Samsung Chromebook

Samsung Google Book Review - Join-IT

We gave our IT director a Samsung Google Chrome book for 2 weeks to see what he thought.

Thanks to our friends at Samsung I have had the opportunity to use and experience the Google Chrome OS first hand. I have been using it on and off for the past 3 weeks and I am currently typing this review on Google Docs on the Samsung XE303C12 Chromebook with its 1.7Ghz dual core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash storage, built in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, 0.3 megapixel webcam, and 11.6” LED-backlit display. And it only weighs 1.1kg

First impressions are good in that it is a compact and lightweight device, the screen is bright and sharp, keyboard responsive (albeit without caps lock and delete keys), and performance is pretty quick once connected to your wireless network. From turning on (or just opening the lid) the start-up time is very quick. The reasonably sized 11.6in screen make it a surprisingly pleasant working companion and, with no Windows taskbar taking up precious pixels onscreen, the 1366 x 768 resolution feels positively spacious.

So what can I do with a Chromebook?

Firstly I needed a google account and email address which I had by virtue of using android devices. As soon as I had signed on and opened the Google Chrome browser it had transferred my bookmarks and home pages to the device so I was looking at my normal Chrome browser experience. The touchpad took a little while to get use to but if you are familiar with the Apple and new Windows devices it will be very familiar with the two fingered scrolling.

All the regular Google apps are pre-installed such as the Music, Docs, Sheets, Hangouts, Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Slides and Drive as well as a few that may be new to android users such as Keep (notes) and the Chrome RDP (remote desktop). The chrome store allows many more apps and Chrome extensions to be added much as you would on your phone or tablet.

It isn’t until someone takes Windows away that you realise quite how much of your time you spend in the browser. The first thing I tried to do on this web only operating system was to see if I could access all my email accounts. This was achieved without too much fuss as my various email accounts with Microsoft Office 365, 1and1, and Virgin are all accessible via web interfaces. My second task to test the remote control app as this is something I frequently do. Again with very little fuss I was able to set up access to my regular computers using the Chrome remote desktop app.

Checking the Chrome store I started to search for apps that I was familiar with from my android phone and tablet. For those who prefer the Microsoft office application they are available in their web based form. My cloud storage apps were also available (Box, Dropbox and OneDrive) as well as Google Drive who upgrade you to 100GB free storage for 2 years. If you are going to be a frequent Chromebook user then you may find it easier to store the documents you want to edit frequently on Google Drive as those stored in other cloud systems need to be downloaded to the device or Google Drive to be edited and then uploaded to the cloud system when finished. Alternatively you can store and edit documents directly from USB storage using one of the two USB slots (one of which is USB 3.0) or an SD card for which there is a slot. It also has Bluetooth connectivity if you want to use a different mouse or even keyboard.

Setting up the ability to print was very easy using Google Cloud Print. Just enable a printer on a computer via settings in Chrome when signed into your Google account as a Google Cloud Printer and it is available to print to from your Chromebook. With both my home and work printers set up this way I can print to them from any location provided the relevant computers are switched on.

Playing and watching TV from the Chrome was easy with access to the relevant websites. Both the picture and sound are good enough to enjoy a show when a TV is not nearby. With most TV and movies streaming channels available via websites these days it is not a problem to view them via the Chromebook. You also have a camera for making those video calls to family and friends via the app Hangouts. There is also the ability to link the device to another screen or your TV via an HDMI cable which I have yet to try.

Conclusion

So where does the Chromebook fit in when I already have a desktop, laptop, tablet and phone? It is smaller and lighter than my laptop so would be easier to carry around but then my tablet fits the bill for that purpose. It is nice to have a proper responsive keyboard when typing rather than the onscreen keyboard of the tablet so this would make it more useful when travelling and wanting to catch up on some work or when taking notes in a meeting.

Spending your time in a browser isn’t as limiting as at first you may think: for those moments when I wasn’t pulling my hair out against Chrome OS’s quirks, I quite enjoyed the simplicity of it. And even when I was frustrated by the experience, the spark of something brilliant behind it all regularly urged me to stick with it. Am I a convert? Not yet but I do see the potential in what has been and continues to be developed and I look forward to using it more frequently.

The Samsung Series 3 Chromebook is cheaper than many 10in tablets too, yet it includes a keyboard. The only downside is that Chrome OS is still very limited compared to Windows, so if you depend on certain software you may struggle to adapt to its online focus. If you’re looking for a cheap second machine for working or browsing on the move the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook could be the option to a tablet.

Appendix

Google Chrome OS is a Linux kernel-based operating system designed by Google to work primarily with web applications. The user interface takes a minimalist approach and consists almost entirely of just the Google Chrome web browser; since the operating system is aimed at users who spend most of their computer time on the Web, the only "native" applications on Chrome OS are a browser, media player and file manager. This means that Chrome OS is almost a pure web thin client OS.

Specs

Model name:

Chromebook XE303C12-A01

Processor:

1.7 GHz ARM Exynos 5 Dual-core

RAM

2 Gigabyte

Storage

16 GB Flash + 100 GB Google Drive

Screen size:

11.6

Screen Resolution: