Google Chromebook £229

[#1]

not sure if this should be in Windows or Linux/Mac department
Just clicked on the (advert) underneath the Google search box.... to see what it is all about...
Cheap laptop... running Chrome OS.... so presumably this is "like" Linux, and not compatible with quite a lot of Windows software.....
Anyone got one?  does it run windows stuff? or is it just a glorified mobile phone type thing..... with a bigger screen,....
Can`t seem to find any "spec" .... does it have a HDD?  Does it have a CD/DVD Drive? number of ports? mic in/ line out etc etc etc?????

EDIT EDIT EDIT

Have found "some" specs... under CHROME BOOK and CHROME BOX  ....

[#2]

Dave's got a chrome laptop, basically it's useless without an internet connection - it's pretty much just the chrome browser and access to the google apps that they have online already. Not sure if it's been updated since then though.
Having said that there's different models with different hardware - I know a mate bought a different one specifically because he was able to install ubuntu on it, but that's not possible with all of them - depends on the specs of what you get.
Also Dave's chromebook is fairly old now, not sure if there have been any new developments on that front. I'm intrigued though, would you have a link to the product you looked at?

[#3]

Yes,.... there is a clue in the second line of my posting... 

Quote

Just clicked on the (advert) underneath the Google search box....

You then need to go to the very poor navigation on the top , where it says "Buy Online"... a drop down menu appears, and you then click on CHROME BOOK OR CHROME BOX ( small desktop version)  (no screen or keyboard)..... 

[#4]

Always a catch..

Quote

100 GB of Google Drive free for 2 years

After that, their internet only OS means you pay them a recurring subscription fee to keep your laptop usable or you loose all your docs / storage and half the computers functionality. Clever. Very clever. It does have usb so you could plug in a usb dongle i suppose but then you've got that sticking out and it'll eventually get broken.
I think I'll stick with me windows netbook and plenty of local hard drive storage.

[#5]

Yeah, I was wondering about that... no mention of a HDD in the specs... seems a bit "weird" to keep docs and pics on some "hairy fairy" in the clouds storage system.... I would prefer to keep them on a HDD local to me ! ! ..

[#6]

In fairness to google they have the biggest data centres in the world so I doubt that storage / backing up would be an issue for them.
What would concern me is the day they run into financial trouble / get investigated for tax evasion / something else brings them to their knees. It's not uncommon for hugely successful companies to flop.
The other thing I don't like is that being an american company they will almost certainly be letting the security services trawl all through peoples personal data. While I've got nothing to hide I also don't feel quite comfortable with the prospect of my stuff being looked at just because they "have the right" just in case. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for the security services to do their thing and I am grateful for what they do but these days we're all treated like suspects and thats wrong.