Just one day after launching the Cr-48 notebook, Google started shipping pre-production systems to reviewers, potential business clients, and a few lucky individuals. Google wanted to start its beta test program immediately in order to get as much feedback—good or bad—from those who test these systems on a regular basis. It is important to note this is just a demo unit, none of the hardware is final, and no one will ever to be able to walk into a store and buy a Cr-48 system. That said, as of today, it is the only example of how a notebook running the Chrome OS will work. PCMag has the system in PC Labs. Read on to get our first impressions of the CR-48.

Out of the box, the Cr-48 conjures images of the Black Apple MacBook, from the plain, rubberized chassis to what looks like the same chiclet-style keyboard. At 3.8 pounds, it's heavier than I imagined, but slimmer and sleeker than the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Ion) ($650 direct, 3.5 stars)—a 12-inch netbook. The system comes with a clickpad—a large touchpad that integrates the mouse clicks. You can find this on Windows-based laptops, but the Cr-48's clickpad is used differently. The CR-48 recognizes one finger as a left click, while a two-finger tap triggers a right-click function. You can scroll with two fingers, though I couldn't get the pinch gesture to work.

The full-size keyboard doesn't look like the ones on your average Windows laptop. As Google said in its press conference, there is no Caps Lock key. Instead you get a Search Key with a Magnifying Glass icon that launches new tabs in your Chrome browser/OS. If you really miss it, Chrome OS will let you to revert back to a Caps Lock key in its settings tool. The Function keys, or the top-most row of keys found in most keyboards, are axed save for the ESC key. Replacing the Function keys are buttons for brightness, volume, and power, as well as uncommon ones, such as back and forward (for Web pages), refresh, full screen and "next window" keys. The Ctrl+Alt+? key combo brings up a map of the keyboard and you do the same thing to get rid of it. Hitting the Ctrl key again after you hit the Ctrl+Alt+? key combo brings up alternate functions for any particular key. For instance, the Ctrl+Next Window key captures your screen, basically Print Screen in Windows. The keyboard will also recognize popular key combinations, like undo, copy, cut, and paste

Drive Size Unknown
There is a solid state drive in the laptop, though Google will not comment on its capacity. The goal, according to Google, is to get the user focused on living on the Web. You can download any file you want to the system. The Cr-48 saves files to an HTML5 cache that can be retrieved by pressing the Ctrl + O keys. This key combo brings up a small "Download" tab that pops up from the bottom of the browser. This method allows Google to save everything "offline" (when there's no Internet connection). Upon connection, the Cr-48 syncs the downloaded files to Gmail or anywhere in the cloud. For example, if you take a screen shot, the image is automatically synced to Google's server, where you can attach it as an image with your Gmail account. The download folder is very primitive. There's no file directory that you can navigate through, and there's no way to purge these files unless you delete them manually. In other words, your cache has a cap that, if reached, will stop you from downloading anything else. So far, I can't figure out what that cap is short of cracking the system open.

There is a lone USB port on the right side of the Cr-48, but its function is limited. It will work with a number of keyboards and mice (I've tried ones that are both old and new). Other than that, good luck. This means thumb drives, hard drives, cameras, printers, or any other USB peripheral will not work with the Cr-48—yet. Google is working on getting its Chrome OS to recognize storage drives, but it's a work in progress. This also means that the SD card slot, found adjacent to the USB port, can't be seen by the OS or any imaging app that you download from Google's Web Store. The headphone jack works if you're playing a YouTube clip and music from the Web. I tried connecting the CR-48 with two different displays with the VGA port, and neither one worked. There isn't a toggle-key either that would indicate support for an external display.

There's no Ethernet port either, so the only way to surf the Web is with one of two wireless connections. The first is built-in Wi-Fi, which will be the most common way to do it. Using the same access point, my download speeds were in line with those of more powerful Windows laptops. The second method, if Wi-Fi is not available, is a 3G connection, which didn't come activated. Google did confirm that it is a Gobi wireless chip, which means that, at some point, it'll support CDMA and GSM (there's a SIM card slot under the battery). Right now, it's just Verizon 3G, and you're given a complimentary 100MB (per month) allowance, for up to 2 years.

Google wouldn't confirm whether the processor is an Intel Atom, but we'll just assume it is, based on my anecdotal tests. Video playback struggled with Hulu videos; YouTube clips were okay. Despite using a 1,280-by-800 resolution, which means the Cr-48 can theoretically support 720p video playback; all the videos I tried were capped at 480p. Even at 480p, Hulu videos still choked. This just means that Chrome OS has yet to tap into the goodness of hardware acceleration.

If it does have an Intel chip, the Cr-48 might be able to run Windows. Google had already said that anyone can hack the Cr-48 and turn it into a Windows or an Ubuntu machine. And how you do it is simple: Under the battery, there's a white switch that turns the CR-48 into "developer's mode", after which you can enter recovery mode or install of Windows 7 (The USB port doesn't take optical drives or recognize a network, though). Dual-booting Chrome OS and another OS isn't possible now, according to Google, but that doesn't mean that it can't happen later on. Google does warn, however, that if switched to developer's mode, the Cr-48 will be open to viruses and outside "attacks."

Again, this is still a very early demo unit and both the OS and the hardware will change dramatically before this ever gets into a customer's hands. Google puts it best by saying, "This is the worst your computer will be." Google plans on pushing updates every week and each one will bring improvements. Next week it might be USB storage support and the following week you'll be able to use your SD slot.

At this point, I have only had the device for a few hours, but I'll keep testing and will update this story when I find out more, so check back soon. If you have any questions about what the Cr-48 can or can't do, let us know in the comments section.

For more on Cr-48's browser experience, see PCMag's hands-on with Google Chrome OS.

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