Samsung Series 5 Wi-Fi Chromebook (Arctic White)

I bought the Samsung Chromebook because I wanted one fast-access device, with an attached keyboard, where I didn't have constant reminders about security updates and scans, to act as a supplement to my home PCs. I'd been very interested in buying one since they appeared on the market, as I'd remarked to a colleague a few years ago that netbooks would run faster if the browser alone was the operating system, and you could probably do most tasks using this - so I had already bought into the concept, as far as I know, before it was even announced.

Anyway, in the following, I've compiled some points which I hope will be useful to other Amazon users.

Maximising browser speed:
With all apps and extensions loaded by default, web browsing slows down. They can all be switched On/Off manually, but I found one extension, Disable All Extensions Plus, which simplifies the process. Switching off all apps and extensions visibly speeds webpage opening/scrolling, for the times when you need it.

Skype videocalls:
I've tried IMO instant messaging, to login to Skype, and see my contacts online status. I needed to allowed access to my webcam and microphone for IMO, on the Macromedia Flash Player Settings Manager page, for Website Privacy Settings, and Peer Assisted Networking. Video works both ways, but I haven't been able to get sound both ways yet - I'm sure it can be done, since video works, so I'm not giving up on it, as it seems to offer a work-around for Skype.
Anyway, when videocalling a Skype contact, they receive a message in their Skype Conversations tab, inviting them to videochat with you. Clicking the link opens a browser window, showing them your webcam video.

Online Document/File viewing and editing:
For straightforward documents/files, Google Docs should be sufficient for online preparation, while giving offline viewability.
To read MS Office files (doc, docx, ppt, etc,), I upload them to Google Docs, sometimes converting to Google Docs format. Once converted, the files can be edited, and then saved in Google Docs format, or downloaded, depending on type, as odt, pdf, doc, docx, txt, etc., and transferred from the local File Shelf storage to external media.
Upload limits are 1MB for Google Docs format, and 10MB for Word documents and pdfs, with a free 1GB file space for a Google Docs account. Google Docs format files are not counted for the used space total.
You can, also, edit MS Office files, using an MS SkyDrive account, with 25GB storage, and max. upload size of 50MB per file - the web apps are not as functional as MS Office, though. Zoho Writer and Sheet are alternative online apps for document and spreadsheet preparation. Other online apps for presentations and charts are 280Slides, Slide Rocket, and Lovely Charts.

Offline Chromebook usage:
Offline, you can play music (mp3, wav) and video files (mpeg4), view photos (jpeg and bmp), and read/reply to webmail via the Google Mail Offline app. In Google Docs offline, you can read Google Docs format files and pdfs.
Scratchpad has an offline mode which syncs with Google Docs online. You can prepare formatted text-only notes in Scratchpad offline, and when online, copy and paste this into your document.
Overall, the Chromebook has useful functionality offline, which will further improve, when Google introduces offline document editing.

Photo editing:
There are a number of web apps for this in the Chrome Web Store. I found Sumo Paint gave me editing options similar to PaintShopPro and Photoshop. Editing is done on the website, in common with all photo editing apps currently available, although Google may build in a basic image editor later.

Online video streaming:
I use standard or lower video resolution, to avoid intrusive video buffering, because my broadband download speed is too slow for HD video. As far as I know, playing streaming HD video should be fine on faster broadband connections, though.

Playing alternative video files (avi, flv, and wmv):
The built-in Media Player plays mpeg4 video only, but these 3 formats will play from your Google Docs account, subject to the 1GB space available - I've tested this for 1 min videos. Large video files need mpeg4 conversion on a PC, using freeware video convertor software. Avi playback may now be available in Developers mode, so may arrive soon.

Music/audio files:
The Media Player plays mp3 or wav audio files only. WMV files can be converted to mp3 on a PC, using downloadable freeware.
The player doesn't play CDs from an external CD/DVD drive, but if you rip your CDs to audio files on a PC, you can transfer them to a USB memory stick, or SD/SDHC memory card, to access on Chromebook. The Media Player only plays the songs ticked and queued in the list - continuous play or random shuffle isn't available, yet.
There are substitutes for iTunes with Amazon Music now, and, hopefully, Google Music Beta (currently on test in the US) soon, for purchasing and downloading music tracks.

External storage:
I can read and copy files from a DVD disc in an external DVD drive, but, of course, can't record to it. USB hard drives, currently, must be FAT32 formatted - online reports, however, suggest that NTFS formatting is supported in Chrome OS Beta, so an OS update should fix this.
USB memory sticks and SD/SDHC cards should be a good alternative to external drives for many people, though, and I use both of these.

Accessories worth considering:
(i) USB SDHC card reader to transfer files, and a 32 GB SDHC card, for extra local storage.
(ii) laptop speaker bar, for much improved sound volume and quality,
(iii) wirefree mouse with a micro-USB dongle, for finer pointer control,
(iv) USB ethernet adaptor, if your wireless connection is intermittent,
(v) MiFi wireless mobile rechargeable dongle - creates a personal Wi-Fi hotspot (for non-3G Chromebooks) in 3G signal areas. Logon is via the wireless connection, with no software installation or wires needed.

Browser extensions:
There are lots of useful free extensions in the Chrome Web Store, including for the following: extra security, switching off browser history recording, recovering accidentally closed tabs, finding your search terms on a web page, on-screen button to smoothly scroll to top/bottom of web pages, accessing downloads directly from the toolbar, automatically opening next Google search pages, ad blocking, etc..
Just use the search box in the Web Store to find what you want to add - some of these can make a big difference to the ease of use of your Chromebook, as many are installed as icons on the browser bar.

Some improvements needed:
- The File Manager - modernisation, with larger window,
- Skype app, for videocalling,
- SkyGo app (to view HTML5 video, similar to iPad's app),
- Media Player, continuous, random/shuffle play audio, avi, etc., video playback,
- Google Docs Offline editing,
- Support for NFTS hard drives.

I'm happy with the Samsung Chromebook, and would recommend it as a good device for secure browsing, emailing, online music and video streaming, video calling and some work-related documentation. I think the Chromebook is particularly good for people who want a low maintenance device, with fast switch on, and who don't want to carry out anti-virus and anti-malware scans, registry error checking, and disk defragmentation. There should be lots of people, young to old, in this category - indeed, a Chromebook might be their perfect second device.

UPDATES, JAN'12: Can now read files from a pre-recorded NTFS USB hard drive, but can't yet record to it. Also, Skype should work with IMO if you disable any "pepperflash" versions in chrome plugins, leaving normal flash running - instructions can be found online.
Gmail accounts (which you need to sign in on the Chromebook) are no longer allowed for under-13's according to US law, which Google must comply with worldwide (see COPPA), but kids can still access Guest mode, although this would be mostly for browsing, and entertainment, i.e. catch-up TV, YouTube, music sites, online radio, etc.. anyway.

UPDATE, MAR'12. I've re-checked and found that websites offering online word processing all require a valid email to sign up legally - so effectively, kids have to be 13 or over, to sign up to these as well. Some under-13 kids have tried to sign up to Google Plus, using a Gmail account set up before age was a required input, and then found that their email access was frozen immediately they updated their age - so they couldn't sign in to their Chromebook. The account could only be retrieved by a parent supplying credit card information - so that's one thing to avoid. There are some sites that can provide kids email accounts linked to a parental account, but whether these will run independently for webmail on a Chromebook is uncertain.

If you want under-13 kids to do some documentation on a Chromebook (under Google's terms and conditions of service), then, since it has to be in Guest mode, the best option seems to be to sign up for an online diary, as these, being private in nature, don't have such strong age restrictions - from what I've seen, a minimum of 8 years is OK. (Alternatively, for school use, Google may have suitable Chromebook access for minors in Apps for Education - but this has to be set up by the school, and may require a school purchase deal with Google.) Incidentally, e-diaries have facilities to include cropped photos, so short reports, essays, etc., could be done for homework, and short school projects, in a diary, by under-13 users - so lack of official access to GDocs wouldn't be a problem. Read more ›

I took delivery of my Series 5 this morning which I guess makes me one of the first people to post a review who isn't a journalist.

The chromebook is simply brilliant. It is smaller, lighter, more portable and has a better battery than all but the most expensive laptops. It has a decent screen and keyboard that you can actually work on, unlike all but the most expensive netbooks. It undercuts both of these competitors massively on price. Any device that is an equivalent price will most likely have a poorer battery and screen resolution if nothing else. It can resume instantly, boots in 8 seconds and is more secure than most people could make any other computer. The downside to all this is that you can't install software, but this is far less limiting than you would first think. For most locally installed software there is now one or more pretty decent web based alternatives, and this is a growing trend. An increasing number of the latest HTML5 web applications can also support working offline too - this will soon be available in google docs, and I already have an offline note-taking application installed.

One web app that adds a huge amount of functionality - enough to sway some potential buyers - is ThinVNC. When installed on a Windows computer, it allows you to remote-desktop into it from a chromebook or any other modern web browser. If you occasionally need to use some client software, this is one great solution.

The keyboard is excellent, and having dedicated keys to toggle full-screen mode and switch between maximised windows (with cool sliding animation) makes it easy to have lots of tabs open and organise them usefully. It makes the screen feel bigger than it really is, and I'm surprised to say I don't really miss my old extended display setup.

A chromebook is not for everyone - a tablet is better for reading/watching in bed, a full size laptop is better if you really do need local software. However these devices are simply brilliant for working on the web from anywhere with a wifi or 3G connection.

I am using my Samsung Chromebook as an adjunct to my desktop and laptop and it is excellent. I am very pleased with it. Access to the Internet on opening the lid is very swift (2-3 seconds) so the Chromebook is ideal for picking up and putting down throughout the day. The full keyboard makes typing very efficient and the battery life is a day. I thoroughly recommned this as a secondary item for someone who is on the internet regularly throughout the day. In due course, I believe it will be able to replace laptops and probably desktops too. I took it on holiday and it was the choice of everyone in the family when they wanted to browse the internet (facebook, emails, uni, Google etc).