Chrome Notebook: The Unboxing

I've been getting various packages (Christmas gifts, 'tis the season) delivered the last few days, from eBay and Amazon and such, so I wasn't surprised to see an unfamiliar name and address on the return label of this box. I opened it and then paused, thinking that perhaps my wife had bought me something special and I was seeing it prematurely. But no, she had no idea where it had come from. Then I remembered... I had signed up for the Chrome OS beta testing program, some time ago.

Holy cow. I was one of the 64,000 lucky recipients of the brand spanking new Chrome OS Notebook!

With Trembling Hands...

I quickly forgot that I had children or a bladder for the next two hours and excitedly opened this treasure. I must say that I normally find "unboxing" posts to be tedious but for some reason I decided to document this momentous evening, with my wife's assistance. For those that might enjoy it, here you go.

This is the sight that I beheld when I opened up the plain brown packing box. The "Chrome" text and symbol in the middle of the screen diagram gave it away, of course, and was what made me double-check with my wife about my good fortune.

The flip side of the paper in the previous photo, and a little Intel card are included.

Removing the paper covering the notebook, and taking out the cardboard packing pieces from the sides took 1.5 seconds, though I think my heart beat 298 times. A colorful sticker and a welcome card are also included; I'll get to those in another post. Look, the box is smiling! What a happy day!

Notice my Acer 10" netbook in the upper right of the picture, for comparison.

The battery is next. Remaining in the box are the power cord (in two pieces) and a brown safety notice.

The packaging is overall very minimal, much like Apple's, but more brown. Very little waste in this package: Brown cardboard, one plastic sleeve for the notebook, one plastic bubble wrap for the battery, plastic overwrap for the power brick, and one twist tie for the power cord. Plus four pieces of paper and a sticker, though I don't count the latter as waste.

The sleek matte black top of the Chrome notebook, called the Cr-48 in the included documentation. Dimensions are 11.75" x 8.75" x 0.875". Yeah, less than an inch thick.

The battery weighs 13.8 oz. Markings on the battery indicate it is a "Mario", 14.8V, 58.4Wh, STL:NBP4C51G1.

The bottom of the notebook without the battery attached. The sticker has a serial #, HWID: IEC MARIO PONY 6101, MEID #, MODEL: Mario. I didn't know Mario had a pony.

The battery fits in a little counter-intuitively (you can look at the diagram on the brown safety notice later), but it clicks in comfortingly. It also sits flush with the case. As you can see from the picture, the rubber feet are built in to the battery, so clearly the unit is not expected to be used without a battery attached. I did test it though, it will work without a battery attached and the power cord plugged in.

The notebook with battery weighs in at 3 pounds, 10 ounces. For comparison, my Acer netbook weighs 2 pounds, 10 ounces.

And here is the notebook powering on! Oddly, it starts powering on as soon as you open the lid, even without pressing the power button.

See my next posts for details about the included literature, physical layout of the notebook, and my experiences using it.