Wow that's ugly, all the bad memories of the netbook era just came flooding back....
$149 Chromebooks
81–90 of 425 posts
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#82I'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/
I bought a Chromebook Pixel 2015. The first thing it asks, when you turn it on, is for an Internet connection. You cannot go past the first-boot panel until you give it internet access, then agree to Google's ToS which says you'll let them auto-install updates at anytime, and then let it try to download updates from Google. Then you must log in to a Google account. I didn't bother with ChromeOS enough to see how well…
I don't know about modern chromebooks, but I have an Acer C7 that I spent $199 on and then added another $240 for it to have a 128GB SSD, 16GB RAM, a working bluetooth module, and an upgraded battery. $440 total and it's been a solid dev machine running first chrubuntu and now crouton. I've mentioned before that the only issue I've had with it is lack of CPU horsepower for clojure-based work to get into the REPL, which as I understand, is slightly fixed on later iterations (or other models). All of my hardware (AFAICT) works under Linux, and I use Google Hangouts, Skype, Steam (for TFC), and vim/tmux on it routinely.
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#83The most important thing of these Chromebooks, at least for me, is the quality of the touchpad and keyboard, as if I ever get one they will be used mainly for typing stuff/chatting. There is a reason why I still us an almost decade-old Lenovo Thinkpad R61 as a reserve machine and something that I can use outside/on the go. Granted it is a big heavy but for me, it's worth it. So, is there a chromebook, that can offer…
The touchpad on the Chromebook Pixel (the annoyingly expensive one) is high end. Large glass multitouch touchpad. I doubt you'd be satisfied with the keyboard though.
So I think the answer is probably "No." The most expensive one available doesn't have a good keyboard by 60-series era Thinkpad standards, so I would be surprised if any do.
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#84Earlier 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
Wow. AC wireless in a $100 device. Now I'm interested. What does it do for power? Through the USB port like most other similar devices I'm assuming?
It apparently has a full-size USB and microUSB port for power purposes.
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#85Where 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…
Microsoft isn't as good at collecting and reselling all of your personal information, so have to charge the actual cost of the hardware.
These devices are made by other companies not Google. How do they profit from advertisement. Are you implying that Google pays these companies when they sell their own devices with Google software in it?
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#86The Chromebit is probably the most exciting thing in that post for me. I wonder if it'll be this time that a company gets the plug-n-play PC right. I remember the big promises Ubuntu Phone, for example, made in this department.
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#87I 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.
I'm pretty sure it'll be good at that :)
For dashboards and kiosks, there might be of use:
https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/3134673?hl=en
http://googleforwork.blogspot.com/2015/03/screens-go-Google-...
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#88I really enjoy my Samsung Chromebook 2. The only thing I wish it had more of is computing power, RAM and screen space. Too bad there aren't very many 15" 8GB RAM Chromebooks on the market which makes the Chromebook Pixel 2 all the more painful to lust after, despite it not being 15". TL;DR. Crouton + Chromebook FTnearW! (Would still like to keep the secure boot, though.)
I do well with the Toshiba Chromebook 2.
Intel Celeron N2840 Gorgeous IPS 1920x1080 screen.
It is a lovely machine.
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
If I remember correctly, it's more of a runtime for some .NET programs with access to the Pi's GPIO pins than a full-fledged OS.
Re: $149 Chromebooks
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
advertising is selling your information to advertisers.
Google is NOT in the business of selling information to advertisers. They're in the business of choosing who to advertise products to based on the information they collect and hold onto. There is a significant difference between the two.
Google is the advertiser. Just replace the word 'Google' with 'Doubleclick'. It starts to make sense.
When you use mail.doubleclick.com for your email, and www.doubleclick.com to search the web, all from your DoubleClick based phone, its pretty easy to understand the situation.