Review - Asus C720-2802 Chromebook
Sunday, August 03, 2014
I recently picked up via Craigslist a "new in the box" Asus C720-2802 Chromebook to use as my new primary system for TechNewsRadio.com. The main reason was that DEFCON22 is coming up soon in Las Vegas and I needed a "relatively" secure system to attend sessions and take notes for ~8 hours a day.
My previous note taking system was relatively old ThinkPad that I had 3 sets of extra batteries for. So, I dropped about 6 pounds by moving to the C720. And I don't have to configure a fresh system to take to DEFCON and then scrub after.
This version (2802) seems like the middle build release (~Feb2014) from the original that was in late 2013 and the most current $199 version that uses the Intel Celeron 2955U processor (2848). There is also a newer more expensive C720 with an Intel Core i3 processor available.
The positivies:
- Keyboard is great.
- Integration with my Google account was flawless.
- Integration with all my core online services was flawless.
- Working offline seems to work as expected.
The negatives:
- Can't seem to check IMAP email with an extension or a native Chrome application.
The still to be determined:
- Will it get hacked at DEFCON?
- How to edit audio?
- Will it let me take notes all day at DEFCON?
POST DEFCON REPORT: There is now an IMAP client - CloudMagic. I am pretty sure I didn't get hacked at DEFCON. I was able to take notes all day long at DEFCON without any issues. I have not found a good solution for editing audio.