Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My favorite device is a Chromebook

kokada.capivaras.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 90 posts

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#71

Post by finlake »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #24

My favorite device used to be a Chromebook. I got a maxed out Pixelbook in 2018 and I loved it, especially as Crostini got better and better over the years. It was my primary dev laptop and I loved using it. I think we know where this is going... Like many other things Google over the past decade, it died on the vine - IIRC Google killed their Chromebook devices group a couple years ago. I would have loved a Pixelboo…

What about recently released ASUS ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook?

https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/chromebook/asus-expert...

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#73

Post by kokada »

0x38B wrote: post #42
nextos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too. I posted this blog, despite I prefer Linux, as I found it intriguing.

The message I got was that your device doesn’t have to be perfect to be satisfied with it; paradoxically, I’d wager the OP is more satisfied with his ChromeOS setup than others are with much more expensive devices.

Yes, author of the post here.

BTW, I have a 500EUR Thinkpad (P14s Gen 1 AMD) that I like very much but it is heavier, the fans spins often and the battery life is bad (like, 2 hours in a good day).

So definitely in a whole other league. I bought this Thinkpad thinking that I would bring everywhere, but after trying to get the battery life to something acceptable and never getting at a good level, I decided to just forget it and leave at my desk. I still love the fact that I can get a 8 core CPU in such a small profile and have 40GB of RAM, but if you ask me which device I would bring in a trip... well, you know the answer already ;).

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#74

Post by LucidLynx »

I have the same Chromebook since a few weeks now (got it in sales at 299 euros in France) and... it is my favorite device too.

First, the build quality is very nice for 299 euros. It does not feel weak or "plastic" at all. It comes with an ok keyboard and, imoo, a "meh" touchpad. The keyboard offers a nice protection to the chromebook.

Most of Android apps work well on this device, on both smartphone & tablet settings.

I can open a shell on a Debian distribution using LXC, do my light coding on it without any issue, and then go back to native web apps like YouTube in tablet mode once I finish coding...

2-in-1 chromebooks are really what iPad failed to do for me: both media consumption and light coding when I need to, with a very good battery life (6 to 8h depending of my needs). Also, I can plug in via USB-C on my external screen and work on external screen without any issue.

Imoo ChromeOS is really the best "it-just-works" Linux machine since a while, and I really hope Google will continue to maintain this great system (and ecosystem, plugged with my Android phone) for a while!

The CPU is a bit weak for heavy coding, and the audio is just "ok" for media consumption, but otherwise I really love this device!

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#75

Post by kokada »

SamuelAdams wrote: post #9

I think what is always lacking in these reviews is: compared to what? I’m always curious to see what other devices authors have used prior to this “best device”. For example, I started with a 2010 MacBook Pro, then a T430 Thinkpad, then a dell, then a desktop computer, then Apple finally fixed the butterfly keyboard so now I use a 2021 MacBook Pro. In my experience nothing comes close to the trackpad of the MacBook.…

Hello, author of the post here.

I never said best device, I said favorite device. I have a work MacBook Pro 16'' M2 Pro (what the f* is the name scheme of Apple nowadays, but I disgress), that of course is miles better than this device, but even if it was mine I would never bring it in say, a short trip. It is simple too big and too heavy.

The fact is this device small and lightweight, so I leave this at my nightstand since it doesn't occupy too much space, and ends up being always there when I want to do a quick coding session or write in this blog. Compare this with my heavier laptops that never leave my desk because they're too big.

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#76

Post by kokada »

sedatk wrote: post #66

> And what I think makes ChromeOS really powerful is Crostini, a full Linux VM that you can run inside ChromeOS. It runs Debian (it seems you can run other distros though) with a deep integration with ChromeOS, so you can run even graphical programs without issues (including OpenGL!) Agreed. WSL2 makes Windows really powerful too.

Author of the post here.

WSL2 is not even in the same league of Crostini integration though.

Also I find Windows really annoying nowadays. In desktops I much prefer to use NixOS with a minimal window manager (i3/Sway/Hyprland).

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#77

Post by kokada »

rationalfaith wrote: post #17

"And what I think makes ChromeOS really powerful is Crostini, a full Linux VM that you can run inside ChromeOS".... This is akin to the person that uses their left hand to touch their right ear.... Both MacOS and Windows offer that without all constraints and privacy negligent services from Google/Alphabet.

Neither macOS nor Windows offers the deep Linux integration you get with Crostini (macOS doesn't run Linux apps, while WSL2 is good it doesn't offer the same integration as Crostini).

And modern version of Windows are much more of a privacy nightmare than ChromeOS, just take a look at the Windows Recall for example.

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#78

Post by koonsolo »

SamuelAdams wrote: post #9

I think what is always lacking in these reviews is: compared to what? I’m always curious to see what other devices authors have used prior to this “best device”. For example, I started with a 2010 MacBook Pro, then a T430 Thinkpad, then a dell, then a desktop computer, then Apple finally fixed the butterfly keyboard so now I use a 2021 MacBook Pro. In my experience nothing comes close to the trackpad of the MacBook.…

In my experience, the MacBook features a trackpad, sound system and battery life that no other laptop comes close to supporting, let alone all 3 of them.

I'm a heavy Linux user, but my next laptop will be a MacBook.

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#79

Post by moondev »

rationalfaith wrote: post #17

"And what I think makes ChromeOS really powerful is Crostini, a full Linux VM that you can run inside ChromeOS".... This is akin to the person that uses their left hand to touch their right ear.... Both MacOS and Windows offer that without all constraints and privacy negligent services from Google/Alphabet.

What is the mac version of WSL or Crostini?

Re: My favorite device is a Chromebook

#80

Post by amadeuspagel »

I used a chromebook for a long time for travel while I was using a linux desktop at home. I've now switched to a macbook as the only device I use due to apple silicon and the macbook being the only laptop I could order with a QWERTY keyboard in germany. Still there are many things I miss from the chromebook:

- touchscreen

- alt+tab

- proper fullscreen mode

- linux VM

- no annoyances like apple music or "look this up" popping up randomly

An entire category of things I miss are things that make tabbed browsing more pleasant. ChromeOS is the only OS that seems designed for that:

- swipe to cycle through tabs

- triple tap to open in a new tab

- move pointer to the top to select other tabs, in effect giving you an infinitely tall tab bar, like MacOS has an infinitely tall menu bar[1]

I hope there will be chromebooks with snapdragon x elite chips and Google will figure out distribution like Apple (order and choose keyboard layout online and pick up at a store).

[1]: https://blog.codinghorror.com/fitts-law-and-infinite-width/

Post reply on HN