The Specifications:
- Intel Atom Processor (Pinetrail series)
- 1gb RAM
- 12" 1280x800 matte screen
- webcam and mic (unknown resolution)
- 8 hour battery
- WiFi and Verizon 3g (w/ free 100mb per month data plan)
- 1 USB port, SD card reader, audio out, VGA out
- large multitouch clickpad
- fullsize chiclet keyboard
The netbook has absolutely no branding on it, but is covered in some sort of smooth, rubbery material. It is 100% black, seriously, if you don't like black, you will not like this netbook, but I think it looks classy. It has a Mac-style screen hinge as you can lift the screen without moving or holding the base of the laptop. There are four rubber pegs on the bottom for grip, though they surely cover up screws as I have yet to see any on the exterior. Maybe it's just me, but a lack of even one visible screw makes me doubt the durability. Despite this, it feels incredibly sturdy, my only legitimate gripe with the build quality is that one corner of the battery is not quite flush with the bottom of the laptop, but it is only off by a millimeter, if even that. The bezel around the screen (which is matte, finally!) may be a bit too thick for some aesthetes, but if you can deal with the thick iPad bezel, this is surely not a deal-breaker. The microphone and webcam are located above the screen, and the webcam doubles as an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust the screen brightness. The webcam and mic work flawlessly in google audio and video calls. The USB port, audio out, SD card reader, and charger port are all on the right side, while the VGA out is on the left side. I think it would be nice to have two USB ports, so that one could plug in a USB mouse and a flash drive, but remember that this is only a piece of test hardware. The speakers are disguised as mini-vents on each side.The system for heat dissipation is as simple as it gets: a small intake grill on the bottom, and an vent on the left side. I never hear the fan, and can barely feel air come out of the vent. It never gets so warm that you wouldn't want it on your lap, and the heat seems to originate from the center of the hinge-end (the end opposite the clickpad) on the bottom of the netbook. It is very thin at about 0.9", and I now feel that it is the ideal size for a netbook (thin, light and appox. 12" screen).
9/10 - it just needs a second USB port and it would get a 10
Keyboard and Mouse
I know, it's not a mouse, it's technically a clickpad, but the heading just sounded so good. My feelings are mixed, but mostly positive, toward the clickpad. The precision is as good as any other I've ever used, when used with one finger. If you accidentally rest a second finger on the clickpad, the cursor stops immediately. I do not know if this is due to the hardware's finger tracking abilities, or if it has to do with the driver software. If it is a software issue though, I hope Google fixes it. The clickpad hardware is multitouch, but the software support is limited right now, as the only system wide multitouch gesture is two-finger scrolling. The two-finger scrolling is recognized instantly, and is silky-smooth. Pinch-zoom does work in Google Maps though, and I hope it is turned into a system-wide gesture, just for the fun of it, as it isn't very useful outside of small-screen smartphones. Unfortunately, tap-to-click only works on single click, you must actually click the click-pad for two-finger right click, and (thank you Google for not forgetting this) three-finger middle click. Like most touchpads, because there is no way to turn it off, when you are typing, your hand touches the pad and the cursor jumps to somewhere else in the page.
6/10 - a good start, but needs a few software tweeks, as well as a keyboard shortcut to turn it off
The keyboard is full-size, a rarity in netbooks. Google changed the keyboard, and all for the better. There are no function keys on the top (ex. F1, F2, F3, etc.) but there are some custom buttons on top. They are all very useful and they go, from right to left, esc, back, forward, refresh, fullscreen, next-tab, descrease brightness, increase brightness, mute, decrease volume, increase volume, power. Google has made the power button do double duty, as the first press goes to a lock screen, where you can sign out, or sign back in. The second press then actually turns off the machine. The caps-lock key has been made into a search key (I'll let you guess why), but it can be changed back into caps-lock in the settings. The Windows-Mac-Super key has been dumped, leaving more space for the left ctrl and alt keys. This is probably to make up for the smaller right ctrl and alt keys, that have been squeezed by the typical arrow-key placement in laptop keyboards. My only problem is something most would never even notice, the labels on the keys are in the center of each key, instead of the typical placement in the up-left corner. I fear that because of this a few years of typing will rub off the ink. But now for the all important question, how does it feel? It is the most solid feeling keyboard I've ever used. Yes, even better the mighty juggernaut of laptop keyboards, the Thinkpad keyboard. It has the perfect spring in the keys, and the twang when you hit the space-bar is just right.
9.5/10 - this seems like a cheap gripe, but in the interest of being fair, I grade it as just below perfection because of the key labels being in the middle of the keys.
Performance and Battery Life
It boots up in 10 seconds, takes 5 more to sign in, goes in and out of sleep in about a second, and shut downs nearly instantly.It runs clean and quick, only slowing down when you open tabs such that you intentionally tax the Atom processor. So, overall the performance is great (read my Chrome OS review for more details) and yet it's battery life is as well. The atom processor, combined with a battery that is about half the size of the netbook (and labelled 'Mario'), adds up to about 8 hours of battery life. I don't have any professional equipment or testing procedures, but it really seems to be about 8 hours when awake. And in my completely unscientific test, 11 hours of sleep only went through 6% of the battery. Google has struck a great balance between performance and battery life.
10/10 - I'm not sure what more to reasonably expect from a netbook (and a free, non-retail one, at that)
Wrap-up
I'll tell you now I will not give an overall score because I don't think it would be fair to a non-retail product that has been given to testers for free. I hope you will be satisfied with a summation of pros and cons
Pros
- It looks and feels really great
- Convenient, instantly usable mic and webcam
- Smooth two-finger scrolling
- Amazing keyboard
- Great balance between performance and battery life
- Only 1 USB port
- Some issues with the clickpad, and more multitouch is always welcome
- Google has pushed the atom processor to the limit, but come on, where is the overclocking! please Google, I believe in you
No comments:
Post a Comment