, but you can only get to them by flipping a special switch for those who like to experiment, and the machine keeps track of the fact that you have done this. Security experts know that no system is safe if you grant physical access to an attacker, but the Chrome notebook does everything it can to protect your locally stored information (even though there isn’t much of that). Each user must log into the machine and that causes his and only his files to become unencrypted for use. Signing off causes those files to be encrypted again. But very small data is stored on the machine anyway and the entire solid state “disk” is only 16 gig, so pack-rats need not apply. The thought is that you store all your documents in the cloud (you are not limited to using Google products to do this of course). While you *can* download files, typically you do so simply to turn around and upload them somewhere else. You can show photos and play MP3 and MP4 files locally but that is about it (for now anyway). In addition to the SSD space you can store local files on a USB stick or memory card (as used in cameras). Theoretically files you store on the SSD drive will get erased automatically after a while (like a month, though I haven’t seen this happen yet). So if you feel you just HAVE to have some files to carry around with you, a 16G USB stick is probably advisable.
If you want to let a friend use the machine, just sign off and they can use “Guest mode” and your stuff will be safe, no matter what they do. Also anything they do will get erased when they are done. If someone else will be using he machine regularly they can also sign in with a Google ID rather than using Guest mode and their files and yours will be kept isolated from one another.
I’m not sure what it is I like about this keyboard as it mostly resembles other “island keyboards” but I bang pretty hard on the keys and they usually register without too many mistakes. I don’t feel that I am in danger of breaking the thing as is the case with many new notebooks or keyboards. The mousepad as others have mentioned is HUGE. I am not a huge fan of mousepads so even with a notebooks I tend to carry a mouse with me. I recently went visiting needed to use the mousepad for a while though and found it acceptable. I’d say a cut below the Apple mouspads, but not by much. Remember that most of what you get from a mousepad is done in software, not hardware. When the Cr-48s came out there were lots of complaints about the mousepads being nearly unusable, but with each new release of the OS things got better and I’m sure that will continue.
With Chrome OS being a young product so far there is still room for improvement, but the improvements are coming honestly regularly and they are really non-disruptive, downloading in the background and automatically activating the next time you boot. Even that first boot after update doesn’t seem to take longer as with some OSs.
There are three “Channels” for updates: Stable, Beta, and Dev(eloper) depending on how risk averse you are. There is also a USB stick based recovery procedure should your machine get “hosed” which can…
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|Incredible product!,
I am very pleased with my Samsung Chromebook. I had been looking for a computer that was quick, simple to use and did not keep breaking down so when Google announced the Chromebook Pilot program I signed up and got the CR-48. I really liked my CR-48 and therefore bought the Samsung Chromebook with 3G at the Gilt flash sale. I’ve had it now for a few days and am very pleased with it.
The Samsung Chromebook is very light weight and portable; and I like its clean looks and solid end. The keyboard is incredible and the trackpad is HUGE. It also feels a lot quicker than the CR-48. The software on the CR-48 kept improving and getting better in the 6 months I had it and it feels like its gotten even better on the Samsung Series 5. There’s now a file manager and a media player and it is super simple to upload photos to Picasa. And ofcourse it has Chrome which is quick.
The setup was ridiculously simple. As soon as I logged in all my apps, bookmarks and settings came in and it felt like I was back on my ancient computer. In all I reckon I went from closed box to fully ready in a couple of minutes. This was truly incredible. All the other benefits of the CR-48: the quick boot, quick resume and built in 3G are all there in this Chromebook.
I would recommend a Chromebook to anyone; but when people question me if this is right for them this is what I say: it’s fantastic if you primarily use a laptop/ notebook for your personal stuff which, at least for me, is nearly all web-based – gmail, facebook, amazon, youtube, google docs. For ‘work’ I use design software (Adobe CS5, Autocad, etc) that needs serious processing power and a large screen; and thus I use a high-end laptop, but that means it’s heavy and cumbersome. The Chromebook is my personal computer and it works perfectly for that purpose – we leave it lying around the house and pick it up whenever we need to do something that is not work related. It also helps that its battery life is phenomenal. When my parents (NOT tech-savvy) were over they also used the CR-48 a lot and it worked fantastic for them. I plot to get a new Chromebook for them too. So if you want a notebook for personal use that works quick, is reliable and inexpensive, get this one.
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|Fantastic laptop, severely misunderstood product,
Quick points:
- Yes, it DOES work offline. There are loads of apps and games that do work offline, and offline mode is coming to Gmail, Docs, and Calendar very soon (this summer)
- Web apps are nearing the usefulness of actual desktop apps
- The vast majority of people don’t need Photoshop or Final Cut Pro, or a 4GHz processor
- Web apps are the future. They are compatible with any OS that has a browser, which is basically every OS
- Seems even more secure against viruses than a Mac
- No more paying for OS updates like you do with Mac or Windows
- Don’t need antivirus software running all the time
- Open sourced OS is very technologically ethical, meaning more progress and more transparency in terms of what is going on inside OUR computers
- The browser was becoming an OS itself already for while, Google is just separating it
- Super quick start up time and long battery life are fantastic pluses
- What about music/video offline? It can’t do that with a web app RIGHT NOW (it nearly certainly will in the future, but you can easily download any kind of media (yes it does have internal storage like some critic say it doesn’t), or you can place media on a SD card from another computer and pop it into this when you cant to watch a movie on a plane or something
- the price IS very excellent. some people say it’s too expensive for what it offers, citing the processor and the nearly comparable price of a Windows PC. They are overlooking the fact that this has a solid state drive, which is a huge plus, that a PC running anti-virus software all the time slows down the processor, that most people don’t NEED the desktop OS anymore, and a vast array of other reasons, including far superior build quality.
If you want to try this already extremely functional laptop, and are ready to jump into the future of operating systems, you can expect improvements in leaps and bounds very quickly, as Google will update everything in the background, and everything will get quicker and better, and your experience will improve over time.
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