I've been toting around a massive 17" Toshiba laptop for years now when traveling, mostly to have web access and do a bit of writing. It weighs a ton, runs on Vista and has keyboard issues. It's time for an update. I'd really like a MacBook Air, but the 13" screen ones start at 1300 bucks where a 12" Chromebook comes in at 429. Has anyone worked on one of these yet?
I've not had any experience with them, but I have had a lot with Macs, and will be happy to answer any questions in that line. Personally I think you get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get. In any event, there's an interesting review of a recent chromebook at the link below, from a non-Mac friendly site. I hope it helps. Samsung Chromebook: The $499 Google thought experiment ? reghardware
Interesting review. It's not the first one I've read that it's not quite ready for prime time. That's why I was looking to see if there any first hand knowledge here. I have asked on some other sites I interact with too.
Some of the engineers in my office attended the Google IO conference and received free Chromebooks. Frankly, none of them are sure what to do with theirs. One gave his to his parents (their first laptop). The functionality is very limited unless you already do all your work on the cloud (Google docs). You can buy a very nicely configured netbook or lower end laptop for $499. If it's been awhile since you've shopped around, it's amazing what you can get for that price.
On the mac thing. I work in IT and support both macs and PCs. The Macs are now no different internally to any of the PCs we use, but there is something completely different with how they feel. It's just like noting the differences between the interior of the Fiat and the MINI. You get what you pay for with the MINI, it costs you ~$5k more, but it feels like you get $7k more from whatever it is they did with that $5k. Can't speak the chromebook as I have no experience with them.
Good time now to buy an almost-new 2010 Macbook air on ebay while everyone is going crazy to buy the latest greatest..... just sayin....
Here's a review of the current MacBook Air from the same site that reviewed the Chromebook above. Apple MacBook Air 13in Core i5 laptop ? reghardware One thing that they missed though is that the Air can "borrow" the optical drive of any suitably prepared computer on the same local network. There's a driver that you can install on another Mac or PC that allows the local CD/DVD drive to be accessed as if it were installed in the Air. Pretty slick, really. Personally, I think the suggestion of finding the last year's Core2Duo model is probably solid, unless you want the backlit keyboard, which is a pretty killer feature, IMO. I'm thinking of getting one for The Girl™