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Chromebook Takes Top Place In Laptop Sales On Amazon
rtfa-troll writes "Amazon's latest table of the top selling laptops will be a surprise for many on Slashdot whose first reaction when we discussed this before was 'so what,' with pundits describing it as 'an enterprise contender.' Given the recent launch and huge advertising campaign, you might expect that the top selling consumer laptop would be based on Win8. If you read recent discussions about Microsoft's troubled new system you might expect a Mac to be leading, but Google's Chromebook topping the sales chart on a consumer site without any major advertising campaign is a major surprise. We've discussed before that apart from its web based ChromeOS, Chromebooks are also very fast running Ubuntu Linux and have several other distributions already ported."
My mom's laptop failed, so I convinced her to get the Samsung Chromebook. So far, she says she really likes it. It's dead simple to use, as it pretty much only does what she needs--web browsing and email. There's no settings for her to mess up, updates are silent and automatic, and it's next to impossible to "break" the OS. I offered to set it up for her, but all I actually had to do was enter her Gmail password and the WiFi password. The only setting I changed was to enable Google Instant.
From my own observations of playing around for 10 minutes, the hardware itself leaves a (very) little bit to be desired. The trackpad feels a little rough (though I'm comparing it to a MacBook Air, so it's hardly a fair comparison), and there is a noticeable delay when switching tabs. Again, though, I'm comparing a $250 machine to a $1400 machine, so it's hard to complain. Software-wise, accessing the settings page is slightly unintuitive (from the "desktop", click your username; it's not in the app list). Also, there's no caps lock, which may or may not be annoying. It's been replaced by a search button which doubles as the Windows key on a PC keyboard.
If you can't convince them, convict them.
My big question is what the return rate will be like. I suspect that some people are expecting a full desktop OS, like Windows.
1. Chrome
2. OSX
3. Win 7
4. OSX
5. Win 8
6. Win 7
7. Win 7
8. OSX
9. Win 8
10. Win 8
So, certainly, laptops come in so many different flavors that the OSs that circulate in "one size fits all" SKUs will float to the top. We'd expect Macs and Chromebooks to sell more of a given configuration than a Microsoft box. But two months after the launch of Win 8, to see Win 7 beating it in the retail channel, that's news.
I have been using the new ARM Chromebook with ChrUbuntu Alpha + refinemeents for almost 2 weeks and I have to say that it already a usable configuration. Most of the important desktop stuff already works (suspend-resume, playing videos...etc) and with good speed. This new Exynos 5250 is really a desktop class processor (at least as strong as the one in my old Toshiba Portege m200). For example: it cold-starts LibreOffice Writer in 5s which is pretty unheard of in the ARM world. If I manage to setup hw accelerated video playing and Oracle's Java, I will be an extremely happy Chromebook owner but I already consider it a good purchase in its current state.
Just like Android, this OS will bring $100 Chinese laptops, that would be great for Linux users, and also provide great OLPC solution as a side effect. Only feature I need in future ChromeOS editions, is integrated VirtualBox, so that I can launch Ubuntu from within ChromeOS.
839*929
It's cheap and do what most people want a laptop to do - check emails, surf the web and type up the occasional letter. It's also a good machine for geeks, since it's not locked down with Windows or OSX - meaning you can stick any flavour of Linux you want on it if you know how. In the current economic situation it taps into the same markets as the original netbooks - the 7" and 9" Eee - did; people needing a cheap machine to get online and geek-heads wanting a toy.
The danger is off course that the Chromebook will go down the same slippery slope as the netbooks fif; bigger screens, more beefed up hardware... until they are just another laptop.
Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
I'd like to think Microsoft are deliberately making a second rate Android version, but I have to admit it's probably just incompetence.
To list the major faults Skype for Android has:
1. Video is upside down, if you rotate the device, then both the camera and video playback are upside down, but the other person does see you right way up in that case.
2. Video is landscape only & very fuzzy, but the camera video is not fuzzy, probably the compression?
3. Audio plays back very very quietly even with full volume.
4. Lag, lots of it.
5. Occasionally Skype gets in a state where the Android tablet won't go into hibernation until you force-kill Skype. This really sucks down the battery juice.
6. Call receive ring is very quiet, even with full volume.
So as far as I'm concerned, there is no Skype that's viable for Android either. It doesn't really matter, there are plenty of messaging/video apps, I just don't count Skype among them.
Yes, you can flip a "developer mode" switch to disable the hardware lockdown, and install a "regular" distribution of Linux like Ubuntu.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
You might be on to something there, since Slashdot just yesterday had a story about how net books were dead. Most poster didn't realize that the netbook simple morphed into chrombooks.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
so what
So what??? This means 2013 must be the year of the Linux Desktop!
that is some twisted perspective considering 6 of the top 10 are windows lol.
I think he meant that this would be news if there were more Chrome-books on that list than Apple Macs since Apple is a smaller competitor to beat when it comes to laptop sales than the 800 pound gorilla that is Windows Laptops.
Interesting way of putting it - 800 pound Gorilla. The fact is that even if those Windows laptops are 800 pound Gorillas, the macbooks are probably 1200 GBP gorillas.
My big question is what the return rate will be like. I suspect that some people are expecting a full desktop OS, like Windows.
The big question is how few will tell the difference. Apple knows this, Microsoft knows this, google knows this. Slashdot doesn't.
Anyone who has ever had to do any sort of tech support with the general public will have this sort of conversation:
Tech support: "What operating system are you running?"
Jane Q Public: "HP."
It's not an exaggeration.
Yes I know, Chipzilla is doing just fine, thankyaverymuch. But think about it: about 10 years ago we thought AMD would be the big challenger that would compete with Intel and reduce the Wintel monopoly. But AMD only did that semi-effectively. Yes it helped control costs (God help us to think what we'd be paying for computers these days if Intel were allowed to set its prices in a world without competition). But Android on ARM, some netbooks not long ago, and now Chromebooks seem to be the ones challenging the dominant computing paradigm. That means ARM has actually been the chip(s) that is currently causing the folks at Intel to sweat a little bit. Interesting times we live in.
If this were Usenet, I'd killfile the lot of you.
This doesn't surprise me for a number of reasons:
- There have also been plenty of prime-time ads for Chromebooks on TV - at least in the UK, and I imagine elsewhere.
- IME, most people don't really like Windows, they see it as a necessary evil. The advent of smartphones and tablets has very efficiently demonstrated that it's no longer necessary.
- Why don't people like Windows? There's a number of reasons, but most of them relate to incomprehensible and/or nonsensical error messages, a death-by-a-thousand-cuts of other expenses you pretty much have to incur like antivirus software, cheap hardware that's so damn nasty it doesn't look very cheap once you start trying to use it and dealing with the fallout when despite all of that you still click on the wrong thing and need to get someone in to fix it. (Yes, I know Android, iOS and ChromeOS are all hypothetically susceptible to similar issues. But the important point is they're not being actively exploited today).
- What is the recommended fix for these issues? Go out and buy the next version of Windows! (Which many people automatically assume means "buy a new PC", even if that's not true. You'd be surprised how many people honestly have no idea that you can replace Windows with a different version or even with something else entirely).
- Google has carved out an extremely strong brand. People see the word Google and associate it with finding what they want quickly and easily with a minimal amount of bullshit getting in the way. Associate Google with a laptop that doesn't do any of the things people dislike about Windows and you have a very interesting product indeed.
Na - I got mine from BestBuy. I walked in and asked for one - had to order it and wait for two days. The store guys said they can't keep the store inventory up with the demand, but they keep getting them in the distribution warehouses.
I was waiting for a decent Android laptop, but with all the thousands of Android apps ported to Chrome, this Chromebook is the ticket.
Not to mention in every town there is one or more shops that are happy to sell you Windows 7, be it on desktops or laptops, and of course for the past...ohh I'd say at least the last 5 years or so, computers have frankly been so insanely overpowered compared to what the customers actually do with the thing there simply isn't a real reason to upgrade before they die which can be quite awhile. Hell most of my customers simply had me install Win 7 on the systems they had bought from me with XP, why? Because they were duals,triples, and quads and so overpowered that they do everything they want them to so why buy another before that one dies?
But for any of those that think "Win 8 is just the 'Star Trek Rule' in action" nope, take a gooood look as Ballmer has made it clear in his "Windows Blue" memo that this is it, you can have Apple or overpriced MSFT hardware pretending to be Apple, they are gonna copy everything down to the stores and making their own hardware and trying to lock everything down into a black box appstore centric model, so Win 7 is pretty much the last real copy of Windows if Ballmer doesn't get fired.
Frankly I don't see how the OEMs have any choice, MSFT is already fucking the living hell out of them when it comes to Windows licenses (now rumored to be over $50 a copy for Windows Home, with NO breaks on price no matter how many they buy) and is gonna be trying to actively destroy them with their own MSFT branded hardware in 2013. So they really don't have a choice here, either they close their doors or they find a new supplier and I have a feeling Google will be happy to take that business. I predict if the board doesn't quit smoking crack and fire the Ballmernator that in less than 3 years you'll see all the OEMs pushing ChromeTops and ChromeBooks and they'll have a few VERY expensive Windows machines in the corner that they won't advertise and won't give a shit about because it would be like Kmart pushing Walmart brands, all you are doing is helping the company that wants to put you out of business.
So while the ChromeBooks are limted to online now I have a feeling by summer of this year you are gonna see a TON of new models, in all different sizes and prices, all over the retailers and the online. I mean what else can they do? Its that or do like Nvidia did with chipsets and just close the doors, MSFT has made it clear the "future" of Windows is MSFT OSes running on MSFT hardware sold from a MSFT store with a very high MSFT markup, no way they are gonna sell Windows licenses cheap enough for the OEMs to keep selling against them.
To me the sad part will be the death of DIY and the little shops, because as we have seen with the latest Chromebooks they are getting more and more locked down (hell you can't even run Linux on the things without 3 pages worth of CLI and a LOT of finger crossing) so what you will end up with is disposable black boxes, more like cellphones than today's desktops and laptops.
And sorry about the length but this really fucking depresses me, not because of the shop as I've been moving more into home theaters and security setups anyway, but because it looks like we are going back to the 80s with everything locked down and proprietary, its all gonna be soldered chips that boot from locked BIOS into a locked OS that requires everything go through an appstore owned by the company that owns the OS, but people standing in line to buy overpriced iToys have convinced the IT world that that is what people want,locked down appliances instead of general purpose computing. Fucking shame and I have a feeling the next decade or two is gonna really suck balls and computers will pile up in the landfills like old gaming consoles because you won't be able to do jack shit with them when the corps stop supporting it, but that is what the consumer seems to want.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
You get a gaming PC (hardware only) for £600, but Windows 7/8/whatever costs an extra £200. Same in Norway, Get a gaming PC for 6000 Kronar, but Windows whatever costs another 2000 Kronar, which amounts to the cost of another GPU card, external backup drive, some extra memory or simply 2/3 weeks food shopping.
What is the major difference between Windows 7/8 and XP or a Linux distro? Just the GUI
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
To buy that thing, one has to order it via Amazon - and fact is that, even today, not many people know how to order stuffs from Amazon.
Well, Ubuntu can help with that! If you search for drivers for your NVidia card, it'll return a link to golf clubs on Amazon.
With the one-click ordering they plan for 13.04, a search for NVidia drivers will see the golf clubs show up at your door the next day. With customer service like that, Canonical will be unstoppable.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
An apple like laptop for $300 bucks seems to be a bit of a no brainer. Like many slashdotters I am the technical adviser for most of my large family as well as work. With the exception of those who need specific Microsoft Programs or iTunes a Linux desktop on a machine with those specs would nicely meet the budget and needs of at least half my family. For my self I would love it as a second laptop. There are so many specs in the typical computer that far exceed the typical user's needs. My sister for example just bought an asus machine that I suggested as staples had a pretty good deal and her 7 year desktop really needed replacement. She is one of the people who must run a Windows machine so the specs are more demanding yet her 2TB HD is extreme overkill as she might need 20GB between the OS, MS Office and whatnot. I am willing to bet that in 2018 when she replaces this machine that the vast majority of her machine will be empty. Thus the tiny storage capacity of a Chromebook should be little detriment to most. But the better construction and lighter weight are far more important features that make the chromebook comparable to staples machines priced closer to $1000 as most of the sub $1000 stapes machines are clunky with cheap features such the split left shift key and load of bloatware. The same with many of the other lesser features of the chromebook as compared to "better" machines; most of the features where the chromebook is lesser are unimportant. The fact that at a glance the thing looks like a macbook won't hurt sales at all. So for anyone to be surprised that the chromebook is kicking ass is a surprise to me.
I am willing to bet that the MBA-types at places like HP are scratching their heads saying HP entry models are better than that damn thing as they go through a check list of how their machines are so much better feature for feature not realizing that 98% of customers don't even know what RAM does but their customers do know what they like when they see a friend with one and see that it runs a HD youtube video just as smoothly as the HP machine that has way more "L2 Cache".
The other thing that the MBA types are not realizing is that they are no longer competing with the laptop next to theirs in the display section of Staples or Best Buy but they are competing with the cell phone in the person's pocket.
It measn "crown" in those various Klingon dialects.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
Linux IS the operating system of the future... and it always will be.
TODO: insert amusing, apt and clever quip here. L8r.
What is the major difference between Windows 7/8 and XP or a Linux distro? Just the GUI
I truly wish that was the major difference. If that was all that was different I would have switched our company away from Windows years ago and so would many others. The major difference is the applications and that is the only difference that truly matters. If everything was written cross-platform, then you would have a credible argument.
For better or worse there are a LOT of applications (including games) that only run on Windows and it remains sadly true that there often are no acceptable replacements. Our accounting software, MRP software, CAD software and some others simply are not available on linux, nor is there any acceptable substitute. We use LibreOffice, GIMP, Scribus, Inkscape, Chrome, Thunderbird, VNC, and more but there simply is no way we could get rid of our Windows boxes in the near future because of the applications we need to use. The moment there is a linux version of Quickbooks Enterprise and a compatible MRP system, I'd dump windows that minute but that simply isn't going to happen in the foreseeable future.
"Kronar" is a common misspelling when writing Nynorsk (new Norwegian).
The monetary unit is called kroner in both Norwegian languages; but the coins are (sometimes) called {value}kronar in new Norwegian (tikronar - has a value of 10 kroner).
Confusing.
---- Sig. gone.
I'm surprised I'm mostly agreeing with you but you are wrong on one count, chromebooks are not locked down to the people who want to get out of the garden.
Chromebooks have a developer mode which allows you to dualboot linux and chrome os.
For mum and dad a walled garden of a mostly self administrating system is very appealing log into your gmail account enter the password for the router (its written on a label on the back of the router) and thats it setup.
compare that user experience with the one that you go through with windows all the trialware, hardsell and the rest its scary.
I bet you are asked everyday if you will setup a new windows machine for someone mostly because of that preinstalled junk.
What Google has wisely chosen to do is allow for an alternative Linux install for those people who want a bit more than the chromebook offers. For years people have been ripping out windows or moving to dualboot systems so they can scratch their itch.
Foolishly Microsoft has made an error in judgement which I think they may regret. I can't run Linux on an arm based windows system and its become a major pain to install on an x86 system with secureboot.
However Google is giving me options the chromebook is open to me to install Linux and do the stuff I want to do.
Maybe you should be looking to sell Chromebooks, perhaps even offer an alternative install. Mum and Dad won't care about the alternative but some of the kids might. I wouldn't be too surprised if steam makes it onto chrome os in the next year too, wouldn't that be ideal.
Pirating software so I can do on Windows what I can do for free on Linux is not an acceptable option. I think if i'm going to buy a laptop in the next 12 months it will be a chromebook. Don't give a monkeys about chromeOS same as for windows but I will have a nice bit of hardware to do with as I please and no microsoft tax.
Blarney Quality Restaurant, Plants