Chromebook

N918KT

N918KT

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Has anyone heard about Google's Chromebook laptop? Any pros or cons about this laptop? I heard that a number of computer manufacturers make Chromebook and they use the Chrome OS. I even heard they are cheaper than some laptops especially the Macbook Pro and Air and the Chromebook is mostly cloud based.

Is it even worth spending the money on? I've been thinking of switching to a more low-end laptop (in terms of functionality) because I really don't need a CD or Blue-Ray drive or other unnecessary features and I mostly use the computer for online purposes. Is Chromebook worth getting?
 
It really depends on how much your privacy is worth to you and how long you might remain disconnected from the Internet. If you are a type who knows what PGP is, Chromebook is not for you. Otherwise, go for it, it's fine. It's basically an iPad with keyboard that costs 1/4th of iPad before the keyboard.
 
I wouldn't get one, but for my 95 year old mother, it works fine. We got her a Verizon hot spot so she's connected practically everywhere she goes. You've got to buy into Goggle's idea of how things should be done which is NOT intuitive at all. She only needed email and a browser, so for the price it was the answer.
 
They do the basics fine, bought my daughter one 2 years ago. No problems there are a few PC things they can't do. For email, or being a web zombie they are fine. Iirc none of the MS office stuff works, of course there is the google version of everything. You can spend more and give all your secrets to Apple instead.:rolleyes2:
 
Chromebooks are fine and can fulfill some peoples' need. But it does not run windows or windows software. There are chrome equivalents for many applications. The intent is to run much/most things from the web, so a Internet connection is needed. There is very little space on the Chromebooks, as they assume you'll be using "the cloud" to store stuff.
 
I bought a Chromebook two years ago with the intent of writing with it while in meetings or press conferences. I think I've used it for that once; my iPad is much handier.
 
I've had an HP Chromebook for almost a year. It is perfect at what it does, which is all things internet related. Email, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, POA, our hotel's front desk software, our surveillance system -- ALL are Cloud based, and thus perfect on the Chromebook.

For those who disparage it for not running Windows software, I would point out that this is its STRENGTH. I've grown so accustomed to the speed and flawless nature of Android apps that I can barely stand to use our last remaining Windows PC, which is clunky, slow, and buggy by comparison.

For those who disparage it in favor of a tablet, I would disagree. I LOVE my tablet, but there are simply some things that are best done on a full-sized keyboard. The Chromebook fills this bill perfectly.

The Chromebook boots up in less than 20 seconds. It has NEVER crashed. It is fast and flawless at what it does, and cost less than $200 bucks. What's not to like?
 
I had Kindle Fire (which I left behind on an airliner), and Kindle Fire HD, which I retired a couple of weeks ago. The biggest problem with Fire for me is the unavailability of Google Play market, and not having Chrome officially. Fire allows to side-load APKs without rooting, but it's still bothersome. I was very glad to get rid of Fire in favour of Nexus 7. Note that Nexus includes GPS receiver, so you can run Naviator without an extra receiver.
 
CT4ME said:
Chromebooks are fine and can fulfill some peoples' need. But it does not run windows or windows software. There are chrome equivalents for many applications. The intent is to run much/most things from the web, so a Internet connection is needed. There is very little space on the Chromebooks, as they assume you'll be using "the cloud" to store stuff.
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So they just store all of your documents directly on the NSA servers? :rofl:
 
zaitcev said:
I had Kindle Fire (which I left behind on an airliner), and Kindle Fire HD, which I retired a couple of weeks ago. The biggest problem with Fire for me is the unavailability of Google Play market, and not having Chrome officially. Fire allows to side-load APKs without rooting, but it's still bothersome. I was very glad to get rid of Fire in favour of Nexus 7. Note that Nexus includes GPS receiver, so you can run Naviator without an extra receiver.
Click to expand...

Funny how that works... one man's problem is another man's reason-to-buy.

-Rich
 
bartmc said:
Kindles are much more intrusive than anything google puts out. It's a Handheld marketing machine.
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Of course is it. I don't disagree at all. The difference is that I like Amazon.

Amazon is useful to me. Amazon sells me stuff that I like. Quite often, that stuff is stuff that I can't find elsewhere. They charge me fair prices for that stuff, and they ship that stuff incredibly quickly.

On the one occasion when the stuff Amazon sent me was not to my satisfaction, they promptly refunded my money within minutes of my handing that stuff to a driver, who was sent by Amazon, at their expense, on the very same day that I expressed my dissatisfaction with the stuff.

Amazon works pretty hard at making sure that people are happy with the stuff they buy, that's for sure.

Of course, Amazon does this because they want people to keep buying stuff from them; and to that end, they use any means available to suggest new stuff for me to buy. But I don't mind because the stuff they suggest for me is almost always stuff that I really like and have been looking for; and better yet, it's usually on sale when they tell me about it!

So I really don't mind Amazon collecting information about me because they use that information to suggest stuff that is useful to me. That makes Amazon useful to me -- which is not something I can say about Google.

-Rich
 
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Nexus does everything Kindle does, and you can still buy all the Amazon junk you want from it. But it also does more, like actually running Naviator, not to mention Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls and whatnot.
 
zaitcev said:
Nexus does everything Kindle does, and you can still buy all the Amazon junk you want from it. But it also does more, like actually running Naviator, not to mention Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls and whatnot.
Click to expand...

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not a huge Google fan.

-Rich
 
I miss my Z22 Palm Pilot
I don't miss my Apple Newton
I turned in my Apple iPad 10" for a refund -- good riddance
I occasionally use my ACER 10" tablet
I frequently use my Nexus 7" tablet
I continuously use my Nexus 5" phone
I'm writing this on my 10 year old ACER laptop with windows.
 
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I just sold Verizon my old Samsung Galaxy S3 (they gave me $55 for it) and got the new S5.

Holy crappola! This phone is amazing. I took a video with it last night that seriously threatens my GoPro for video quality -- and exceeds it in audio quality.

I never charged it, out of the box, and used it all day. THAT is a nice improvement. It seems to connect to the internet more readily, both on 4G and WiFi, not that the S3 was a slouch in that regard.

And that screen. Oh, my, it's like a portal into an alternate reality. I held it up next to an iPhone, and laughed. What in the world is Apple thinking?

Between that, my Nexus 7, and my Chromebook (oh, and our Windows 8.1 PC, which I try to never use) I've got connectivity (and aviation apps) in spades.
 
Jay Honeck said:
....
And that screen. Oh, my, it's like a portal into an alternate reality. I held it up next to an iPhone, and laughed. What in the world is Apple thinking?

...
Click to expand...

should be interesting IF apple announces a new, large screen iphone this fall.
 
My Chromebook experience is limited, but my wife bought and Acer one a few weeks ago and I played with it for 10 minutes. Most apps are cloud-based, so you have to put your trust in that (not a problem for us, privacy is a joke today no matter what you do). For email and web, maybe some Google Docs stuff it's great. If you want Office and Adobe, not so much. It's small, light, has descent battery. For the price, I don't think you can beat it.

For her, she wants to develop in Python, and the Chromebook allows her to dual-boot or "simu-boot" into Linux and literally Alt+Tab from one OS to the other. Pretty slick, and much more effective than rebooting all the time.
 
flightwriter said:
I bought a Chromebook two years ago with the intent of writing with it while in meetings or press conferences. I think I've used it for that once; my iPad is much handier.
Click to expand...
I have a serious question for you though. If you have to compose one of your aviation writings, do you actually do it on the iPad? If yes, do you use external keyboard or poke into the on-screen one?
 
I went to look at those Chromebooks this season and it looks like a total loss.

First, they are PCs, just wery poorly specced: 2BG RAM, 16 GB SSD. But the worst is, they use an Intel Celeron. So, the claimed battery life is bunk as soon as you find an app that hogs CPU, and you get it on ridiculously slow platform. I happen to use Chrome apps on both regular laptop with Chrome and on a tablet, and my laptop with i3 outperforms a 2014 Nexus 7.

This brings us to the second point: they are awfuly obsolete. The 1366x768 screen is an utter joke, they are selling tablets nowadays that are twice that, or more. There are ARM CPUs in tablets that approach common laptop performance, but use less power. It looks that Google weren't updating the reference design for Chromebooks at least since 2012 if not before.
 
As an update, an ARM-based Chromebook does in fact exist. Google was unable or unwilling to make brand OEMs to resell it, so it's Google-branded and available through Google Play only under the moniker "Chromebook Pixel". The specs are pretty decent, in comparison to contemporary tablets. But at $1,299 price, I don't see many people buying it.
 
Chromebooks are internet portals -- period.

In that regard, they excel. I use mine every day, and, at $200, regard it as disposable.
 
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