News - The £1,049 Pixel: Google’s new Chromebook is unveiled

[Platinum]

If its all cloud based (I could be wrong but thats what I thought Chrome OS was) then whats the requirement for the Core i5?

[scaryjim]

Core i5 means they can justify £1k+ price tag?

I believe it was only a couple of weeks ago I postulated that Google were going after the business crowd, and I think this is another confirmation. As a tool for businesses who are already heavily invested in Google services, the tight level of integration in a desirable form factor really makes a lot of sense. Plus ChromeOS will help avoid people putting lots of adware/malware/"undesireable programs" on their business computers.

Sure, it could be cheaper, but for a corporate purchase £1k for a laptop is perfectly reasonable. Add in (theoretically) lower support costs, the existing investment in, say, Google Apps for Business, and you've got a cloud-managed domain system with offline file access at very reasonable TCO. Cheap-ass chromebooks for the drudges and a pixel for the boss? I can totally see that...

[Brewster0101]

An awful lot of power under the hod for Chrome OS - that really has nothing that demanding to make use of that power. Over kill - but will appeal to the people with more money than sense, which judging my Apple's revenue, there are alot of.

[AGreatName]

They could of just released the pixel as a chromebook with all a chromebook needs in terms of power- a basic APU. That would serve great for the cloud philosophy while also benefiting media consumption- another bonus for Chrome OS- while also being at a far more reasonable price. Include the great screen, but there is no need for i5's in a web based device

[GazP172]

Could I not just buy an Intel Ultrabook with Windows, Install Chrome and have the same functionality + a full laptop experience?

[aidanjt]

They could of just released the pixel as a chromebook with all a chromebook needs in terms of power- a basic APU. That would serve great for the cloud philosophy while also benefiting media consumption- another bonus for Chrome OS- while also being at a far more reasonable price. Include the great screen, but there is no need for i5's in a web based device

i5's aren't really super expensive, all the money seems to have gone into the 12" touchable display, which is rather pointless.

[watercooled]

There must be some market Google know they can profit from, the pricing is quite absurd for what it is, but scaryjim might be on to something, maybe they're after the business market? At least they can't be accused of unfair under-pricing on it! Despite my dislike of Apple, like someone mentioned earlier, I know which one I'd go for if I was forced to spend that much of someone else's money on one of them.

The shiny i5 branding probably does help to up-sell it, but considering the very high resolution, wouldn't a half-decent IGP have made more sense? Still, sense or value don't seem to play much of a part in these marketing-controlled-engineering (insert brand)-books.

[TTrSquared]

How come we're getting so many of these tablets and notebooks with large PPI displays, and no desktop monitors? More investment, please.

This is what annoys the crap out of me, I wish I could have a high resolution IPS panel that can do 120 refresh rate but no body seems to produce those...

[AGreatName]

i5's aren't really super expensive, all the money seems to have gone into the 12" touchable display, which is rather pointless.

I thought intel charged very high prices for their ULV parts? I could be wrong though. And the screen really didn't need touch, but, just like the Nexus 10, Google felt the need to go against Apple's 'Retina' screens. Yet 1600p is still very expensive for monitors, where it is useful :/

[Neostar]

I've always liked the Chromebooks but the limits are too much that it can hinder there uses

I think Google needs to partner with Adobe and create some proper high level software for the Pixel, then it would rock

[watercooled]

Adobe? I thought Google's aim was to keep it fast and secure?

[mikerr]

Could I not just buy an Intel Ultrabook with Windows, Install Chrome and have the same functionality + a full laptop experience?

Chrome OS is a whole OS that boots into chrome - and you can install it direct on a USB drive:
http://www.squidoo.com/build-a-chromebook

[pp05]

It will be compelling to some folks because here Google are practically giving you a free laptop.

[danroyle]

Wow that's expensive. You could buy a crapple mac for that

[pp05]

They are throwing in 3 years 1TB Google Drive cloud storage for FREE. That alone will set you back £1,116.

The laptop is a grand. There will be some for whom that is a sweet spot.

[Zerox]

They are throwing in 3 years 1TB Google Drive cloud storage for FREE. That alone will set you back £1,116.

The laptop is a grand. There will be some for whom that is a sweet spot.

True, but when you 3 years are up then what? 1TB GDrive is $60/month, or you lose the cloud storage and the chromebook becomes pretty much useless. If you want to keep the data you can download it all (you can right?), but up to a 1TB of stuff in such a short time period? Not going to happen quickly.

You can't resell it easily, as the person buying would need to pay monthly for a new google drive account.

The lifespan for the average consumer is fixed, and that alone puts me off buying. The fact that it is also more expensive than a Macbook Air is also a pretty big deal breaker.