[Flippzii]

I thought I was sure of buying a surface rt but now I have got my eyes up for the chromebook. Feels like they're very alike when it comes to app and OS quality. I'm looking for using it to a complement between my computer and my phone. Going to use it for school alot, taking notes during lessons etc.

I know I'm on a Windows forum but;

what would you choose a surface rt 32GB with keyboard or a chromebook?

[metalchick719]

Well, I'm not getting either one, but personally, I would go for the Surface. Chromebook looks totally useless.

[Flippzii]

Chromebook is pretty much the same concept? Why do you think it's useless?

[CommonBlob]

Ive used ChromeOS, and a couple of other "cloud" os'. They are great for about 10 minutes, or until you realise that everything you wanted to do, that was usually easy, suddenly has become impossible. They are just too limited, and the features they do have are sluggish and just not as feature complete as what im used to. ****, the ipad is just useless for me. Surface RT is getting there, but is still a touch off where I want to be, hence im waiting for the surface pro or another windows 8 pro tablet.

[mlm1950]

Chromebook is pretty much the same concept? Why do you think it's useless?

I thought the Surface was a tablet?

[Flippzii]

What kind of tasks are we talking about?
To use it for just school and things I do on the phone, Facebook etc. Don't you think it's enough?

[Flippzii]

I thought the Surface was a tablet?

Yes that's is correct, the surface have touchscreen the chromebook doesn't

[mlm1950]

I don't know what kind of phone or computer you have, but if they are both Windows devices, the Surface would likely "compliment" them in a better manner. That is just idle speculation at this point, however.

[VagrantWade]

Chromebook is one lean mean facebook machine.

[jjmurphy]

Imo, depends on the ecosystem you have bought in on. If you want to use office/skydrive/xbox music/movies then Surface. If you use googledocs/gdrive/gmail, then a chromebook.

[bilzkh]

Chrome OS is the future... But in that future it will have to compete against Windows RT. One of the central advantages of Chromebook is its price, $249.99 is pretty attractive. Sure, it's more or less a consumption device in the formfactor of a conventional laptop, but it is sufficient for casual usage. I can see the concept fly in the education sector.

However, Chrome OS is not the only option to support this concept. Windows RT can compete provided the hardware is competitively priced. I think a lot of the hardware cost associated with Windows RT has to do with touchscreens and presumably premium parts and design. It's possible to go budget-friendly with Windows RT devices, you just need to cut out the touchscreen, hybrid formfactor, etc.

Yes, reaching the $<300 price point requires a few sacrifices, and it will take away from having the chance to experience RT in its optimal form (with touch). However, the new UI is still enjoyable and fully functional without touch, you're not losing anything compared to Windows 7.

I find the Chromebook interesting, and I was pretty close to buying one for my mom (only to be stopped by the unavailability of it in Canada). However, I'd be much more compelled to buy a $300 Windows RT laptop without touchscreen - simply for the added capacity to work/play offline, Office RT, etc.

[VagrantWade]

Chrome OS is the future... But in that future it will have to compete against Windows RT. One of the central advantages of Chromebook is its price, $249.99 is pretty attractive. Sure, it's more or less a consumption device in the formfactor of a conventional laptop, but it is sufficient for casual usage. I can see the concept fly in the education sector.

However, Chrome OS is not the only option to support this concept. Windows RT can compete provided the hardware is competitively priced. I think a lot of the hardware cost associated with Windows RT has to do with touchscreens and presumably premium parts/styling.

I think it is possible to load Windows RT on Chromebook hardware (with added internal storage and good trackpad) whilst retaining the <$300 price point. Sure, lacking touch does not provide the optimal Windows 8/RT experience, but the experience is still very good and merely improves on what we got with previous Windows versions.

As much as I like Chromebook, I would much prefer a cheap Windows RT laptop without touchscreen.

I don't see it. They are adopting tablets for use, not cheap netbooks.

[stephen_az]

Chrome OS is the future... But in that future it will have to compete against Windows RT. One of the central advantages of Chromebook is its price, $249.99 is pretty attractive. Sure, it's more or less a consumption device in the formfactor of a conventional laptop, but it is sufficient for casual usage. I can see the concept fly in the education sector.

However, Chrome OS is not the only option to support this concept. Windows RT can compete provided the hardware is competitively priced. I think a lot of the hardware cost associated with Windows RT has to do with touchscreens and presumably premium parts and design. It's possible to go budget-friendly with Windows RT devices, you just need to cut out the touchscreen, hybrid formfactor, etc.

Yes, reaching the $<300 price point requires a few sacrifices, and it will take away from having the chance to experience RT in its optimal form (with touch). However, the new UI is still enjoyable and fully functional without touch, you're not losing anything compared to Windows 7.

I find the Chromebook interesting, and I was pretty close to buying one for my mom (only to be stopped by the unavailability of it in Canada). However, I'd be much more compelled to buy a $300 Windows RT laptop without touchscreen - simply for the added capacity to work/play offline, Office RT, etc.

No offense but a Chromebook is a glorified netbook that ties you to Google for everything and requires a web connection to be of any use. It is also already a failure as a product line that will probably join a long list of canned Google initiatives within a year or so. It isn't really whether RT will be successful in this case, Chrome OS is (simply put) a questionable choice in comparison to anything else on the market. In addition, given Google's penchant for smiling and then abandoning their own customers when they dump a product or service in favor of another, one is also not signing on with a company with a support track record on which I would want to rely. Even Android leaves people hanging when it comes to the subject of whether the device you buy today will ever get any updates. Throw in Google's issues regarding privacy and data mining, and it is certainly not something on which I would want to place personal data.

[mase123987]

I have used Chrome OS in the past. Its idea is that everything you need is online. A lot of the apps are more or less links to online things. I am guessing Google to paying Samsung some good money to even make a Chromebook because the OS is a glorified browser.