Review: Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch)

The Samsung Chromebook is somewhat a new entry in the line of light and small notebooks. Developed by one of the most reliable company Samsung, it has the capability of a very fast start-up and saves your time as Chromebook is aimed towards many of the Google’s Gadgets  and applications.

I have been using the new Chromebook for over a month now and I am very much satisfied from it. The only reason why at the first place I decided to buy it was its light weightiness and the multiuser sharing capability it allows. It weighs just 2.4 pounds, and it is 0.7 inches thin.

I usually share my notebook with my twin sister and you will be amazed to see for yourself how the Chromebook takes just seconds to switch accounts and allow you to get your own apps, files, and settings.

It allows automatic backup of files on cloud. Moreover, it has 100 GB of Google Drive storage for 2 years for free. It gives a nice battery time of 6.5 hours and an easy to connect Wi-Fi to connect to any wireless network.

Those who aren’t much aware of Chrome OS must know that this operating system is different from Mac, Windows or other laptop based OS. It simply runs on the web having no native apps. There are some Chrome apps available; however, they also work in the browser.

Samsung chromebook 16 inch

Since you can’t install any other software or Windows, this turns your laptop a lot more secure. The best thing is that the computer gets updated on its own as soon as you are connected to the internet and any unwanted stuff is removed on its own.

Most of the work we do is online on the web like checking emails, using Twitter and of course Facebook. Microsoft Office apps are easily replaced by online Google online documents which give near to same kind of experience or even better like real time sharing of the same document etc.

Now, if you are a graphics designer or developer then you need to reconsider the option of buying Chromebook as it doesn’t allow you to install powerful software like Photoshop, however there are some good software available online if you need to do some minor tweaks.

There are a number of online software available, nearly an alternate for everything you use like calendars, finance tools etc. however, it is always best to check before you order Chromebook.

Keep in mind that those with limited internet connectivity won’t like the idea of buying this device as it is very much dependent on internet.

Google Samsung Chrombook

There are offline applications like Google Docs, Google Calendar etc. but still not enough to work. And with internet there are still important things like watching MKV or AVI videos and printing that can’t be done right through the browser. Watching this format of files need converting them and printing can be done however through CloudPrint that involves connecting your printer to internet.

And the worst of all is yet to come; the Chromebook just has 16 GB of disk available. And I can bet you would normally have 250 GB of your normal hard drive filled with movies and music. This is a major drawback of this device and I am always finding it difficult to manage the space.

But, don’t be so sad as already mentioned that you get 100 GB free space on Google Drive for the first 2 years if you buy Chromebook and also you have an already 5 GB of space on your Google Drive so you can keep your things online a lot easily.

Moreover, after 2 years if you aren’t able to avail some other free promotion you will still be able to access your files already in the Drive but cannot add new files which means the already stored data won’t get deleted.

Again, keep in mind that you have online apps available and you can use other storing solutions like Dropbox but they aren’t that closely integrated with Chromebook.

Now, coming to the hardware of Chromebook, it comes with an ARM chip that is normally seen in a tablet or phone. This may appear slow, however it is quite quick and takes just 7 seconds to boot and less than 30 seconds to open your Chrome tabs. The keyboard has got a lot of appreciation from other reviewers and I myself totally love the trackpad and keyboard as they are quite smooth.

Overall, the machine is quite responsive however if more than 20 tabs are opened simultaneously it will definitely slow down. If you are another typical user who just check emails, use Facebook and Twitter then you wouldn’t face any performance problems. 11.6-inch-Samsung-ChromeBook

The battery runs quite good as well and depending on your usage the battery would run quite more than 6.5 hours even.

There is one HDMI port, a USB 2.0 port, a USB 3.0 port, and a SD card reader. However, keep in mind that external optical drives like CD/DVD drives doesn’t work at all with this device and the kind of hard drive it uses doesn’t have any moving parts. Thus, the machine overall doesn’t get hot.

The speakers of Chromebook are loud enough and good for using on a desk instead of your laptop as the sound get a bit muffled by clothing.

Chromebook can be wiped out easily at any time as there is very less personal data stored on it and if you have to lend your device then there is a special guest mode which allows the guest to use it without having an access to your personal bookmarks or settings.

Just to wind it all up, if you are a frequent web user then it’s the perfect device to go for. However, if you are a software developer or a gaming freak then this device isn’t meant for you. This device is quite cheaply priced at USD 318 and can be bought as a spare device that you can use while you are watching TV.

Video Review :

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