I received my Google Notebook this past Monday, 5/23/11. First of all I was surprised by it coming in. I had signed up for the pilot program last year but had almost forgotten about it until I got an email (about the second week of February) asking me to fill out a survey. I did but then forgot about it again. There was no advance notification or anything; the unit just came in on a UPS box. There was no paperwork to fill out or send back, none of the usual stuff that comes in with a new product.
My first impression was the texture of the unit. It has a distinct rubber-like feel to it. It is not really light for its size, but the surface does make it feel secure in your hands. On the right side you have an SD slot, a 3.5 headphone jack, a single USB port and the power slot. No ports on the back or front. The left side only has a VGA port. One thing I found in the battery compartment is a slot for a SIM card. This could be for future use, not sure, but I do know that it should have a Verizon chip somewhere inside for the data connection option -outside of Wi-Fi coverage. No Ethernet port, no optical drive.
The box contained the power charger and the battery; two small instruction fliers, and a sheet of stickers so that you can customize the cover.
The fact that this notebook powers-up right after you open it is not something new (iPad, et al), but you don’t expect it in a laptop. The registration/setup was not complicated using my actual Gmail/Google account. You can use other Google accounts or even a guest account, none of which would be able to see each other’s settings or use their apps. You are welcomed by a brief guide/tour of the unit and the OS. It explains the keyboard layout, touchpad, and the browser interface. The unit had enough juice to go through all of the guide and much more so that I could play with it all evening.
One of the unique features of this notebook is the touchpad. I think they call these clickpads. I (still) have some issues clicking on the touchpad. It is not your usual tap to click. It takes a stronger click, i.e., more pressure. Right-clicking is performed by using two fingers, and you also use two fingers to scroll. There are no touchpad buttons either. Personally, I’ve never liked using any sort of touchpads, so when I plugged in my mouse, I felt relieved. Somewhere along the guided tour, it brags that USB mouse devices would just work after you connect them -and not need any downloads. So far this is true although I’ve only tried a couple. The keyboard layout is slightly different. No caps-lock hey; instead it has a search button; so Google! Supposedly you can go into the settings and change that -although thinking about it I hardly use my caps-lock key.
After the tour, you are taken to the Chrome Web Interface. There are no minimize, maximize or close buttons. It seems you cannot escape out of the Interface, kind of making you feel imprisoned -especially after working almost forever with all other window-based Operating Systems. You can open a new window (Ctrl+N) but it’s just another Chrome Web window; when you do this there is a new icon on the top-right that you can click to switch between them. You also have a button on the keyboard that does the same, actually has the same image as the icon. This works as expected but I still have to see any benefits from it; maybe later as I start using it for more; maybe if/when there is some sort of connectivity to Citrix/Xen Desktop.
The Chrome interface takes you to the applications tab each time you open a new tab. Here are all the apps you install. There is an icon for the Chrome Web Store from where you can install new apps or extensions. I assume not all of the regular Chrome Browser extensions would be here but then again some exclusive for ChromeOS might be. Not sure why I despise ‘angry birds’ if I’ve never installed it on my iPhone or iPad, but that is the first thing you see on the Web Store, kind of like an ad; which reminds me about Google and advertising as I’ve not seen any yet. I installed an image editing app (actually two of them) and almost went bezerk after trying to do a simple operation like rotating an image. The SD card with pictures I put in worked and I got a notification window of some sort telling me that it had recognized that SD and the availability of it in the file system (yes, there is a file system of some sort but you can’t access it unless you have an app that summons it). You can’t do some of the usual file operations that you would on a Windows OS. Opening an image each time from the app took it’s time as it has to go thru/from the top of the ‘root’ file system; maybe it was the apps not being all that good but I struggled so much that I decided to take this on my Windows 7 notebook and in less than a minute I accomplished what I needed. It obviously was this one requirement I had, but you come to think about it and there would be many more things alike you just can’t do yet -as you can in other OS’s.
Performance is one hard to gauge. I say that because having used all kinds of workstations, desktops and systems, you can’t compare. It also depends on what you want to use it for. Business? That’s still a bit distant; home users can certainly use this notebook if they want a ‘just-4-browsing-the-internet’ toy. I tested some flash content and it was a real struggle; Flash does work but it is sluggish and the whole system moves at a snail's pace. I have yet to test many other features and applications although I’m sure I’ll have mixed emotions. I have yet to test the USB slot using a USB drive and the Verizon 3g Data FREE Connection Option. Yes, Verizon and Google partnered up and give you 100mb of free data per month, yeah, per month; this will last for 2 years. I think I can use that 100mb up in about 2 or 3 days. Verizon obviously has more data plans, including a ludicrous 10 dollar per day unlimited plan. This is somehow related to the joint policy that both companies proposed for an ‘open Internet’ (http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/08/joint-policy-proposal-for-open-internet.html)
Should Microsoft and Apple be worried about ChromeOS? Not right now but if this develops -as I think it could (with the almighty power of Google behind it), then we can see this platform surpass current expectations.
Here are some Specs:
Screen: 12.1 inches
Resolution: 1280 x 800
Battery Life: 8+ hours active, 8 days on standby
Storage: Flash SSD (unknown size)
Weight: 3.8 Lbs.
Networking: Wi-Fi 802.11n, Verizon 3G
Others: Webcam, SD Slot, Clickpad
