Jayce
Fully Optimized
- Messages
- 3,056
- Location
- /home/jason
Six weeks ago I signed up for Google's Pilot program, which was basically Google handing out 60,000 of these units on a selective basis to users to users who filled out a survey. These units are not for sale, but ultimately the feedback of these laptops will power the movement to the final product, which last I heard was to release this summer, or somewhere around there. I've had this little gizmo for the last 12 hours and haven't set it down since, so I figured I would post some observations.
Build Quality: This unit is pretty solid. It's the thinnest laptop I've ever used, however I can't say that I've ever spent much time with a MacBook Air. The keyboard is solid with quiet and slightly rubberized keys. The entire unit has no branding, though I'm sure the final product may somewhere on it. The entire thing, while small, feels solid in your hands. It doesn't have creaky sloppy plastic molding with mismatching seams that some "modern" laptops exhibit. The keyboard is spacious, easy to type, screen is pretty vivid and presents text clearly. It's the perfect size for an on-the-go laptop.
Speed: Faster than I anticipated. It powers on and shuts down faster than my quad core desktop goes into suspend mode, which mind you, is pretty fast... Speed on the internet was equally well. I noticed with TKIP encryption it was a bit sluggish. Nothing bad, but since I had seen another CR-48 in action a few weeks ago, I noticed mine seemed to be a bit slow. I changed to AES encryption and my speed was back. Ironically, I googled the above on this very laptop to yield the answer. Bottom line/back on task, this laptop is pretty fast. It's resume time from closing the lid/opening the lid is nearly instant, as well.
Battery Life: Seeing this very very thin battery I thought, oh geez, it's not going to last that long. I used it till it was dead last night and did a full charge. While the battery meter hasn't been fully accurate, it's hovered around an estimated average of 8.5-9 hours. Nice!
Wifi: And of course, internet. The thing that this laptop requires to survive and even function. You heard right, this netbook is a true NETbook. It requires the internet to even run. When you log in, it asks you what wireless you want to connect to. Without wireless, you've got nothing. Now, this bothered me, and I thought for sure I would throw this on the shelf and never use it again. But I didn't realize just how much I relied on the internet on my regular laptop to begin with. Don't get me wrong, this CR-48 is not a workhorse laptop to be used in place of a technician's laptop. I wouldn't be able to use this at work, because I use a ton of utilities and troubleshooting applications that just isn't here on this CR-48. That being said, this thing is the *perfect* unit for me to use on the go. It's more usable than my 8.9" netbook, although I'm sure I'll still use it here and there. Bottom line is, I rely on internet based services that much that it didn't shock me to "require" it for this CR-48 to run. Some people may agree or disagree, because everybody's usage will be different.
Bottom line: This thing has potential. Already this gizmo is proving to be a nice little unit to rely on. It's fast, terrific battery life, and the projected price is very, very attractive. It's far more usable than the iPad could ever hope to be, but it still has some work to go on. It's fully open source, which is.. um... awesome. For now there is no local storage I am aware of, however there is a built in SD card slot that I've heard in time will provide some hope. It may not be optimal, but with how big some SD cards are getting, it might not be a bad addition.
I suspect rapid development to move forward with these laptops and I am anxious to see what comes next. Until then, I am finding myself addicted to the Google App Store, finding new applications for various tasks.
Build Quality: This unit is pretty solid. It's the thinnest laptop I've ever used, however I can't say that I've ever spent much time with a MacBook Air. The keyboard is solid with quiet and slightly rubberized keys. The entire unit has no branding, though I'm sure the final product may somewhere on it. The entire thing, while small, feels solid in your hands. It doesn't have creaky sloppy plastic molding with mismatching seams that some "modern" laptops exhibit. The keyboard is spacious, easy to type, screen is pretty vivid and presents text clearly. It's the perfect size for an on-the-go laptop.
Speed: Faster than I anticipated. It powers on and shuts down faster than my quad core desktop goes into suspend mode, which mind you, is pretty fast... Speed on the internet was equally well. I noticed with TKIP encryption it was a bit sluggish. Nothing bad, but since I had seen another CR-48 in action a few weeks ago, I noticed mine seemed to be a bit slow. I changed to AES encryption and my speed was back. Ironically, I googled the above on this very laptop to yield the answer. Bottom line/back on task, this laptop is pretty fast. It's resume time from closing the lid/opening the lid is nearly instant, as well.
Battery Life: Seeing this very very thin battery I thought, oh geez, it's not going to last that long. I used it till it was dead last night and did a full charge. While the battery meter hasn't been fully accurate, it's hovered around an estimated average of 8.5-9 hours. Nice!
Wifi: And of course, internet. The thing that this laptop requires to survive and even function. You heard right, this netbook is a true NETbook. It requires the internet to even run. When you log in, it asks you what wireless you want to connect to. Without wireless, you've got nothing. Now, this bothered me, and I thought for sure I would throw this on the shelf and never use it again. But I didn't realize just how much I relied on the internet on my regular laptop to begin with. Don't get me wrong, this CR-48 is not a workhorse laptop to be used in place of a technician's laptop. I wouldn't be able to use this at work, because I use a ton of utilities and troubleshooting applications that just isn't here on this CR-48. That being said, this thing is the *perfect* unit for me to use on the go. It's more usable than my 8.9" netbook, although I'm sure I'll still use it here and there. Bottom line is, I rely on internet based services that much that it didn't shock me to "require" it for this CR-48 to run. Some people may agree or disagree, because everybody's usage will be different.
Bottom line: This thing has potential. Already this gizmo is proving to be a nice little unit to rely on. It's fast, terrific battery life, and the projected price is very, very attractive. It's far more usable than the iPad could ever hope to be, but it still has some work to go on. It's fully open source, which is.. um... awesome. For now there is no local storage I am aware of, however there is a built in SD card slot that I've heard in time will provide some hope. It may not be optimal, but with how big some SD cards are getting, it might not be a bad addition.
I suspect rapid development to move forward with these laptops and I am anxious to see what comes next. Until then, I am finding myself addicted to the Google App Store, finding new applications for various tasks.
