A thousand dollar Chromebook?!?

[Bodhitree]

Wow… and I thought these were taking the educational market by storm.

This is the premium Chromebook’s biggest test

HP’s Elite Dragonfly Chromebook finally has a price.

www.theverge.com

 

[skaertus]

Wow… and I thought these were taking the educational market by storm.

This is the premium Chromebook’s biggest test

HP’s Elite Dragonfly Chromebook finally has a price.

www.theverge.com

That one makes zero sense.

For less than that, one could buy a MacBook Air or a Windows PC with far better specs. And it would run a full operating system (either macOS or Windows) which is miles ahead of the very limited ChromeOS.

 

[sracer]

That one makes zero sense.

For less than that, one could buy a MacBook Air or a Windows PC with far better specs. And it would run a full operating system (either macOS or Windows) which is miles ahead of the very limited ChromeOS.

For every alternative scenario where "it doesn't make sense", there will be someone who will think that THAT alternative doesn't make sense. Believe it or not, there are people who could justify spending $1000 on a chromebook but NOT spend $1000 on a Macbook Air.

From my perspective, it makes plenty of sense. People who are sold on Chromebooks will not find a Macbook or Windows laptop a viable alternative. Having an option to pay a premium price for a premium device is attractive to some people.

Having high-end chromebooks give manufacturers the "head space" to offer model all along the price range. Even if private individuals would find it difficult to justify those higher end devices, there are businesses that can.

 

[TechRunner]

From my perspective, it makes plenty of sense. People who are sold on Chromebooks will not find a Macbook or Windows laptop a viable alternative.

This. If you're as involved with Google's ecosystem as a Mac user is in Apple's ecosystem, spending premium money for your primary device would make perfect sense. Granted, they won't sell millions of them, and I wouldn't buy one, but I can still see a use for them.

 

[iStorm]

Really not much different than comparing Apple's cheapest $329 iPad to their most expensive $2,399 iPad...

 

[mi7chy]

For less than that, one could buy a MacBook Air or a Windows PC with far better specs. And it would run a full operating system (either macOS or Windows) which is miles ahead of the very limited ChromeOS.

MBA M1 isn't even a valid comparison since it isn't x64, isn't 360 convertible, no touch screen, no pen input, etc. A MBA M1 is not much better than ARM Chromebook while a lot of x64 Chromebooks can install Windows/Linux x64 so ~$1100 is reasonable for a premium x64 Chromebook with added features. I use a Chromebook tablet a lot more since it's portable while MBA M1 clamshell is restrictive.

 

[ian87w]

Today, I'd prefer an ARM based Chromebook. Chromebook's main selling point is being lighter and faster than Windows, but on x86, it is being bogged down by intel. Imagine an ARM (eg. Snapdragon) based Chromebook. It will probably have better battery life and no fans (physically lighter).

Would love a Chromebook, but would prefer to not touch intel ever again. I'd rather go with an Android tablet (which is what I'm doing now) than an intel laptop.

 

[mi7chy]

This particular Chromebook is powered by Alder Lake which should have good performance from everything we've seen so far about Alder Lake plus Intel is usually top notch for media decoding/encoding for video consumption/creation. I've been using ARM Chromebook but would much rather have the versatility of x64 Chromebook to install Windows or Linux x64 if battery life is close.

 

[jimimac71]

Really not much different than comparing Apple's cheapest $329 iPad to their most expensive $2,399 iPad...

Well put my leg in a tea kettle, you can buy an iPad for $2,399.

 

[nickdalzell1]

That would be an iPad Pro. There's Microsoft Surface tablets that break that price, and aren't even able to run most of what even an iPad can.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

That would be an iPad Pro. There's Microsoft Surface tablets that break that price, and aren't even able to run most of what even an iPad can.

You are going to need to explain this one to me. My kids have basic iPads, I have a Surface Pro 7, and it can kick the crap out of those iPads on running things? Even against my iPad Pro 2018 12.9" I find plenty of things the Surface runs better?

 

[nickdalzell1]

Does the Surface run apps outside the Windows Store? I haven't been keeping up but I last browsed Best Buy's Surface section and they wanted not only 2 grand but they were only able to run apps from the Windows Store. That meant no Angry Birds, No Plants vs. Zombies, no Cut the Rope, and a lot of other apps missing, meaning you're about on par with an old BB10 BlackBerry for apps. Great though if all you do is business.

For the price, though, I'd expect far more than a mere tablet. I would expect something more mind-blowing than the most expensive HP Spectre.

AFAIK, there's no *.exe variant of Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, etc either. Meaning you miss out on a lot of popular mobile games that aren't available for Windows. That's what killed Windows phone.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Does the Surface run apps outside the Windows Store? I haven't been keeping up but I last browsed Best Buy's Surface section and they wanted not only 2 grand but they were only able to run apps from the Windows Store. That meant no Angry Birds, No Plants vs. Zombies, no Cut the Rope, and a lot of other apps missing, meaning you're about on par with an old BB10 BlackBerry for apps. Great though if all you do is business.

For the price, though, I'd expect far more than a mere tablet. I would expect something more mind-blowing than the most expensive HP Spectre.

AFAIK, there's no *.exe variant of Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, etc either. Meaning you miss out on a lot of popular mobile games that aren't available for Windows. That's what killed Windows phone.

Ah, you are thinking of the Surface RT or Surface X. Yes, those are terrible.

The Surface Pro line runs anything you want -- as long as it is windows. I run full desktop versions of Office, Obsidian, Joplin, Aeon Timeline, Scapple, Scrivener, Calibre, etc.,

 

[jimimac71]

In my opinion, $1,000 for a Chromebook doesn't make sense. Even though Chrome OS keeps getting better, it isn't a real computer. For that kind of money, a MacBook Air or a Windows 2 in 1, would make better sense. Even an iPad or Android tablet for that price works better in my mind.

 

[psychicist]

In my opinion, $1,000 for a Chromebook doesn't make sense. Even though Chrome OS keeps getting better, it isn't a real computer. For that kind of money, a MacBook Air or a Windows 2 in 1, would make better sense. Even an iPad or Android tablet for that price works better in my mind.

It is not up to you to decide what a real computer is. For those people who are interested in this kind of Chromebook it is very much a real computer. Not only can they run web applications, they can also run Android and Linux applications.

Would I be interested in one? Probably not, as long as I can buy a true general-purpose laptop on which I can install whatever operating system I want. In that same vein I could call Apple Macbooks and Windows Surface laptops not real computers, but that would be petty behaviour. People with different needs buy different computers.

While I think Apple Silicon computers are great for what you pay for them, I don't see much of an advantage to macOS over GNU/Linux or Free/OpenBSD. Hopefully more alternatives with ARM chips will become available over the next few years, so people have more options for systems they can buy.

 

[jimimac71]

I am not deciding anything. In my opinion, a Chromebook is a product with limitations. What’s the difference between “real computer“ and “true general-purpose laptop?”
iPad and iPhone are not real computers. Nor anything Android.
I still believe in CDs and DVDs. Any device that can’t transcode either one, is not a computer.
Linux is still hard for me to get my arms around, but it is just as good as Windows or Mac, unless you require specific software. Tax preparation for example.
I don’t think there is anything a MacBook can’t do, therefore a real computer.
Windows can do anything, except for all the computers (like mine) that are stuck with Windows 10. I have a 2014 Pentium without TPM. No Windows 11.
My machine will be 11 years old by the time Windows 10 goes EOL. Good enough.
For $1,000, I’d probably want a MacBook Air. My iPad is refurbished and a perfect way to buy from Apple.

 

[mi7chy]

You need to differentiate between x64 Macbook and ARM Macbook. ARM Macbook is not much better than ARM Chromebook since it's limited compared to x64 due to lack of native software. You can jump through hoops and pay for Crossover and Parallels subscriptions to run some Windows on ARM software but it's still severely limited compared to x64.

 

[jimimac71]

You need to differentiate between x64 Macbook and ARM Macbook. ARM Macbook is not much better than ARM Chromebook since it's limited compared to x64 due to lack of native software. You can jump through hoops and pay for Crossover and Parallels subscriptions to run some Windows on ARM software but it's still severely limited compared to x64.

Maybe I'm puzzled. Are ARM and M series CPUs the same?
I think any MacBook is superior to any Chrome product.
Intel powered Macs are history. Why pay Intel when you can do better on your own?
If you want x64, then go there. If not, any Mac will kick it!

 

[Shanghaichica]

The pixel book is a chromebook I seriously considered despite its high price tag. In the end I went with another MacBook Air but if I didn’t want another Mac I could have gotten the pixel book.

 

[psychicist]

I see the primary limitations in a Chromebook being the Coreboot firmware and the eMMC storage used on many lower-end models, although there are some models that come with removable SSDs. This artificially cripples the machines and makes it harder to install another operating system on them.

Apple M1 machines other than the Mac Studio M1 have similar limitations in their storage configuration, albeit for a reason. I don't have a lot of experience with the various incarnations of macOS, but things look worse now in the days of Big Sur and Monterey than they did in the days of Tiger and Leopard. As a developer I have to go through hoops to get some code that compiles just fine on Linux or Windows compiled on macOS.

I just want a device with an open firmware that doesn't nag when I replace the included operating system (Chromebook) and not with soldered storage. I think an Apple Silicon Mac Pro will be the kind of system with the fewest compromises but it will come at a steep price.

Those who believe an ARM Macbook is worse than an x64 Macbook probably only became Mac users during the Intel days. There was a time before Intel and there will be a time after Intel. If you depend on Windows for your profession and/or your hobbies you will have to make some compromises. That doesn't mean ARM Macs are objectively worse, they are just worse for your use case.

 

[Breaking Good]

What does a Chromebook do that cannot be accomplished on a Window PC running the Chrome browser?

At the end of the day the hardware is going to be the hardware. What I really want to know is what are the advantages and disadvantages of one operating system versus another.

If Chrome O/S is really better than Windows or MacO/S in a particular use case, then a higher end Chromebook would make sense. If it isn't better, then it is probably best to look at other options.

 

[psychicist]

A Chromebook isn't just a laptop running only a browser. Even though that may be what ChromeOS started out like, modern ChromeOS is a layered operating system based on a Linux kernel with subsystems and isolation for Android and Linux applications and also allows you to run a full Windows environment for legacy applications. With web applications becoming more universal and powerful there is less of a need for a fat operating system.

The main downside is that it is owned and developed by Google, which has its own agenda when it comes to locking people into its ecosystem. The upside is that many people are familiar with the interface and can use it for their computing needs, especially children. It's good that there are options and more competition.

I can't go into the details of the Linux kernel but it has many features that make it suitable for devices from phones to large server systems. These are all developed in the same source code, so everyone benefits from improvements.

Apple and Microsoft have to implement everything for their operating systems themselves, which means they will find it harder to take their systems forward in the long run. I think macOS stands a better chance in the long run than Windows does, as the latter has been losing market share to alternatives for more than a decade now.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I remember long ago you could forego Chrome OS and sideload a fully Linux distro onto a Chromebook, but in my experience it made the poor laptop run like an i486SX booting Windows 98. It performed like crap.

 

[Coochie Boogs]

That a lot of bread for a Chromebook, regardless of the bell and whistles. Always curious about Chromebook devices, and it honestly does have utility, but for some the prices are inexcusable.

 

[planteater]

While Chromebook reaches up, MacBook should reach down.

I would like to see Apple create a quality lower priced MacBook, probably made from a good grade of plastic. It could come in an assortment of colors and make macOS available to the market that wants lower priced laptops. Apple increases its services business with the new users. macOS grows new customers which benefits Apple and all macOS customers.