Samsung 12.3" Chromebook Pro M3-6Y30 4GB 32GB/EMMC

You know that expression "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"? That only applies when you've cleaned the baby and the water is dirty. Clean baby, dirty water; throw out the bathwater and keep the baby. Unless it's a really bad baby and ChromeOS + Samsung = Bad baby! THE SOFTWARE: Chrome OS is not matured in any way. It calls itself a computer, but it's really not. It fancies itself a convertible notebook/app consuming functional tablet, but it is not. For example, many of the apps currently available on the Play store which work perfectly well on your Android phone or Tablet do not work in ChromeOS. There is a reason for this and it was described to me by one Google enthusiast as "mucho technical," but it's not. Google the company that makes Android OS also makes Chrome OS. Chrome OS allows for a nested environment to run any Android OS application. That means that Android Apps do not touch the hardware or even underlying OS softwares without interfacing first through ChromeOS. If you are an old school Mac user you may remember when OS X (that stands for a 10) first came out you needed to "load" OS 9 in order to open any OS 9 applications. OS 9 was a virtual machine running on the native OS X machine. Apple has long since done away with the OS 9 container. Google however has duplicated Apple's method by giving you a virtual machine that runs Android OS on your Chrome OS. It is called "Arc". Google is very concerned about Arc to ChromeOS connections for security, etc etc. So essentially, it is a sandbox. This is what you are buying when you buy a Chrome OS machine. The rub is that ChromeOS itself is so limited in functionality that it is probably the most secure OS platform out there. Sounds nice until you realize that your computer just doesn't let you do things and then calls it secure. Not innovation. Apps are glitchy. You will find one of your favorite apps and it will not work correctly. Even Google's own Sheets, Photos, etc softwares do not work right or lack function when you download and use it as an app. You will find that to do anything on the ChromeOS, you need to do it in a Chrome web browser tab. And that is extremely frustrating. THE HARDWARE: Samsung sent me a new stylus free of charge and free of hassle, which was nice of them because the top of the OEM stylus popped off one day and could not be reassembled. This machine has never left my house and it is not used by children, no pets, nothing to blame about poor ownership tending. I tend to the machine very nicely and never slam or do anything like that. Certain apps (especially Flash based apps) will get the machine VERY hot. The bottom plastic piece - this is not a unibody machine - will be too hot to rest on bare skin. See my pictures showing that the high temperature warped the plastic. Others have complained about the squeaking and that is true. I think it is because the plastic pieces warp out of shape. I have had 3 different earbuds have the right ear blow out. I cannot explain why, except to think that there is something wrong with the voltage wiring and the left channel is exceeding design capacity. I have tried the earbuds on other devices before they blow out and they work fine, and after the blow out, the left ear is faulty. The left charging port does not always make full contact with the charger and so sometimes the USB C charger is plugged in and slightly awry and therefore not charging. A jiggle and it starts to charge. The touchpad doesn't have clickable function in the top right or top left corners which is becomes annoying for certain tasks. The keyboard lacks a backlight which is inconvenient in low light situations. At this price point, it should have it. CONCLUSION: My advice is if you really want to try it out don't get the pro version. There's little to gain and by the time Google gets its head out of its diaper there will be more hardware options from which to choose. A new tablet or a cheap notebook would provide your more mileage in the long run in my opinion. MY PREVIOUS INVECTIVE FILLED REVIEWS ****ALMOST 3 MONTHS UPDATED REVIEW**** I downgraded to 1 stars. Samsung made the outer case out of plastic unlike the aluminum or other longer lasting materials out there. It is not unibody, which means it has pieces that are screwed together. The bottom plastic piece of my machine has flex in it and squeaks. It's just loose. I use this machine exclusively in the house and for nothing demanding of the external case. I am afraid if I dropped it outside something will break. The touchpad is a regressed version of all the other touchpads out there today. You can't click in the top left or top right corners. if you two finger drag it stops working if you go into the upper half of the touchpad. It is very poor. I'm beginning to realize that my Apple products from 5 years ago are better with respect to things like the touchpad allowing you to scroll, click, tap and drag with ease. On to the OS - I can't understand why anyone says or thinks ChromeBooks are a suitable replacement for a laptop. As I mentioned above, the tablet functionality, even to this day, is glitchy. The Music app opens up the size a phone screen and there are no keyboard options to skip a track, pause it, etc. If you want to do something you have to go into the app and deal with the tiny little buttons. Horrible. The ChromeBook is nothing more than a dedicated web browser. The front facing camera DOES NOT TAKE VIDEO. It's not a critical thing to record video, but why was there a conscious decision made for it not to? Seriously, if all you want is a web browser, buy this or any ChromeBook. I feel bad for the people buying the new pixel. That money would better be put into a macbook or mac air. There's also better values and deals on WIndows based machines. The Microsoft surface is only a few hundred more than this POS and it's great. I hate this machine solely due to the price. It is worth maybe $250. Do not buy it until you have played with a Chromebook and decided you are okay with it. Feb 4th 2018 update This machine is worse, if you can believe it. The Netflix app doesn't work properly. The Amazon prime app doesn't work properly. Every day I use this machine is a horror show. It constantly freezes wifi connections, especially with streaming services. My recommendation is to avoid any ChromeBook device at all costs. I'd rate it negative stars.