A traditional GNU/Linux distro can also be installed bare metal on it. It's a much better option for your privacy. This eliminate Google's data mining of the whole desktop experience and give you better customization options at the same time.

> A traditional GNU/Linux distro can also be installed bare metal on it

I can do the same on my $200 PC. Surely this isn't the best argument to buy a chrome book. What I don't get is why would people pay a premium for something that basically amount to a web browser? Ease of us? Just install Chrome on whatever PC you have and remove the rest of the apps...

> This eliminate Google's data mining of the whole desktop experience and give you better customization options at the same time.

Yes, by giving more money to Google...

I can already do that on a 300 euro laptop, which was sold with Ubuntu installed on it.

It's the same like saying "I don't need S class Mercedes, VW Polo has 4 wheels too.". Compare the specs of that 300 euro laptop and Pixel 2015 LS - that's not even the same league. I have Ubuntu installed on mine and with core i7, 16 GB of RAM it blows most of the laptops out of the water.

The 8 GB RAM, 500 HDD, dual core CPU, DirectX 11 class GPU are more than enough for what I do with it.

Now compare the possibilities of any decent OS versus what basically amounts to a browser... any OS can run a browser, why buy a machine that makes you use a browser exclusively and ties you to Google services for everything?

For non power users, a computer that basically just works into a browser, which is where they do most of their computing, and is really hard to mess up is a nice thing. This is great for my young child and my mother in law. I no longer have to fix their computers, because they don't break.

For power users, The intel core processor based chromebooks can run a standard Linux install as well, FreeBSD mostly works, and Windows can work with some effort. So you're not really locked in. There's a decent community of people packaging updated coreboot builds that get better at booting other operating systems over time.

I don't know that that the pixel appeals to me, but the low spec chromebooks are nice because they're cheap and they usually have decently up to date cpus -- I don't want/need a super fast CPU but I want the latest architecture. Most Windows laptops in the prices range are really bulky and have slow spinning drives instead of an SSD (granted, the SSDs are usually tiny in the chromebooks). At the price point of the Chromebook Pixel series, you're getting a higher tier CPU, so you do need to shop around and see if you're getting a good value for the parts, and if you like the system design. Honestly, I don't see why I would pay $1000+ for a laptop that doesn't have the cluster of keys around page up/page down, but I'm a dinosaur and my taste isn't very well reflected in the marketplace. At the $200 price range where I've bought a few chromebooks, I can manage using a keyboard without important keys. :)