Chromebook

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m_calingo

Joined
Oct 13, 2003
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Anyone here actually own one?

I'm considering getting one or a desktop version of one, so I'm actually interested in hearing from folks who own one and in your opinion if it's a yea or nay.

Thanks!
 
I've used a Chromebook and they are pretty cool. For many people the Windows PC is the gold standard and this is close, but it has many differences. You in essence running off a Google OS (Chromium), so you can think of it as a mix between Linux and an iPad style interface.
You can watch movies, edit photos, write documents, etc. But it's primarily Google's software that you are using. For some,it is not a good replacement for a PC, Mac, or other device. However, it all depends on your needs.
For browsing the forums, reading, and watching movies, pictures, etc it would be fine. I will recommend that if you do buy one, stay away from Acer. It's not a quality brand, and just like with knives, you get what you pay for.
 
I absolutely love my Chromebooks. I originally bought an Acer C720 ($199) earlier this year, and was pleased with it. The only downfall it had was the screen, which was pretty mediocre, but it was quick and cheap. I'd still recommend it if you're not too concerned about color accuracy, high resolution, and size. It has held up great and the battery life is still really good.

I just came home with a Toshiba Chromebook 2 a few hours ago because I wanted to try the larger 13" IPS screen at 1080p resolution. It was pricey at $330, but it has the best screen of any Chromebook out there. Unfortunately it's a small step backwards from the Acer in processing power and benchmark scores, but I feel the screen makes up the difference as it is MUCH more enjoyable watching HD video and viewing HQ pictures. The increased resolution paired with a 2" larger screen really makes it feel more like a laptop versus the smaller 11" on the Acer. If you spend a lot of time using it, I'd probably have to recommend the Toshiba even though it's computing performance is slightly less and the price is substantially more.

There are some limitations with the Chrome OS, so make yourself familiar with them. I came to the conclusion that 99% of my time spent online is on forums, shopping websites, web browsing, and youtube. The Chrome OS and the two Chromebooks I've used haven't disappointed me, and I've learned to live with the few things you can't do with them. The Chromebook is a solid secondary device compared to a Windows PC/Laptop, but I could go an entire year using a Chromebook and not fire up my other computers.


RevDevil said:
I will recommend that if you do buy one, stay away from Acer. It's not a quality brand, and just like with knives, you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

I completely 100% disagree with this statement. In the Chromebook world, Acer makes a great product at a competitive price. You will see the Acer C720 ranked #1 or #2 in almost every Chromebook ranking on the web. My first hand experience mirrors the excellent reviews it gets on every internet retailer out there (4.5 stars on Amazon and Best Buy).
 
I use a HP14 Chromebook, They're fast browsing wise, they come with free apps some preloaded like Google docs, slides, and sheets.
They great for students I'm in community college.
 
I have one the silver Samsung, love it! Gets some getting g used to but handles about 90 percent of my tablet/laptop needs.
 
PS if you like to geek out acer does make an affordable version with a hard drive big enough to dual boot Linux Ubuntu or Linux puppt so you end up getting a full blown / featured laptop in one once you crack into developer mode. I did this with an original Google Chromebook but I had to reinstall it everytime an update occurred which is no longer get the case.
 
Is there a version of MS office that you can load on chrome? If not, I have absolutely no use for chrome. Just the way it is....
 
There's a stripped down version and office 365. You can also RDP into another PM as well.
 
I've been using PC's since the TRS-80, and now for most uses at home, I use a Toshiba Chromebook with 13" display. It serves well for web browsing; I use Google Drive for storing documents and Google Docs for most editing. I installed a few Chrome extensions like Hangouts for communicating with the family. I get great battery life and I'm almost always near wifi. I can run an extension called Secure Shell (SSH) to login to another PC if I need to do some programming, etc. I paid all of $140 for this machine, after a rebate, for a refurbished unit through an electronics shop on the Web. What a value!
 
If you already spend a fair amount of time using stuff like google docs, and all that, then go for it. for the price, they are quite good. As for acer, not my fav brand, but they have really picked up in the last few years, have been actually been doing their own RD and not just selling other people's gear full of bloatware. The chromebooks are far and away better than the netbooks of a few years ago. For getting online for a couple hundred bucks, go for it.
 
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