Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Samsung Chromebook 3, 11.6", 4GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, Chromebook (XE500C13)

Top positive review

This thing rocks!

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2017

This thing is great! I bought the 4GB model which will hopefully last me a few years but it's nice and snappy now. The 16GB of SSD storage is perfect as I use it for school and the biggest file I might be storing would be a picture. It integrates perfectly with my google account! This thing boots up super quick and it sleek and beautiful. It's lightweight, has a long battery life and although it's smaller than a standard laptop, the keyboard is easy to use.

Google and partners have done great with Chromebooks and have plenty of features to accommodate. There are multiple physical keyboard shortcuts running along the top of the keyboard to quickly adjust settings. There are also several different hotkey menus which are accessed by keyboard combinations.

The only thing I'm bummed about is the lack of Google Play. I'm still giving this thing 5 stars because the Play store should be released soon as it is already available on other Chromebooks.

I would highly recommend this to anyone, but especially to someone wanting something that is affordable, easy to use and just a bit more than a tablet.

UPDATE 7/21/17 - STILL ROCKS
I've gotten more use out of this thing than I first envisioned. I have a Samsung Galaxy S8 and can easily access my Google Drive files that I create and edit on the Chromebook via Goggle Docs. It's still nice and snappy; I have Amazon Prime music running in one tab, working on a Google Docs file in another and browsing Reddit or searching something on a third tab and there's no hesitation. I've enabled the beta build and enjoy several Google Play Store applications. I added an SD card which has expanded on the 16GB of storage. I'm getting very used to the multiple finger shortcuts on the touch pad when navigating Chrome. For instance: putting 2 finger tips on the touch pad and swiping left or right will act as the forward or back button. Also, "clicking" on a link by using 2 fingers and pressing on the touch pad, you bring up a menu to open in a new tab among other things. I watch Netflix and HBO Now and can definitely notice the lack of 1080p but it's a "get what you pay for" situation, and I knew that going in. This thing is still fantastic for what it is. If you want a proper laptop then buy one -- this is a Chromebook. I'll be back to give another update in a few months.

878 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Eric Look

Is what it is. Gets online, but don't expect apps to be very good or even work at all

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2019

This is an excellent cheap device that I don't have to worry about crumbs, dust, and dirt when I'm just tossing into my bag without any protective covering. The screen quality is abysmal for this day in age, bright enough to use outside on an overcast day, but it's also so reflective and glaring that you can't dare have a light source behind you. I'm writing this review on it, and I have had it for about a year. The keyboard is fine. The lack of function keys is oppressive but I've adjusted. The back/forward keys were ANNOYING at first, but once I got used to them, they're only occassionally useful and still EXTREMELY ANNOYING. There are hidden ctrl functions that I have pressed accidentally and fear greatly. The touchpad is horrendous, the left side doesn't seem to register clicks at all. I can't open more than about 8 tabs at a time, or else it slows down quite a bit. It's nice to have another device in addition to my phone, but this is NOT a computer, It's literally JUST the internet. Oh, there's this one handy text editor built in that functions nicely with google drive. All the 'apps' are just quick links to the websites.

5 people found this helpful

4,154 total ratings, 1,272 with reviews

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From the United States

Andrew

This thing rocks!

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2017

Capacity: Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 16GBVerified Purchase

878 people found this helpful

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trbizwiz

Perfect for students! Must have if your school uses I-Ready.

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2017

Capacity: Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 16GBVerified Purchase

Now first off, this is not a powerbook, or any high end high power notebook computer. We have pretty basic internet and computing needs. We currently own 3 ipads, 2 iphones, ad 2 ipod touches. These and their predecessors have mostly served 100% of our internet needs over the last 5 or years. However our school aged children have started having some issues with homework. Our school district uses iready (funny that it uses a moniker similar to Apple), and iready does not work on any of our i-devices. It works with google chrome. Now there may be some clunky backdoor way to get it to work through a chrome page on an i-device, but that is just going to complicate the situation.
I figured if Chrome is the preferred operating system, then a Chromebook would be ideal. Doing some math homework, and some reading homework, on a notebook is not supercomputer stuff, so these budget Chrome books really looked to fit the bill. Plus we prefer using ipads for most internet stuff anyway, so I did not want to buy a high end machine. I found a great deal on a brand new Samsung Chromebook (I know Apple fan, buying Samsung. I do own Samsung stuff:Robot vac, refrigerator, camera, on and on), and this thing is perfect for its intended task. Oh, and it is fun to mess around with on other stuff as well. I got the 4 GB ram version so I could do more stuff, more quickly. I opened several windows, and messed around on the internet for a while and I could not lag it down. Now we do have Spectrum 100/100 internet, and I get about 113 mbps via my Orbi wifi network, so my internet is very fast.
My kids are finally able to do all their iready homework, including extra math. The results are showing in test scores. I wish I had gotten this thing last year, they would be way ahead of the game. We kept hearing iready will be apple ready soon. 18 months later, I gave up and ordered this Chromebook, and it is worth every penny.
This is the perfect setup for students. It is larger than an ipad, but small enough to be easily portable. It is fast enough to handle most any task you throw at it. I cant ask for more!
I'll update if the honeymoon period wears off.

17 people found this helpful

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Kaye

I run my business on this Chromebook

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2018

Capacity: Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 16GBVerified Purchase

I'm a heavy user and completely in the cloud and this is my only computer. I use it for business. I have it linked to my Android Note 8 (through a third party Chrome app) and it's seamless. It will run apps from the Google Play store. I usually have many multiple tabs open, expect it to operate like a full blown PC laptop and it generally does exactly what I want it to do. I watch videos, do photo editing, type thousands of words a day on it, stream movies and create Google Docs, Slides and Sheets. I bought this to replace my three year old version of the same Chromebook because all of the letters were worn off the keyboard and some of the keys weren't working ... I'm actively using my Chromebook probably 8 or more hours a day so it would probably last even longer for most people. It's lightweight and fits easily in a tote or backpack. It holds up well. I use it sort of all day and night and I haven't found anything it won't do. The only place I notice this being slow is ironically when I open up Google Inbox and then I get to practice patience for a minute. Occasionally it will get sort of slow and then I'll go to settings and clear the image cache and that takes care of it. I handle a lot of images so the memory fills up a bit after a while. It comes with 100 gigs of free storage for two years from Google and I'm sold on Chromebook. I usually run it off home wi-fi but I can also tether it to my phone or use public wi-fi. The bluetooth connects easily to everything. The keyboard is nice. I type 100 wpm and I like the keyboard and touch pad a lot. The keys are responsive and quiet. It's a nice, clean, simple design and easy to keep clean. The only thing I wish Samsung would do is make a little indent where the power cord goes in to help guide the plug in because you kind of have to look when you're plugging it in. The power cord is super compact and is just the plug and cord with no big clunky thing on it. I've been able to find cloud based solutions for every piece of software I was using previously and I don't miss the PC at all since I went into the cloud in 2015. I really don't miss having to constantly update my system and all of the software. Google updates are super fast. You basically just restart and you're ready to go. It boots in seconds although I usually just leave it on constantly. I set my browser downloads to save to my Google Drive so there's no personal information stored on the Chromebook at all. It's under $200 and it's better than my $1200 PC laptop I replaced when I switched to Chromebook three years ago. It's absolutely silent. No fans grinding away. I sit with it in my lap all day long and it never gets hot. I don't play video games but I imagine that it would play cloud-based games fine. I've inadvertently had more than a dozen YouTube videos playing at the same time and it was sort of noisy but it wasn't lagging. And when you want to replace it, you just backup anything you've stored on the small hard drive and run the power wash on it. The only program I couldn't find a cloud solution for was Scrivener. But now you can get a virtual hard drive in the cloud for a fairly reasonable monthly rate and run any software you want on the Chromebook. It holds up to constant use and it's really sturdy despite being really slim and lightweight. The screen hinge is super strong and it's hard to imagine it breaking unless you dropped it.

323 people found this helpful

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rob

Excellent price! Play store apps now compatible, lags at times.

Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2017

Capacity: Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 16GBVerified Purchase

Compact design, good battery life. good screen size, good keyboard and mediocre speakers. For the price you can't go wrong. For those who don't know a Chromebook uses the chrome browser instead of dedicated apps. However that just changed with the newest update. You can now download and install apps from the playstore! This is a game changer for Chromebooks, which were previously held back by only using the chrome browsers (a few app exceptions). That being said, Chromebooks are still predominately web browsing laptops, as some apps from the playstore may not work correctly or be buggy. If you are unsure if a Chrombook is right for you, do this test for yourself. Avoid any apps on your pc / laptop, open the chrome browser and run everything through chrome for about a week. If you find you can complete 90% or more of tasks then pull the trigger and get one! You won't regret it. If however you rely on incompatible apps, or just find sticking to chrome isn't for you then you may want to avoid a Chromebook.

Cont. Samsung is an overall great brand and you will enjoy this product. Be aware, these usually aren't very powerful so you may run into bouts of lag, crashes, and in compatibility. Videos tend to load slowly, but once buffered offer a seamless experience. My model has 4 gigs of ram. I think once these start shipping with a tad bit more ram it will be in that perfect sweet spot of saving money without too much sacrifice.

13 people found this helpful

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TeddyZ

Great Value

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2018

Capacity: Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 16GBVerified Purchase

This is an amazing little device. I have not had a PC in my home pretty much since smartphones were invented. I thought I could get by with just the phone and I did, but man this is much easier:) I occasionally need to deal with work stuff after-hours and usually I'm responding to emails or calling someone at the office and telling them what to do. This is perfect for quickly logging in to Citix workspace, fixing whatever needs to be fixed and going back to whatever I was doing. It's faster than the phone and working from home is no big deal now.
It seems durable, there isn't much that could break. The screen is a normal laptop screen, it probably cant take a direct hit. The rest of the unit is so light it doesn't seem like it would get damaged if you dropped it. I was a little surprised and disappointed that the charging port is one of those little round plugs. I've always had bad luck with those. I think the last 3 laptops I have owned died because that port went bad and I couldn't charge them. This one seems snug and solid, I guess we'll see.
Other than the Citrix work space I have been using browser based stuff and it works great. Noticeably snappy-fast. I fully charged it right out of the box 3 days ago and it's still at 38%. I guess i have used it about 8 hours so the 11 hours battery life claim should be right on.

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Rick feeney

The trackpad literally feels just like my Macbook Air's and that makes me so happy

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2018

Capacity: Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 16GBVerified Purchase

After much research and debating which Chromebook was right for me, I decided on the Samsung Chromebook 3 and here are my reasons why:
Price - I saw this on sale at my local walmart which prompted me to look into getting a Chromebook in the first place. I am a regular Mac user (Macbook Air 13") but wanted something cheap enough I wouldnt have to worry about losing or breaking it.

Battery life, speed, display and software were my additional top reasons why I went for the Samsung. The battery life is incredible and literally lasts all day, not to mention it charges to 100% in about an hour and a half. The performance of this thing honestly blows me away! This device is mainly used for web browsing and pages load quickly, animations are swift and not laggy. This thing reminds me of my Macbook Air in regards to web browsing and light tasks.

The display is crisp and bright, setup literally takes under a minute, its fast, cheap, charges fast, lasts forever. The trackpad literally feels just like my Macbook Air's and that makes me so happy. I don't feel like I have to relearn how to use this trackpad; it feels right at home in comparason the the Air.I also love how if there isnt any WiFi near by I can use my hotspot from my iphone.

Buy this thing if you want a cheap, snappy web browser on-the-go. I am beyond impressed with this little machine, I would absolutly buy this again!

12 people found this helpful

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Douglas Willis

... a Chromebook now for three years and am totally satisfied. I bought this This Samsung 11

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2017

Capacity: Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 16GBVerified Purchase

I have been using a Chromebook now for three years and am totally satisfied. I bought this This Samsung 11.6" as a replacement for an older Chromebook that is showing its age a little. For the price you can't beat a Chromebook. I do 99% of my work on a Chromebook. Chromebooks are light weight and start up immediately and are very easy to use. I've gotten to where I despise Windows computers due to their bulk and all of the crashes and problems I've had over the years with Windows.
My old Chromebook is an Acer and I've had absolutely no problems with it. I chose to purchase a Samsung Chromebook this time just to try out a different company and because it was inexpensive ( I paid $189.00). To be honest, I like the feel of the Acer keyboard a little better than this Samsung, but that's probably because I'm so used to the Acer. I've used the Acer so much that I've worn off the letters of several keys. This Samsung works as expected and is a good, basic Chromebook.

361 people found this helpful

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