Chromebooks to break out of US schools: Netbook 2.0 comeback not just for children

It may be a niche, but the market for Chromebooks will grow, according to research company Gartner. The analyst has predicted 5.2 million of the Google OS-powered laptops will be sold this year. Not only that, but the number-crunchers also reckon sales will nearly triple by 2017. That growth will come from Chromebooks breaking …

[dogged]

Wait, Gartner seriously believe that massive retooling and provision of always-on internet connections will somehow work out cheaper than buying an equally-shit Windows laptop that costs the same and requires no retooling or cellular data?

And people pay them for this insight?

Who? And do those people eat with corks on their forks?

[Christian Berger]

Uhm, it's hard to see what advantages a Windows laptop would have over a Chromebook. So it does make sense for people using Windows laptops to switch to Chromebooks.

[Craigness]

Chromebooks do not require an internet connection. Even when they do, how many users need cellular data?

The thing about $250 laptops is that Chromebooks at that price are not shit at all. Think of the things you can't do on a Chromebook. RAW photo editing, video editing and advanced Office features are the main ones people mention. Now imagine doing those things on a $250 Windows laptop! And how many people where you work need video editing and anything which can't be done in Google Docs or the native Office editor?

Chromebooks do 99% of the stuff average home users need to do. If they want to get a new Windows PC which does that 99% as fast and smoothly as a Chromebook, they would have to spend many hundreds. But they would not have a rock solid OS and inherent virus protection (in Chrome OS everything is sandboxed and it verifies the OS every time it boots). So for the average user suffering Windows slowdown the best option is to get a $200 Chromebook for 99% of their tasks and keep their sluggish Windows PC to boot once in a blue moon for the other stuff. How would the market look if people did that?

[Sloppy Crapmonster]

I appreciate that a chromebook will boot and allow at least a guest login without one, but in what sense do you mean "Chromebooks do not require an internet connection."? I am genuinely curious.

[Craigness]

You can install offline apps. For example, you can write documents, view emails, play games, watch videos, listen to music, look at photos, read books...

You will need internet at some point, just as you do with a Windows PC, to install the software in the first place and to get updates. But unless you want to browse the web or use a live app like Twitter, you don't need to maintain a connection. But have you ever had no connection? For me it's not an issue, and if it was an issue then a Windows PC or a tablet would be a lot less use too, so there is no disadvantage to the Chromebook from connectivity issues.

[Anonymous Coward]

With a 16GB hard disk? C'mon...

[Gavin Berry]

You may have not heard of it, but this thing is out now called USB, it allows hard disks and flash drives to be used on a Chromebook.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, very comfortable to use it with always an USB sticking out or a drive connected... think, other devices can store everything inside...

[Anonymous Coward]

"You will need internet at some point, just as you do with a Windows PC"

You absolutely don't need the Internet if you don't want to use it for basic tasks like that with Windows.

[Craigness]

@anon. I'm not sure what you're trying to say about the need for connectivity. With Windows and Chrome OS you need the internet to install and update software and the OS (we're well past the days of software on CDs but both OSs can install from CD). Chrome OS does not need internet for anything else, but for both OSs there is specific software which requires an internet connection. In my day-to-day usage I would be equally screwed on Windows or Chrome without internet. But in my day-to-day usage the internet is always there, so the question is "do you want something fast and stable or do you want Windows?"

big_d

What's so confusing about "it is possible to back up data, even if it's in the cloud"? Here are 2 examples of cloud and backup coexisting:

1) Create content locally, back it up, put it in the cloud.

2) Create content in the cloud, download it, back it up.

[big_D]

What's so confusing about "it is possible to back up data, even if it's in the cloud"? Here are 2 examples of cloud and backup coexisting:

We were talking about lack of local storage and you said back it up in the cloud. If you don't have the local storage on a 16GB drive for all your videos and photos, then you are copying them to the cloud.

I use Carbonite cloud backup for my offsite storage, plus local hard drive, plus external drive, plus NAS and the important stuff on DVD. Cloud is one part of the backup. Just using the cloud to store the only copy isn't a backup.

[Craigness]

@big_d Backup to an external drive. Then it's backed up. I didn't say "back up to the cloud," I said that even if something is in the cloud (eg. most of your data when you use a chromebook) that doesn't mean you can't back it up.

@anon you don't have to keep the usb drive in the machine. People don't have a problem with 16gb on a chromebook.

[big_D]

Okay, I apologise, I misread your original comment, as we were talking about no local storage on Chromebooks and storing in the cloud, I made a false assumption

[big_D]

workers

well, here I would guess none of them could make do with a Chromebook - well, they could, but it would defeat the point. Currently most have Igel Terminals connected to either Windows Terminal Server or a Linux server for development work. I suppose you could replace that terminal, its external, full sized keyboard, mouse and 24" display with an small, cut down keyboard and 13" display to remote in, but why would you?

Those that have PCs use a Windows based ERP solution which integrates to Office using OLE, so switching to a cloud Office suite, like Google Docs or Office.com wouldn't work, half of the features for reporting and analysis would no longer work.

The other problem, here, is that Chromebooks are more expensive than Windows machines. I looked on Amazon yesterday, the cheapest Chromebook I could find cost around 385€, that was a Celeron with 2GB RAM, for 20€ less I could get a Lenovo laptop with an AMD processor and 4GB RAM. If the Chromebooks here followed US pricing, they might stand a chance, but they are priced at a premium over better specified Windows kit at the moment.

Over on ZDNet earlier in the year they were claiming that Amazon US had a Chromebook as the number one best seller and several in the top 10. Here (Germany) there was one in the top 40. Looking yesterday, there wasn't a single Chromebook in the Amazon top 100!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: workers

They are hard to get in Australia as well. Ebay sellers in the US can make a nice margin and still undercut local retail. Dell USA has delisted its new Chromebook due to overwhelming demand so it will be a long time before Australia is on the OEM radar. I bought one for my son (via ebay) and they are awesome.

[jason 7]

Re: workers

Watch out for really cheap AMD equipped laptops. The bottom rung of Windows laptop buying has got quite tricky.

If you buy the cheapest AMD CPU laptop, chances are you will end up with a E1 spec CPU. I had one in to look at that was a 1GHz dual core. It was terrible. Took me back to the days of Windows 3.1 and seeing the egg timer on screen more then the cursor. To make it even half usable I had to rebuild it with a 120GB SSD. It still didn't perform well. For the sake of £50 extra it could have been a different story. Those E1 CPUs are sub Atom spec IMO and not designed to run Windows.

My Chromebook on the other hand is two years old and still as nippy as the day I bought it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: workers

"If the Chromebooks here followed US pricing, they might stand a chance, but they are priced at a premium over better specified Windows kit at the moment."

And the Windows laptops have a proper full featured OS, not a cut down version of Android. And can run native MS Office apps.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, you can do a lot offline with a 16GB hard disk... it's half my RAM... and not much more the RAM of the average Windows PC.

Verifies the OS every time it boots? Ooooooh, looks like TPM and secureboot to me, which of course is evil if MS does it, but a great feature if Google does it (while sending all of your data to Google 'for added security', of course)

Sanboxed apps? Like WinRT apps?

[Anonymous Coward]

@LDS

Who are you trying to convince?

You sound like you're a school boy comparing your bikes, or something.

Grow up, and stop loving MS so much that it distracts you from reality. They make some good products, and they make shitty ones. Try to treat separate products differently, rather than love whatever MS strain out their arses, and your new career in IT might be a bit more enjoyable.

What a whopper...

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL! Bitterly hit by my remarks? Stop thinking everything Google does is marvelous, grow up and stop thinking they have elves working there...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you childishly compared each factor with Microsoft's equivalent. Your tainted opinion means nothing to me, it's the way you chant it.

And no, I don't feel Google is marvellous at everything. I just use what I believe is the best tool for the job, regardless of who made it. I products use MS, Google, Apple, and anyone else.

I'm an engineer and geek, I work on facts.

[Anonymous Coward]

Given the article was comparing Chromebooks with cheap Windows laptops, what comparison should I do? I wasn't 'chanting' anything - just pointing out Chrome OS has no special features not available in Windows, and that is pretty funny 'chanting' about what most MS haters regard as 'evil' features in Windows.

And it looks Chrome users are too coward to comment with their user... unlike Windows users. Ashamed of being a Chrome user?

And of course my opinion is tainted while your is based on 'facts'. It looks to me I pointed out facts while you did not, and just trying a childish bullying approach.

And it's now you boasting about what you are... and you really don't know what I am.

[Craigness]

WinRT

@LDS I thought WinRT was a good idea and well suited to certain roles, but that got a lot of hate too. With so few people wanting to write for it, you'd probably end up using the web for most things so you might as well just get a Chromebook instead. Having it check the OS on startup is not a bad thing just because MS does it. The OP was probably not talking about Win RT though, so it would require additional AV whereas Chrome OS does not. Chrome OS is better than Win RT and $250 Chromebooks are better than $250 Windows PCs.

I have a 16Gb SSD in my Chromebook and 63kb in my Downloads folder (the one which is not automatically synced). My desktop only has 30Gb, which is far more than I need. My Windows laptop has 320Gb, which is a total waste. Please be aware that it is possible to back up data, even if it's in the cloud. A lot of commentards forget that.

[jason 7]

Re: WinRT

Yes, carrying masses of data around on a laptop/mobile device is a daft liability. Quite old fashioned really.

All the old bulk data I have is kept at home on a NAS. The day to day stuff I need/use stays in a Google Drive folder. About 1GB if you must know. I need to trim it down soon.

All my laptops have been slimmed down to mostly 64GB SSD drives. A couple have 120GBs in them but not required. My Chromebook has nothing stored on it locally. Doesn't need it as its 2014 and not 1998 anymore, connectivity/internet wise.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: WinRT

My camera has 64GB CFs. When I'm in the wild shooting, I need those old fashioned large disks to download images from them. And not the whole world is still connected at fast speed. Sure, if you never travel you have very little need for local storage

[Julian Bond]

Re: WinRT

Except Chrome OS has no support for a NAS or network shares. Which is a complete mystery to me. It's not as though Samba and SMB/CIFS support in linux is exactly new.

[big_D]

Re: WinRT @Craigness

Please be aware that it is possible to back up data, even if it's in the cloud. A lot of commentards forget that.

A lot of people forget, "backing up" in the cloud, then deleting the original isn't backing up, it is copying.

Remember the 3-2-1 rule:

No file exists, unless:

There are at least 3 copies

They are stored on at least 2 different medium

At least one copy is stored off site.

Storing in the cloud fulfills the last part, but if you aren't keeping it locally, it ain't a backup.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: WinRT

I have a 500GB SS disk in my Dell 1012 Netbook, and it's 80% used...

As for the idea that a clumsy external USB device can be equivalent. Well. You have to be joking...

[Anonymous Coward]

It might not be enough for you, mr "power user", but this probably is not for you.

16GB is ample when you consider the use cases for the CB and the fact it isn't Windows, nor do you need to install several hundred MB applications for basic use.

In my case, I'd be lucky to squeeze Office or Visual Studio on that - but guess what? That means nothing, because I wouldn't but it on there anyway!

Stop comparing it to Windows standards, because it isn't Windows.

[Anonymous Coward]

Guess most common users have easily more than 16GB of photos, music and videos on their PC. Even phones try to have more storage. And that type of user probably will have no NAS, and thereby it's forced to rely on an Internet connection - and unsecure WiFi connections are so common and a security risk - or always in the need of an USB stick or disk, very practical setup.

But of course Google wants all your data on its servers where it can analyze them to profile and sell you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Our staff who use Chromebooks want more for their colleagues and

friends whose Windows machines crapped out and bought Chromebooks are raving about them. Not sure about the workplace as a whole though. I've used one at home for months and haven't missed anything, just easier to use.

[dogged]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

We have one at work for assessment. The "heavily poisoned search returns" don't exist because the OEM has to supply the machine with Bing as the search engine but the user (and the Group Policy admin) can set whatever search engine they like as default. Sorry to disappoint you.

The rest of the damn thing is comparable to a Chromebook except it has a 500GB hybrid drive which fails to be painfully slow and can actually store data.

[Tom 35]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

"and the Group Policy admin"

So you are saying you can join Windows 8.1 with Bing to a domain? Pull the other one.

[Craig Vaughton]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

Because unless you buy Windows 8.1 Pro or Enterprise, the facility to join a domain isn't there, same as Win 7. I can't see Microsoft supplying 8.1 Pro with a $/£300 laptop, when the standalone license for Pro is £160 on its own or £85 as an upgrade from 8.1 Basic.

[big_D]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

With Windows 8, there is a facility for a non Pro machine to join a 2012 domain as a guest.

[Tom 35]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

"Why do you think it would not be able to join a domain?"

Because it's the cheap/home/basic version of windows so no joining a domain, and no global policy, it's been like that since XP. You need Pro or better to join a domain.

I expect they will let you upgrade to the pro version for a pile of cash, but that defeats the purpose.

[dogged]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

> So you are saying you can join Windows 8.1 with Bing to a domain? Pull the other one.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/cc835245.aspx

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

What model? What's the volume price? And how does it compare to a Chromebook volume price?

Although hybrid drives aren't much more expensive than all-rotary ones, they seem to have a bigger markup when they are put in a laptop. If you know of one without a premium, people would like to hear about it.

[Frank N. Stein]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

The average user is someone I get to support daily. Most of them don't know what they have, what it does, or how to do much of anything accept write and read e-mail and surf the web. And this is all with Windows computers. Give them something different, such as "Chrome" and they most certainly will have difficulty with "change".

[John Crisp]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

@Frank N Stein "And this is all with Windows computers. Give them something different, such as "Chrome" and they most certainly will have difficulty with "change"."

Sorry but in my own experience of users moving OSs I disagree.

They only ask a few questions. "Where is the internet. How do I get my mail." And possibly "How do I open my documents" and "How do I print''.

Most now use, or have had experience with, either touch phones or tablets with either Android or iOS and it doesn't phase them like it used too. People are generally better at adapting than sometimes they are given credit for (of course there are exceptions that brighten ones day !). Yes, Microsoft would love people to believe their way is the only way, (and then they go and copy everyone else....)

The reality is it's never been easier to change OS, and that is great for the user as it is something they shouldn't have to worry about.

[Sandtitz]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing @John Crisp

"How do I print''

So, what do you say to the home user who didn't have a problem printing to the printer via USB or ethernet with his Linux/Windows box?

"See, the cheaper price for this chromebook allows you to invest in brand-spanking new CLOUD technology which your old printer didn't even support"

"Yes, Microsoft would love people to believe their way is the only way"

That applies to Google, Apple and many other vendors as well.

[RyokuMas]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing @John Crisp

"Yes, Microsoft would love people to believe their way is the only way"

That applies to Google, Apple and many other vendors as well.

Pint for Sandtitz, deserves a +100!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

Sorry but in my own experience of users moving OSs I disagree.

Let me add that home users have no interest in what OS they use - as long as it works.

For the depth that they use a computer for, even a fresh install of the same OS requires some re-learning.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

"They only ask a few questions. "Where is the internet. How do I get my mail." And possibly "How do I open my documents" and "How do I print''."

In my experience the first things they ask are where is Office? Then how do I run my Office Macros? My Addins? Where is Outlook?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

In my experience the first things they ask are where is Office? Then how do I run my Office Macros? My Addins? Where is Outlook?

Perhaps you need to stop working with idiots, and get a proper job.

[Tom 35]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

For all the "average" users with XP.

Give them something different, such as "Windows 8" and they most certainly will have difficulty with "change".

[keith_w]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

Not true. I know one 70+ year old lady who switched to a W8 laptop from XP desktops and loves it.

[jason 7]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

I've actually migrated and trained a lot of baby boomer/retired couples from XP to 8 this year and it's been fine.

No fuss or drama. Most people really don't care what they are running as long it it works reasonably fast and smoothly.

The biggest surprise for most of them was the fact the new machine cost around half of what they paid for the old one.

[jason 7]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

No they don't have difficulty. All you do is spend 10-15 minutes with them explaining how the thing works and how it differs from their old machine. They'll get it.

It's called 'Training', a long forgotten practice I know but it's how you get folks to get the most out of what they are using.

Not difficult. Try it sometime.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

Nope, happy with my Chromebook thanks. Why would I want that insecure Windows crap?

[keith_w]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

Because you don't want to tell a company that exists to advertise what you do?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

compared to what? a company that wants to extract as much money as possible from you, repeatedly, for a different shaped shit than last years?

different strokes for different folks...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

"Why would I want that insecure Windows crap?"

You must have missed how many security holes that the Chrome browser alone has had in it....Not to mention being Spyware by design.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cheap Windows PCs with Bing

vogon, I'm sure if Microsoft managed to make something just as good, you'd love it.

[0laf]

Oh please no, I don't need any feckin schools phoning up demanding to get MS Office and iTunes on 200 Chromebooks they've bought without asking.

[Anonymous Coward]

They wont need those things, as it already performs the same function.

You've totally missed the point of them, and have fell for Microsoft's marketing division spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

[Crazy Operations Guy]

they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

More important things, like figuring out something to do, other than sit on their thumbs, when Google's cloud goes down or they don't have an internet connection.

[Craigness]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

Chromebooks don't need an internet connection. But most offices do, so the loss of internet will cripple a Windows environment as much as a Chrome one.

[jason 7]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

This is what always makes me laugh. Nowadays if a Windows/Apple/Linux PC has no internet connection...it's pretty damn limited. You can bet most staff would be sitting around moaning they had nothing to do.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

Maybe at your office everybody spend their time on facebook or youtube... in most offices even if the Internet is not available most work can be accomplished on the LAN... internal mail will still work, internal sites will still work, and PCs will be still able to run any software they need and store data where they should...

[jason 7]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

And then back in the real world...they'll still be moaning they cant do anything and off for an early lunch.

Nature of the beast my good man.

[Craigness]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

For larger businesses the internet is a single point of failure because their systems (mail included) are distributed. On the few occasions in the last decade that the internet has gone down where I worked, most people couldn't do anything because everything they needed to access was on servers in various other sites.

For smaller businesses there are large cost and time savings to be had from using cloud services. You can buy some hardware and pay someone to run your on-site servers or you can pay a cloud service less to do the same thing, with probably far less downtime, and have someone on-site to make sure the router works.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

Larger business lease dedicated lines - don't go through your average "internet connection" for site-to-site connections. And also have backup connections exactly to avoid the "single point of failure".

You also never heard about "replication", right?

[Craigness]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

I've worked at very large companies where services sometimes could not be reached. It happens, even when the internet is up!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

Nobody said everybody knows his job - many comments here show many people writing here brag about themselves, but have clearly no idea how large networks work and how to manage them... of course if the large network you have ever manager is that in your bedroom...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

You also never heard about "replication", right?

i think you meant redundancy ? or are they the same to you ?

come back when you've finished your degree.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

No - I mean replication - data available at different site and kept in sync.

When you'll learn how to handle very large networks and their data you can apply for a job here... but I guess it will take a very long time...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

C'mon little guys, even Google and Yahoo setup dedicated lines - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/07/google_engineers_slam_nsa/ - sure, they don't come with Chromebooks, but do you believe nobody else use them? Do you believe large companies don't ensure their employee are happy updating their facebook profiles and watch cat videos on youtube all time long? Or it's just envy because your bedroom and basements have no dedicated lines? If you spent your time learning how the adult world works, instead of spending it spitting your hate against MS in forum like this, you would have a job, maybe a girlfriend, and surely a better PC, although more expensive, than a Chromebooook....

[Craigness]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

@LDS there's no microsoft hate here, just attempts to reach out to you. Chromebooks don't need the internet, so in your example where the LAN is still working they will be able to use any internal website, such as Exchange Server's HTML front-end for those essential emails. They will also be able to use any chrome apps, if that's the way you want to go. Whatever servers the PCs can reach, the Chromebooks can reach as well.

[Anonymous Bullard]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

I personally don't like the idea of my data being stuck in the cloud. But then again, I am able to look after my own data.

But think about home users - they'll lose their data several times before Google is even down for an afternoon. They don't even take their laptops outside, they only have that form-factor because they have non-computer related lives and are unwilling to commit a whole table + chair for one.

Google wont download a virus, drop the laptop off the arm of the couch, find the cat has pissed on it, or lose the pen drive down a grid.

That's why I recommend Chromebooks to my family/friend "clients", so Google looks after their stuff rather than themselves (and ultimately me).

But I guess the loyal Windows fans must love constantly removing homepage hijackers and fake anti-virus and performance advisers that comes bundled with almost everything they download.

[RyokuMas]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

That's why I recommend Chromebooks to my family/friend "clients", so Google looks after their stuff rather than themselves (and ultimately me)can freely rifle through every aspect of their lives, while hiding behind the phrase "you chose to use our services and thus accepted to completely surrender any notition of privacy your once had".

TFTFY

[Craigness]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

If you want your rant to stand up in court you'll need to show that Google's policy does in fact state "you chose to use our services and thus accepted to completely surrender any notition of privacy your once had".

It's not there, and not just because their spelling is better.

[Anonymous Bullard]

Re: they can shift their focus from managing devices to managing something much more important —

Their automated scan your emails and visiting habits for keywords to offer you products you might be interested in, in return we get (in my opinion) a very good service at the price of £0.00. They're quite open about what they do with our "data", and that's something which is rare.

If you're concerned about your "data" so much, then you'd better stop using your clubcard, turn off your phone, pay only with cash, and if you must connect to the internet, then browse in a fresh OS in a VM that's wiped daily, through tor from a dynamic IP. Until then, stop using the "privacy" card because it just makes you sound like a mug.

[Dan Paul]

Whatta load of bs!

Does ANYONE (who doesn't pay for one of their survey's) believe what Gartner says about anything?

One trip to Walmart would tell you that Chromebooks and Tablets are not being sold in the quantities that Gartner says they are.

If there is any increase at all, it is due to people that can't tell the difference between a real laptop and a Chromebook all buying the wrong stuff on "Back to School" sales.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Whatta load of bs!

In my experience Gartner & other research companies couldn't forecast Christmas !

As for Walmart, that may very well be true, but educational establishments, government & corporates who buy in hundreds & thousands aren't doing it via retail channels. So the bulk of the iceberg is hidden.

[keithpeter]

when we have calmed down a bit

I have access to a laptop trolley in one of the centres I teach in. We use the laptops about one lesson in four to access mymaths and a few other Web sites, including hegartymaths and themathsteacher along with wolframalpha. So basically a Web browser and flash. I'm planning get students to make a few simple spreadsheets next year to help with algebra (sequences are good on a spreadsheet) and some graph work (XY scatter with a suitable formula and they are away, building the formula themselves helps the understanding).

All of that *could* work on a chromebook as well as on a Windows laptop. I gather the new generation have some local storage and can run some apps offline. Just saying. I have no idea how the total costs would stack up.

I know other teachers use them *sometimes* for Office, but the proper IT lessons use the rooms with actual PCs, chairs and monitors. This is adult ed by the way, not a school or college.

I'm also wondering where you can apply for one of these analyst jobs.

[Martin]

There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

...and I don't really understand why.

For what 99% of users want, they are perfect. No worries about backup (it's up on the cloud, so you don't lose it), no worries about remembering to update (as it happens automatically).

The more recent ones allow you do quite a lot locally, even when you're not connected to the internet. And more and more, not being connected to the internet is becoming the exception, not the rule.

Yes, they can't run Office. But how many normal users need Office? Yes, they're not much good for gaming (though there ARE some good games) - but then, niether is a cheap Windows machine.

I use mine all the time. My daughter uses hers all the time. And if all you want to do is surf the net, look at YouTube, write a few basic documents, and dash off a few mails, I can't think why you'd need anything else.

[Dan Paul]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

If it is only used for occasional browsing the web and checking email, then "chromebooks" are fine.

However, the incompetent people who grace the hallowed halls of Wal-Mart and Best Buy will sell anything to the uneducated who are really looking for a laptop that can run real software, not an "app"!

They look too much like a laptop and people can't get the low price out of their head.

Unfortunately form is not the same thing as function.

[Martin]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

...the incompetent people who grace the hallowed halls of Wal-Mart and Best Buy will sell anything to the uneducated who are really looking for a laptop that can run real software, not an "app"!

If you know you want to run real software, you already know you don't want a Chromebook, and so the incompetents will not be able to sell you one.

If you're the "uneducated" mentioned above, you probably don't want to run real software - you'll be happy with an "app". You probably don't know (or care) what the difference is. And it's very likely that a Chromebook will work well.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

Can't run Office?

Well that makes them naff all use for ICT and a lot of other stuff because they mandate MS Office.

Not that not running Office is always a bad thing.

[alcockell]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

Easy - you go with citrix or similar and run virtual desktops.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

"Easy - you go with citrix or similar and run virtual desktops."

And how does that work without a network conection? Not to mention likely costing far more than the device...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

You can use Office by accessing Microsofts OneDrive and using Word online to edit docs. Its surprisingly okay. Especially for smaller less complex documents.

Apart from that Google docs offline and print to PDF does the job.

[MyffyW]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

@Martin completely follow your argument. But something, call it intuition or a nascent water infection, tells me they will not be taking off. I think we've been here before with Network Computers, Thin Clients, Server Based Computing and so on. Sure they serve a niche (maybe your niche) but not the general purpose.

[Fehu]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

I bought my first one just to check out and it was taken away from me by wife who is not exactly tech savvy. She likes it because she can be on line and reading email in seconds anywhere in the house whereas the name brand laptop I shelled out $600 bucks for and runs win 8 is pretty much useless if it's not hooked to the wired network and even then it's no speed demon. The second one I bought got taken away from me by my daughter. She's typical of the younger generation in that nothing about technology slows her down, but again the pure speed of the Chromebook in most daily operations made it seem silly to lug around anything with a Microsoft OS on it. I know not to assume national trends based on local experience, but I definitely see something here. Now, I just have to figure out how to crash these other laptops so I can get my own Chromebook. Probably won't have to wait long until someone downloads a patch that bricks them. Oh noes.

[keithpeter]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

"Now, I just have to figure out how to crash these other laptops so I can get my own Chromebook. Probably won't have to wait long until someone downloads a patch that bricks them. Oh noes."

Pop Kubuntu on a usb drive and try it live for a day or two on one of your laptops. Might not boot (UEFI/Secure Boot shenanigans), or might just surprise you.

If no good, just donate/ebay the laptops and buy your Chromebook.

[ColonelDare]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

I agree that my chromebook _does_ do most of what I want, but when I want more I just 'Shift'+'Ctrl'+'Alt'+-> to Crouton (Ubuntu 14.04) and now I have LibreOffice,Gimp,Thunderbird....

Sorted.

And when I want Youtube (etc) I just 'Shift'+'Ctrl'+'Alt'+<- and back to Chrome.

Simps. :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

@Martin: "I use mine all the time. My daughter uses hers all the time. And if all you want to do is surf the net, look at YouTube, write a few basic documents, and dash off a few mails, I can't think why you'd need anything else."

Genuine question - can they run Skype? I imagine they can be used to access Google Hangouts, which may be functionally equivalent, but it's not what the Man on the Clapham Omnibus is used to using, so it would be a barrier to replacing the grandparents XP netbook with a Chromebook.

[Craigness]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

@Anon grandparents who can't lean new tricks such as Hangouts should not be using XP online!

But if they can start using Hangouts on XP, it will make the move to Chrome OS easier.

[jason 7]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

Probably have all their email on Outlook Express too. Dear God....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

Nope, can't run Skype. But can indeed run Google Hangouts, or Google Chat which has "Skype-out "functionality.

Chromebooks are a real surprise. And seem to meet a lot of peoples requirments most of the time. Wife and parents would not be without them. And my IT related support activities have decreased by 100%.

Biggest let down is non-DH screens (but then again regular laptops also lag tablets in this area) and printing. Cloud printing?! What were Google thinking of?

[Dan 55]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

Scanning the content and targetting advertising. Pretty obvious I would have thought.

[WylieCoyoteUK]

Re: There do seem to be a lot of Chromebook haters on here...

They are probably the same people who complained that an iPad was not a PC, and that Tablets wouldn't catch on.

There was a lot of iHate around on PC forums when the iPad launched.

What they didn't get then, and won't get now, is that like tablets, Chromebooks are are not popular just because they are cheap, but because they aren't PCs.

I use my tablet more for leisure than my Home PC, for those who can't cope with a touch interface, a Chromebook is way better than a PC for web, email, simple games and social networking.

[skyledavis]

Still a drop in the ocean

Anything can sound impressive when you don't involve numbers. The report actually says that numbers are expected to reach 14.4 million units by 2017. For reference, Gartner expects 308 million PCs to be shipped this year, plus 256 million tablets. So, if we say that the PC market doesn't change at all between now and 2017, then Chromebooks would equate to 4.7% of the market in 2017 (up from the whopping 1.6% market share it has right now). And of course, when you add in tablets, those percentages are cut in half. So, let's keep a little perspective, shall we?

[WylieCoyoteUK]

Re: Still a drop in the ocean

Except that all the pointers are that the PC market will change, and will continue to shrink, while tablet sales are slowing.

Chromebooks are growing sales against the trend.

As for judging computer sales by looking in WalMart..........

[Simon Palmer]

Gaining traction

Big differentiator over IOS/Android for FE/HE education is proper multiple user login support to an institution's google apps domain.

Over Windows 8.1 - big cost and simplicity/management/performance advantages,

IOS/Android is fine for primary, but to combating plagiarism, individual bookmarks, cookies, history etc, is very important - with good email support, and a good full size key keyboard for actually creating some work. Google Apps is as good as MS Office for 95% of our students.

8h battery life for <£200 is not to be sniffed at.

Some of our students are buying them for home now they've tried them too.

[keithpeter]

Re: Gaining traction

@Simon Palmer: Sir Gâr Graig?

Wouldn't mind picking your brains in September. I'm not the PHB any more (thank deity) just interested.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gaining traction

Poor chaps. They will never learn what a real PC could do. Forever bound to depend on external services designed to gather their data. Using chromebooks to teach, is like teaching people to read but not to write. It's creating consumers and not creators - exactly the kind of 'citizen' companies like Google need and want. You're giving them a fish, but you're not teaching them how to fish.

I will never buy my children such a limited device, because I want them to be able to explore the real power behind a computer - maybe they won't, or maybe they'll do, but I don't want to cut them out from such a capability from the start. A Raspberry Pi is a far better device for teaching, and even cheaper than a Chromebook.

[Craigness]

Re: Gaining traction

@LDS you're trying so hard to find ways not to like Chrome OS, I feel sorry for you! The teaching which is done on Ipads or Chromebooks is not restricted to "how computers work" - it's about every element of the curricula as well as student-produced work such as essays and tests. They can even learn about how computers work!

If Google made every child learn to be a consumer they would have nothing to sell and nobody to hire. It is clearly not what they want. Remember, if you buy your child a Raspberry Pi they will have no idea how a processor is made, or how to mine silicon.You must want them to be mindless sheep!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gaining traction

Sure - but you are just using a consumer device, you can get a smart TV as well, if all you need is that.

A Raspberry PI costs far less than $200 and can do whatever a Chomebook does, and much more. Why spend so much for a so constrained PC? Being Linux and ARM, most viurs won't harm a Raspberry PI.

If you put in their hands something that will let them going beyond curricula, experiment and explore much more, you put in your hands much more powerful tools, and will let create far better students.

To learn how a computer work, you need to have a real computer in your hands, not a neutered one. And you need to be able to choose freely how to use it.

And, c'mon, consumers are exactly the people you need to sell to! They will just train the number of people they need, and won't let "knowledge" escape to create competitors. You see a preview of what happened - the cartel to avoid developers looking for a better job from competitors...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gaining traction

A Raspberry PI costs far less than $200 and can do whatever a Chomebook does

Oh god no, please don't say that. I love the RPI, and the Chromebook is a great laptop - but they are different kettles of fish for different types of people.

You obviously haven't used either of them.

[Craigness]

Re: Gaining traction

Instead of classifying a device based on what you think it can or cannot be used for, think about what they are *actually* used for. A Windows device in a school may be used for watching videos, reading books, or doing drawings, essays, desktop publishing and website design. So would a Chromebook.

And instead of classifying people as consumers or producers, consider that they can be both! But if they are only consumers, Google (and the whole world) would fail.

Raspberry Pi doesn't have a keyboard or screen. Chromebooks are not constrained. Do you have any idea what you're talking about? It would make no sense at all to give students a Pi instead of a Chromebook and expect them to build their own laptop before doing any IT-based learning in other classes. If you want kids to learn the basics you can get them to install Linux on the Chromebook or ask them to write an app.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gaining traction

I will never buy my children such a limited device, because I want them to be able to explore the real power behind a computer

So you're giving up on Windows, then?

I don't blame you, really. I don't want my kids to go through the same crap i do, either.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gaining traction

"Big differentiator over IOS/Android for FE/HE education is proper multiple user login support to an institution's google apps domain."

But they are all going for Office 365 these days.

[Tom 7]

Chromebook

and crouton and the world is your clam chowder - that's a cloudy soup and very nice too!

[Alan Denman]

Dell + Microsoft = cozy cartel

So, what on earth was the point of the " A quick look at the Dell UK and US websites "?

We know Dells dally with Linux was a charade where even finding the Linux devices on the web site was a battle and a half.

Waving their flag, Dell serves Microsoft and Microsoft serves Dell.

[W. Anderson]

Dell blind loyalty to Redmond as usual

Ever since Chromebooks became available and started to gain substantial sales volumes in Education and corporate marketplace, certain article writers of Microsoft bent, and very loyal Microsoft commenters on The Register and ZDNet in particular, both groups of whom are technologically ignorant and incapable of understanding the targeted demographics usage of Chromebooks, have been making incessantly stupid and vitriolic comments on Chromebook technology, in most cases without any "fact based" input.

The Gartner Group, ADR , Forrester and every technology industry expert market research firm report substantiating this trend of significant Chromebook adoption has been denigrated by these doofus shills of Redmond.

Much like the quick abandonment of OEM Ubuntu Linux installs on several of their desktop and laptop models, it is not surprising, and indeed quite predictable that Dell would continue this ass about actions of totally ignoring Chromebooks with advancing technologies not controlled by their masters in Redmond. As sad tale of the extreme extent of subservience.

[jason 7]

Re: Dell blind loyalty to Redmond as usual

I am a big MS fan. I don't mind admitting it. But I like to keep an open mind and also from a wide range of personal experience not to mention the holes my customers find themselves in I believe strongly in the best solution for the situation.

And that's not always Windows. If a particular bit of kit fits the bill then that's what goes in, be it Windows, Linux or a Chromebook.

Two years ago I was a bit sniffy about Chromebooks, but I felt I had to actually use one to see how it worked and could fit in for customers. So I bought a Samsung (had to wait as they were hard to get), unpacked it and put it on my desk and thought I'd 'battle on' with it for a few days.

After 10 mins I was truly stunned at how simple and well it fitted into my situation.

Always pays to keep an open mind. You are not being fair to your customers or yourself if you won't try or look at something different. It makes your world very very small.

It's up to MS to come up with something similar that fits the bill.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dell blind loyalty to Redmond as usual

Excellent points.

If every MS fan was like you, then.. well, there'd be none left. I summon a thousand infected Windows machines to up-vote your post!

It's up to MS to come up with something similar that fits the bill.

More like destroy it, like they did with the original netbook.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dell blind loyalty to Redmond as usual

Dell happily delivers you servers with Linux because that's where business users ask for Linux preinstalled. The client side user percentage of users asking for Linux preinstalled is so low, and the number of distro used so large, it's better to sell with no OS preinstalled and let the user choose its own OS. Because I guess if Dell was offering clients with Red Hat or SuSE preinstalled you all will still complain.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dell blind loyalty to Redmond as usual

It looks to me there are far more blind MS haters around, praising everything that looks to break the diffusion Windows has, it was Linux ten years ago, it's Android/Chrome now.

At least Linux is a good full-fledged OS... which doesn't sell your soul to Google.

[Anonymous Coward]

We wait & we wait !

Months go by from the pre-announcements to availability.

I would buy a Samsung Chromebook 2 with HD 13" screen today or the new equivalent Acer (just announced). Ditto an Asus Chromebox (available at Amazon UK from German sources). I won't buy yesterday's models from PC World or elsewhere because I already have an 18 month old Chromebook which has given sterling service (complementing PCs, Macs, Tablets).

Hopefully we'll see the latest models within a couple of months.

[timrichardson]

The Gartner chart showing the fall in Windows market share (consumer USA) is amazing, coming on top of the slow PC market. No wonder OEMs are targeting Chrome OS. apple has been eating windows at the top end and now Chrome OS at the low end is getting ttaction; wait until Chromebooks run Android apps and get launched outside the US

[Anonymous Coward]

"The Gartner chart showing the fall in Windows market share (consumer USA) is amazing"

Not sure where you got that from, but the latest figures still show Windows share of Desktops and Laptops as relatively static at 90%+, and at 75%+ of servers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows share of Desktops and Laptops as relatively static at 90%+, and at 75%+ of servers.

Hilarious. Where do you find those numbers.. in Microsoft's own sites?

[RyokuMas]

Tried development?

Anyone tried using one of these as a development box?

... just out of curiosity...

[Craigness]

Re: Tried development?

There are a few editors out there, including Google's own Chrome Dev Editor with Git and Chrome Store support. For Chrome apps and web technologies it's fine, but I doubt there will be any compilers any time soon.

[James Boag]

Chromebook

A fantastic device, Lite, Huge battery life, Yes you can install Linux (To run concurrently with chrome OS) as the both run as VM's, But i find that the Chromebook does everything i need as is, Ctrl-ALT-T and i can ssh into another device. Via the browser i can do most things, and if i need to do some real work, I switch to a desktop as laptops just don't cut the mustered for me no matter what the OS when it comes to developing software (testing Yes) but not developing.

It's fast, Cheap, stylish with great battery life.

If you ain't tried one give it a go, i paid £250 for my HP 14 Best laptop i've had ever and my first was a mitac 286 !

[David Roberts]

Difference from a Netbook?

My little EEEPC (recently retired) has about 16GB local storage.

Much smaller form factor than the 13" plus devices discussed here.

So what is the difference (demise of the netbook) - is it just a full sized PC with limited storage?

I am locked into Windows because of some specialised software (a lot of people probably are) but if I was not I do wonder what a Chromebook offers over a similar sized laptop running any Linux variant.

Cheaper entry cost, because they skimped on the local storage, but then CB defenders point out ypu can by external storage. In which case what are you gaining exactly?

Look like an excellent marketing strategy to get a non Windows OS out there but technically nothing special.

[Anonymous Coward]

Food for thought:

How we turn $199 Chromebooks into Ubuntu-based code learning machines for kids

OK, so it's not acutally ChomeOS, but still...

Might get the kids one for xmas. Each, for this price.

[boboM]

WiPho

Are these the same people that predicted Windows Phone (spit) would have 30% market share by now??

[simmondp]

It's now my permenant laptop

An Acer C720 was my Christmas "experiment" - to see if I could live with this rather than my "full-fat" Windows 7 Toshiba. The answer is YES, including giving conference "powerpoint" presentations in off-line mode.

I only needed to buy an HDMI to VGA converter dongle for a couple of quid on e-bay.

Apart from that, the ability to just plug in my Android phone and get (configuration free) network connection means working on the road is now simple and instantaneous.

Add to that instant-on when I lift the lid, and a 7 second boot from cold, and a battery lifetime of 9 hours that means I really can do a whole day in London in meetings without needing to carry a charger brick with me.

Configuration free with no updates to manage.....

Close the lid, it sleeps, lift the lid it is ready to go; No more worrying of "will it resume"

The only thing missing is the ability to mount Windows file shares, but it looks like this will be here very soon.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: It's now my permenant laptop

I feel the same as you, I've had mine for over 6 months and never had any of the usual problems of my many Windows machines over the years.

It works like a radio - you just switch it on, and it just works.

Why couldn't they have made this sooner?? It makes you realise how much crap we've been accepting over the years.

[jason 7]

Re: It's now my permenant laptop

Exactly, why wouldn't users want a PC that doesn't require them or an IT guy digging under the hood every few weeks to keep it going?

Plus if you break your Chromebook, you just run out to the nearest PC shop, buy another, login and away you go.

It's about time. I guess a bit of the negativity towards them is from IT guys that feel threatened their long-term career is going the way of the farrier.

[Craigness]

Re: It's now my permenant laptop

The boot time is impressive but it's not even relevant when the resume time is pretty much instant and never fails. I only reboot when there is an update, and my "read it later" list is a set of open tabs rather than bookmarks, because it's so stable. Some tabs can remain open for weeks before I read them ;-)

With Windows I learned to shutdown every day just in case, which lead to me not bothering to use it to quickly look something up because with their boot time nothing is quick. On the Chromebook side, not only CAN it be used for almost everything, it IS used for almost everything.

[dajames]

Storage

I have a Chromebook -- an Acer C720 -- and it is a very nice little browsing machine. I bought it knowing that I could turn it into a sub-£200 linux machine if I didn't like ChromeOS, but I haven't felt the need to do that yet (I have another laptop running Linux when I need it).

It'd be my lightweight PC for taking on holiday if it had some serious storage. I use my laptop to back up the photos from my digital camera and RAW images take a lot of space. It's a pity the Chromebook didn't come with (say) 128GB for that ...

[Craigness]

Re: Storage

128gb USB drive on Amazon is £34. The difference between 16GB msata and 128gb msata is about £30. Obviously that figure could come down for OEM bulk buyers, but the choice of 16Gb is good for most customers.

[b 3]

yay the return of the netbook!

ok, i've been waiting for netbooks to return ever since the dell mini 9 was juuuuust about poised to be spec'd up to something that i could have got involved. the HP2133 could have been a contender had they not soldered the via cpu in place and therefore made it upgradable!

1) the 768 verticle res is a must.

2) an SSD is a must

3) 4gb of ram is more than enough, 2gb would probably suffice.

4) a low voltage quad core would be nice, but at least dual-core should be ok.

5) graphics should be sufficient, i don't want to game on it.

..and cheap as you can make them.

keep me in the loop please!

[b 3]

what about windows games?

i've always said that the windows OS is very clunky and overweight, having been spawned from a marriage of the original windows toy OS and the NT business line (WXP was essentially W2K+the WME desktop) and that gamers would benefit from either having a gaming-mode (ahem!, remember DOS??) or being replaced by a much thinner, either M$ gaming OS or something completely different.

this is basically me taking the long way round to saying that when chrome OS can play windows games faster than windows can, i'll jump ship.

[agricola]

CHROMEBOOK?! I thought this article was about COMPUTERS.

How much is Google paying Gartner to beat the drums for this brain-dead piece of shit?

[agricola]

CHROMEBOOK?! I thought you wrote articles for NON-BRAIN-DEAD people.

Thanks to all three of you room-temperature-IQ mouth-breathers for your unwitting (what else would we expect from you?) affirmation of my exposition of the utility of this piece of shit, via your three down-votes. My only disappointment is that there are not a lot more--but we know you're out there. You simply don't know how to write coherentlly

You also probably believe that a Chromebook is more useful than a four-function calculator.