Chromebooks are built and optimized for the web, where you already spend most of your computing time. It boots in less than 10 seconds and resumes instantly. Your favorite websites load quickly and run smoothly, with full support for the latest web standards and Adobe Flash. So you get a faster, simpler and more secure experience without all the headaches of ordinary computers. Plus, weighing in at 3.3 lbs and just 0.8 inches thick, the ultra-compact design provides maximum portability without compromising on functionality and optimal performance. No fear - even if you lose your Chromebook - In the world of Chromebooks, your email, apps, photos, documents, and data are stored safely on the web and accessible anywhere. So even if you lose your Chromebook, just log in to another Chromebook and get right back to work. With multiple logins and Guest Mode, you can also share your Chromebook securely with family and friends.Specifications Intel Atom N570 1.66GHz Dual-Core Processor 1MB L2 Cache 2GB DDR3 SO-DIMM 16GB mSATA Solid State Drive (SSD) 12.1-inch HD LED-Backlit WXGA Display (1280 x 800) Integrated Intel GMA 3150 Graphics 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN 3G Wireless Broadband - Gobi 3000 Technology (supports most major carriers) 3W Stereo Speakers with SRS Sound Effect Integrated 1.3MP Webcam 4-in-1 Memory Card Reader (MMC/SD/SDHC/SDXC) Full-size 74 Keys Google Chrome Keyboard & Gesture Support Touch Pad Connections - 2 x USB 2.0, Headphone/Microphone Combo, VGA Approximate Unit Dimensions - 11.6 (W) x 8.6 (D) x 0.8 (H) inches Approximate Unit Weight - 3.3 pounds

• Amazon Sales Rank: #197 in Personal Computers
• Color: Silver
• Brand: Samsung
• Model: XE500C21-H04US
• Dimensions: .80" h x 8.60" w x 11.60" l, 3.26 pounds
• CPU: Intel Celeron 1.66 GHz
• Memory: 2000MB SODIMM
• Hard Disk: 16GB
• Processors: 1
• Display size: 12.1

Features

• 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N570 Processor
• 16 GB Solid-State Hard Drive
• 12.1-Inch SuperBright high-resolution, non-glare display ideal for web browsing
• Boots in less than 10 seconds and resumes instantly
• Up to 6.5 hours of continuous use

Amazon.com Product Description

Innovatively designed to go as long as you can, the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 lets you spend the whole day surfing, streaming, and working on the web on just one charge. With less than 10-second booting and an amazing 6.5 hours of battery life, the light and sleek Chromebook Series 5 gives you the ultimate web experience that you won't find on any other laptop.

Search for the best web experience and you'll find the new Samsung Chromebook Series 5 (see larger image).

Most helpful customer reviews

484 of 509 people found the following review helpful.
Chromebooks Go Production
By macbeach
I've been testing the prototype Cr-48 since February. I expected to just use the device for a few weeks and then go back to my desktop system. But instead I changed a few of my habits and stayed with it ever since. There is very little difference between the Cr-48 and the production Samsung. Size is about the same, keyboard almost identical. Cr-48 was coated with a rubbery material that you either like or hate. Samsung is more traditional glossy plastic.

Both machines have very bright and crisp displays in a wide format. The screen itself is of the traditional non-glare type. I can't imagine why anyone would want a screen with glare but I notice many new systems come that way. I guess if you work in a totally dark room the glossy screens are fine. The second version of the Chromebook from Acer is said to have a glossy screen for anyone that wants that.

I'll second what others said that this machine is not for everyone. If you a big user of Apple products and happy with their "roadmap" to the future, stay with them. If you need all the specialized software that only runs on Windows, then you'd better stay there too.

But... If you are tired of running virus scanners, clean-up utilities, disk defragmenters, firewalls, and tired of having to ask a relative or neighbor to get your machine working again (or worse having to pay someone to do it) then cloud-based computing may be for you.

Chrome OS is a slimmed down (very) version of Linux that boots in 8 seconds and awakes from sleep almost instantly. There is no desktop, so the graphical interface is the Chrome web browser which takes up the whole screen as soon as you log-on to the machine. There are some "hidden" aspects to this OS, but you can only get to them by flipping a special switch for those who like to experiment, and the machine keeps track of the fact that you have done this. Security experts know that no system is safe if you grant physical access to an attacker, but the Chrome notebook does everything it can to protect your locally stored information (even though there isn't much of that). Each user must log into the machine and that causes his and only his files to become unencrypted for use. Signing off causes those files to be encrypted again. But very little data is stored on the machine anyway and the entire solid state "disk" is only 16 gig, so pack-rats need not apply. The idea is that you store all your documents in the cloud (you are not limited to using Google products to do this of course). While you *can* download files, typically you do so simply to turn around and upload them somewhere else. You can display photos and play MP3 and MP4 files locally but that is about it (for now anyway). In addition to the SSD space you can store local files on a USB stick or memory card (as used in cameras). Theoretically files you store on the SSD drive will get erased automatically after a while (like a month, though I haven't seen this happen yet). So if you feel you just HAVE to have some files to carry around with you, a 16G USB stick is probably advisable.

If you want to let a friend use the machine, just sign off and they can use "Guest mode" and your stuff will be safe, no matter what they do. Also anything they do will get erased when they are done. If someone else will be using he machine regularly they can also sign in with a Google ID rather than using Guest mode and their files and yours will be kept isolated from one another.

I'm not sure what it is I like about this keyboard as it mostly resembles other "island keyboards" but I bang pretty hard on the keys and they usually register without too many mistakes. I don't feel that I am in danger of breaking the thing as is the case with many new notebooks or keyboards. The mousepad as others have mentioned is HUGE. I am not a big fan of mousepads so even with a notebooks I tend to carry a mouse with me. I recently went visiting needed to use the mousepad for a while though and found it acceptable. I'd say a cut below the Apple mouspads, but not by much. Remember that most of what you get from a mousepad is done in software, not hardware. When the Cr-48s came out there were lots of complaints about the mousepads being almost unusable, but with each new release of the OS things got better and I'm sure that will continue.

With Chrome OS being a young product so far there is still room for improvement, but the improvements are coming fairly regularly and they are totally non-disruptive, downloading in the background and automatically activating the next time you boot. Even that first boot after update doesn't seem to take longer as with some OSs.

There are three "Channels" for updates: Stable, Beta, and Dev(eloper) depending on how risk averse you are. There is also a USB stick based recovery procedure should your machine get "hosed" which can happen on the developer channel or when playing with the developer switch.

Why is there a developers switch? Well, security is a big goal of Chrome OS. There are no virus scanners needed, but the OS does do a self-check during those 8 seconds it is booting up, and when your files are decrypted they are check for tampering as well. The developers switch bypasses some of this paranoia, and also gives you access to additional parts of the file system that are normally off-limits. In addition you are given access to a more complete set of Linux/Unix commands some of which could get you into trouble. People have run other version of Linux, Windows and even the Apple OS on Chromebooks by flipping the developer switch, but then that is rather missing the point of a machine that is designed specifically for cloud-based computing. On the other hand, if you have been keeping your stuff in the cloud, and happen to trash your system while on the road, getting it going again doesn't take too long or involve too many steps (and I suspect might eventually only entail pressing a reset button or something).

Finally, on communications, WiFi set-up is as easy or easier than Windows or Apple machines I've used. Previous connections are memorized by default. All the protocols up to and including "n" "just work". In a pinch you can tap into the 100M of free Verizon wireless 3G coverage. In a real pinch they have various for-pay coverage after that. I've tried it just long enough to know that it works. On a trip I can imagine tapping into the "unlimited" plan for a day at a time between WiFi enabled hotels.

Cons: (1) I wouldn't have minded a wired Internet option as well, but with notebooks getting thinner and thinner it would probably be hard to squeeze the connector in there. So far the "n" version of WiFi maxes out my router's speed anyway. (2) Only VGA connectivity to external monitors... else I might be tempted to use this as a desktop machine with a larger monitor. If there is indeed a Samsung "mini" desktop system waiting in the wings that will probably be a better way to go anyway (and might well be significantly cheaper than a laptop). (3) There is a way to go for "apps" for this ecosystem. there are advanced applications that demonstrate what *can* be done such as music composition, technical drawings, photo editing (and of course Google Docs which handles normal office needs) but almost everyone will run into situations that require a "legacy" system to handle. For example, you currently have to use a special set-up on a Windows or Apple machine to print, unless you have one of the very new "e-printers" that have an e-mail address associated with them and support their own network connection. If the Google "roadmap" holds steady I fully expect these issue to be addressed in the not too distant future.

In the mean time, I'm sitting comfortably here on my couch with my Chromebook, and not tempted to sit at the desk where I have a "more powerful" system. Come to think of it, I have more power in the cloud than I could ever afford at home. With proper interfaces, everything I could need.

322 of 346 people found the following review helpful.
Amazing product!
By Mitali Ganguly
I am very happy with my Samsung Chromebook. I had been looking for a computer that was fast, easy to use and did not keep breaking down so when Google announced the Chromebook Pilot program I signed up and got the CR-48. I really liked my CR-48 and therefore bought the Samsung Chromebook with 3G at the Gilt flash sale. I've had it now for a few days and am very happy with it.

The Samsung Chromebook is very light weight and portable; and I like its clean looks and solid finish. The keyboard is amazing and the trackpad is HUGE. It also feels a lot faster than the CR-48. The software on the CR-48 kept improving and getting better in the 6 months I had it and it feels like its gotten even better on the Samsung Series 5. There's now a file manager and a media player and it is super easy to upload photos to Picasa. And ofcourse it has Chrome which is fast.

The setup was ridiculously simple. As soon as I logged in all my apps, bookmarks and settings came in and it felt like I was back on my old computer. In all I think I went from closed box to fully ready in a couple of minutes. This was truly amazing. All the other benefits of the CR-48: the fast boot, quick resume and built in 3G are all there in this Chromebook.

I would recommend a Chromebook to anyone; but when people ask me if this is right for them this is what I say: it's great if you primarily use a laptop/ notebook for your personal stuff which, at least for me, is almost all web-based - gmail, facebook, amazon, youtube, google docs. For 'work' I use design software (Adobe CS5, Autocad, etc) that needs serious processing power and a large screen; and thus I use a high-end laptop, but that means it's heavy and cumbersome. The Chromebook is my personal computer and it works perfectly for that purpose - we leave it lying around the house and pick it up whenever we need to do something that is not work related. It also helps that its battery life is phenomenal. When my parents (NOT tech-savvy) were over they also used the CR-48 a lot and it worked great for them. I plan to get a new Chromebook for them too. So if you want a notebook for personal use that works fast, is reliable and inexpensive, get this one.

89 of 95 people found the following review helpful.
Samsung Chromebook: First Impressions
By Chipp Walters
**UPDATE**
I've removed a star from the previous 5 stars because I had to recently send my Chromebook back to Samsung when the battery quit working. It absolutely refused to take a charge. I suspect the battery is not the problem, but either a software or hardware glitch is responsible, and the Chromebook forum's recommended action to remove the battery can't work as this battery is embedded in this model.

I hope this isn't symptomatic of a poor design standard from Samsung. I used to really like Samsung, but I've been having more and more problems with their products as of late. My father's three year old $3K+ 54-inch plasma screen went out and we ended up replacing it with a new Sharp LCD-- which cost much less than fixing the Samsung. Let's hope Samsung gets their product quality back up to where it once was.

FWIW, I still very much enjoy using it and believe the concept to be excellent!
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Recently, I purchased this Samsung Series 5 Arctic White 3G Model Chromebook. For those of you who don't know, Chromebook is a notebook computer which runs Google's Chrome OS and is for the most part just a Chrome browser in a notebook. I know, it sounds rather simple and not very exciting. But, knowing how much I depend on Google for business and after doing a bit of research, I became interested enough in it to purchase one and try it out. Here's what I now think of it after using it for three days.

Early impressions are extremely positive. It has many of the features I really like of the iPad while also retaining much of the functionality I like in netbooks. I should mention, I run a virtual company and we pretty much run on Google Apps, including accessing email in Gmail, creating and editing documentation in Google Docs, and with most spreadsheet work done using Google Spreadsheet. We aso like Google Presentations as a collaborative tool for creating slide presentations. We use many online tools, including Basecamp, Freshbooks, Quicken Online, Dropbox, FogBugz among others. So, it's fair to say, we do a whole lot of computing already 'in the cloud.'

The implementation of the Chrome browser is great. It looks and behaves exactly the same on Windows and MacOS, which was a bit of a surprise to me seeing how it's based on a Linux kernel. When I first logged in, the Chrome browser already had all my bookmarks and personal preferences setup as I had on my other Chrome installs (PC and Mac), which was a nice surprise. In fact, install should have been a snap, but a forced ChromeOS update hung a couple times, forcing me to hard restart, but it finally hooked up. I'm not sure, it may be an issue with my bandwidth, ISP, or even the Google Chrome update servers seeing I got mine as fast as possible, along with, I'm sure, MANY MANY others.

The Samsung Chromebook is a bit larger than netbook computers, but smaller than most notebooks. The keyboard is easy to use. It's fairly light for a notebook but still weighs twice the iPad2. The Chromebook display is much higher resolution at 1280 x 800 vs the iPad's 1024 x 768 and the Chromebook has a whopping 2GB of memory versus the iPad2's wimpy 512MB (iPad 1 is only 256MB). Both iPad and Chromebook use solid state drives, with the iPad having three configurations to choose from: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. This Chromebook only has 16GB, but does have an SSD slot along with a couple of USB ports where you can add more memory. Because the Chromebook focusses on connecting to the Internet and storage in the cloud, I don't see lack of local storage as a significant detractor.

Chromebooks can be purchased from $349 to $499 (this one), the topend being a bit more expensive than one might expect. I think this price may come down as more of them are sold, still they are quite competitive when priced against current tablet models including iPad.

The Positives

Extremely long battery life. No kidding. Reportedly it can run continuously for 8 hours. I've not had to recharge any more than once per day-- just like my cell phone and iPad. I also have Sony Vaio and MacBook Air laptops, and neither get even close to iPad or Chromebook in battery life.

Instant on. And instant connection to wireless. My Chromebook takes 8 seconds to boot-- from a cold start. Closing the lid puts it to sleep and it resumes from sleep instantaneously, much like my AirBook. But unlike my AirBook and more like the iPad, the wireless connection seems to be instantly connected. I've set mine to force a password login from sleep mode, something I would encourage anyone to do who owns a Chromebook or iPad.

3G so I can connect anywhere. Combined with extreme battery life, this is one of the most valuable features of this particular model. Furthermore, Verizon gives away free 100MB of transfer per month for the first two years of ownership. I used to think having a wifi hotspot was just as good, and I do have one of those as well, but my good friend convinced me otherwise after seeing him pull out his 3G iPad, check his email and put it away in 30 seconds. The darn wifi hotspot takes over two minutes just to boot, not to mention having to connect it to a laptop, iPad or iPhone. As such, I'd never use it to quickly check an email or Google an address.

No auto-correction, it's replaced by good spellchecking. I find when I send emails on the iPad, I have to constantly check to see what iOS has automatically corrected and changed. I know I can turn it off, but sometimes it does come in handy, just not always. It's SO MUCH EASIER TO TYPE emails on a Chromebook than on an iPad-- and this is one of the reasons folks like my business partner, an extreme typist, may prefer a Chromebook over iPad as an Everday Portable Computing Device (EPCD).

Large trackpad with MacOS type functionality. I do admit, I mostly prefer Apple's implementation of trackpads. Two-finger scrolling and a physical click directly on the trackpad help make it easy to use. Still, dragging and dropping is somewhat difficult, just like on my MacBook Air, which IMO is better done with two fingers on opposite hands. The feel of the trackpad is very smooth and works as well as on Mac devices.

Keyboard modifications make it actually easier to use. There's no caps lock key, which surprisingly to me, is not missed at all-- in fact, it's better because I don't accidently hit it when typing. It is replaced by a search key which opens a new browser tab and highlights the URL field. If you really want CAPS LOCK back, you can choose to do so in Chromebook settings. Also, the mostly useless function keys on other keyboards are replaced by much more useful keys like: forward, backward, refresh, full screen, show next window, brightness and audio volume buttons. Much better.

Printing is easy to setup and just works. I was able to easily setup my Epson wired and HP wireless printers to work with the wireless Google Cloud Printing. I was a bit concerned this would be an issue, but it turns out it just worked-- not as seamlessly as Apple's AirPrint, but easy nonetheless.

Multi-user accounts make this a family computer. As I mentioned before, I'm all setup on Google Apps, and so is my wife and daughter. Because I don't need to worry about viruses on the Chromebook, or any files getting damaged or lost as they're stored in the cloud, I can easily lend my Chromebook to my wife and daughter for them to use. They each use their existing Gmail account sign on and then they're good to go. So, if my wife goes out of town, she can take the Chromebook with her to check emails, bank balances, etc. and it's more secure because of the 3G access (We all know those wireless access points are not always very trustworthy!).

Lost or damaged Chromebooks aren't as expensive as one might first imagine. The first thing I think about after spilling Red Bull on my notebook keyboard and watching the screen fritz is "what data have I lost?" -- and this is the real expense of a lost, stolen or broken laptop. When all the data is stored in the cloud, that question pretty much goes away. Furthermore, the Chromebook is not as expensive as my MacBook Air or Vaio, so if something does happen to it, no data is lost and it's less expensive to replace with a new one which is up and running in no time at all. This is huge, and one reason I'd like to talk my Dad into using one, as sometimes he forgets which file he left on which computer or he downloads new Windows apps which 'promise' to speed up his computer, but instead install viruses, which I later have to remove.

Economic model is great for small businesses. You can 'rent' a Chromebook for between $20-30 per month for employees, and Google will take over all help desk responsibilities. This is huge, and IMO, a real gamechanger. The business administrators can configure all employees Chromebooks from one central interface. And, if your Chromebook breaks it is immediately replaced free of cost. This is huge for small businesses who can now spend less on IT and more on productivity-- assuming you have no need for standard business apps like MS Office, which many, like us, have given up in favor of Google Apps. For those diehards who absolutely need to run MS Office, there are several HTML5 remote desktop computing solutions which allow Chromebooks to run remote virtual instances of Windows7 running Office and other Windows apps, but it seems counterproductive to the ease-of-use premise of Chromebook.

Chromebook runs Flash with no problems-- along with several other web application frameworks. There are many web applications which try to replace desktop applications using Flash and Flex.For instance, Aviary.com has a bunch of really cool apps including their Phoenix image editor which mirrors much of what Photoshop can do-- and they all run in a browser using Flash. I've had no problems using these products including HTML5 apps which allow me to FTP into WordPress sites, and even edit directly the php and CSS files directly. Certainly, there are many more on the way. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for either iPad or Android.

The Negatives

A few keyboard issues. There is no delete key. There is a backspace key. For Mac users, this is probably no big problem as the Mac doesn't have one either. But for many of us Windows users the delete key is critical to our workflow. Hope this is fixed in newer versions. But Mac users will be disappointed with the undo,cut, copy and paste keyboard shortcuts. There is no Apple command key so you have to use the CTRL key as a modifier, which is quite a finger stretch for those trained on the easy Command-Z,X,C and V workflow.

There is no Netflix. Yet. For those of you hooked on Netflix, it's rumored to be in the works, but currently there is no way to play Netflix. I suspect this is because the OS is based on Linux and for some reason, Netflix has some specific requirements which only run on MacOS and Windows and iOS.

There are many applications which have no online counterparts. No decent 3D apps are available as web apps. And of course neither support for the real Photoshop and MS Office or my favorite programming language, LiveCode. We all have our 'gotta have' applications, and many of mine are just not available.

No GoToMeeting or Skype. For me, these both are two of the biggest detractors right now for Chromebook. I depend on both these apps during the day, and both are supported on the iPad. Though, frankly, GTM on iPad is pretty bad-- you can't initiate a meeting nor can you do any sort of screen sharing. Google Voice does work on the Chromebook. While there are plenty of rumors, there's no word yet on when or if there will be an HTML5 or Flash version of Skype. There are some pretty decent chat clients. One is

No Network, No work. This is a common complaint for most reviewers of Chromebook. But, for me, it's not such a big deal. I only want to use my Chromebook when I need web access, so I purchased it with 3G built in. So, unless I'm flying somewhere, or way out in the country, web access shouldn't be much a problem-- and if I can't have Internet access, I doubt there's much I really want to do. Also, I don't think of my Chromebook as my only machine, only as possibly the one I may end up using the most.

Final thoughts

First of all, I hope others see the value in owning a Google Chromebook. Because as more users buy them, more companies will have to take note and begin support for them.

As products and operating systems become more and more complex, the simplicity of accessing and storing data on the cloud using only a browser is appealing to those who crave for a simpler and easier way to do things. This is an important step in lessening our collective dependency on older and more antiquated OS'es, which are providing less and less value to us as they become more and more complicated. Fact is, modern OS'es have been looking like the same animals, doing the same things, offering the same features. Apple's new OS named Lion now has many similar features as Windows 7, including the much needed ability to resize a window from any edge. But also, looking forward, Lion also adds some very interesting iOS features, such as implementation of fullscreen mode which does away with windows-- and acts more like a fullscreen BROWSER-- just like Chromebook already does! I expect if ChromeOS is successful, it will start to implement Android type features much like Lion has adopted iOS capabilities.

I personally think Chromebook is excellent family based computer as well as perfect for many small businesses. And for myself, someone who owns a desktop PC, Mac and Windows laptop, and iPad, the Chromebook will be an interesting fit. It will be telling to see how much time I spend using it-- my guess is it will take over much of the space my iPad used to use. I enjoy the iPad because of it's instant on, super long battery life, and super fast and capable connectivity to the web-- all things make it a superb Everday Portable Computing Device. The Samsung Chromebook has all of this PLUS I can now view Flash, type emails without looking at the keys (instead of hunt-and-peck on iPad), and have an overall better browsing experience. We'll see.