6 ms·

Who pays $1,199 for a Chromebook?

pjmlp 9y ago
I also don't get it, for that price I can get a nice general purpose laptop, with most likely a much better CPU/GPU combo.
- resoluti0n 9y ago
  A traditional GNU/Linux distro can also be installed bare metal on it. It's a much better option for your privacy. This eliminate Google's data mining of the whole desktop experience and give you better customization options at the same time.
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    I can already do that on a 300 euro laptop, which was sold with Ubuntu installed on it.
    - neverminder 9y ago
      It's the same like saying "I don't need S class Mercedes, VW Polo has 4 wheels too.". Compare the specs of that 300 euro laptop and Pixel 2015 LS - that's not even the same league. I have Ubuntu installed on mine and with core i7, 16 GB of RAM it blows most of the laptops out of the water.
      - camus2 9y ago
        Now compare the possibilities of any decent OS versus what basically amounts to a browser... any OS can run a browser, why buy a machine that makes you use a browser exclusively and ties you to Google services for everything?
        toast0 9y ago
        For non power users, a computer that basically just works into a browser, which is where they do most of their computing, and is really hard to mess up is a nice thing. This is great for my young child and my mother in law. I no longer have to fix their computers, because they don't break. For power users, The intel core processor based chromebooks can run a standard Linux install as well, FreeBSD mostly works, and Windows can work with some effort. So you're not really locked in. There's a decent community of people packaging updated coreboot builds that get better at booting other operating systems over time. I don't know that that the pixel appeals to me, but the low spec chromebooks are nice because they're cheap and they usually have decently up to date cpus -- I don't want/need a super fast CPU but I want the latest architecture. Most Windows laptops in the prices range are really bulky and have slow spinning drives instead of an SSD (granted, the SSDs are usually tiny in the chromebooks). At the price point of the Chromebook Pixel series, you're getting a higher tier CPU, so you do need to shop around and see if you're getting a good value for the parts, and if you like the system design. Honestly, I don't see why I would pay $1000+ for a laptop that doesn't have the cluster of keys around page up/page down, but I'm a dinosaur and my taste isn't very well reflected in the marketplace. At the $200 price range where I've bought a few chromebooks, I can manage using a keyboard without important keys. :)
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        The 8 GB RAM, 500 HDD, dual core CPU, DirectX 11 class GPU are more than enough for what I do with it.
  - camus2 9y ago
    > A traditional GNU/Linux distro can also be installed bare metal on it I can do the same on my $200 PC. Surely this isn't the best argument to buy a chrome book. What I don't get is why would people pay a premium for something that basically amount to a web browser? Ease of us? Just install Chrome on whatever PC you have and remove the rest of the apps... > This eliminate Google's data mining of the whole desktop experience and give you better customization options at the same time. Yes, by giving more money to Google...
coldtea 9y ago
Those that value what the Chromebook offers over what a regular laptop with Linux does. For many also $1099 is spare change -- at least when considering what computer they can buy.
- 83457 9y ago
  Can you provide some examples and/or point us at related info elsewhere? Thanks!
- jamespo 9y ago
  I'm not sure there's much overlap between your first group and your second group.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    Membership in either group is totally orthogonal. You can want a hassle-free Cloud-based computer whether you are a millionaire or unemployed.
- champagnepapi 9y ago
  Hopefully $1099 will be spare change for me soon! However, why can't someone get a cheaper laptop similar specs, perhaps worse design, just install linux on it?
  - pgeorgi 9y ago
    "Just install Linux on it" means higher return rates due to all those people who didn't bother to read the specs. That might be more expensive to deal with than the $39 OEM Windows 10 Home license.
  - tacomonstrous 9y ago
    In my experience, 'just install Linux on it' is only enjoyable till the first piece of hardware that fails to work as you expected it to (usually Bluetooth or the touchpad). Crouton on Chrome OS quite literally 'just works' and is at least as easy to install as Linux on a PC. Also, why would I want worse specs? I'd rather get the best hardware I can, and if it looks good, even better.
colemickens 9y ago
I paid $1600 for a Chromebook Pixel LS because I knew it was great HW with Linux support. I have thousands set aside for a replacement laptop and I have problems with every single device, none of which are present on my two and a half years old Chromebook Pixel. It runs a mainline kernel with full hardware support. It's the best for me. Rumor has it, this new "Pixelbook" has a dev friendly keyboard (and checked the leaked shot... You can clearly tell it's not a standard Chromebook keyboard). edit: I'd echo the comments about build quality. My average laptop life span is 12-18 months, yet I've been running this since it was released. This thing has put up with a lot, and looks like it could've come out of the box a week ago (save for a bright blemish in the screen from a foreign object in my bag, and the rubber strip being slightly ajar after adjusting the write protect screw). Anyway, I'm not a fan of convertible laptops in general, but between the Linux support, great build quality, satisfaction with the 2015 model etc, I'll probably pick one up and see if I'm happy or want to just settle on the XPS 13.
- tacomonstrous 9y ago
  I've had exactly the same experience (though I only paid $1300 for mine). People keep asking me why I just didn't get a 'real laptop' for that price, and don't realize that they're asking me why I don't choose a worse experience. It's both amusing and annoying.
partisan 9y ago
I paid ~800 for a Dell Chromebook 13 + SSD upgrade and am very happy with it though I might, in retrospect, get a XPS 13 developer edition instead. I am happy with it all the same.
yathern 9y ago
It is pricey - but that's kinda the point. The value of the Pixel brand is equally about what it supplies the ecosystem with. Having a Chromebook that is high-end with all the new bells and whistles - and very well designed hardware brings attention to Chromebooks as a whole. It signals that Chromebooks aren't just cheap devices for students - but that they can be performance devices as well. Luxury items even. People see this good looking device - and if they don't like the price, may be interested in other Chromebooks. I wouldn't be surprised if the Samsung flip and C302CA get a surge of popularity because of this.
- bupku5 9y ago
  This is a popular and false narrative people are creating to inoculate themselves against the anticipated poor sales of the too-expensive Pixel devices Are we really supposed to believe that Google is going to all this trouble just to move a few units to key influencers? Come on, this is just Google trying to copy Apple in a ham-fisted way Google still hasn't figured out that part of the premium for Apple users is being able to walk in to an Apple store in most major metro areas for assistance...meanwhile Google still thinks message boards and third-party repair constitute a premium experience this Chromebook will flop. there's really nothing interesting about it at all...
- cardiffspaceman 9y ago
  Yes the Corvette's importance to GM isn't the number of Corvettes sold, its the number of prospects who buy Camaros etc.

I also don't get it, for that price I can get a nice general purpose laptop, with most likely a much better CPU/GPU combo.

resoluti0n 9y ago
A traditional GNU/Linux distro can also be installed bare metal on it. It's a much better option for your privacy. This eliminate Google's data mining of the whole desktop experience and give you better customization options at the same time.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  I can already do that on a 300 euro laptop, which was sold with Ubuntu installed on it.
  - neverminder 9y ago
    It's the same like saying "I don't need S class Mercedes, VW Polo has 4 wheels too.". Compare the specs of that 300 euro laptop and Pixel 2015 LS - that's not even the same league. I have Ubuntu installed on mine and with core i7, 16 GB of RAM it blows most of the laptops out of the water.
    - camus2 9y ago
      Now compare the possibilities of any decent OS versus what basically amounts to a browser... any OS can run a browser, why buy a machine that makes you use a browser exclusively and ties you to Google services for everything?
      - toast0 9y ago
        For non power users, a computer that basically just works into a browser, which is where they do most of their computing, and is really hard to mess up is a nice thing. This is great for my young child and my mother in law. I no longer have to fix their computers, because they don't break. For power users, The intel core processor based chromebooks can run a standard Linux install as well, FreeBSD mostly works, and Windows can work with some effort. So you're not really locked in. There's a decent community of people packaging updated coreboot builds that get better at booting other operating systems over time. I don't know that that the pixel appeals to me, but the low spec chromebooks are nice because they're cheap and they usually have decently up to date cpus -- I don't want/need a super fast CPU but I want the latest architecture. Most Windows laptops in the prices range are really bulky and have slow spinning drives instead of an SSD (granted, the SSDs are usually tiny in the chromebooks). At the price point of the Chromebook Pixel series, you're getting a higher tier CPU, so you do need to shop around and see if you're getting a good value for the parts, and if you like the system design. Honestly, I don't see why I would pay $1000+ for a laptop that doesn't have the cluster of keys around page up/page down, but I'm a dinosaur and my taste isn't very well reflected in the marketplace. At the $200 price range where I've bought a few chromebooks, I can manage using a keyboard without important keys. :)
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      The 8 GB RAM, 500 HDD, dual core CPU, DirectX 11 class GPU are more than enough for what I do with it.
- camus2 9y ago
  > A traditional GNU/Linux distro can also be installed bare metal on it I can do the same on my $200 PC. Surely this isn't the best argument to buy a chrome book. What I don't get is why would people pay a premium for something that basically amount to a web browser? Ease of us? Just install Chrome on whatever PC you have and remove the rest of the apps... > This eliminate Google's data mining of the whole desktop experience and give you better customization options at the same time. Yes, by giving more money to Google...

coldtea 9y ago

Those that value what the Chromebook offers over what a regular laptop with Linux does. For many also $1099 is spare change -- at least when considering what computer they can buy.

83457 9y ago
Can you provide some examples and/or point us at related info elsewhere? Thanks!
jamespo 9y ago
I'm not sure there's much overlap between your first group and your second group.
- coldtea 9y ago
  Membership in either group is totally orthogonal. You can want a hassle-free Cloud-based computer whether you are a millionaire or unemployed.
champagnepapi 9y ago
Hopefully $1099 will be spare change for me soon! However, why can't someone get a cheaper laptop similar specs, perhaps worse design, just install linux on it?
- pgeorgi 9y ago
  "Just install Linux on it" means higher return rates due to all those people who didn't bother to read the specs. That might be more expensive to deal with than the $39 OEM Windows 10 Home license.
- tacomonstrous 9y ago
  In my experience, 'just install Linux on it' is only enjoyable till the first piece of hardware that fails to work as you expected it to (usually Bluetooth or the touchpad). Crouton on Chrome OS quite literally 'just works' and is at least as easy to install as Linux on a PC. Also, why would I want worse specs? I'd rather get the best hardware I can, and if it looks good, even better.

colemickens 9y ago

I paid $1600 for a Chromebook Pixel LS because I knew it was great HW with Linux support. I have thousands set aside for a replacement laptop and I have problems with every single device, none of which are present on my two and a half years old Chromebook Pixel. It runs a mainline kernel with full hardware support. It's the best for me. Rumor has it, this new "Pixelbook" has a dev friendly keyboard (and checked the leaked shot... You can clearly tell it's not a standard Chromebook keyboard). edit: I'd echo the comments about build quality. My average laptop life span is 12-18 months, yet I've been running this since it was released. This thing has put up with a lot, and looks like it could've come out of the box a week ago (save for a bright blemish in the screen from a foreign object in my bag, and the rubber strip being slightly ajar after adjusting the write protect screw). Anyway, I'm not a fan of convertible laptops in general, but between the Linux support, great build quality, satisfaction with the 2015 model etc, I'll probably pick one up and see if I'm happy or want to just settle on the XPS 13.

tacomonstrous 9y ago
I've had exactly the same experience (though I only paid $1300 for mine). People keep asking me why I just didn't get a 'real laptop' for that price, and don't realize that they're asking me why I don't choose a worse experience. It's both amusing and annoying.

partisan 9y ago

I paid ~800 for a Dell Chromebook 13 + SSD upgrade and am very happy with it though I might, in retrospect, get a XPS 13 developer edition instead. I am happy with it all the same.

yathern 9y ago

It is pricey - but that's kinda the point. The value of the Pixel brand is equally about what it supplies the ecosystem with. Having a Chromebook that is high-end with all the new bells and whistles - and very well designed hardware brings attention to Chromebooks as a whole. It signals that Chromebooks aren't just cheap devices for students - but that they can be performance devices as well. Luxury items even. People see this good looking device - and if they don't like the price, may be interested in other Chromebooks. I wouldn't be surprised if the Samsung flip and C302CA get a surge of popularity because of this.

bupku5 9y ago
This is a popular and false narrative people are creating to inoculate themselves against the anticipated poor sales of the too-expensive Pixel devices Are we really supposed to believe that Google is going to all this trouble just to move a few units to key influencers? Come on, this is just Google trying to copy Apple in a ham-fisted way Google still hasn't figured out that part of the premium for Apple users is being able to walk in to an Apple store in most major metro areas for assistance...meanwhile Google still thinks message boards and third-party repair constitute a premium experience this Chromebook will flop. there's really nothing interesting about it at all...
cardiffspaceman 9y ago
Yes the Corvette's importance to GM isn't the number of Corvettes sold, its the number of prospects who buy Camaros etc.