Anyone know which is the latest one to be released, seems to be a series 3 and 5 ?

Currys/pc world have series 3 wifi at £229 wifi/3g £299, series 5 is £329 for wifi but the wifi/3g is only £299. Im confused.com

Try a search on Amazon for:
samsung chromebook
and also visiting:
http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/chrome/devices

The model names are extremely confusing. The more expensive Series 5 model has an Intel Celeron processor, while the less expensive model (launched Oct-12) has a Samsung Exynos processor (which I suspect might be an ARM clone). Sorry, I don't know how much effect on performance the different processors have, nor even which gives the better performance.

Thanks John for your help.

Yep all very weird. Series 3 is the latest and for some, arguably better.

The Chromebook is not a tablet or e-reader, it should not be in this forum!!

Also the series 5 is better I think although there doesn't seem to be a great difference between the models.

Only £229 for the series 3 wifi version plus if you buy it from John Lewis you get a 2year waranty.

andersonsonson - Sorry I put it in the wrong section, my mistake.

acer c7 chrome book £199 at Currys
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computi...48027-pdt.html

John Lewis is maybe better though and the Samsung is 0.3 kg lighter and 8cm thinner with 2.5 better hours battery life too

Thanks for your help.

In my opinion Chrome laptops are a waste of money. For just a bit more you can get a Windows laptop that can actually run most of the software in existence, unlike what the crippled Chrome laptops allow.

There are some major advantages to Chromebooks in addition to their lower cost:
Relative simplicity of use.
Simplicity of software updates.
Reduced risk of infection by malicious software.
Probably greater reliability due to the reduced risk of the user messing up the settings.

Just wanted something light with a keyboard to primarily just browse the web when I'm away from home and at £229 that will do the job perfectly.

That is not the point for the buyer. For more money you can also buy an iPad which ain't the same either.

Many of us are now waiting for the coming patch Tuesday for yet another Zero Day malware fix along with a massive set of others.

The one certainty with the Chromebook is that it ain't for dreamers. You really need to know why you are buying.

True, but most users eventually end up wanting to do more on their computer than just browse the web. Something to consider.

The "point" is, for just a bit more, you'll have a much more capable computer. Even the average computer user eventually wants to or needs to do more than just browse the Internet.

Nowadays there are many services, facilities and games available via browsers - Google Docs, etc, etc.

Cloud computing and Chromebooks certainly aren't suitable for everyone, but as Alan says provided the purchaser knows their limitations they're a good choice, possibly as a second computer. If the user intends to do anything other than a very minimal amount of keyboard input then they're probably a far better choice than a tablet.

Most people buying such laptops don't really know those "limitations." He is talking about pros and I am taking cons. Both should be considered.

A 1KG laptop with near 7 hours battery life for £230 ? Where?
The 'halfway house' is the Macbook Air but the battery life is seemingly overstated in this model.

I don't recognize your acronym "1KG." I also said "for not much more!"

I think most do in this case.

BTW I don't consider the Chromebooks as PCs. It is just far too 'walled gardened' for that.

What are these limitations you are referring to? I have a Chromebook and have not come across these yet - can you expand on what it is you think limits the machines?

The most obvious being the inability to run most software available on the market.

I don't need it to run any software I have an i7 Dell laptop for that! I just want something that is portable and that I can type on when away from home, and my samsung series 3 chromebook fits the bill perfectly.

So you're saying the Chromebooks are for users who aren't computer savvy and can't protect themselves from malware, avoid phishing etc?


So you need to know a fair bit about cloud services that can be poor replacements for native software?

Don't you think there's a disconnect there? You're trying to find a user who can't handle a Windows computer and is savvy enough to use all sorts of cloud services?

I mean with Windows 8, you've got an environment in Metro that is ideal for the unsavvy user with tiles, sandboxed apps that come from a curated store and it's very easy to remain safe if you stay on the metro side.

Not exclusively, but I definitely see their appeal for those users.

There's virtually nothing to learn. Chromebooks are set up to point you to Google Docs which IMHO is intuitively obvious if you've ever used MS Office or anything similar. AFAIK Chromebooks aren't locked to Google Docs, so other cloud services can be used if preferred. I haven't tried the other options such as Microsoft's online Office system so I don't know if they're as easy to learn or not but I'd very surprised if they were significantly more difficult.

Incorrect - Chrome has the ability to run most programs available on the market