Chromebook Pixel: A netbook to challenge the notebooks

Google unleashed a snarkfest when it introduced the Chromebook Pixel. The reaction was swift and mostly merciless. "Sorry, but there's no defense for the Chromebook Pixel" claimed BGR. "Bizarre, pointless,"said Bruce Berls. The Wirecutter declared: "The Chromebook Pixel is not for you." In one of the most positive receptions ZDNet’s Matt Baxter-Reynolds calls it "deliberately bad" — and then goes on to give three reasons why Google was smart to release something that was "entirely illogical and unsellable."

So, naturally, I had to see for myself. After using it for four days, I’m not convinced this product is ready for mass adoption. That isn’t because the Chromebook Pixel is a joke, or a toy; it’s as solid a performer as any full-featured computer I’ve used. But it’s going to take a few generations to make this netbook a true contender in a notebook world. At $1,300 or more, this Pixel is clearly an early adopter’s plaything with a price point to prove it.

As I wrote when I reviewed the entry-level Samsung Chromebook, there are compromises one has to make when considering a netbook. Chromebooks have a nascent operating system designed to be an all-in cloud-computing platform. You can’t install anything except extensions to Google’s Chrome browser, which serves as the interface to everything. There aren’t a lot of them, and there isn’t necessarily one for anything you might want or need to do. All of these downsides these are easier to swallow when you are paying $250 (the cost

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