The excellent gadget repair experts at iFixit have torn apart a brand new Samsung Series 5 Chromebook to see what makes it tick, and they have published detailed hardware specifications and photographs of the system's internals.
The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is a laptop that's powered by Google's Linux-based Chrome OS—the first Chrome OS product that will be available to regular consumers. It was unveiled last month at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco during a keynote session and is expected to retail for $429.
The folks at iFixit say that the Samsung Chromebook has much in common with Google's Cr-48 prototype, but that the new system is slimmer and better-designed. They hardware includes a 1.66GHz dual-core Atom N570 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 16GB SanDisk SSD. They were able to disassemble the laptop with a supdger, plastic opening tool, and a Philips #1 screwdriver.
After disassembling the laptop, they assigned it a 6 out of 10 "repairability" score. The Chromebook lost points because the RAM is soldered to the motherboard and the battery can't be replaced without opening the case. They also commented that the "mostly-plastic construction" felt "a little cheap." They noted, however, that the screen was easy to remove and most of the components—including the SSD—can be replaced easily.
"Our analysis revealed that the Series 5 is a well-polished version of the rather imperfect Cr-48 prototype Chromebook," iFixit's Kyle Wiens told us in an e-mail. "The Series 5 fixes the major shortfalls of the Cr-48 and adds the polish necessary to strike lust into the heart of a broad consumer base: sleek looks, 8+ hours of battery life, and optimized performance."
It sounds like Google's Chrome OS is launching on a pretty decent piece of hardware. We will likely receive our Samsung Chromebook—promised at Google I/O—soon, so you can look forward to our upcoming review.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/06/ifixit-tears-the-chrome-off-of-a-samsung-chromebook.ars
