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by brk 5497 days ago
I got an invite to purchase a Chromebook for $499 through gilt.

Personally, I find the price a bit too high for an iPad-with-a-keyboard.

Based on what I've read/seen online, the Chromebook isn't "there" enough yet to justify a $500 investment. Maybe soonish though.
2 comments
mtogo 5497 days ago
It's not an iPad-with-a-keyboard. The iPad is much more powerful; it can actually run client-side apps so you can do things either offline, or without the slow, bloated feel you get from web apps. You can SSH from it with reasonable speed (unlike ajax terminals). You can take a picture and save it locally. The list goes on. It's a polished system that's been around for a while, and it's supported by a company with a history of actually supporting and caring about their products.

The chromebook is more of a cut-down web browser with a keyboard that you can't use without having a google account and forfeiting your privacy.

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fjabre 5497 days ago
Let's face it - it's a pain in the ass to type on the iPad and mobile safari is painfully slow. The iPad was built for 10% input and 90% output. I love the iPad for media but it mostly sucks for doing anything productive and it sucks for researching compared to using Chrome on my mac or PC.

I for one hope Chromebooks solve that problem and provide a reasonable alternative to the iPad. If they do that's a big win for the web, which has taken a beating as of late.

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