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Chromebook:  Pros and Cons after 7-months

Since early December 2010, I’ve been using the prototype Chromebook (Cr-48) provided me by Google.   It’s been fun and, only occasionally, frustrating.   I thought after 7-months, it would be interesting to compare pros and cons to summarize the current state.   My feeling is, prior to beginning this effort, is positive — I’d buy one.   Now, let’s see if I change my own mind.

1. Pros
   • Aesthetics are good. I don’t think I’ve seen a better display or workspace design on a screen this size.   The overall machine is sleek and solid to the touch.   Lacking adornments allows the owner to choose whether he / she wants professional or artistic or whatever look by adding stickers or tattoos to the case.  Personally, flat black is just fine.
   • Battery life is super. I am amazed at how long a charge lasts.  With the Atom processors and solid state disk drive it runs mostly cool and always quiet.  This has to be the greenest computer I’ve ever owned.
   • Maintenance is nil. Updates are handled in background and no extras (anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc.) are needed.   The system can be restored completely from a software image (stored on a 4GB thumb drive) in less than an hour and without losing any data or settings.   Data is stored on the “cloud” (remote web severs) and settings can be synced through Google.   Settings, by the way, are then synced for all computers you use Chrome OS or Chrome web browser on — be they Windows, Mac or Linux machines.  I use all three.
   • Security is good. Should the Chromebook be stolen, all I need do is change my Google password (using another computer or smart phone), and my data is secure.  The exception here would be data stored on an SD card that could be left in the SD reader slot.   I keep this in mind when deciding what I might want to store there.
   • Wifi and Mobile Data Connected. The Cr-48 can connect to the web via wifi or mobile data (i.e. cellular data connection over Verizon networks).   The cellular does not require a contract and seems a good alternative when wifi is unavailable.
2. Cons

• It’s not a general purpose computer. While I can do most of what I do on a computer, I can’t accomplish every task.   I can surf the web including watching flash videos, YouTube, Hulu, Pandora radio, email, download and open PDF documents (except password protected ones).   I can create, edit and share documents using Google docs or Microsoft OfficeLive.  I can upload photos to Picasa or Flickr and do some photo editing using online apps.   I can’t run general purpose CAD software or Photoshop.   I can’t unzip file archives without first uploading them to the cloud.   I can’t mount a Windows shared drive or NAS (network accessible storage) drive on my network.
• Printing requires assistance. Printing is though CloudPrint.  That is, print jobs are submitted over the web to a computer running the CloudPrint server software or to a CloudPrint compatible networked printer (e.g. HP ePrint capable printers).  In my case, I wanted to continue using my 10-year old laser printer, so I run Cloudprint on my Windows desktop connected to the laser printer.   Were the Chromebook my only computer, I’d need to buy a compatible printer.
• Web and Google dependence. This may be a big issue for some, but I think there is reasonable flexibility in sourcing services.   Email can be set up through other providers, as can document storage.   It’s even possible to set up local cloud storage with stand-alone disk drives and devices like Tonido plug — a compact cloud server used in concert with off-the-shelf usb drives.  Though I’ve connected thumbdrives to the Chromebook, I’ve not tried a usb harddrive connected directly.    Web dependence would be a problem for dial-up users, though mobile data could provide an alternative (albeit a relatively expensive alternative).

In conclusion, I feel the Chromebook is well suited to a huge population of computer users.

1. It is attractive to those who use computers but don’t want to be bothered by the details of how they work.   In this respect, I think it rivals Apple’s offerings in providing technology that “just works”.  No geek required to install drivers or fix crashes or install add-ons.
2. It is attractive to IT departments and household geeks because it minimises the need for user support.
3. It is “super simple” to transition PC and Mac users who have experience with the Chrome browser, because the Chromebook experience is nearly identical to the experience of using the Chrome browser.   To that point, there is no need for a Chromebook to do anything you can’t do on a PC or Mac within Chrome brower (which includes using apps from the Chrome Web Store).  The reasons for the Chromebook are security, reliability, and long battery life on well designed and executed hardware.

Supporting these conclusions is the fact that I have, in the course of the past seven months, used the Chromebook,  my Windows desktop, Windows on my laptop, Linux on my laptop, my wife’s Apple PowerBook and Linux via dual boot on the Chromebook, and yet I come back to Chrome OS on the Chromebook for the best experience.   My main reasons for ever booting another computer are:

1. To watch Netflix — which is promised for Chromebook users in the future by Netflix but not yet available;
2. To make a remote desktop connection locally.   This is much quicker than using remote desktop over the internet — the latter is possible on the Chromebook.
3. To unzip a file archive I receive via email or download from a web site — e.g. my photo gallery allows me to download my photos, but only packaged in zip archives.

Draw your own conclusions   Test drive a “virtual Chromebook” on your PC, Mac or Linux machine by installing the Google Chrome browser.   See if you can live totally inside the Chrome browser and store everything you want on the web.  Whenever you’re tempted to launch another application, check the Chrome Web Store and see if there is a solution that works inside Chrome Browser.  Whenever you want to save something, look to the cloud for a place to store it.  Then, imagine doing that on a lightweight notebook with incredible battery life and near zero maintenance.   Oh, and I didn’t mention the Chromebook boots in about 15 seconds from the powered off state (instantaneously from sleep state).

For the counterpoint to this review see Whatever you do, don’t buy a Chromebook.   I obviously disagree.   In my view, my computers are very uninteresting devices when not connected to the web.   We live on the web today.   That’s a fact for most of us.

1. Updated http://hickeyhoo.net . This looks about the same as it did before, but I rebuilt it using Drupal. Drupal is an opensource content management application that does alot of the organizational grunt work. It’s a learning process for me, and I’m just getting started. Thought I’d mention it because the site is a good road map to our various family sites. Nobody really cares about Drupal.

2. I came across UNR Ubuntu distribution customized for netbook computers (UNR = Ubuntu Netbook Remix). I’m using it now, and I like it. It is really fast running on a full notebook, and the user interface is very attractive and intuitive. The distribution installs from a bootable, 1GB thumb drive, and you can run (like a live CD) without installing it on the hard drive. My installation is on a 2.5GB partition. The small partition size provides minimal user storage, but it gives me a true netbook (minimal resource) experience.

Time to resume the yard work. 1 more hour today working under my 3 hour rule — anything is possible with 3 hours effort per day / more effort is allowed only if you really enjoy what you’re doing.

After many (too many) attempts, I finally managed to get SketchUp working under openSuse linux — using the linux wine app (Windows program loader / translation layer).   Now I can make my woodworking plans without booting Windows.  I think I last had it running when I was using Ubuntu — and, perhaps, on a previous computer.   It’s been a while.

PS — Almost as soon as I posted this, SketchUp stopped working. Argh! An update to wine appeared to defeat my fix. After some head scratching (and much cursing) I was again able to celebrate — quietly — at 2 AM.

Just a quick note prompted by spotting an Asus Eee PC on the shelf at Target.   The $299, 2 lb. laptop (“netbook”) is available with WindowsXP or Linux.    I notice at the Target web site that more models are available.   Actually, the units for $359 look like the best choice — larger screen (8.9 vs. 7″ with 1024×600 resolution vs. 800×480 resolution) and more solid state drive capacity (8GB vs. 4GB).   There are other compact “netbook” computers that include conventional hard-drives in lieu of solid state drives, but the battery life must suffer.  The reviews I’ve read have been very positive, and for web surfing, email, home or school document creation (word processing and spreadsheet), and photo viewing these seem very capable.   An external USB drive or online server could provide archival storage if a full blown computer is not available.  An external keyboard, mouse, and monitor could be connected for desktop (docked) use.     Drool.   Drool.

Click on the picture for a cool demo.

Eee PC

I guess what I really like is the design elegance of these little machines.   By stripping out excesses in hardware and software, they satisfy 99% of most people’s computing needs (my unscientific observation) with an inexpensive, attractive, compact, and energy efficient solution.

For anyone who cares, here’s verbose comment from a former TechTV geek on why to chose OLPC (while it’s available).

This looks very good — small, light, capable, and reliable — ASUS Eee PC. See CNET review here.

The green Linux box: Koolu!

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) software shown in the demo is a part of a project described here.

After watching this, I found that there is a OLPC software development kit live CD image available at Red Hat . It appears to be very innovative and full-featured package — with web browser, video chat app, word processor, paint program, calculator, music synthesizer, etoys (hard to describe, a little reminiscent of Apple hypercard), news feed reader, and ebook reader. Not bad for a laptop machine that sells for $200 (targetted for $100 each if and when volume picks up).

Ran into an article on this yesterday — it sounds pretty cool. Zonbu is a tiny (ala Mac mini) pc with no harddisk. It’s available with a subscription for online storage and backup of your data plus automatic software updates. $99 plus $12.95 to $19.95 / mo. subscription (cancellable) depending on your storage needs.

See details at http://www.zonbu.com , and check out the demo video here.

The old laptop now has a new operating system and a new home (table).   Since the battery doesn’t hold a charge, and the keyboard has a few non-functioning keys, it’s no longer very portable.  But, with an outlet and an external keyboard, it’s ready to go.