There are only three meaningful things you can do with a computer with specs like this: development, design, or gaming. And yet ChromeOS can't do <i>any</i> of these things.<p>Perhaps this is a vanity product for the wealthy. But wealthy people are going to just surf the web on an iPad.<p>I really don't get this product.
I wonder if they are doing this, at least in part, because they really want a Chromebook that is high-end to display in their physical stores? Maybe having a really nice, really expensive Chromebook will make the brand not seem cheap to casual store browsers.
The Verge has more pictures.<p><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013480/google-chromebook-pixel" rel="nofollow">http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013480/google-chromebook-...</a><p>It looks an awful lot like a Macbook: Just witness the aluminum-like color and the black bevel around the screen. Where it looks different, it's uglier. The hinge looks particularly bad. And judging by the pictures it's an awful lot bulkier than a Macbook Air.<p>Chrome OS strikes me as an underpowered OS. That is, there's a lot it <i>won't</i> do and it seems mostly suitable for underpowered machines.<p>UPDATE: this paragraph is wrong; I stand corrected! -- The ChromeBook Pixel has a 4:3 display. Now, I recently came across an old laptop of mine that had a 4:3 display and it looked off. I'm not saying that 4:3 aspect ratio a bad choice in an objective sense, but it strikes me as a bad choice from a marketing point of view.<p>For one hundred dollars less you can get a 13" Macbook Air. For two hundred dollars more you can get a 13" Macbook Pro with Retina Display. Both these machines seem better than the Chromebook Pixel in every way, including battery life (7 hours versus 5).<p>In conclusion, I think this is going to fail <i>badly</i>.
Am i the only one seeing this as a high-end computer with :<p>- Linux drivers working out of the box<p>- Amazing screens<p>- Very easy to transform into a full fledged Linux development machine<p>I hope it can fit the bill, certainly looks promising from that perspective ! Anybody has a link to full specs ?
As a Chromebook user, I find this device both very intriguing and expensive. I use my Chromebook for writing, Web surfing, light code work. It's a nice little machine to have around. It's not the main event, however.<p>For heavy-duty work, I use my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, which not only has a much better screen, touchpad and other hardware, but it also has a big SSD and a full-fledged OS. Chrome OS is not a OS X competitor, and there are a lot of things I simply cannot do on ChromeOS. The beauty of ChromeOS is that its a lightweight OS that can be placed on cheap hardware to make it usable and fast by serving as a thin client. I don't see it as a great OS to stick on expensive hardware.<p>I find the Pixel to be an intriguing device, and hope that all laptops have high pixel density screens within five years. This price point is too high for ChromeOS. I'm not spending $1,000 for a machine that cannot do certain computing tasks.<p>There are no good graphic or photo editors in the cloud. Editing audio and video is very difficult to do as well. Using your machine as a development device without connecting to a server is not possible. Not to mention that the MacBook Pro can play games, run Windows and Linux, etc.<p>The Retina MacBook may have cost more than the Pixel is going to, but it is worth several times more. Not to mention that Apple has spent a lot of time working with hiDPI screens and has made the OS work well for it.<p>What would make an intriguing price point? $799. Perhaps $999. It will come down to the software, however. I've never see ChromeOS with a touchscren. Maybe it'll work well, and maybe what would really work well is a Pixel-like device with a detachable screen. But the kind of people that spend more than $1,000 on a computer are looking for more than just a thin client.
So, it is real!<p>It looks awesome, but at $1,299, I don't think it's priced well. That's $100 more than a 13" MacBook. I just don't see that much value in a Chromebook at this point in time.
To help get context on this, I went back in time and looked at discussion about the initial iPad launch:<p>- <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081505" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081505</a><p>- <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081140" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081140</a><p>The first poll is especially telling. Overwhelmingly, people said they wouldn't get this device (2/3 of the voters). The initial iPad was obviously very successful.<p>The complaints in the second thread are largely a mirror of the conversation in this thread, except for back then, nobody came up with counterarguments in favor of the iPad. Does that indicate that the market for this sort of thing is different these days?
I know this is going to seem like a nitpick, but laptops without magnetic power connectors these days just feel cheap. It's such a simple addition that greatly improves the product. I don't see why larger companies aren't all converting over to them. I know apple has a patent on them, but there's tons of prior art for heaven's sake. I think the only non-apple product out there I've seen with them on it is the microsoft surface (though admittedly the surface one is pretty bad, it's still better than this style of connector).<p>Overall though it seems like a nice product. I'd probably be interested if I could install ubuntu on it.
That is one beautiful laptop (note that it's not 16:9 either). I feel like we're missing something, there's no way Google would be blind enough to build such a powerful machine (vs existing Chromebooks) that's so limited by the OS. There's either something we aren't being told or Google's jumped entirely off the deep end.<p>(Alternative: there's no way they could do a "Retina" Chromebook for reasonably cheap, but the Nexus 10 would seem to disprove that)
I think it is purely amazing the specs for that price.<p>But I am really bothered by the fact that it is...<p>A Chromebook.<p>I hate "cloud" stuff, I like to have stuff where I know where they are, and who can see them.<p>Also I live in Brazil, where internet is patchy, at best.
And it is sad it does not support Ethernet... I like Ethernet! It is faster and more stable!<p>But impressive, very impressive, well done Google.<p>If anyone here has a idea if there are a way to use Chromebook as non-Chromebook (specially, non-cloud), tell me :)
With 4GB of RAM, USB 2.0 (how do you even get that? what kind of oooold chipset are they using?) and only 32GB of storage, this thing is ridiculously overpriced and pretty much dead on arrival.
The battery life is crap. I honestly didn't think that $1300 was awful. Pricey, but not awfully pricey. And then I saw the battery life... only 5 hours =( If you want to delight the user with a mobile, battery life needs to be a priority. 5 hours is industry standard in crap laptops. Even the el' cheapo Chromebooks (my cr48) get better than 5 hours.
Where are the <i>real</i> specs? Google have gone and copied what Apple do, and just dumped marketing blurb everywhere.<p>"Intel® Core™ i5 Processor (Dual Core 1.8GHz)" - What's the model number? There are numerous Core i5 processors and their performance varies, which one am I getting? <a href="http://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html</a><p>32 GB SSD - What kind of read/write speed? Standard SATA or mSATA interface?<p>4 GB DDR3 RAM - Is the RAM soldered or user upgradeable? How many ram slots? What's the maximum capacity?<p>Perhaps I'm in the minority, but at that price, I do actually want to know if I'm buying an appliance or a computer.
Google Drive 1TB for 3 years = $1,800<p>Chromebook Pixel 1TB for 3 years = $1,300 + free laptop<p>Or put another way, commit to Google Drive for 3 years of 1TB, get 30% off and a free Chromebook Pixel.
Oh boy. If only they gave it 128 GB drive.<p>The way it is it's useless for me (and I guess most people on HN, though I think basic Ubuntu could fit into 32/64 GB), but it still makes me cautiously optimistic that after years of stagnation and perhaps even regression, the 1366x768 era might be nearing it's end. I can hope that in a year, "reasonable-resolution" (as Linus called it) laptop like the Pixel will be not outrageous or top of the line but simply normal.<p>And the screen aspect ratio is just a cherry on top.
I feel there is far too little discussion here on the screen.<p>This laptop screen is amazing. Since we today have light, fast, power efficient and sturdy laptops. The next big thing, is the screen.<p>A TN screen on a laptop is just sad. My first Macbook pro felt horrid just because I was used to a PVA desktop screen. I kept adjusting and adjusting the screen.<p>If you take a moment to appreciate your crummy laptop screen you will notice a few things.<p>1. The screen has a tint to it. Ranging from green to purple from the top of the screen to the bottom. Put the screen on its side and this is very clear.<p>2. The viewing angles are horrendous. Put on a black background and try to adjust the screen so that it's evenly black top to bottom. At arms length this is impossible, and really annoying when watching a movie.<p>3. Try having a friend stand behind you while you work and show him a picture of your girlfriend, he'll be shocked at how pale she has become.<p>I'm currently on a Macbook with retina screen. I have an iPad with retina screen and I have a normal 24" 1920x1200 desktop which used to be my best screen, but is now only better than the screen on my old ipod touch.<p>People complain about their laptop keyboards. I complain about laptop screens.
I'm glad Google is going to offer a high-end Chromebook, but I'd really like to see a $400 model that improves on screen quality and size. A 15" IPS Chromebook would be the sweet spot for me.<p>Also, I can't help but think that making a chromebook touch screen is a waste of money. Gorilla arm, anyone?
3 TB of Drive for free is incredible. Just 2 TB sets you back $99/month normally.<p>EDIT: KevinEldon corrected me below, it is 1 TB for 3 years, my mistake. Normally that would be $49/month.
So this looks like it could be a very nice Linux laptop assuming all the drivers are open source (nothing bad stood out in a cursory glance of the specs, though I imagine the noise-canceling and touchscreen won't work on vanilla Linux). Only issue is how well your favorite Linux interface (Gnome, KDE, etc) will scale to such a high pixel density.
Even though I use my chromebook every day, I think this is a very high price point for this device.<p>Seems like they release a new chrome os device every few months, I would much prefer updating my chromebook every year for 400$-500$ with faster lighter version, instead of investing 1300$.
I was going to jump on this as soon as it was announced. Sadly, I don't think this is suitable for Android development given the specs. What are your thoughts? My GF is very tempted to take over my macbook pro...
It all started a few years ago. People didn't understand at first. It looked hap-hazzard.. but now. Now they get it - but even more than that, they're trapped.<p>One used to be able to expect both freedom and choice. Now they have neither.<p>It was a kicker too, starting out with a service here, a device there, a bit of infrastructure over there.... but now? Now its one big system. From bit to brick, its all one big pipe - an experience fully enclosed, encapsulated, enumerated, evaluated and.... exploited. For every single bit of information about, well, <i>everything</i>.<p>They worked their way down the layers. What was once a web service is now the actual physical net.<p>You cant push a packet without them seeing it.Most people don' care though - they bought into the web services decades ago. Phones were next, then laptops, service providers and frequencies.<p>Its basically the commercial version of the NSA these days, hell, there hasn't even been a real difference between the two for some time now.<p>Now, pretty much any connection is provided by them. They started out nice enough... do no evil and all... but when you're the only game in town - it's pretty hard to not abuse your power. Hell, its more than power. Power is limited... omnipotence is not. That's what they are now - omnipotent, and there isn't anything anyone can do about it now, either.<p>Every spoken word, every communication mashed out from keyboard to carrier is captured in the goog. They pretty much own thought at this point...
Two words: reading maps.<p>A high-PPI screen is <i>heaven</i> for using Google Maps. I always get so frustrated on my 1080p screen: even with the browser map in full screen mode, I can't seem to see "enough" of it when browsing random geographical locations and trying to get a sense of how the surrounding area looks.<p>A 239 PPI screen allows displaying a character in an 8-pixel font (eg. "fixed" on Linux) in a 1x1mm area. You could have <i>all</i> the tiniest roads and cities labelled on the map, even if barely readable.
Props to them for making the display vertically rather than horizontally oriented. I've been incredibly tired of the stupidly short 16:9 displays dominating the market. However, one has to wonder why such a good display is being wasted on a product like this. Great specs, great display, but horrible, crap operating system.<p>Who needs this kind of laptop to just browse the web? I would buy this in an instant if it had some custom Linux distribution on it.<p>I guess it's Retina or nothing, then, unfortunately.
Besides being too expensive for something in which you can't do real work (yes, I know, you can SSH into a hosted box, but why would I pay $1300 and $X.XX for hosting, to essentially use this new machine as a dumb terminal), what's the point of having a touch screen on a laptop? Haven't we concluded that this is a horrible idea? Just look at this demo (<a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013480/google-chromebook-pixel" rel="nofollow">http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013480/google-chromebook-...</a>) from The Verge, Dieter fumbles around trying to hit a tab.<p>It strikes me odd that Google, a company with no shortage of talent, can't get retail right. Who is this laptop for? The 12 year old Engadget/Verge reader who thinks this Chromebook Pixel is the nail in Apple's coffin?<p>This is so misguided. I know I shouldn't be so infuriated over a botched product launch, but this irks me for some reason. I guess it's because I like Google's products and want them to succeed in hardware, but I lose hope when I see questionable decisions like the manufacturing of this neutered MacBook Pro ripoff. Ugh.
Direct link to specs: <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromebook-pixel/#pixel-specs" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromebook-pix...</a> (scroll down and click "full specs")<p>I think it's interesting they chose a 3:2 aspect ratio. The price is a bit high for the specs you get, but I suppose a lot of that is the (multi-touch)screen.
I'm confused. People said the Surface Pro was overpriced. This thing does much, much less than a Surface Pro but costs $300 more.<p>And it's being praised?<p>Wow.
Just ignoring the specs and the Chromebook concept for a second (yes, this baby is useless for most of us, obviously), I'm very impressed with the design.<p>This is the first time ever I've seen a laptop design that is not a total Apple rip-off and looks classy. At least it doesn't scream "compromise" like 99% of all other non-Apple laptops.
The screen is the only thing to like. If it had 256gb drive, 8gb RAM, and an i7, then I'd be a lot more likely to look at it (and install ubuntu on it).<p>Yes, it has a touch screen... do people actually like touch screens on their laptops? Is that worth such a huge premium for such mediocre hardware otherwise?
I love it but it's too niche and rich for my blood. I get the idea: A beautiful, super high-res touch display with keyboard running a Cloud OS. The only problem is for this dollar you're in Mac territory and while maybe you sacrifice touch display, you suddenly have far more robust hardware and local I/O. If money was no object, I'd get one in a heartbeat. But realistically...<p>It is a thing of beauty. It just seems uneconomical / impractical at this price point which is necessitated by the display.<p>Edit - I was going to suggest a PC laptop with touch display, that you could always install ChromeOS on in a boot partition, but your're just not going to get that resolution. This is for someone who wants a <i>beautiful</i> thin client above all else.
My theory is the Pixel is for corporate customers not consumers. Dramatically lower IT support costs since no local storage. Probably increased security as well. And this version takes care of the high end of that market.
This is actually ringing a bell in me right now. For such a high end Chromebook, without the ability to feasibly add in another OS, the price tag seems far out of reach for all the current offerings online with regard to what one may achieve.<p>In fact, I really won't be surprised if Google has a bag of online goodies under its table right now just waiting to be unveiled alongside with the launch of the Pixel. Unless they push with this, I just don't the current market place for such an expensive Chromebook. If Google does push forward a new set of online tools/cloud offerings, it might be groundbreaking.
I could see ChromeOS converging w/ Android into a single platform that allowed for android app emulation while running x86_64 apps natively.<p>I realize they're completely separate teams, but at what point do they converge to provide a greater value-add to the product?<p>What user is going to drop $1200 on a machine that only lets you browse the web? Unless GOOG plans on providing some large backend for virtualization or offloading CPU processing what's in it for the "power" user.<p>There's more to this than we're privy to. I don't see a user needing this kind of horse power for just cloud-based applications. That doesn't make sense.
The absolute best news about this computer is that it has a 4:3 screen, as it should be. This is the first 4:3 screen I have seen in a very long time. On top of that, it is a fantastic resolution. This is great news.
Why didn't they just turn it into a tablet? The trackpad seems almost extraneous, and the keyboard could be an add-on. Not to mention the square form factor that makes it look bulkier than it really is.
> delivering fast connectivity across Verizon's network, the largest, fastest 4G LTE network in the U.S<p>Will the Pixel be locked? I doubt that Google would make this arrangement, but it is a question worth asking.
One strong point for installing arbitrary Linux distros on the pixel is that the Intel linux gpu drivers are fully open source. The downside of the arm chrome book has been the Samsung binary blob
This is the Tesla roadster. It's an aspirational product for those who can afford it, those who wants to live in a brand new, and not quite ready for primetime, cutting edge world.
What I find rather shocking is that 10% of all UK laptops are Chromebooks. When and how did that happen? This is all while Apple is still dominating the Windows exodus!
I wonder if existing Chromebook users would want to pay for a Chromebook Pixel, or if they're content with what they have.I thought Chromebooks were about low price points, an alternative to expensive machines which people primarily used for web browsing. I guess there's going to some people who don't care about the number of gigabytes on their laptop. They just want sharp graphics and constant online access.
A retina Macbook Air would have higher virtual density and resolution. This is only 1280x850 vs 1440x900 if you assume a 2x scale factor the way retina does things. It is nice, but 32GB, thicker and only runs a browser limits it compared to everything else out there: macbooks, windows, linux... even tablets and phones have 64-128GB now for much less and can run Chrome.
Everyone is saying that you can easily turn this into a development machine with SSH or a web IDE like action.io ... but what if I don't have internet? You never leave your home?<p>What's the point of a mobile chromebook if I won't use it ouside my home or my workplace? And last time I checked there isn't open WiFi in the streets.
People are (correctly) pointing out that the consumer/pro value proposition is not really there.<p>I suspect this is a pure enterprise play for Google. Institutional customers who value the management features of the ChromeBook platform but want to give their employees something nicer than a $300 netbook with a laptop screen.
Google Store //
Play Store //
Google Phone //
Chromebook Pixel<p>Apple Store //
App Store //
iPhone //
Macbook Pro<p>Microsoft Store (<a href="http://content.microsoftstore.com/Home.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://content.microsoftstore.com/Home.aspx</a> ) //
Windows Store //
Windows Phone //
Microsoft Surface RT<p>ok, very innovative strategies I'd say..
No one think this is a good news in fact?<p>People really need to thanks Google for bringing up the competition all the time. Now Apple have little reason not to add support for retina, lte, multi touch display in the coming MBA models.<p>On the other hand, it is a little strange that Google didn't mention the weight of the Pixel.
This is pretty incredible. Not for me, but definitely a great product. I take issue only with the 32GB internal. I know it's a cloud device but it would be nice to be able to store some local videos to watch on that incredible screen. I guess that's what USB 3.0 is for, but still.
This promo video <a href="http://youtu.be/j-XTpdDDXiU" rel="nofollow">http://youtu.be/j-XTpdDDXiU</a> looks and sounds like Apple's, apart from white backgrounds. Speech writing is the same, uses the same words like delightful, great, blah blah. Weird.
Interesting screen aspect ratio of 3:2, halfway between the 4:3 of yore and the nearly inescapable 16:9 widescreen. It seems like a nice compromise, better than 16:10 if height is important to you.<p>I wonder how long it will be before other manufacturers pick it up?
Why isn't there 8gb of ram? Even as a die hard apple user I still can't see why they didn't try and beat apple on such a simple and clear specification that when you spend all day in a web browser will help with how fast the device seems.
I'm saddened that it's 2013 and we still have to deal with laggy screens!<p><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013932/chromebook-pixel-hands-on-video-and-impressions" rel="nofollow">http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013932/chromebook-pixel-h...</a>
1. The design is "borrowed" from Apple
2. Average specs for the price
3. ChromeOS cannot do anything this kind of hardware allows you to.<p>Verdict: Could be a good Windows PC if the design was original and the specs were better.
Some years from now, people will refer to this (Chromebooks and everything related to Chrome OS) as Google's biggest strategic mistake.<p>Google's second biggest strategic mistake will be Glass.<p>I just hope Google would recover.
I was surprised at how expensive this was seeing as how there is a $250 chromebook. It's a big step up in price and I don't see what the advantage of it over say a macbook pro would be.
Anyone notice how closely the video ad resembles an Apple ad? Come on google, how about a little originality? I'd love to try one of these out in person though.
I've never understood why Mark Shuttleworth and Cannonical never built a halo laptop for Ubuntu. If they knew this was in the works, it starts to make sense
Personally, I wish you could get one without the touchscreen. I understand people like touchscreens on tablets but I don't see the need for it on a laptop.
Anyone else think this is a perfect proving ground for something like asm.js?<p><a href="http://asmjs.org/spec/latest/" rel="nofollow">http://asmjs.org/spec/latest/</a>
> 3:2 display at 239 ppi<p>YES<p>FUCK YES<p>I WANT TEN (provided I can install a different linux distro on them)<p>Too bad google won't sell one to me yet.
wrong direction..$250 should be the target for mass uptake. This is $1050 in the wrong direction...it's almost like they don't want mass uptake of this concept quite yet
Had a few friends who got invites and have one to play with for a month now.<p>Must say I'm somewhat feeling meh about this on many levels.<p>Initialy the price was a wake up and I thought, ok I'm missing something so I did a little digging and still think its too expensive for the sum of parts.<p>Issues I have are:<p>1) Price
2) Limited local storage
3) Only USB2 and no USB3
4) No 3g or 4G options in the UK and given the price I'd expect at least 3 years worth of unlimited 3G internet based up consumer prices and that spec.
5) battery life, is somewhat lacking<p>Concerns that may also be worries when I know more are:<p>1) Keyboard mic could be used to snarf passwords via applications that have access to the mic
2) No vents apparent and suspect hidden under the keyboard which is worrying in case of spill/splash
3) Screen mooted to have good viewing angles so more mindful to shoulder surfing<p>But in general for what you get it seems way too expensive and look forward to a teardown.<p>Now all that said Google did somewhat get burned on the Nexus 4 pricing and I don't know if they are over compensating or what. They may be releaseing at a silly price for those with more money to burn, then gradualy lower the price to fit all price pockets.<p>Another aspect a friend said was it has 1tb for 3 years cloud storage and whilst nice and with that local storage overly needed I do think such lockins to Google without being able to tap alternatives and cheaper alternatives distracting from the price. Remember Microsoft many years ago got lambasted for tieing in everybody to IE on windows as default and not offing a simple-janet-and-john alternative for the happy people. This ties in more than that, but different times.<p>When I factor all that it is and is not I still think if I had that money I would get a macbook air and I have never had Apple product and very much a google fan, but this is so over priced to me that it would be insane to buy one at that price, least for me.<p>I would also add that two wifi ipads with retina screens and a bluetooth keyboard works out cheaper and with that, it does somewhat again highlight the price factor.<p>So with all that I'll stick with my plans to get a Chromebook (cheap one) and probably get one even cheaper 2nd hand now :) that and my netbook with built in 3g modem and twice the battery life is still nothing to worry about.<p>I would like to see a resolution like this but with more storage, USB3, built in 3g modem (3G in the UK is faster than USA 4G and CDMA 4G with voice is a battery nightmare apparently as well as a kludge somewhat). Also at the very least twice that battery life.<p>So I will with for a tegra 4 version, which will make more sence on more levels.
For my mobile devices, I usually don't care a lot about the brand, and only slightly the costs - I simply get what best matches my needs.<p>I want all my data in the cloud + permanent access on a powerful device where I can do everything (ie I don't want something underpowered causing limitations).<p>The $150 difference for a minimal LTE connections makes this thing attractive - that means no need to look for wifi hotspots and then spend a minute to ask for the damn password to restaurant owners.<p>The 1TB cloud storage, if it can be shared with other computers at home, would just kill any need I have of Dropbox and others. That is also a big plus. If the cloud storage can somehow be used to host static websites with a custom domain name, I would also cancel at least 2 hosting accounts. (add some PostgreSQL capability and that'd be 3 hosting accounts I'd cancel)<p><i>BUT</i> :<p>- 4Gb of RAM? Who though that it could be decent for a high-end laptop? 8Gb is the bare minimum I will consider. I will want to run heavy stuff on that thing if there is an i5 and a low battery life instead of an ARM. (heavy stuff: a gazillon tabs, editors, many pdf files, editing documents, cpu-hog websites doing pretty graphs like <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/trends/" rel="nofollow">http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/trends/</a>)<p>- 64 Gb of flash??? Really??? How will I get permanent access to my 1Tb of data if I'm in a place without LTE or WIFI ???<p>I purchased a 512 Gb SSD for my Macbook Air as soon as it was available on OWC, just because I can't stand the pain of missing some document or music or whatever<p>I don't want to care. I want my problems to be solved. 1Tb: ok, 64 Gb cache: fails.<p>As attractive as this chromebook may look like, I won't buy one because it is not solving all my problems - even if I'm one of these users who want everything in the cloud.<p>I want everything in the cloud but the online storage is only up to 1 Tb. I have more data that this, but ok, I can live with that minor limitation. However, I want a full backup locally accessible for whenever connectivity might be a problem.<p>If it is somehow possible to upgrade the RAM and the SSD (in the early days of Zaurus and Simpad, there were shops doing BGA reflow for such needs), and if for say $1000 more I can get than done and get at least 512 Gb of SSD and 8 Gb of ram, I may buy one.<p>1 Tb of SSD and 8 Gb of ram means I will buy one, but only if at this $1400+$1000=$2400 pricetag there are no better options to run Linux or OSX on similar hardware (1.5 kg, high res touch screen, slim laptop) - because <i>I don't care about the brand</i>.<p>These are a lot of conditions for me, so I'm not sure about what the market is for that thing. Certainly not me at least.
Does it run Android apps?<p>What use is the touchscreen apart from scrolling or tapping on links in the browser?<p>The Verge calls it a hair thicker than the Air, am I the only one that feels that it's a lot thicker? Comparison photo: <a href="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7732773/theverge-pixel-19_2040_verge_super_wide.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7732773/theverge...</a>