![]() ![]() QuickOffice integration is coming to Chrome OS, a clever boon to businesses, and it'll arrive first on the Pixel - but not for at least two to three months. The fact that Google Drive will soon automatically sync 1,000 of your most recently used documents, up from 100 of them, is less important than the overall offline experience. That's a noticeable limitation when compared to Windows, Mac, or Linux-driven laptops.Īnd Web apps still don't match native apps for performance, features, and offline support. Stephen Shankland/CNETįine-tuning things like the keyboard refresh rate or battery use is impossible. The Chromebook Pixel's high-resolution display make text and graphics crisp. ![]() Since Chrome OS's Web apps are essentially glorified browser tabs, this can quickly slow down your zippy Pixel experience. ![]() Its 4GB of RAM isn't enough to save it from the same multiple-tab managing problems of Chrome-the-browser. With that caveat in mind, there are still some big hang-ups with the Pixel. So we know that Google can make substantial improvements through OS fixes. One of the most memorable Chromebook fixes that came from an OS update was when the Cr-48's trackpad suddenly started working much better than it had previously, thanks to an update about six months after the Cr-48's release. There are problems with the operating system, too, although Google generally has made good its promise to improve Chromebooks by issuing regular update to Chrome OS, which updates every six weeks. Whether running the Flash-based Pixlr, WeVideo, or the HTML5 deviantArt Muro app, the Pixel was provided an invariably smoother rendering, editing, and saving experience. However, when using more processor-intensive Web apps, the Pixel's superior hardware came to the fore. Local playback was identical on both, even though the Pixel is currently running a more recent version of Chrome OS - version 25 versus the Series 3's version 23. There was virtually no difference between the two streaming video formats that couldn't be chalked up to buffering issues. As a result, we did some more anecdotal testing instead.įor video playback, we tested streaming HTML5, streaming Flash, and locally-saved video files on the Pixel and on a Samsung Chromebook Series 3 for comparison. Of course, none - absolutely none - of those programs can run on a Chromebook's Web-based operating system. Normally at CNET, we test laptops by running specific software benchmarks on Photoshop, iTunes, Quicktime, as well as games like Far Cry, Metro 2033, and Crysis. Alt-Delete just isn't as fast, and overall the keyboard feels a bit mushy, especially compared to the snappy laptop keyboards of a Lenovo or newer MacBook Pro. Google's intent on making this a thing, but heavy typists familiar with traditional keyboards still will miss the Caps Lock key and right-Delete key. It replaces a caps-lock key, though users can change its behavior to caps lock if desired. The Chromebook Pixel, like all other Chromebooks, has a dedicated search key. The screen is gorgeous, but - unlike Windows 8, which has been designed to interact well with touch - the Chrome OS itself is not particularly touch-friendly right now. But like its less-expensive predecessors, the Chromebook Pixel comes with a long list of caveats - all of which are amplified by its high price. That goes to $1,449 for the step-up model, which adds a built-in 4G LTE cellular modem (and won't ship until early April of 2013).įor die-hard denizens of the cloud, this may look to be the ultimate online-only laptop. But the 3.3-pound Pixel also has a high-end sticker price: it starts at a whopping $1,299. And Google has upped the ante, adding a high-res touch-screen - with a pixel density greater than that of Apple's vaunted Retina screens - and a real Intel Core i5 processor. This is the first Google-designed laptop - not one that was farmed out to a partner like Acer or Samsung. Perhaps not surprising, given its $249 price tag - it's basically filling the low-end gap left by the collapse of the netbook and the rise of the 7-inch tablet.Īt the other end of the spectrum is Google's new Chromebook Pixel. At the time of his writing, it's the best-selling laptop on. On one end, there's the Samsung Chromebook Series 3. Google's Web-based Chromebook laptops seem to be heading in two different directions. ![]()
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