This post initially appeared as a note on my Facebook account at 2:26 am on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010. I am re-posting it here both for completeness and to make it available to a potentially wider readership.
I came home from work tonight to find a box containing a Google Chrome OS powered CR-48 Notebook sitting on my bed. I wasn't aware that Christmas had been moved to December 15th this year. I was lucky enough to Beta test Gmail, Voice, and Wave for Google and it appears I got lucky again and will be testing Chrome OS for them too. In all seriousness getting to test this thing for Google is an honor and a privilege that I'm not going to take lightly. I have an old Ubuntu Linux Desktop that is getting shut off for the duration of my testing. This thing is now my primary computer. I'll still have to use a desktop at work but the rest of the time it's going to be this and my Droid Eris keeping me connected to the world.
It's already 2 am and I have an exam tomorrow before work so I'm not going to get to play with near as many things as I would like to tonight but I wanted to at least post some initial reactions.
The Notebook: You can Google the specs if you are really interested but it's a little bigger than a sheet of paper, feels sturdy, and actually reminds me of Erin's old black MacBook.
Setup: Setup was a breeze. I choose my network did a quick update and logged in with my Google account and had the whole thing up and running in just a few minutes. I was able to open a new tab and post to Facebook about it the minute I had finished logging in.
The Trackpad: The trackpad is interesting. I have never owned a laptop so I'm not particularly adept with the things to begin with but so far this one has given me trouble. The whole trackpad is one is button and which makes right clicking or clicking and dragging interesting. I'm sure I will get used to it and I am not about to say I dislike it after only 15 minutes or so but it's definitely something that is going to be different.
Startup: Google wasn't joking about this thing being instant on. I password protected mine and the minute I open it it prompts me for my password and as soon as I hit enter I am back working. I'm not sure what that will do to battery life yet but it will certainly be useful when I just want to check my email or look something up real quick.
That's going to be it for my gut reactions tonight but there will be a whole slew of these notes during the next few weeks as I put this thing through it's paces.
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