Anyone else get the invite to Gilt Group's Samsung Chromebook pre-sale? If so, are you going to buy one?
Just got the invite, which went out to people who got a Cr-48 to test. Doesn't seem like much of a deal, just the chance to buy a regular-priced one a bit early, so I'm curious to see if anyone is going to buy one.
I didn't get a CR-48, but I did just get the pre-sale invite. I'm just not jazzed about the device - I probably would be if I didn't have a MacBook Air and both a phone & a tablet that can be mobile hotspots, but for me personally, the time has passed for a Chromebook. I would have snapped it up 2 years ago when using a netbook as my primary mobile device, but not now and not at this price.
I won't be buying one, way too expensive for what it is.
Also, I just want to point out that the Cr-48 pilot program was an impressive way to collect people's email and blast out this "offer" to people who were at least marginally interested in Chrome OS. They sent this email to my non-Google work email that I used to sign up for the pilot.
I'm not planning on buying one. It's just way too expensive for a glorified web browser...I honestly think that this is just a ploy by Google to get people to sign up for Gilt.
I got the invite, but unlike most my friends didn't get the test computer. I probably won't be getting it. Since I got my iPad I'm kind of done with Netbooks for now. Plus I still have my Acer One.
Got the invite, and even if I wasn't expecting a review unit - and a Google I/O unit - I would not buy one. Chromebooks don't do the primary things I use notebooks for: writing documents, syncing things with iTunes, and scanning in receipts. When Google Docs has full Office compatibility, including Outlook, "track changes" in documents, saving local copies, creating PowerPoint slides with animation, and working offline on airplanes ...and Apple devices no longer need iTunes ... and Chrome OS has device drivers ...then I might consider purchasing one.
Chromebooks are fine for social networking and surfing the web, but when I'm looking for simplified computing, I prefer tablets for those tasks.
A slight aside - since I've never been interested in anything Chrome-related - but I just looked up the specs of the Chromebook and jeez, it's an incredible boat anchor for a sub-netbook. ~1.45Kgs? Same s a Sony Z? Man...
I also recieved the invite. I will not be purchasing a chromebook for $500 though. Way too expensive for what is being offered. For that price I could get a great PC with Windows 7. These chromebooks better drop in price if they intend to last in the market.
I got a pre-sale invite but didn't get a Cr-48 test machine. I went to the Gilt site to check it out, but I'm gonna hold off. I was hoping to see the price come in at more of a netbook price...like $299. Looks like you do get 100mb a month of 3G service for 2 years through Verizon with the unit, I still think it's a bit pricey....
As a IT admin for a school system I applied to be apart of the CR48 test and was never accepted. I did however get the invite to the Gilt Group's Samsung Chromebook pre-sale. After seeing the listed price I will not be purchasing this "computer". I dont know what Google/Samsung is thinking offering these things for 500 dollars. If the price was more around 200 dollars I might look at it as a viable option for the labs in my schools. I like the idea of each user having the ability to sign in and have a secure unique experience, but the cost is very prohibitive. As for home use, I could see giving one of these to my young children (7 and 3) to get the started with there own device, but again the price is way to high for young kids in my opinion. Also for this price I could just purchase an Ipad or other android based tablet for them to use. To sum up my thoughts I would say Google needs to lower the price and try to focus on education institutions as the primary market. What do you guys think of this idea or the chance this could happen?
I got a CR-48 unit and the invite, as I already have a CR-48 though I see no need to buy another. Also $500 seems a little steep for what you get, maybe sub-$200 they would get a few people.
I have been testing Chrome OS for months, because Google sent me the CR-48 for x-mas. Overall I really enjoy my chrome book. It is light, speedy, has long battery life and is terrific for travel/wifi hopping. I enjoy working on the cloud; however, for the unsavvy/impatient Chrome OS is a big change and takes some getting used to.
I received Gilt's presale invite last week. I am not going to purchase the Samsung for the following reasons:
- The CR-48 is unbranded, black and very sleek looking.
- The price point on the Samsung's is too high (netbooks cost $300-$400 bucks and you get memory storage)
I got one too, at the price of $499 I would be more tempted to buy a Xoom or an Ipad. I can buy a full laptop for $499, so my feeling is that they would really need to come off the price to make it work. So I am passing for now.
I got an invite, but never got the CR-48 to test. In any case, 500 for a chromebook is overpriced. If they were pricing these for 250, they'd have my attention. The 200 dollar Meego Asus Eee PC X101 looks more intriguing right now.
I got the Gilt invite. After making sure it wasn't some GMail password scam, I took a look around their site and decided not to buy. I received a CR48 as part of the pilot program and enjoy using it, but I'm not in the market to pay for one anytime soon.
No, if this was in the $200 - $300 range and was the orginal black rubberized feeling style Chrome book I would like to because there has never been a laptop that clean of annoying logos and branding before. I loved that it was a nice clean built laptop. But ones with Acer or Samsung Logos slapped on and their weird design really aggravates the crap out of me. I like my stuff clean. I would love the apple laptops even more if it didn't have the apple logo on the back but hey its what i can get. I think the closest thing to clean design coming out from the PC market is that new asus ux 21 shown off recently at computex
I would have to agree with the 15 other people in here, while I would love to have one and test it out (like I wanted to do with the CR 48), but not for $500.
Google needs to get these in people's hands so that they can start talking about them, and build up hype. You can buy a windows 7 netbook for $300, so what does the Chromebook do for the extra $200? Is the $200 for the 100mb a month 3g?
I'm confused.. I thought Chrome OS should be open source and wouldn't cost manufacturers anything... what's with the $500 price tag? Anyone have some intel (pardon the pun) on the specs? Does it have 10 MP dual cameras, 500 GB SSD and all that jazz? I still cant figure out why the $500... maybe we can make a hackintosh with it... (That would be awesome though).
If this Chromebook can dual boot Honeycomb... now it would be tempting... at least for developers and technophiles.
Got an invite, to the non deal on Gilt. I still dont know what they are thinking asking 500 bucks for a webbook. should be 200 bucks. At that price they could move some hardware and change the game.
I find it interesting this was delivered through the gilt group. Based on the way the site works and the rumored Google deal site wouldn't this have been a perfect chance for them to launch their site with this wide of an email blast?
I was once excited about this device, then I received my ipad2. The family member that would have gotten the chrome book is no better served with the iPad and wireless keyboard. Sorry google too latein the game for this production the consumer front. Good for EDU though.
EDU seems to be the use case that everyone trots out, but I'm curious to see if this is actually the case. Are there enough educational apps that are entirely cloud based for this to work? Do enough schools have WiFi deployed and the infrastructure to handle putting all of their students on the network so they can write their papers? I just don't see it.
I didn't get a Cr-48, but I did get an invite for pre-order. Not ordering though. Too expensive, and that money is better spent on a tablet, in my opinion.
I think everyone who signed up for the CR-48 (tested or not) got the invite and the said individuals probably couldn't care less about the actual Chromebooks. To be honest, the overall reception of Chromebooks hasn't even been that great, particularly from the tech savvy community. Ironically enough, these would be the people who are actually getting the invites.
I got the invite but did not have a CR-48 either. I just can't see spending $500 on this thing. With my MacBook Pro and iPad I feel I really have all my bases covered at this point. I have toyed with the idea of getting a MacBook Air but don't really think there is a demand for it in my workflow/daily life.
I applied for a CR-48 but never got one. I got the Gilt/Google invite yesterday afternoon. There's no way I'll be buying one of these. I installed Chrome OS on an extra Dell Mini to familiarize myself with and it sits here unused.
I have to Cr-48 and didn't get the invite. I am not really interested in getting one right now though. I like the Cr-48 but don't see the need to buy anything to replace it right now.
I got an invite, but I'm not going to buy one. I can't justify the price for what I can basically emulate in my current Macbook using the Chrome browser.
I was about to...seriously considered it for about a minute and figured I was going to have some spare cash and could pawn it if I didn't like it. But I won't, for one reason:
If you buy the Chromebook, they only offer the 3G model. That's at least $10/m, and I don't need that. No wonder they are selling it earlier than anyone else.
I got the invite, but won't be picking one up. It's just an early access to the full price. I got the CR-48 last year and the display bombed after two days - I still have it though.
Didn't end up w/ a CR-48 either. This doesn't seem like a true Gilt buy at all. Maybe the 100MB a month through Verizon and you can argue it's like just a little over a dollar a day for two years, but then again, maybe Apple will somehow do the same thing w/ their iPad. You can count me out. Maybe for $250?!
Ditto on the didn't get a CR-48 but got the e-mail. I'll also echo that $500 is way too much money for one of these. To be honest, it'd have to be somewhere in the $150 price range for me to even think about it. I mean, it's a web brower on an otherwise hobbled computer. I just don't see the draw.
I got an invite, but no CR-48. $500 is a bit too much, perticularly since I just picked up an Eee Pad Transformer, which is above and beyond this with the dock.
My husband did. He really wanted a Chromebook, but the price is more than we can do right now. It's not a bad deal when you consider it comes with two years of 3G, but then it's only 100MB a month... :/
My situation was the same as KevinCTofel. I didn't receive a CR-48 to test, but I did receive an invite today. I would love to buy one, but I am not ready to purchase one at this time.
I got an invite, although I didn't get a CR-48 just signed up for one, not going to buy one as I have an android phone, so I don't see a reason to spend money on duplicate functionality.
