So, as everyone has likely heard, Google announced the final release of it's new laptop, Chromebook, during it's developer conference this week. For educational institutions, they have contract plans for $20 a month, and for business it's $28 a month. These contracts include various services, and hardware upgrades periodically. The prices for consumers varies from $349 to $499 depending on manufacturer and screen size.I have been testing a Google laptop, beta test named CR 48, I've been using it for a few months, and it is nice, many problems have been vastly improved over the months and I very much enjoy using it, but I gotta say, that seems a bit pricey for my blood.
Considering that even your average netbook, or even eReaders, are much lower than this, and the Chromebook is actually a netbook, by it's truest definition, I do not see how Google can justify that type of price tag for the product they are offering.
I had been testing it, assuming that the price point was going to be much lower than that. I mean, it is nice, it feels solid and is well built, but, at the end of the day, it's just a netbook, nothing more, nothing less. There is little to no local file control, all applications are cloud based such as email, office apps, etc.
I gotta admit, I am curious to see how this venture works out for Google. I never begrudge success and hope it works out well, but I know this, I won't be buying one when I can get a full laptop with Windows 7 for about the price of the higher end Chromebook.
2 comments:
400 is way too high of a price. For a device that doesn't have a hard drive, it should be around the 150 to 200 level.
for 229, tiger direct has a real laptop. real meaning it has a hard drive. This laptop also has a LED screen with no back light. Long battery life.
I agree, I was really, really expecting Google to target the $200 price area for consumer prices...man, not sure how they are going to fare with a price tag equal to lower end Windows based laptops.
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