My review of the CR-48 Google Notebook
I received my Google OS notebook on Monday December 20 but do to some obligations at work and some family miscommunication I did not actually see it until Tuesday. I have been playing with it for just a few hours and would like to share my initial thoughts with you.
First I would like to point out, you must understand this is a Beta unit and will be no where near what the production unit will be. Second being this is the first release of the Chrome OS also there are many improvements that will be made by the beta testers.
I am going to start with hardware then move to software.
So far I am impressed with the unit itself. The battery life, screen, keyboard and mouse are all user friendly, at least to me. The battery life is the biggest surprise so far. The unit comes with the instructions to just put the battery in and start using the notebook. The battery was half charged when I put it in and I messed around with it for about 2 hours and it was still over a quarter charged.
The keyboard has taken a little time to get used to since a lot of the buttons (alt/ctrl are there but the F keys are not) I am used to using on a Windows based system are gone. I love using keyboard shortcuts and Google OS has them I just need to get used to the changes.
I do prefer using a pointer stick mouse over a mouse pad but again this is only a personal preference. The mouse pad that comes with the unit is easy to use and quite large, a plus when you have sausage fingers like I do.
The screen is pleasant surprise. It is not what I have seen on some machines that were meant for media centers or gaming but is very nice. Pictures and video show up crisp and clear.
The on-board video camera takes nice pictures and video, not the highest quality but very good. When I tried to use the microphone, only once so far, there were some issues. My wife said it sounded choppy or as if it was breaking up. I am not sure this is a microphone issue though, internet has been a little slow in the neighborhood lately, some new lines are being installed.
The overall weight of the unit is nice, coming it at just 3.8 pounds.
Now my wish list for changes. I would like to see a cd/dvd drive on board. I hope this happens but with Google moving toward everything in the cloud they may not add it. As addressed earlier I would like to see a pointer stick mouse also. The speakers are adequate but could be better.
No for the software. Please remember I have been using the unit for less then a day so these are my initial observations.
I have not had time to look at a lot of the items available at the Chrome Web Store but there is quite a bit there. Many of the free apps I tried just direct you to the host's website and you go from there.
Using Chrome OS is much or almost exactly like using the Chrome browser. As soon as I signed in all of my extension/themes/setting/bookmarks were automatically updated. I have the sync feature enabled on my Dell Windows unit so this may have made it much faster. There is no desktop since you won't be storing anything on the unit. You can download stuff but it goes directly to a download queue that just pops up when select it. There is no "My Computer," "My Documents" or any of the other items you may look for. There is no start menu, no task bar or anything else you would look for. The time/date, WiFi and battery symbol are in the top right corner of the screen. The "control panel" as it is is the wrench you are used to using in the Chrome Browser. I will write new post after I have had time to mess with the Chrome Web Store more.
No Netflix is huge miss so far for me but I am sure Google and Netflix will have this ready to go before production units hit the web/stores.
My initial review is very positive. The hardware for a beta unit is impressive and functional. The software is easy to use if you have ever used the Chrome Browser. To grade the unit after such a short time is not fair of me but life isn't fair so here it is. I give the unit a solid B right now. With feedback from beta testers and software improvements I expect this grade to rise rather quickly.
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