My free Google Laptop

Many an economist say there's no such thing as free lunch, but they never mentioned free laptops. Sure, I had to fill out a 5 minute survey to convince Google that I was an ideal Beta testing candidate, but jeesh, 5 minutes for a laptop I didn't spend a dime on? Any day.

This laptop is running a new Operating System (like Windows 7 or Mac's OS X Leapord) - called ChromeOS. If you've ever ran the web browser named Chrome, you already know exactly how the user experience is on this Chrome Laptop - it only runs Chrome. That's it. No start menu, nowhere to install programs (no programs run on the thing besides Chrome) - it's just plain, simple Chrome. It's built for all those millions of people that only use their computer for the internet.

If you only use your computer to surf the web, why bother having a CD drive, a 5-minute boot-up time (this thing takes a whopping 5 seconds from the off position, less than a second from sleep), or millions of the pop-ups, updates, and other things that plague standard operating systems??

Here's a picture of the machine next to the box it came in

And here's a number of shots of the laptop. Notice that there are no stickers - anywhere!

But Intel still had to say that it was "Inside" - even without a sticker. This card came in the box.

If you're up for a good laugh, read Google's safety instructions for the device. Seriously. It's hilarious.

Lastly, here's a picture of the modified keyboard. Who uses f-keys now-a-days anyways?

Why does a device like this exist, when you can buy a laptop that can run programs AND surf the web? Well, this thing is way cheaper. First off, ChromeOS is free. Secondly, the hardware needed to run it is pretty basic - it's just a web browser for heavens sakes. Nothing fancy. Laptops like this will be on sale this summer in the $300 range. Sweet deal.

PS - I should add: When I've shown the laptop to people, they always ask me to show it off to them - what cool things it does, etc... That's always a little awkward because, seriously, this is JUST a web browser. That's it. You can test how you'd like it right now by downloading the Chrome web browser and never leaving it. As far as form goes, though, it's much thinner and lighter than most laptops - and it has a 12 hour battery life. Not bad at all.