Chromebooks have been around for a while, but it is the first time they have started in India. Google has ushered in the Acer C720 and the HP Chromebook 14 into the country almost three years after the first computers running its Chrome OS was launched.
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Chromebook is different from traditional PCs, not just because it runs a different OS. These devices are designed to work online more than offline. The logic behind this is that most people now use their PCs to be online and don't use local software all that much. This also means they use the browser more than other software. So the Chrome OS is pretty much a browser that lets you access thousands of apps that are in the cloud.
Of the two devices, we got to test the Acer C720. This is a thin 11-inch notebook with a prominent Chrome logo on the rear. It weighs just 1.25 kg, one of the benefits of not having much internal storage. The keyboard is well spaced despite the space restrictions and reminded me of the Acer Aspire One netbooks. However, they are very noisy and you hear every keystroke you make. The trackpad is small and also a bit stubborn.
{mosimage}The keyword with the Chromebook is fast. The device is always in a hurry to go online. That is the way it has been built. So as I opened it for the first time, it asked me to select a Wi-Fi network, then key in the Google account details. Voila, I was online. It takes under 10 seconds for the Chromebook to go online if it has been shut down. It is even faster if you are waking it from sleep.
The device opens to a clear desktop with icons pinned to the base. The Chrome browser, Gmail, YouTube, Docs and Search, all the Google bigwigs are there. There is another grid-like icon, akin to the one on your Gmail now, to take you to the rest of the apps. About 30, including Evernote, Dropbox and Saavn, come pre-loaded. The rest can be downloaded from the Chrome store.
Some of the apps have offline modes too. Like Gmail which syncs to the device and lets you do a lot of stuff without connectivity.
As I opened Chrome my tabs from the home PC had already been synced to it. So I did not feel like I was somewhere new, not even for a second. I knew most of the apps too as I use Chrome as my primary browser and am familiar with how they work. And like on a Chrome browser, all the apps open within the browser. There is hardly any learning involved for even first time users.
However, some essential PC software don't run here. For, instance Skype can't be used in this browser-first kind of set up and you will have to start using Google Hangouts instead. iTunes also does not work, and there is no replacement for that either.
But how do you work on documents and other files? Well, open Google Docs and a new file is opened for you to work on. It is very similar to using Microsoft Word. All files are saved by default to the Google Drive, which comes with 100GB storage for Chromebook customers. You can use Spreadsheets and Slides as alternatives to Excel and Powerpoint.
Plug in a pen drive and the files pop up in the middle of the screen. You can play all audio and video files without any issue. In fact, the 1366x768p screen is quite good for watching video with decent sound output as well. There is a small dialogue box in the bottom right showing the music that is playing. You can click on it to see the play list. Files from the USB can be dragged on the local machine with to a Download folder, where you can add new folder. There is just 16GB of space here and be very careful about how you use it.
The Haswell 1.4 GHz dual-core Intel Celeron 2955U processor is good for the kind of stuff this device is made for. Try and open a high-resolution picture and the device just calls it quits. But for regular browsing and some computing this processor is s fast as anything else out there.
The Chromebook comes across to me as a progression to the tablet, with a full keyboard. If consumption and communication is what you do most of the time, and if you are not hooked to an enterprise setting, this is a good device for you to have. I would also recommend it for children and elders. After all, it costs just Rs 22,999.
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