Coach? FWIW; I rarely ever use a laptop on a plane - I have an iPad for that ;)

The main issue is that it doesn't play video off USB or SD - something most of the reviews noted online. Not sure whether it is a bug, or something else.

I spoke with a Google rep at a Best Buy store today and he said that you can play movies from a usb or sd card. I also read this review on Amazon in which the reviewer claims he watched movies from an sd card...... http://www.amazon.com/review/R2IV7N7...R2IV7N7MQ9R07W

Netflix is also working now.

I tried it yesterday on the latest firmware build, and it starts playing one frame, but stopped after that.

Interesting. Has anyone done custom OS builds for it yet? I'd imagine a VLC port would be very handy.

Hmmmm, in the review I linked to, the reviewer claims Netflix is now working. Other articles I read also claim that it is working. Odd. :-(

I'm sure Netflix works (havent' tested it), but I'm more interested in local file playback.

Has anyone figured out if the SSD is upgradeable? Any partitioned the SSD and put a linux distro on there? Could make it more interesting.

I read a few teardowns, and they were unable to make it detect the new SSD. There are guides on how to run Ubuntu on it.

I found this link, thought it might be helpful.....

http://support.google.com/chromeos/b...&answer=183093

Interesting that it doesn't support .mkv containers.

FWIW: several months into the Pixel, and I still LOVE it. Windows 8 laptop is going unused, and may end up on eBay.

Is that with using it as a pure Google device? I'm still tempted to try a Chromebook.

Yes - no Linux or any other hacking.

FWIW; native apps are slowly coming out for Chrome. It is obvious that this platform will eventually become a full blown OS.

Even my wife, who has always resisted stepping outside the comfort of the familiar Windows world, has decided for the first time that she's rather take one of our Samsung Chromebooks on a trip this week, rather than her Win8 netbook. A primary reason is that now she can do most of what she needs with the Chromebook, thanks to such apps, so why not benefit from the longer battery, lighter/slimmer form, boot speed, and lack of worry about losing/damaging it (we got it for $140, like-new... practically disposable, relatively speaking).