Google unveils new $249 Chromebook from Samsung

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Google has taken the wraps off a new Chromebook – a laptop designed to run Google’s Chrome OS. Manufactured by Samsung, the new Chromebook is available for pre-order starting today for $249.

The Chromebook features an 11.6-inch display with 1366 x 768 resolution. It weighs about 2.5 pounds and measures about 0.8 inches high when closed, making it a bit thicker and heavier than a MacBook Air.

Inside is Samsung’s Exynos 5 dual processor, a VGA webcam, 802.11n wi-fi, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, HDMI output and Bluetooth 3.0 support. Battery life is estimated at 6.5 hours per charge. The device has solid state storage as well, though it’s primarily intended for continuous online use. To that end, Google offers 100GB of Google Drive cloud storage (at least for the first two years – you have to pay after that).

Samsung previously partnered with Google on the Series 5 550 Chromebook, and based on Google’s site, that device remains available for $450.

Sundar Pichai, Google senior vice president, Chrome & Apps, posted additional details about the new Chromebook on the Chrome Blog.



  • http://jamesrbritton.com James Britton

    This is war.

    • Canucker

      No its not. This is a fairly crappy attempt by Google to deflect the blackhole their business plan is in. Android is massively successful in sales numbers, not so much anything else. Take a look at their Q3 profits. The share price is plummeting. Marketshare without profitshare equals a shit sandwich.

      • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

        20% profit is good and sustainable. 2B on 14B. I’ll take it. ;)

        • Canucker

          But a 10% drop in share value: not sustainable. Seems reality is kicking in for a fairy tale company. Google has a number of good things going for it but they are all old ideas and its recent attempts to break into new markets (and hardware) have been dismal. Google TV. That spherical thing. And best of all, that bundle of joy called Motorola. Seriously, WWTT?

          • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

            Correct, a drop is not good (just read that; initial post I read didn’t state a drop).

            I wouldn’t say they have old ideas. They own search, email, and maps. No one is keeping pace (maybe Bing on search but Google has mindshare).

            I’m really bullish on Google TV (have two, far better than Apple TV IMHO). The upcoming version looks sweet! (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/12/google-tv-v3-demo-video/)

            The “sphere” thing (Nexus Q)…yeah, fail. I bought one then they gave it to me for free because they’re revamping it. I would have been LIVID to receive it after paying and seeing what it is. It has promise but I’m not too optimistic unless they outright change the approach. Personally, I’d take what the Q brings to the table and merge them w/ GTV.

          • http://twitter.com/jgpmolloy John Molloy

            The Q is dead. For them to abort a product on launch is the kiss of death.

          • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

            Not dead. Redoing it.

            It was a fail to launch then pull it back but I’m pleased they listened to the community.

          • Canucker

            Google TV has a lot of potential but, sorry, its currently painful (maybe because the hardware still sux and the OEMs and cable companies are not buying in – doubt the latter ever will – also what is holding ATV back).

            But my main point was Motorola. Seriously. Bad. Move. Basically threw water onto all Android OEMs and is a terrible company. Patents, I understand. But at the current rate, the IP is the only value brought to Google.

            Samsung has to be thinking carefully about getting into another dependency after their run in with Apple. I expect Samsung to fork/hybridize Android in the next year or so and to go their own way. They are big enough. In the meantime, Nokia will have impaled itself on Ballmers dome and LG, Sony and HTC committed hari kiri. Google then has ZTE and Huwei as its flagships (oops, and Motorola).

            I don’t even understand the concept of Chrome as an OS. Why not evolve Android? What am I missing?

          • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

            I dig my Revue. It works just fine for me but the software definitely needs improvement.

            The Motorola deal is misunderstood. I was told by “someone close to the matter” (lmbo, but serious) it wasn’t for their phones but their TV related tech. We’ll see how well it works out for them.

            Agreed on ChromeOS. It is a bit weird but I get it. Google is a web company so we web-specific OS fits their bill. Software is a web app for them.

          • rj

            Short term price fluctuations mean nothing. AAPL’s share price has dropped ~10% since the intro of the iPhone 5.

  • http://twitter.com/snookasnoo Idon’t Know

    Of course they had to make it look like a Macbook Air. Because Google and Samsung have no class or pride.

    • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

      Crap, did they violate the black keys and big touch pad patents? Someone get Schmidt on the horn!

      • http://twitter.com/snookasnoo Idon’t Know

        Don’t pretend like you don’t know they are trying to make it look like a MBA. Don’t you need to run the malware scanner on your Android phone?

        • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

          I have never once had malware on my Android devices, neither has my wife, so I’m confident there isn’t any. ;-)

          Lighten up dude, I was giving you a hard time. ;-) lmbo.

          I called out those two aspects because those are the only things I see in comparison. At first glance I smiled because I knew the “copycat” argument was going to be littered across pro-Apple blogs. Thx for proving me right. :-D

  • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

    I’m going to try one out, just to see if I like it. It’d probably be better for my kids though.

  • wall-e

    take it as a compliment that Samsung made it look like the macbook

    • http://twitter.com/snookasnoo Idon’t Know

      I take it as lame and pathetic.

    • Canucker

      They tried to make it look like a 5 year old MacBook – and failed. POS, albeit a cheap POS.

  • Canucker

    What kind of engineering is able to design a machine with only 6.5 hours of battery running off an ARM-based chip? Something doesn’t add up. Crappy netbooks were better than this.

    • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

      I’m not on the negative (crappy view) as you are but I did wonder WTH when I saw 6.5.

      • Dennis Madrid

        I’d guess it has to do with the screen. A mobile device’s screen is still the biggest constant drain on the battery.

        • Canucker

          It’s little more than a tablet though given the memory and processor. 11.6″ is bigger than 9.7″ but why 60% of the battery life (and the resolution is much lower than iPad (3).

          • Dennis Madrid

            Good point. I did some checking; Engadget’s hands on of the new Chromebook states the battery is rated at 30Wh. The iPad (3) battery is rated at 42.5Wh. Looks like battery size/capacity is one of the things they cut in order to reach the $250 price.

  • http://twitter.com/mrneilsmith Mr Neil Smith

    wow – $120 (£75) more in the UK…

  • http://www.facebook.com/chad.jameson Chad Jameson

    This is awesome, I could see my fellow sales guys with these and an android phone, email and docs all synced.

    GOOGLE FTW

  • Boo

    Could be a fair option for someone who uses a lot of Google services, doesn’t do anything too intensive and doesn’t have a lot of money.

    I can’t see it being a very profitable venture even if they sell a ton of them, though.

  • http://twitter.com/Moeskido Moeskido

    How the hell will they pitch this to consumers, apart from price?

    • Boo

      Some people really like Chrome I guess (I’ve never understood why but hey to each their own).

      As for the price, you get what you pay for and this is clearly no exception. Some people don’t get that the value and production cost of a product is a lot more than components inside and don’t seem to get that software development, engineering, distribution and many other factors actually make up the lions share of the cost of bringing a product to market.

      But hey, you get a USB2 AND a USB3 port with this bad boy. Livin’ large, eh? XD

      • http://twitter.com/Moeskido Moeskido

        Seriously. Perhaps Google’s found a way to sell this to people who don’t know the difference between a browser and any other app.

        • http://www.tumblr.com/blog/his-divine-shadow His Shadow

          Like, say, people who live in Facebook.

          • http://twitter.com/Moeskido Moeskido

            Or on tech-blog comment threads.

            WHAT HAVE I BECOME?!

          • http://www.tumblr.com/blog/his-divine-shadow His Shadow

            “IT’S A MADHOUSE! A MAAAAAAAAAAAAAADHOUSE!”

  • richardmac

    Here’s the thing. I had a couple of the original generic ChromeBooks that Google shipped to big school districts, and the screen wasn’t bad, the speed wasn’t bad, the keyboard wasn’t bad… but the trackpad was so crappy it made the entire device terrible. I’m very interested in seeing this laptop because I’ve been waiting forever for something like this in education. There is a TON we can do to make student’s school lives better with nothing more than a web browser. $250 is an absolutely killer price point for the K-12 market. Sadly I’m thinking the hardware will likely be crap.

    As for this looking like an Apple product, hey, it’s Samsung. That’s what they do.

    This has me wondering if Apple will release the new iPad Mini at a price point that can compete. A smaller $299 iPad could be serious competition for a Google CrapBook. We’ll see.

    • Boo

      As someone who worked in retail for over 15 years I can tell you that the lower priced yet comparable product do not always outsell the more expensive. Sometimes its an unfounded bias towards a name brand or a belief that the pricier product must be better, but often the cheaper product costs less because it does’t deliver the same level of value.

  • http://bobmartens.net/ Bob Martens

    Compelling as perhaps a 4th or 5th device for me. The hard part is that I hear people in “my circle” in education touting these as the way to go for student learning and then … poof … nothing about the actual results or if they are even in use anymore (talking specifically of Chromebooks).

    Truthfully, the thing still has a hinge and so loses its appeal. Hinges are the weakest point of a laptop and using a computing device in a classroom that is mobile should require not having a hinge.

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