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we've waited a long time for this one
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since 2020 in the debut of the original
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Samsung Galaxy Chromebook we've only
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seen like diminishing returns from
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Samsung in the Chromebook space with
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each new device it only became more and
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more clear that they no longer really
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took Chromebook seriously but with the
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Samsung Galaxy Chromebook plus all of
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that is changing gone are the
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forgettable cost cutting uninspired
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design choices and slow outdated
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internals we've gotten over the past 4
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years and Samsung is back in a big big
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way and I'm very happy to tell you about
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this new Galaxy Chromebook plus and how
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it marks a new trajectory for Samsung in
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the Chromebook space so let's talk about
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it but before we get into all that I
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want to extend a quick invitation to our
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awesome and growing Chrome unbox plus
0:48
Community it's a place where a bunch of
0:50
Google and Chromebook fans hang out and
0:52
talk about all sorts of stuff and
0:54
generally just have a really good time
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together in there you're going to get
0:57
access to that Community Access to Joe
1:00
uh exclusive amas with the chrom OS team
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we had one recently with Stella Shannon
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and have one upcoming with John molus uh
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they're exclusive giveaways uh you can
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add free experience on Chrome onebox.com
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and on our podcast as well just it's a
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fantastic value at just two bucks a
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month and we'd really love to see you in
1:18
there so after you watch this video head
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docomo and you can learn more there and
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get signed up with most Chromebooks we
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start with the chassis as like a jumping
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off point before we talk about all the
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not stuff on the inside but with the
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Galaxy Chromebook plus it's a massive
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part of the overall story sure there's a
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bunch of good stuff on the inside as
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well but I don't think we've ever had a
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Chromebook with such a striking
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silhouette that I can remember off the
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top of my head I'm not kidding every
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single person I've handed this
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Chromebook to has had a visceral
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reaction to just holding it the 15.6 in
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size married up with a 2.58 lb weight
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and 11.8 mm thickness just kind of feels
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a bit impossible even using this device
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for a couple weeks now I get the same
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sensation every time I pick it up it
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just feels wild to hold this thing in
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your hands but thin and light only works
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if it's rigid too and thankfully the
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Galaxy Chromebook plus wins in that
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department as well you can hold it from
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a corner with no flex whatsoever and it
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feels 100% sturdy in your hand on a desk
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opened closed I mean the engineering
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here is amazing and this is the absolute
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epitome of well-made I just can't stress
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enough how much I love the build quality
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of this Chromebook but Samsung didn't
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use the excuse of this Chromebook being
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too thin to skimp on ports either you
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get two USB type-c ports a USB type a
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headphone microphone Jack micro SD card
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slot and yes a full-size HDMI port it's
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just kind of unbelievable in a device
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that's this thin and light but it
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doesn't stop there cracking the Neptune
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blue lid open with a perfectly balanced
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one finger lift reveals the gorgeous
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AMOLED screen a fantastic keyboard and
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one of the best trackpads I have ever
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used on a Chromebook now when talking
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about any device these three things the
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screen the keyboard trackpad make up the
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bulk of your interactivity so when
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they're done well it makes for a great
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overall experience and make no mistake
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Samsung has delivered on all three the
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AMOLED screen is full HD and plenty
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bright at 400 nits and well sure I'd
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love to see a Quad HD screen and 120 HZ
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I understand that keeping the price at
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$6.99 just requires certain tradeoffs
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and this to me is an acceptable one the
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display is flat out gorgeous and even
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though it's not 120 HZ there there's no
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ghosting or artifacting anywhere across
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the OS so things still look great with
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smooth animations Inky blacks and
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amazing Punchy colors everywhere you
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look I mean it's a Samsung AMOLED
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display what do you expect now it isn't
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touchcreen and for some of you that's
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going to be like a turnoff but for me
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I've become pretty used to not
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leveraging a touchscreen very often on
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Chromebooks and it's just not been an
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issue at all in my use now that being
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said you need to know what you're
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getting into with this device and if a
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touch input is a huge deal to you just
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know that it's not going to be an option
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on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook plus
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now underneath that beautiful screen is
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a clicky backlit keyboard that has
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pretty short throw keys that I've been
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really accurate with on a device this
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thin you're not going to get massive
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travel on your keyboard but the feedback
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is great the sound is quiet and I've
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thoroughly enjoyed typing everything on
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this keyboard the layout takes a little
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bit of getting used to but we'll come
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back around to all that in a minute and
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the trackpad underneath the keyboard is
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massive glass and just an absolute
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pleasure to to use yeah I'd love to see
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Samsung put a haptic trackpad in here
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but I don't know that it would fit in
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the chassis and I'm sure it wouldn't
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help that overall price tag either
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though this one has a more standard
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trackpad mechanism it Nails the
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execution and I've Loved using it the
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surface is absolutely buttery smooth The
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Click is solid and confident and all my
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gestures always work as expected no
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complaints here whatsoever under the
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hood we have the Intel Core 3 100 U 8
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gigs of RAM 256 gigs of storage and make
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no mistake this device is very fast for
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reference I got octane scores in the
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90,000 plus range and not once has it
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even come close to breaking a sweat and
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if the fans have kicked on I haven't
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even noticed they are super quiet and it
5:11
never really gets hot and battery life
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has been solid as well well I'd have to
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keep the display down to like under 40%
5:18
to even get near that 13 hours that
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Samsung claims I've been able to get
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like 10 hours or so of use when sticking
5:24
to around 60% brightness and even pacing
5:27
5 to 6 hours when the brightness is up
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between 90 and 100% you have to remember
5:31
that OLED screens are battery Hogs when
5:33
you really get to the top end of their
5:35
brightness so you're going to kill the
5:37
battery faster if you hang out up there
5:39
for hours on end if you stay south of
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that you'll get all day battery with no
5:43
issue now that's a ton of great stuff
5:45
we've just talked about right I mean it
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can't be all good well of course not and
5:50
there are a few quirks with this
5:51
Chromebook that do frustrate me a little
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bit and the first one is the keyboard
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layout the extra keys like the dedicated
5:57
accessibility and dictation buttons are
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pretty great and I'm really learning to
6:01
start leveraging the new quick insert
6:03
key as well my brain's even beginning to
6:05
remember to use the launcher key that's
6:06
down in the bottom row now and I'm
6:08
making the mistake of hitting the quick
6:10
insert key instead of that launcher key
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less and less as I use it and those are
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all things I'll get used to so I'm not
6:15
too flustered by any of that my real
6:18
issue is with the numeric keypad on this
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device it's missing the all important
6:22
keys on the right and with that being
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the case it's just really not that
6:26
valuable numeric keypads should have a
6:29
plus minus an Enter key down the right
6:31
side this one doesn't and it makes doing
6:33
calculations without looking down
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basically impossible and isn't that the
6:38
purpose of this section of the keyboard
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being added and the decision to put this
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basically useless keypad in here means
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they couldn't fit upward firing speakers
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flanking the keyboard and maybe that
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would have helped the audio out just a
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bit as it stands the downward facing
6:51
speakers are mediocre at best are far
6:54
too quiet to be coming from a 15.6 in
6:57
laptop I mean the Tone's decent but the
6:59
over all volume is really limiting and
7:01
kind of disappointing and the same goes
7:02
for the 1080p webcam up top it's
7:05
functional but there are many webcams
7:07
that simply do it far better Samsung
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cheaped out here and it shows they hit
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the necessary resolution spec to keep it
7:13
Chromebook plus but this one's about as
7:15
bad as I've seen to this point
7:17
unfortunately but those cut Corners are
7:19
pretty minimal in my book now I can
7:21
upgrade to a USB webcam if I need to I
7:23
don't listen to a ton of audio directly
7:25
from my Chromebook speakers and I don't
7:27
actually use a numeric keypad very often
7:29
if those things are deal breakers for
7:31
you take note I don't Point them out
7:33
just because I'm looking for something
7:34
to nitpick they're all legitimately
7:36
subpar for a device that is otherwise
7:38
wonderful to use and I really do mean
7:40
that last bit for a person like myself
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this Chromebook simply Nails the
7:44
Necessities so well that I can just
7:46
Overlook the stuff it doesn't excel at
7:48
with this chassis screen keyboard
7:50
trackpad performance the Samsung Galaxy
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Chromebook plus has been an absolute joy
7:55
for me to use I love having it at the
7:57
office at home on my lap and a coffee
7:59
shop or even on a plane it really does
8:01
marry up the big screen experience with
8:03
a smaller devic's portability it looks
8:06
really amazing while doing so while I
8:08
don't know if it's the best Chromebook
8:09
for everyone I think it's an amazing
8:12
option for most of you out there and
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$699 every day you'd be hardpressed to
8:17
find a Chromebook experience that can
8:19
match it but guys that's it for this one
8:21
if you enjoyed this video give us a
8:22
thumbs up head down there hit that
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8:29
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