Selden

December 03, 2011 at 7:21am

This is one of the few sensible articles on the Chromebook that I have seen. I have a similar environment, with a Cr-48 Chromebook (free) from Google, and an Acer D150 netbook, running Linux, that I upgraded (before the Chromebook program) to a SSD and 2gb of RAM. If you want a travel computer that requires next to no maintenance, and can be used anywhere, a 3G Chromebook is hard to beat. The screen and keyboard size, long battery life (I was at a conference yesterday, and used my Cr-48 from 8:30 to 5:00 without an external power supply; it still reported 54 minutes of battery remaining), and 3G capability let one connect from locations (there still are some) without Wi-Fi access. These features have made the Chromebook my "go to" machine, and it goes almost everywhere with me.

The Linux netbook does far more, but required considerably more effort to set up, although ongoing maintenance effort is really not much different as long as I stay on Ubuntu 10.04. It boots nearly as quickly as the Chromebook, doesn't resume from sleep as quickly, lacks 3G, and doesn't run as long. Local processing is far faster than using cloud-based apps such as Google Docs. One area where it is greatly superior is wireless printing, through CUPS and my desktop iMac. Because it has a PowerPC processor, Chrome (which is required to support cloud printing) won't run, and I'm too cheap to buy yet another printer just to be able to print from the Chromebook.

 

nbrowser

December 03, 2011 at 12:38am

hrm just recently picked up an Acer Aspire 1830TZ "notebook", Pentium U5600, 4Gb DDR3 (since upgraded to 8Gb) 500Gb HD, Windows 7 Home Premium x64......11.6 inch screen, netbook sized, notebook power and was only a mere $320 (brand spankin new) CDN.....makes both the Chromebook and Jolibook seem kinda expensive devices. Full Windows, more memory than a netbook could ever hope to have and with the Arrandale based processor, the graphics don't suck, too badly that is.......

livebriand

December 02, 2011 at 10:18pm

The thing is, what about regular netbooks? Sure, my $450 Thinkpad x120e AMD Fusion E350 netbook takes a minute to boot (into windows 7 64-bit), and the battery life is only 4-5 hours, but I can also do lots more than the above machines. If I were on a trip and had to live with only a netbook for a week, I would definitely choose my x120e - I can actually get quite a bit of stuff done on it and use it offline and stuff. With the others, the limits are just too much.

MikeUter

December 02, 2011 at 3:21pm

This comparison doesn't properly illustrate how useless a Chromebook is for work, school or anything else that isn't web browsing.

I find Joli OS perfect for school, it's interface is very aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. In addition, it runs wonderfully on my Acer Aspire One ZG5, far better than Ubuntu does. Lastly, I get roughly four hours of battery life per charge.

In conclusion, Joli OS is perfect for Netbooks and should definitely be used over Chromebooks.

jaygregz

December 02, 2011 at 1:55pm

Chromebooks are nice indeed. Joli on the other hand is crap. If your looking for speedy OS solutions for an old laptop or desktop then you should really look elsewhere.

After installing and testing for about 30 different linux distro's, windows 7, windows xp 2nd edition, and a few other smaller form factor operating systems on an older machine a few weeks ago I came to the conclusion that my favorite is a linux distro called peppermint (http://peppermintos.com/). It's cloud centric, moves fast, and basically starts as a stripped down version of linux only coming with the things you need to get on the interwebs. The great thing about this OS is that it comes with the repositories to add anything else in that you want. It's also a very web application centric OS. Replacing some of the native office type tools of linux with cloud alternatives.

Also if your looking to juice up an old pc you could install ChromiumOS which I didn't have a chance to try but from what I can tell it is just a replica of the OS found in chromebooks.

The website reads: It'is a lightweight, lightning-fast operating system for your netbook, laptop or even desktop. With the familiar environment of Chromium/Chrome, the entire web is at your fingertips in seconds. HTML5 & Flash are fully supported, allowing you to enjoy the very best that the web has to offer.

http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/

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The point is joli sucks. Way too many options out there to stick with a bad web browser being pushed as an operating system.

Cregan89

December 02, 2011 at 1:48pm

This is a pretty flawed review. A Chromebook is a hardware and OS package, whereas a JoliBook doesn't actually exist. You guys just threw Joli OS on a netbook and called it a "JoliBook". But you can do the exact same thing with Chromium OS, installing it on any computer and even dual booting with it. And considering your whole argument for round 4 (flexibility) and round 5 (price) is based on the fact that Joli OS is software and can be installed on any computer whereas a Chromebook is a hardware and software combined package, those two rounds are pretty much pointless.

You're comparing apples to oranges. It's literally the exact same thing as comparing the 15" MacBook Pro to Linux Mint. It just doesn't make any sense. You should have compared Chromium OS to Joli OS, that would have made a lot more sense.