Samsung Series 5 Chromebook 550 (XE550C22-H01)

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook 550 (XE550C22-H01) ($549.99 list) is a speedy portable Web terminal that fulfills some of the promises that netbooks made back in 2008. It works well for looking up information, as well as accessing social networking over the Internet. It has a speedy bootup time and opens up into the Chrome browser in seconds, which probably is faster than the netbook you keep around the house to surf on. It's priced like a high-end tablet, but it comes with a full keyboard. It's certainly an attractive package that does what it sets out to do. It gets users onto the Internet. However, for the same money, you can get an inexpensive Windows laptops that stores more and is useful even when the Internet isn't available.

Design and Features
The Chromebook 550 makes sure the world knows that you're a Chrome OS user. The metallic silver colored lid has a prominent Chrome logo and roundel on the top left if you're facing the open laptop. Opening the lid turns the Chromebook on, and by the time you've place the laptop on your work surface, it's likely ready for your login. Bootup only takes a few seconds. And login is only a few more. You'll need a Google account and an Internet connection to use the Chromebook 550.

The system weight is just under 3.1 pounds by itself, and 3.3 pounds with the power adapter. It's ultrabook thin?0.83 by 11.5 by 8.5 inches (HWD)?and highly portable around the house and when you're out and about.

The apps launcher button in the taskbar brings up a screen that will be familiar to Chrome users. It shows all of the apps you have available in a tablet-like home screen grid. Any app you've previously accessed in your Chrome browser on a PC or Mac will show up, as well as most settings. However, unlike a tablet, all of the apps will be opened into a new Chrome browser tab unless you use the full screen mode. It's more of an aesthetic issue, but the app using experience isn't as seamless as it is on a tablet like the iPad or Kindle Fire. Also, with a tablet, most apps will work even if you're nowhere near a Wi-Fi hotspot. On the Chromebook 550, apps are useless when the system is not connected to the Internet unless that app has an offline mode. Some apps will stop and want to download files from the Internet, even if they have an offline mode. Granted, this model comes with a 3G radio for Verizon's network, but you can burn through the included free 100MB monthly allotment in a quick 15-minute session if you're not careful. Thankfully, you can purchase Verizon 3G data plans on the fly on the Chromebook 550.

Like most netbooks, there isn't a lot of space for ports on the Chromebook 550, but what is there is mostly useful. Two USB 2.0 ports support external hard drives, USB keys, and USB mice and keyboards, including wireless models with a USB dongle. We were able to use a FAT32-formatted USB key, but not an exFAT formatted one. There's a SD card so you can view pictures from your camera or even videos using the media player built into Chrome.

Previous Samsung Chromebook models lacked Ethernet, so the inclusion of a Gigabit Ethernet port on the Chomebook 550 is welcome. Bluetooth is still missing, but you may not miss it. Like the Chromebox, the Chromebook 550 comes with DisplayPort DP++, which can work with HDMI via an adapter. Unfortunately, both systems don't come with the required adapter for HDMI. That said, it is an improvement over the last Samsung Chromebook.

Performance
Using a 35/35 Verizon FIOS Internet connection, the Chromebook 550 was snappy and reliable. It was so fast to boot and get on the Internet that our personal hard drive and Intel Atom-based netbooks remained on the shelf. Watching 720p HD videos on YouTube and other sites played back smoothly. The 1080p trailers for this year's Wreck It Ralph and 2009's Star Trek both looked great on the Chromebook 550's 1,280 by 800 12.1-inch screen.

Since the Chrome OS-based Chromebook isn't compatible with our usual MobileMark test, we used a 10-hour MP4 video rundown test on the new Series 5 Chromebook 550. Testing with the included 51WHr battery returned a battery life time just under 4 hours (3:53). Naturally, this is less than the 6:30 of previous Chromebook Series 5's ($429.99 list, 2.5 stars) 6:30 life with a 61WHr battery (also using the video rundown test). Samsung claims 6 hours of battery life, and it is theoretically possible to get closer to that if you're just browsing rather than playing a video from a USB stick like we did. Other systems that we've tested with the video test, like the Apple Macbook Air 13-inch (Mid 2012) ($1,199 list, 4 stars) were closer to their promised battery life (6:56 out of 7 hours promised).The problem is that you really want to have incredible battery life from the Chromebook; after all, tablets like the iPad use smaller batteries but still manage much longer battery times.

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook 550 is an attractive, fast laptop, and has a full-size keyboard. Theoretically, because of its ease of use and speedy SSD, the Chromebook 550 should blow tablets like the iPad and netbooks like the Lenovo ThinkPad X130e out of the water. The problem is though the Chromebook is speedy at browsing Chrome while connected to the Internet, it is less compelling when you're not connected at home or in your favorite caf?. I mean, it's okay for what it is?a simple-to-use Web terminal?but its drawbacks are many: It can't hold too much on its small internal SSD, it's mostly useless when away from Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and it's too expensive compared with the competition. Ultrabooks like the current Editors' Choice the HP Folio 13-1020us ($899.99 list, 4 stars) don't have anything to worry about from limited use laptops like the Chromebook, at least not yet. The HP Folio 13 has much better battery life (almost 9 hours under MobileMark testing), works with your favorite Windows programs, and feels just as speedy with its larger 128GB SSD. Best of all it's useful even when you're not connected to the Internet.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook 550 (XE550C22-H01) with several other laptops side by side.

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