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View Full Version : Chrome book worth it for a small light laptop



gradius85
February 14th, 2019, 07:11 PM
I have never used a Chrome Book; however, I need something CHEAP!!! that is light and just enough to connect via Citrix HTML5 client.

In addition, I have read that Chrome OS can now run Android apps... how reliable is this service/feature?

I understand that mileage will very between users; however, I want to hear some GOOD and BAD stories using Chrome Books.

Frogs Hair
February 14th, 2019, 08:29 PM
Cons: Total relience on the Internet and app availability. There is little work or play chrome books can do off line.

him610
February 14th, 2019, 09:49 PM
I own a 2-in-1 Asus Chromebook CA302C that can be used like a normal computer with keyboard, or as a touchscreen tablet. It's a model Asus introduced last year so it's fairly new, but not the newest. It is my travel computer; it is replacing a 10-year old Acer Aspire One ZG5 Atom-powered Netbook.

Chrome OS can now run Android apps That is true. I have installed a few of my Android apps on the Asus CA302C and they work just fine.
What FrogsHair says is also true. Just like anything else, there are trade-offs. The places I normally use mine all have internet access, and one can also load up some ebooks into storage to read if one is without access to the internet.
There are several alternatives in the growing, competitive market that will get more economically friendly over the next few months.

gradius85
February 15th, 2019, 03:24 PM
Hmm.. thank you for the pointers and suggestions. Since it is Android is there a local copy of G Suits like on Android phones, that you can save locally and the upload/sync once you get on the Internet? I am just looking for something that can use some lite apps like G Suits: Doc and Sheets and do most of my work via the Internet though the Citrix HTML5 service.

coralof
February 15th, 2019, 03:37 PM
I used an ASUS Chromebook for a bit and just found it inadequate for all except simple browsing - which it what it's geared towards. You might be served better with a cheap HP Stream or something.

gradius85
February 15th, 2019, 06:35 PM
I used an ASUS Chromebook for a bit and just found it inadequate for all except simple browsing - which it what it's geared towards. You might be served better with a cheap HP Stream or something.

I will review the HP Stream model line; however, was the limitation in your case more hardware or OS?

Thank you

jdeca57
February 15th, 2019, 08:40 PM
I'm just answering on the first comment CHEAP: did you consider refurbished laptops such as a Dell Latitude E6430? That model is Ubuntu compatible (you may want to use Windows, but...) and is fast enough, and they still cost less than a new chromebook. Processor and memory is no problem. Hard disk may require a good backup strategy but if you intended to use the cloud...

exploder
February 16th, 2019, 11:31 PM
An Android talblet might suit your needs. I recently purchased a Lenovo 10.1 tablet for $129.00 and a 9.7 inch IPad for $270.00, they can both do most anything my laptop can do. I have seen nice tablets on eBay sell for very reasonable prices, add a nice Bluetooth keyboard and you are all set.

exploder
March 10th, 2019, 04:54 PM
I recently bought myself a acer 15 CB315-1HT-C9UA Chromebook with these specs: Celeron N3350, 4 GB RAM, 15.6 FHD IPS Multi Touch LCD Display, 32 GB eMMC and it's the sparkly silver model. I have always had a tough time finding a portable device that I really enjoyed using but I absolutely love this thing! The battery life blows away every single device I own, it lasts 14 hours! My HP 17 laptop barely lasts 3 hours.... The Chromebook is not all that heavy for it's size too.

For $329.00 this is a really nice laptop with features usually found in higher price hardware. It has a nice back lit keyboard and upward facing stereo speakers. I have never heard laptop speakers that had much volume but these put out really good sound! Chrome OS doesn't take up a lot of disk space, I still have 20 GB of space left to store my stuff and I can use an SD card for more storage.

I wanted something portable that I could do work on, watch my favorite shows on and not have to worry about running out of battery on. This Chromebook has quickly become my favorite computer and I would highly recommend checking at this particular model if you are interested in buying one.

mastablasta
March 11th, 2019, 09:34 AM
I'm just answering on the first comment CHEAP: did you consider refurbished laptops such as a Dell Latitude E6430?

they are not small and light though...

there was a debate here on small laptops: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/9h59pt/11_inch_laptop_with_good_linux_compatibility/

however from experience i know it is better to have light 12 or 13" one.

i have Pavilion Dm1 with E-450. it came with win7 home, but worked out of the box on linux. it is really fast especially on linux (i setup a dualboot). i mean fast enough for doing all the work. for the money i paid at the time it was a really good deal. with the AMD GPU chip it is even able to play some old games (left4dead, UT2004, Morrowind...). it came with 2Gb ram though this could be upgraded up to 8 GB. never came around to do it.

i am sure they have lighter and similar versions now. mine has classic HDD and battery is quite large. this makes it weigh a bit over 1.5 kg. at the time of purchase it could do about 7 hours on that CPU, but i am sure now this kind of setup could be made lighter and more effective. not sure where they are with the linux compatibility now. but if i wanted a cheap portable machine for work i would get something similar.

makitso
March 12th, 2019, 02:24 PM
I have a love hate relationship with Chromebooks. To me, the biggest problem with them is that your totally at the mercy of Google. Case in point, last week Skype stopped working on Chromebooks [political fighting between MS and Google]. Turns out that Microsoft stopped supporting it on Chromebooks. Yes, there is a workaround [user agent] but my point is that Google just ups and changes things with little notice nor concern about user impact.

Tadaen_Sylvermane
March 13th, 2019, 04:49 AM
I've been debating switching to a Chromebook. For my use case, they seem perfect. As long as I can use Docs / Sheets offline and have a couple Android apps I rely on, it will work for me. Trying to simplify my computer life, quite complicated right now. I am stuck in Google's walled garden so it seems a natural choice for me. Crouton if I absolutely need it (gnucash).

mastablasta
March 13th, 2019, 02:37 PM
I have a love hate relationship with Chromebooks. To me, the biggest problem with them is that your totally at the mercy of Google. Case in point, last week Skype stopped working on Chromebooks [political fighting between MS and Google]. Turns out that Microsoft stopped supporting it on Chromebooks. Yes, there is a workaround [user agent] but my point is that Google just ups and changes things with little notice nor concern about user impact.


this is also one of the issues in opencourse apps and operating system. many just come and go or change on a whim, while businesses want reliability and stability.