Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

2gb vs 4gb Asus Chromebook Flip. I've had a few ASUS eeebooks since they started making them several years ago, first with the Linux then Win OS. Have always thought the build quality was good and the small size makes them great to travel with. I love getting a new computer but HATE moving everything I need from the old one to the new one and usually only move some things until I get impatient and give up, always leaving some good stuff behind while some of the stuff I end up transferring is junk If my house was kept like my hard drives are I would be called a hoarder, HD maintenance is not something I really do until a crisis happens....sound familiar? With that in mind I decided to give a Chromebook a shot. 99.8% or maybe even more of my computer time is online, I've been saving all kinds of stuff on Gdrive for years....(yup I really need to clean up my Gdrive too) Having a OS that is built around the cloud and online life sounded just right to me. So I started reading the reviews on current chromebooks. Ok let me get this out of the way, I've had personal computers since the 80's, even use to write my own programs back then....but I am FAR FROM a power-user and the most taxing game I play is Angry Birds. I mainly surf and store. I file most of my important documents in a cloud for easy access using android programs like CamScan to scan them with my phone then upload to the cloud. I research everything new I buy on the web first, I scan important receipts and put them in the cloud, download manuals to the cloud and yes store pictures in the cloud. I've found maintaining my data on my desktop, my lapbook, my tablet and my phone to be way to much, so moving it all to the cloud seems like the thing to do. Sure I do wonder sometimes how safe my info is on Gdrive but I've never had a problem or read about anyone having a data loss or data stolen from Gdrive when setup correctly. Sure I've read about others concerns but not about actual losses. My experience on my own PC's Hard Drives however is quite different. I've had several HD crash and not been able to recover the data, I've lost a laptop in a rental car, I've had one stolen and I've been hacked before so I've decided to put my faith in those cleaver Google folks to maintain my data. I'm not blind to the fact that Google probably mines info from my data stored on Gdrive, I don't really care if they know what my income was for the past 10 yrs, or my blood-test labs, or where I vacationed in 2010 as long as they do not share data that would personally identify that data with me and I trust them not to do that. So on to the Chromebook purchase. I was not set on purchasing the Asus C100 until after about a week of reviewing on line. Then I visited BestBuy, I was looking for the chromebooks in the display of laptop/net books they had, the sales reps were around me showing others the differences between the units. When one approached me I told them I saw they displayed some ASUS laptops did they have the ASUS C100 Chromebook Flip on display, his response was, well if we do it would be on the table over there, pointing to a 6' fold up table with some units on it, then he quickly turned and walked away. I walked over to that table and there was a selection of about 8 Chromebooks with minimum information about them. No Asus C100. I spent probably 20 min looking at them, durring that time had several other customers join me looking at them but the sales help noticeably steered clear of the Chromebook display. I find this to be quite common in new technology products, retailers fail to hire or train sales that are enthusiasts of those products until they are mainstream. Just go out and try to talk to a Nissan salesman about their Electric car, the Leaf, or a Chevy salesman bout the Volt or heck even Toyota bout the Prius, you'll find if you have spent anytime at all on the web researching it, you know way more than the sales person. I then went to Office Depot...not a single chromebook there, Sam's club...nope not one so I tried Walmart....BINGO...Walmart had several Chromebooks on display and info cards that provided the basic info (More than BestBuy). I noticed they were sold out of a few and a slot with the ASUS C100 info card was missing the display unit. I scanned the barcode on the display card in the Walmart App and it said they had several in stock so I found a employee ahowed him the app and ask if he would check their stock. Well they had just got 10 in, he unlocked the storage locker under the empty display and pulled one out. I ask when they would have a unit on display, the answer was probably tomorrow or the next-day but Walmart had a 15day return pollicy on them so If I wanted to check it out just buy it....I did. The C100 Chrome Flip I purchased at Walmart was a 2gb unit with 16gb solid-state storage. I took it home and unpacked it. I was imitatively impressed with the build, very nice Aluminum case, incredibly light, nice keyboard and track-pad. 2 USB-2 ports, a mini HDMI port (no HDMI cable included) a MicroSD card slot, a headphone jack and a funny little charging port that looks mike a micro USB but unfortunately is not. A small power button and a volume toggle button. Included in the box is the chromebook, a 110v charger that looks like the typical cell phone charger, a small few page getting started pamphlet and a registration pamphlet. After unpacking I tried to power up the C100,,,,nothing. So I unwrapped the included charger an took a look at it. Its quite small, like a typical cell phone charger with a small square block with the 110v ac plug protruding out of one side (unfortunately fixed, they do not fold in) and a cord of aprox 6 feet long and the diam of a typical USB charging cable, permanently attached opposite the plug, ending in a small rectangular mini plug that looks kinda like a cross between a micro and mini USB but is not either. The charger has ASUS stamped in clearly on two sides (nice so you wont confuse it with other similar chargers) and the spec's printed on it of INPUT: 110-240V~ 0.5A 50-60 Hz OUTPUT: 12V (dc) 2A. Attached to the cord is a handy Velcro strap to manage the cord. I plugged in the charger and the C100 powerd right up. Its been a few weeks so I may not remember the initiation processes exactly but it was very brief and mainly included selecting the wifi connection and signing into my Google Account....(Gmail). I was impressed with the display. Very clear, crisp and plenty bright, as bright or brighter than my Samsung 10.1 Tablet. The keyboard feels good, I'm still getting use to the keyboard size as I'm coming off a 15.6 laptop with a full size keypad, I just seem to miss a few of the outlying keys when touch typing now and then. The keyboard layout is different, keys at the top are not labeled F-1 thru F12 like PC keyboards, they have symbols on them of their use. (I like it). Like the C100 itself the keyboard is designed for online use, there are dedicated keys that will scroll you up and down, left and right, back and forward browser buttons, a search key, a key to lock the unit, all very handy. The touch pad is responsive and has the typical pinch to size and push to click that we are all familiar with. Display--Touchscreen...this was a Have To Have for me, so many applications and process are being built around touch screen input that I feel your buying a handicapped unit if it dose not have a touch screen. The C100 touchscreen works great, just as wall as my Samsung tablet or note phone, I did find my finger did not slide across the glass quite as smoothly but it was hardly noticeable and after adding a screen protector it became unnoticeable. Even just browsing while stretched out on the sofa or in bed I find I use the touchscreen to navigate while resting the bottom of the keyboard on my chest and the screen at eye-level. Then when the C100 is in the tablet position the touch screen is ofcourse the only input. EASEL POSITION: When you flip the screen past the 180 deg position the keyboard is deactivated and your input changes to the excellent touch screen. When required a onscreen touch keyboard will pop up for data entry, it works quite well. Where the C100 really shines is when you flip it around to about 240 degrees and set it on a flat surface like a table (EASEL MODE) to use the touch screen, watch video's or listen to music. When in this position the keyboard is facing outwards on the back side but it is deactivated so it wont respond to your fingers hitting the keys when holding the unit in the inverted position. The speakers that are located on the underside of the keyboard are now facing front so the Easel position is a great position to watch video's. BATTERY: WOW the C100 really shines here, I can use it for hours and hours on end even watching Netflix, or Dish Anywhere and I've yet to run out of battery during the day. I'm guessing 19-11hrs...really. The battery is built into the unit, not sure I like that as batteries do diminish but this is not uncommon in many devices these days. Charging time seems to be less than an hour to 100%. The unit is a 12V dc unit. I really wish it would be 5v and charge on the same micro usb chargers most new phones and devices charge on, it would be one less charger to keep up with and travel with but its not, it is however much smaller than the typical netbook "brick" charger. I checked on replacement chargers and they are not cheap, about $35, car chargers are avail for about half that. ANDROID APPS: The C100 line now have access to the ANDROID Play Store, as of now you need to put the C100 in developer mode...very easy to do and you can reverse back to standard mode quite easily. The advantage of having access to Android Apps is huge. While the Chrome Store has some apps and quite a many Chrome Extensions they pail to the universe of Android Apps. Now I can share and sync the same android apps I use on my android phones and tablets. Everyone I've tried so-far has worked. See 2gb vs 4gb below. MUTABLE USERS / SECURITY: The beauty of the chromebook OS is its security. With the exception of Android Apps everything is geared around being online and cloud storage, when you sign off the chromebook that info is no longer on you unit, most of the info on your unit is wiped except things like the wifi connection and user ID's. I've read this is why the cromebook OS is so secure and not nearly as vulnerable to virus and key loggers. If owner allows anyone can sign into the chromebook as a guest and access the net but not the owners info. Others can also setup and access their Google accounts from the chromebook too. STABILITY & LAG: I've found the C100 to be very stable, no crashes as of yet and even right now I have 10 tabs open with no lag. VIDEO: I downloaded the Netflix and Dish Anywhere apps and watch programs on the C100 frequently. They play as well as the best of my other devices....no problems here. REMOVABLE MEMORY: Ive added a 64gb high speed (95 MB/S) MicroSD card to my C100, Ive not used it enough to comment on its usefulness however the reason I added it was for storage of Android Apps and their data. I did have to format the card on the C100 for it to properly work. C100 2GB vs 4GB: The unit I purchased from Walmart was a C100 with 2GB system memory, it worked fine, a little lag time when having more than 4 or so tabs open, not much just a little. From what I have read 2GB is plenty for the existing Chomebook OS, however with opening up Chromebooks to the Android Apps the future may require more system memory. I know I'll be installing a lot of Android apps so I checked Amazon for the C100 with 4GB, it was available on prime and just $16 more than the 2GB unit I purchased at Walmart. I don't really like to return stuff on a wim, but I justified it to myself that had the unit been on display at Walmart I would have noticed it was 2 GB version, I also was incurraged to buy it to see it instead of the CSR just opening it at the store. If Walmart had stocked the 4GB unit I would have exchanged them, not that I don't love Amazon, I feel it just have been fair. I highly recommend the C100, for the $16 its a no brainier to go with the 4GB version. Since I plan on traveling with the C100 I purchased the Chromebook, a PNY Elite 64GB MicroSDXC card, iLLumiShield - Asus Chromebook Flip Screen Protector & iPearl mCover Hard Shell Case for 10.1-inch ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA. While the cover kinda diminishes the beautiful C100 aluminum case, it will make it survive being thrown into my work bag or being knocked around in the car with out scuffs and scratches. Well if you have got to this point I hope my review helps your decision. 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