I went on a long drive down south and my cousin tagged along. He had a CR-48 and told me about it. I was skeptical, but we ended up signing me up for the pilot program at a McDonalds wifi hot spot using his very CR-48. To my surprise, I was chosen.
Chrome OS is nice, but it has its drawbacks. I like having an operating system I don't have to worry about. Likewise, I also like having an operating system I can tinker with. Chrome OS lacks on the 2nd part of that. If you want something "on the go" and you utilize web based applications, you can put the ChromeBook to good use. My problem is I work in IT, so I love my gadgets and tools for troubleshooting various issues. I also like to tinker and customize, and eventually I just felt bottlenecked by Chrome OS.
The best and probably most accurate thing I can say about the intended demographic of the ChromeBook is this. Can an iPad or any other tablet out there do the job you need? If so, and you want tablet-like functionality except with a keyboard, the ChromeBook has your name on it. There's no updating. No viruses. It's also Linux based, which is a definite thumbs up.
I felt as though Chrome OS was solid. I just didn't feel as though it was "for me". The actual CR-48 itself is a great little laptop, but it's nothing spectacular. My CR-48 came with a troublesome SSD, and I replaced it a few days ago which removed all of the issues (knock on wood) I was having recently. It only has one USB port, a single core Intel Atom, and 12" screen. I'm running Ubuntu 11.04 on it with Gnome Shell, and surprisingly it runs great with no lag or hangups. To be honest, Ubuntu 11.04 actually runs faster on it than Chrome OS did. However, this was also months ago, so Chrome OS may have been refined since then. Newer ChromeBooks have a bit more power and features than the CR-48 did. I believe I read the lowest ChromeBook on the market now has 2 USB ports and a dual core Intel Atom, etc... but I'm not positive on that.
Think long and hard about what I said with the tablet comment. I personally think tablets have their place, but it's not something I prefer. Touch screens are sweet and intuitive but... I just love my keyboard.
Also, how did you use the "cloud" with Windows? Did you use some sort of service for storing files on the web? Chrome OS itself resides on the hard drive of the ChromeBook, but it gets constant updates and functionality from the web. Chrome OS is extremely, extremely limited without wireless. I took it to Denver Colorado with me and thankfully wifi was everywhere. Without that I would have been very bored... The truth is, most computers these days are limited without wireless. That said, I can at least do work in Libre Office or something when offline. Different strokes, I suppose.