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I'm intrigued by using Chrome OS, but the choices of Chromebooks is pretty sparse. You either have the ultra-high-end of the Chromebook Pixel that costs as much
by GoofballJones 13y ago
I'm intrigued by using Chrome OS, but the choices of Chromebooks is pretty sparse. You either have the ultra-high-end of the Chromebook Pixel that costs as much as a Macbook Air 13", or you have the ultra cheap and cheap-feeling low end.
Why can't we get a mid-range one, with a decent keyboard, decent IPS screen (doesn't have to be touch-screen), long battery life with Haswell chip and USB 3. Yes yes...we can just buy a laptop and run Chrome on it, but it's not the same. No ultra-fast boot-ups, no security inherent in Chrome OS itself etc.
- r00fus 13y agoI imagine if Google weren't effectively subsidizing ChromeOS machines (by not charging for ChromeOS, and instead hoping you'll spend more time on their web properties and ads), most of these machines would cost a bit more. All the things you mentioned cost money. There are psychological barriers (marketing speak: price points) where people make different decisions. For example, $500 is a magic point where something stops being either affordable/inexpensive/casual expense (depending on your financial situation) and becomes unaffordable/expensive/notable.
- tomkarlo 13y agoThe average price for a Windows 8 laptop last Q4 was ~$430... so at $280 they're about $150 under that. I suspect that if you start getting close to that $430 mark you lose some of the willingness of consumers to try something other than Windows.
- Touche 13y agoHP is also releasing a slightly higher class 14" with Haswell. I think you probably want something in the $500-$800 range though, and yes that's currently underserved. Chromebooks were originally designed to be cheap and disposable but there now seems to be more of a demand for better quality machines and no one's yet stepped up to fill that void.