I got one for my girlfriend a few months back. If all you're doing is simple word processing, excel, and powerpoint along with internet then the chrome book is a good option. If you need to convert your documents to another form compatible with MS products you can and you can always just send it to work if you need to touch it up. For the price, the weight (2 lbs), battery life, and boot time, I think it's a great option for someone who wants to downgrade from a full laptop but still likes the laptop feel that you don't get with a tablet.
The samsung chromebook has a great tacttile feel to it that simulates the macbook keyboard. A few things to watch out for: 1. No programs like Itunes (although many of the chrome apps can be run without an internet connection), 2. You can only use Google Chrome for the Web Browser (I love chrome as you can log in to a chrome browser from any computer that has it and all your settings, book marks, passwords are saved) and there a few problems with some websites that only support 64 bit browsers with java, 3. Also remember that you still have the ability to USB a portable hard drive where you can store movies, pictures, mirrored operating systems, etc (fairly cheap nowadays).