$149 Chromebooks • Hacker News Board

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#11

Post by na85 » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:50 PM UTC

I'd definitely consider using a Chromebook if the offline functionality works. My understanding from people I know working at Google is that the offline Docs and Gmail experience is pretty sub-par at the moment.

I guess if you pop out their SSD for a larger one it'd make a decent BSD netbook. Bitrig[0] is slowly but surely getting better.

[0] https://www.bitrig.org/

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#12

Post by raesene9 » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:52 PM UTC

dpcan wrote: post #6

Where is the $149 Windows-Based laptop with SSD, 2-4GB RAM, and moderate graphics, that can run your usual Office to Minecraft software? The Chromebook-killer from Microsoft should be here, but all I hear about are the Surfaces. Honestly, the only reason my kids don't have Chromebooks is because they don't easily run Minecraft or downloadable games. Sure they can do their school work on them, but they also like to pl…

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Stream-Laptop-Personal-Horizon/dp/B... HP Stream 11 is likely the closest to what you're looking for $199 so slightly more expensive, but a year of Office365 included...

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#13

Post by pronoiac » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:53 PM UTC

jhardcastle wrote: post #8

alexsop2 wrote: post #3

I think the bigger news here is the Chromebit. A $100 device that turns any monitor into a computer? Fascinating.

More details on Cnet - http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/asus-chromebit/ Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11AC, USB 2.0 for accessories, 2GB of RAM and 16GB SSD

> The Raspberry Pi is a nearly stick-like mini computer that can run Windows or Linux.

What? Is this about the future version of Windows that will run on ARM?

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#14

Post by discardorama » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:55 PM UTC

Can one wipe out a Chromebook and install Linux?

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#15

Post by jonknee » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:55 PM UTC

alexsop2 wrote: post #3

I think the bigger news here is the Chromebit. A $100 device that turns any monitor into a computer? Fascinating.

Similar offering to Intel's stick computer (albeit Intel's has better specs and costs 50% more):

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-c...

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#16

Post by exprL » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

pronoiac wrote: post #13

jhardcastle wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More details on Cnet - http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/asus-chromebit/ Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11AC, USB 2.0 for accessories, 2GB of RAM and 16GB SSD

> The Raspberry Pi is a nearly stick-like mini computer that can run Windows or Linux. What? Is this about the future version of Windows that will run on ARM?

Windows has been running on ARM since version 8 (the ARM-specific version was called Windows RT). Since then, Microsoft announced a “special” version of Windows that's intended for the new Raspberry Pi 2.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#17

Post by philip1209 » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:58 PM UTC

alexsop2 wrote: post #3

I think the bigger news here is the Chromebit. A $100 device that turns any monitor into a computer? Fascinating.

It seems like a good alternative to raspberry pis. We use these types of small computers to power dashboards, and frankly the Pis are a pain to set up for this purpose. I hope the Chromebit works well for just loading a website.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#18

Post by Zikes » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 5:59 PM UTC

discardorama wrote: post #14

Can one wipe out a Chromebook and install Linux?

Or dual-boot, even.

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-run-both-chrome-os-and-ubu...

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#19

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 6:01 PM UTC

dpcan wrote: post #6

Where is the $149 Windows-Based laptop with SSD, 2-4GB RAM, and moderate graphics, that can run your usual Office to Minecraft software? The Chromebook-killer from Microsoft should be here, but all I hear about are the Surfaces. Honestly, the only reason my kids don't have Chromebooks is because they don't easily run Minecraft or downloadable games. Sure they can do their school work on them, but they also like to pl…

[deleted]

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#20

Post by publicfig » Tue, Mar 31, 2015, 6:01 PM UTC

dpcan wrote: post #6

Where is the $149 Windows-Based laptop with SSD, 2-4GB RAM, and moderate graphics, that can run your usual Office to Minecraft software? The Chromebook-killer from Microsoft should be here, but all I hear about are the Surfaces. Honestly, the only reason my kids don't have Chromebooks is because they don't easily run Minecraft or downloadable games. Sure they can do their school work on them, but they also like to pl…

Minecraft is a pretty intensive application, don't be fooled just because the graphics seem to be less clean. There are lighter versions of Minecraft for different platforms, but those are often incredibly limited and only support the specific platform.