Google's Cr-48 - Part One

The unboxing was rather uneventful due to the fact that I was at work and had no idea the Cr-48 was even coming. I received a phone call at close to 5 on Wednesday afternoon by my girlfriend asking if I ordered anything because there was a package for me. After a minute or two, the only thing I could think of was..... Google! So I asked Jenna to open it and let me know if the box inside had a hamster on it. Imagine my surprise when she said "Yeah, and a helmet, and a wheel, and a rocket..." 

I told her that what she was holding in her hand was the new Chrome Netbook.  I don’t think that either one of us truly believed it. Jenna, as completely awesome as she is, wanted me to be the first to play with it, so she took it out of the box, connected the battery, and plugged it in to get it charging. Meanwhile, I couldn’t get home fast enough. And when I did.... oh man. There it sat. In all its matte black, un-smudged glory... just sitting on my desk charging... waiting for me to come home.

OK, enough with the corny crap. It’s a rather nice computer. Er... netbook..... thing. It has a really nice matte black finish that is really smooth to the touch, and even though it doesn’t show fingerprints, it will get a little smudged over time the more you handle it. The first thing, aside from the finish, is the minimalist design. There is nothing printed anywhere on it. Now, I’ve read in reviews prior to mine coming in the mail, that it was an unbranded computer, but I still thought there had to be something printed on it. At least the FCC notice about the signal must comply with Marvin Martian’s ray gun, or whatever that thing says. Nope. Nothing. The ONLY words or pictures you will find on this thing are located on the keyboard.

OK, from now on, I’ll try to avoid talking about the hardware of this thing unless I have to. Google wants the testers to test the operating system, so that’s what I’ll do.

Google wasn’t kidding around when they said that it boots fast. Aside from the initial setup, which even that only took 5 minutes or so, startup is literally only 10 seconds, give or take. You are instantly greeted with a splashscreen of the Chrome orb, which disappears into your login screen. All you have to do is enter your password and off you go! Of course, the first time you log in, it asks to take your picture for easy reference to your account later. As soon as you log in, all your apps, extensions, and bookmarks from your Chrome browser are imported which does take a minute or two depending on how many things you have connected to your account. But then... that’s it! Your new netbook is all set up and customized to you.

It works about like you think it does. It’s internet. It’s internet only. If you would have trouble coping without a C: drive, then the Cr-48 will not be your friend. If you spend most of your day online, and have become accustomed to maneuvering in the cloud, then Google’s netbook has zero learning curve.

Now, this is just my impression of the Cr-48 so far, and I’ve only had it for 2 days. There will most definately be more updates to come within the next day or two. Vacation starts early tomorrow morning with an eight hour drive first thing. So maybe Jenna will try out the built-in 3G internet as I drive down the interstate. Yes, I’ll let you know how that goes.  Until then... stay tuned for Part Two!