Chromebooks - why they might be awesome.

So, two weeks ago I bought a Samsung Chromebook. It was slightly on a whim; I had used one at work the day before for about five hours straight, and I suddenly understood the point. And now, after using it at home, at work, and on the train I can honestly say that it might be the best piece of tech I have ever bought.
Now, those of you who know me will know I do not say that lightly. I tend to be a bit of an addict when it comes to the next shiny new thing. I am a big gamer, so my main computer at home is a PC. I have never bought into the cult of Mac (so expensive, and marketed towards people who don't know any better...don't get me started) but I do own an iPad and and iPhone. After much experimentation, I just think that these are better that the other tablets and phones on the market at present.
And now, I have a Chromebook. I was so excited after I made the decision that I got good old Amazon to deliver one the very next day. For those of you who don't know, a chromebook runs Google's ChromeOS. This is basically just the chrome browser. That's it. Everything you do with the computer has to be done over the internet from within the browser. You can't install applications, and if you are not connected to the internet there is little point. But as long as you fully immerse yourself in the Google way of things, it is surprisingly easy to get things done.
So, firstly a few major plus points

• it starts up in less that ten seconds.
• it is about the size of a piece of A4 paper.
• it is very light.
• the battery life is about 8 hours.
• closing the lid puts it to sleep securely, and it starts up instantly when you open it again.

I had initially bought the thing to use at home for writing, but I soon found I was carrying it to work with me instead of the iPad. I can tether it to my phone, so even if I am on the train I can be connected. And a lot of the applications that run through the browser can actually work when you are offline. This includes Google Docs (the office replacement).
I will finish with a list of things I can't do on a Chromebook.

• Play games (apart from the very simple HTML5 games out there.)
• Draw / Paint. The apps do exist out there on the interwebz, but I have yet to get to grips with them.
• Access my ftp webspace.
• Not much else.

I feel more posts on the Chromebook and its apps are inevitable. It goes without saying that for most people it wouldn't do just to have a Chromebook as their sole computer. But as a laptop replacement, even an iPad replacement, I have been very pleasantly surprised.