The Chromebook Pixel Review
by Jason Inofuentes on May 31, 2013 8:00 AM ESTConclusion
Something magical happened during the course of this review. I know many of you have been waiting for it, and we apologize for the delay. But truth be told, it was worth it. I’d already spent a few weeks with the Pixel when it entered the bowels of Anand’s lab to have its display characterized. I used that time to put together much of what you’re about to read. My conclusion was somewhat complex but came to this: If you want Chrome OS to succeed, can put it to good use now, and have Retina MBP class money to spend, you should get it. Philosophically the flaws of Chrome OS are its assets, and its assets are occasionally flawed. And once I’d retrieved the Pixel from Anand’s labyrinth (you thought I meant laboratory didn’t you?) I opened it up to give it one last look, and something magical had happened. It got better.
Operating systems change and improve, that’s nothing new. Bug fixes are and point updates are released that buff up the design, smooth out the dings and add functionality. This is generally something that trickles out over months, if not years. Yet in just a few weeks, Google’s team had brought to the Stable release more fixes and features than I was prepared for, and which sent much of my review back to square one. And, perhaps, that’s the perfect introduction to this review; a testament to the fact that if nothing else, when you buy a Chromebook, you’re buying something that’s getting better faster than any other operating system you’ve used before.
The user experience remains limited. Some have joked that Chrome OS should have a giant Beta tag on its side; indeed, these naysayers may have a point. If that is the case, the value of your $1300 lays not with the silicon, lithium-ion cells, metal chassis, nor that display; the true value of the Pixel comes in the potential that comes with a platform given nearly all the hardware features we could ask for. Chrome OS continues to improve, with frequent updates that affect every aspect of the software. Packaged apps, Native Client and asm.js are all new techniques for bringing more immersive, beyond-the-browser style apps; while APIs like WebRTC, WebGL and WebAudio enable more complex applications to be built entirely within the browser, and leveraging hardware resources for performance. Indeed, Chrome OS’s future seems ever more fortified by the preponderance of web apps being introduced by Google at I/O this year. Some of the most exciting things that surfaced during the keynote were services that span across all platforms. Multiplayer games that can be played on iOS, Android or any Chrome browser. Notifications that can be responded to or cleared in your browser, and register as acted upon on your phone. All enabled through services and incorporated with no user intervention.
This is a future that could play out wonderfully. It could also find itself floundering for years, unable to gain sufficient traction to attract the developers that will make Chrome OS feature competitive. Or, as plausible, the real dagger in the heart of Chrome OS, will be Chrome itself. As compute becomes cheaper, the need for a cruft free operating system to drive a fast and seamless web experience diminishes. I don’t know which way this might go, but I want to be a part of it. And I think that’s the primary criteria that buyers should consider. If you’re compelled by the notion of the web as a platform, this is a notebook for you. If you want the nicest looking laptop around, and aren’t beholden to legacy apps, this is a notebook for you.
Frontiers aren't for everyone, though. There'll never be many buyers for the Pixel, and Google was always going to be okay with that. Though they built this to serve a particular sliver of the market, it faces competition even there. The stiffest competition comes from an unsurprising place: the 13" MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Starting at $1499, it is just a hair above the LTE model we're testing today, and not so far from the base Pixel to leave them in distinct price categories. And for your extra cash, you get a capable operating system with an existing application ecosystem able to serve the most discerning of users. And that's the real clincher, any app you'd like (even Chrome), not just the promise of a bright future of web apps. Google's content to bring all of Chrome's features to every platform, so that the success of the web as a platform can be available to all. So, if you're not ready, consider the rMBP. If, on the other hand, you're ready to leave all other platforms behind, and set forth with only Chrome by your side, then you'll find no better option than the Chromebook Pixel.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
74 Comments
View All Comments
karasaj - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
What other objectivity can you have than display analysis, battery life, build quality (even still moderately subjective), and performance? Heat and noise I guess, which is normally included in laptop reviews, but considering he can't actually run HWmonitor, and it's also probably hard to actually load up the machine with a super heavy workload, there's not much he left out.If you don't like the subjective parts, skip them. Subjective qualities at the expense of objectivity can be bad, but he hasn't sacrificed that really.
nunomoreira10 - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Those color (target and actual) diagrams are great!Please do so again on future displays reviews
frakkel - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Finally - Someone who understands that we are not using our notebooks for watching 16:9 movies day long. To see a more square format is very much welcome. Now I will just wait for Haswell and then I will buy.internetf1fan - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
Wider screens are better for productivity as you can fit multiple documents side by side. Going back to 4:3 displays really hurts how I work because of lack of space.leexgx - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
we are not talking going back to 4:3 that would be silly, we are talking about website friendly 16:10 screensnot many people use the side by side feature in windows 7
seapeople - Monday, June 3, 2013 - link
Not many people use graphics cards, either, so why not just get rid of all those?twtech - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Remember the dot-com boom of the '90s, when the internet was supposed to take over everything? And then it didn't, and all these startups went bust, but it still had a significant impact, which continues to grow today?Right now, people are saying, the PC is dead, tablets are the new king. We've heard this mantra before. Notebooks, netbooks, consoles vs. PC gaming, everything new was supposed to kill the desktop PC. And along the way, those things have taken some marketshare when those devices were actually the more appropriate tool for the job.
If all you had was a hammer and nails, but now you have a screwdriver and screws as well, some of the times when you previously used nails, now you'll use screws instead. If you put the usage of nails on a chart, maybe you'd say that they were "dying", and that usage of screws is the future, since of course it was growing from zero. Well, we know that both types of fasteners have their preferred uses. And tablets may replace PCs for certain uses - the use cases in which they are genuinely better. But there would be no sense in trying to use a tablet for things the PC is naturally better at.
Crono - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
The PC isn't dead. We're just in a transition period where tablets are becoming a very popular form factor of PCs. Anyone who wants to create content knows that a base iPad isn;t going to do you much good unless you have the right apps and preferably a physical keyboard. That's why the Surface and Surface Pro are the right direction, I think, though everyone agrees Haswell is needed to bring better battery life. Hybrid and convertible tablets or ultrabooks - whether they are Android, Windows, or iOS - will be key for the next few years... until we start getting scrolls. ;)Personally, I would love a 10" x 12" x 0.2" OLED flexible scroll computer with a display that can become rigid when completely unfurled from a thin computer core/column.
rwei - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Odd that you yourself note the unfavorable comparison to the 13" rMBP, yet your review gushes with enthusiasm for the Pixel. I love shiny, beautiful new gadgets as much as or more than the next guy, but your praise seems excessive.I more or less took away from this is that the Pixel is cool because it makes for a really nice and shiny typewriter, and wow look it's evolving really quickly to the point where it's slowly approaching the level of basic functionality that other systems already deliver.
Arbie - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
rwei - I agree with you completely.And there is a weird parallel between the design effort put into this overdone $1400 browser box and the writing effort put into this overblown, wordy, and just so artfully crafted treatise on it. Is this all a joke of some kind? I got through a couple of pages and couldn't take it any more. If you gave the author an enema he could fit in a shoebox.
As for the computer, the only thing it's ideal for is to make the Surface RT look like a success. Maybe it makes sense as an investment collectible, considering that they're only going to sell two or three. Nothing worthwhile here.