Chromebook Review

Chromebook Review

For the niche consumer, the Chromebook 3 by Samsung might just be the dream laptop you’ve been searching for. For those of you operating outside the business or academic spheres however, you may want to consider all aspects of this device before making your decision. This laptop offers a wide assortment of features: from a lightweight frame to a lengthy battery life, a plethora of ports, and the heart of Google itself beating away in its core. Operating admirably within its own area of influence, it does struggle at times when it tries to match the power and performance of full-fledged laptops and pricier tablets on the market. So without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Chromebook 3.

At a glance, Samsung’s Chromebook may look like every other black laptop on the market; albeit with Google Chrome’s familiar green, red, and yellow peeking out from the top corner. Looks can be deceiving, however. They say, “big things come in small packages”, and this little beauty is [Figure 1: Chromebook Top View] no exception. Measuring in at just under a foot, this 11.4” by 8” piece of tech could be mistaken for your face-down iPad. The slim 0.7” side profile may even be enough to convince you of that fact. Pick up and open the dainty 2.5-pound frame and you’ll discover there’s a whole lot more than Angry Birds going on here. This Samsung model sports an 11.6” (diagonally of course) screen, which is nothing to scoff at. It’s the perfect size to view and edit notes from the day’s Morin 2 business meeting or lecture, without the need to strain your eyes or back getting up close and personal with it. Tabletop workspaces are optional here too, as it fits comfortably and lightly in your lap, enabling quick and easy access to all your digital materials from any place you find yourself seated. This Chromebook is more than just a pretty face, though. Take a look on the sides and you’ll see what I mean.

Unlike some smartphones today, this machine comes complete with a headphone jack, as well as slots for your MicroSD card and HDMI cable. Expertly move photos from your camera to the projector with this device as your trusty [Figure 2: Chromebook Side View] middleman. But that’s not all, folks. Also along those sleek edges are 2 USB ports, easily handling both your wireless mouse and flash drive seamlessly, or any combination of dongles you see fit to attach to it. Even your smartphone. Since these ports are also charge-capable, your Chromebook can act as an emergency power source in a pinch when its smaller cousin needs some juice. Speaking of juice, have no fear with your liquids around this compact computer. Its water-resistant keyboard can handle any tippy beverage that falls its way. It’s not waterproof, so I wouldn’t recommend taking it (or any electronic for that matter) in the pool with you, but it can survive a splash from your morning coffee or afternoon tea.

Much like that coffee that powers you, the Samsung Chromebook needs its own power source. The hearty battery under the hood boasts up to 11 hours of continuous usage, although in my own endeavors to push its limits, I was able to squeeze out [Figure 3: Battery Life Chart] nearly a full week’s worth of light use on a single charge. If the battery of this laptop is the heart, then Google’s own Chrome OS is the brain. The same powerful browser that gives you your daily dose of cat videos is the man behind the curtain of this machine. In addition, the integrated antivirus software means you can surf the Web carefree from the get-go, without the hassle of deciding which virus buster is best. Unfortunately, this tiny tech does have some limitations.

A smaller size leads to sacrifices made along the way. Being a mostly online-only device, the Chromebook is heavily dependent on Cloud storage, and as such, contains a measly 10GB of in-house space. A certain level of trust needs to be given when using Cloud devices as well, as your data is only as secure as the firewalls installed on the servers on the other end of the line. Also, as this tech is deeply reliant on a wireless connection for full functionality, using it outside of a Wi-Fi enabled area converts this handy tool into a glorified paperweight. You’ll only be able to use offline apps and services in that case. Depending on how you plan to use your laptop, these may be major turn-offs for you. For the tech savvy among you, this machine has an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, and clocks in at 1.6GHz. For the layman, low scores across the board. If you’re looking for powerful processing and lightning speeds, I highly recommend looking elsewhere. This Samsung tech was built for marathons, not sprints. It can handle your Morin 4 apps, web pages, and word documents with ease; but don’t expect to do any heavy computing with it.

It may seem like a big fish in a little pond so far, but how does the Samsung Chromebook fare in the broader seas of portable, multimedia computing? From one brand to another, at least, the Chromebook varies slightly. If you were to pick up, say, a Dell or HP versus a Samsung; you wouldn’t see much of a difference. The ASUS has a slightly larger screen, and the Lenovo has one more USB port than all the others. However, the Samsung still stands out amongst its peers in several areas: It boasts the best battery performance, it sports the smallest weight and dimensions, and it ties HP for the lowest sticker price on the market. So in that aspect, it comes down more to personal choice than anything. Whatever brand you’re comfortable with or have a good rapport with won’t steer you wrong. Samsung is still a wellknown and long-standing company, so choosing them over someone else is by no means a long shot. Going outside of its peer group to square up against tablets is another story, though.

Tablets and Chromebooks perform many of the same tasks well, but each have their own strengths and weaknesses. You might be wondering why you can’t just pick out an external keyboard for your iPad and call it a day. The short answer is “You could”. The long answer is a bit more complicated. It really depends on what you’ll be using your tablet/Chromebook for. Tablets excel in the size and weight departments, as well as having sharper displays and nonbrowser-based software. It’s your media powerhouse. If you’re looking for portable touchscreen gaming, streaming media, and typing as a secondary goal, I’d recommend you just stop reading now and buy that external keyboard. There’ll be a bit of a delay from finger to webpage, but it’ll get the job done. If you’re looking for something for dedicated word Morin 5 processing, the Chromebook is the device for you. The integrated keyboard has near-zero latency when typing and has more battery life and larger storage than its keyless cousin. The Chromebook was made for all work and no play. Not to say that consuming media is impossible by any means, but that’s more its secondary function. This laptop is for the student or busy professional on the go. Speaking of laptops, let’s see how the Chromebook compares with its larger, beefier older brother. It’s an unbalanced match-up to be sure, but the little guy does well with what it has.

You might also be considering downsizing your entire electronic set-up and swapping it all out for a Chromebook as your one-stop shop. My advice would be to not do that, again, based upon what you intend to use it for. Even the baser model laptops outperform the Chromebook in nearly every category. Power and performance, screen size, media handling, hardware hookups, heartier software; the list goes on and on, folks. Seems pretty one-sided so far, huh? Our pint-sized machine does have a couple redeeming qualities, though. Seeing as it doesn’t have to run all those beefy components, the Chromebook has superior battery life. A single charge can last for days of regular use, whereas a laptop may need to juice up once or twice throughout the workday. There is also a large disparity in pricing. Your baseline laptops can cost upwards of 3 to 5 times more than this little Samsung beauty. For the avid penny pincher, this is an easy decision.

If you’ve made it this far, I commend you. Our long journey together is nearing its end. Hopefully there were a few useful tidbits of information you were able to pick up along the way. In its own peer group, the Samsung Chromebook performed admirably, exceeding or tying in almost every category. Its battle with the tablets was a little more evenly matched. Based on Morin 6 your portable plans, that outcome should have clearly pointed you in 1 of 2 directions. Its war with the mightier laptops was short-lived, but it wasn’t a complete shutout. The real question is: Where do you stand? Do you want to add the Chromebook to your technological arsenal? As someone who’s written this review using the very Chromebook being reviewed, I can personally attest to every word written thus far. It handles exceedingly well and performs perfectly for jobs it was built for. Sure, you can pick up better, faster, flashier models by spending more; but isn’t that true of most things? So if you’re looking for a solid piece of tech at bargain pricing, with a touch of class and a lot going on under the hood, look no further than the Chromebook 3 by Samsung. You won’t be disappointed.