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2015 Chromebook Pixel

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Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#291
post #52
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 8-16 GB RAM for what? For a ton of Chrome tabs. > only 32-64 GB SSD? You're expected to store all data on Google servers.

> For a ton of Chrome tabs. Or one Facebook tab.

You'll want the 16 GB version if you ever run facebook and g+ at the same time.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#292

I'm not sure why this is better than the cheapest macbook air?Similar battery life, similar processor. 4gb more memory, smaller hard drive. And the cheapest pixel is $100 more. What do I get for that $100? For me the downsides are: can only use apps from the chrome web store, no unix command line (maybe it exists and I don't know?). I'm really happy someone is trying to compete, but not sure why I would buy this.

If you want a full featured local linux command line, you can switch to developer mode and install one in a chroot via something like https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton This does sidestep some of the security features of the device, but it's fine if you really want it. Or you can just ssh somewhere.

I found OSX with MacPorts to be quite enough most of the time. I can run editors and such on the Mac side and test the application from within a small VM.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This URL works from Germany: http://www.google.com/chromebook/pixel/

I can see the page from Germany, but the "BUY NOW" button gives me a 404 page in German: Die angeforderte URL wurde auf diesem Server nicht gefunden. Weitere Informationen liegen nicht vor.

The 'Buy Now' is giving me a 404 in New Zealand.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can you use VMWare on a chromebook?

The newer versions of VMware are html based instead of using the thick client. Managing them and accessing the console should work in theory. Also the Citrix receiver and Remote Desktop clients both work well on the newer chromebooks. If you mean running vms I would consider a more powerful machine with more ram and a supported operating system.

Too bad that VMWare still hasn't upgraded their VMWare Integration plugin to use the new plugin architecture for Chrome, and that Adobe no longer makes Flash for Linux because right now the only way I can manage my VMWare/vCenter is using the Freshplayerplugin that wraps the Pepper Flash version that comes bundled with Chrome so that I can have the VMWare integration plugin function so that I can upload/download OVF's.

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Suffice to say, the newer versions of VMWare are not HTML based. It's a full on Flash application.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, you're not running VMWare on the Pixel either (i don't think?). I'm skeptical that it is even a problem for just about anything you can actually run on the OS. It's a Chromebook afterall, running disk-utilizing programs is not it's design speciality. Sure, you could dump Linux on it - but i'm not sure how many would choose a Pixel over some other highend brands for a Linux machine. I believe the disk is m…

Surely a majority of people buying this won't be running the actual Chromebook system on it? What application can you even run on that system that would use 8GiB of RAM and an i5? And last I checked, you couldn't even run Skype on it, so I mean I just come up pretty much empty for the set of people willing to run Chromebook the OS and buy a 1k machine to do it. Since Chromebook is Linux under the hood, they'll presum…

> couldn't even run Skype on it

Hangouts?

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#297

Jesus, designing a usable ultrabook must be very difficult. We have one contender from California, but their ideology has them offer just a single USB-C port. Now we get the competitor from Mountain View, who have rightly recognized the need for more than one fucking port when that's how you charge the damn thing, and what do they decide? Oh yeah, we'll top out storage at 64GiB.

That's because you're supposed to store all your data on Google servers (this is not sarcasm).

For 1000 USD however this is ridiculous. Just go DELL or Asus or similar. The XPS13 is excellent for example, come with proper ports, disk space, is light, is fast, has long battery life, has great screen, etc.

Getting an Apple or Google ultra-light laptop just because they're big, rich, trendy companies doesn't seem like a great idea this year. Maybe they'll catch up next year.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#298
post #244

I'm not sure why this is better than the cheapest macbook air?Similar battery life, similar processor. 4gb more memory, smaller hard drive. And the cheapest pixel is $100 more. What do I get for that $100? For me the downsides are: can only use apps from the chrome web store, no unix command line (maybe it exists and I don't know?). I'm really happy someone is trying to compete, but not sure why I would buy this.

I don't know a single person in real life that has a chromebook. Who is buying these?

People I know who aren't interested in computing per se.

They are buying them for children (to avoid malware and viruses and the general cruft of maintaining an OS), and for themselves (because, again, viruses and cruft).

Meanwhile, this OP may well be about a very expensive Chromebook but the other killer advantage of them is they're very lightweight, have very long battery life, and are VERY cheap. If you're sick of Windows and the fact that it just gets slower and slower over time (and everybody is), and you're not the sort of person who has 30 tabs open (which is more or less everybody but us), and you actually need to have a device you can type on, then they're great.

I recommend them to most 'civilians' I know after making sure they don't actually need one of the few things it can't handle.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#299

Jesus, designing a usable ultrabook must be very difficult. We have one contender from California, but their ideology has them offer just a single USB-C port. Now we get the competitor from Mountain View, who have rightly recognized the need for more than one fucking port when that's how you charge the damn thing, and what do they decide? Oh yeah, we'll top out storage at 64GiB.

What most people have missed is that USB allows charging and data over the same port. So you can easily get a power adapter that has a charging tip which has on the same cord another USB-C port (socket) which you can plug into your display chain, or port replicator or what not. In Apple's case I fully expect they will make it so that when you plug your Apple display into your laptop it also charges it since the charg…

At this point, I find this whole thing funny. Again.

How many times has Apple done this in modern times? Remember the outrage when Apple removed floppy disk drives? Optical drives? Ethernet ports? Remember how mad everyone got when Apple replaced their old, thick connector on the iPhone 5? Nobody complains about how thin their phone is now that the old 30pin connector is no longer the limiting factor on size. Nobody is bemoaning the fact that they can't watch a DVD on their laptop - we've moved on from optical media.

Nobody will even bother examining the bellyaching about this in a couple of years because we'll all be so happy with the obvious (in hindsight) decision to switch to USB-C.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#300
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought this years XPS 13 from Dell looked really slick. When it comes out in Sputnik mode it will definitely be the Linux notebook of the year.

"Sputnik mode"?

Sputnik mode = Laptop loaded with Ubuntu (Developer's Edition)
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