jim Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) I'm considering a chromebook, which is the best one to get the Samsung or Asus? Can anyone who owns one advise me what performance is like for surfing? I have read some reviews say it isn't as smooth as it could be on data hungry sites. Finally are there any plans for a new one in the near future? Cheers Edited March 6, 2013 by jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted March 6, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 6, 2013 The Pixel. I'm not sure what a "data hungry" site is. The data rate is limited by the slowest link between you and the website, it's unlikely to be the browser slowing this down. Perhaps they meant "CPU hungry" which might apply on very heavy AJAX sites, but as Google Drive is a big feature of ChromeOS, I can't see that being the case. I have no personal experience though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 The Pixel. I'm not sure what a "data hungry" site is. The data rate is limited by the slowest link between you and the website, it's unlikely to be the browser slowing this down. Perhaps they meant "CPU hungry" which might apply on very heavy AJAX sites, but as Google Drive is a big feature of ChromeOS, I can't see that being the case. I have no personal experience though Lol, I wish I had the spare cash for that! Sorry I meant sites like tech radar and such with a lot going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I've had a Samsung ChromeBook for about a week. It's the £224 model from PC World / Currys. The CPU is the ARM Exynos CPU from a Galaxy S3 (maybe bumped up a bit, not sure), 2GB RAM and a 16GB SSD. Because it's basically just Chrome running inside of a laptop with nothing else running or able to run it's lightning quick. In almost all situations it rockets along and new tabs, apps etc open instantaneously. Because everything is already loaded into RAM it doesn't have to do disk IO, and even when it does it's on SSD. Even heavily javascript and media rich sites don't seem to cause it any issue. The worst I've seen happen is if I'm trying to scroll a page before it's had chance to render it I'll see like a raster like on iPhones or iPads in the same situation. Battery life is great, performance is great, screen is great. Nothing to complain about so far. I've just tried TechRadar and yes it does put extra load on the system, but nothing you wouldn't expect for such a load of crap on one web page. It's mainly all the flash content with adverts etc. As long as you know what it does do and what it doesn't then it's fantastic for the price. Highly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Oh, just 3 points to make about why it's so good. 1. It looks good. Like really good. It looks very similar to a MacBook. 2. The touchpad is multi-touch so 2 finger scrolling works horizontally and vertically. 3. The keyboard only has keys relevant to ChrOS so gone are the F keys and instead you get really useful search, back, forward, reload, window resize keys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Cheers Darren. I only want it for web browsing for the Mrs, we have a huge, slow 17" laptop and other than iTunes she only uses it to surf and isn't keen on using the ipad and prefers to have a keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 At the risk of sounding stupid, the Chromebook Pixel. Why would anybody pay a grand for a browser? I get it at £250, it's a cheap way of doing the things that most people need a computer to do these days but you can buy a serious machine for a thousand pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Other than the fancy touch screen does the pixel offer anymore than a normal chromebook? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted March 7, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 7, 2013 It'll be a bit quicker, have a bit bigger SSD and a bit more RAM. Either you want the screen or you buy something cheaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 It does look pretty, but I don't think it will represent value for money unless they make it much cheaper. It needs to be cheaper than a Macbook air, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I think Google would do well to produce a nexus 'mini' type phone. The nexus 4 is a great phone, but I think a 'mini' would take the mobile market by storm, in the same way the nexus 7 did, if they could make it cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted March 7, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 7, 2013 What makes you think that? I doubt it could be made noticeably cheaper than the N4. While I know a few friends who would like a modern smart phone the same size as the Xperia mini, those people are very few in number. The only reason Apple didn't do a smaller ipad sooner was because Jobs said a tablet had to be at least 10", even though the ipad is only 10" if you round up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 It would be difficult to make it much cheaper than a n4. The n4 is great value for what it is, a top end smart phone, but it's not quite 'tech for the masses' in the same way the nexus 7 is. The minis seem to do well for Samsung, although Samsung are notorious for making products in every size imaginable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 It's working for them too. Samsung are making money hand over fist at the moment. I'm not sure Google are hugely interested in making hardware, they do a few bits and pieces just to set a bar for other manufacturers to aim for and are happy to leave Android at that. It is quite surprising we have seen **** all from Motorola so far, Google bought them almost two years ago. It was almost certainly for the patents, but still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I think from Google are interested in setting a standard for manufacturers and to keep prices competitive (the N4 was almost half what a S3 cost at the time of release?). Making a profit from hardware, probably isn't their objective, but they do produce good hardware. The proliferation of Android is quite important for them, the more google hardware out there, the more google searches. Also, I'd be interested in a Nexus Mini! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 8, 2013 Moderator Share Posted March 8, 2013 It was reported at the time that google buying motorola was entirely for the amazing amount of patents that they held. Either they bought them or someone else would. I don't expect to see anything from motorola because for one thing, the google brand is a better one than motorola. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 There is no reason why Motorola can't make the next Nexus phone though. I think there is a big halo effect if you make the Nexus phone, just look at Samsung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted March 8, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 8, 2013 They are supposed to be working on the "X Phone" which will be the next Nexus, or maybe the one after that. Will it be Google branded or Motorola? Don't care really as long as it's not shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted March 8, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 8, 2013 I don't care if it is shit as log as there are plenty of alternatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I believe someone on the Vergecast was speculating that Motorola won't be coming out with any proper Google products for another 18 months. There are supposed to be a few Motorola products in the pipeline that have to be released before any Google branded products can hit the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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