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$149 Chromebooks

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Re: $149 Chromebooks

#181

Post by bobajeff »

Sanddancer wrote: post #160
higherpurpose wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $150 Windows-based laptop would be a crappy netbook. Chrome should run significantly better on Chrome OS than it does on Windows or IE does on Windows for that matter. Also, Chromebooks usually seem to be targeted at kids or tech illiterate folks who don't want the complexity of Windows. Even a $99 Windows machine won't change that. And what about the security of Chrome OS? It's "virtually" unhackable, while Window…

I've got a $100 tablet and $30 bluetooth keyboard running windows. This means that I have a small form factor machine that I can develop on, and with a usb otg cord, I can connect to near anything I want. Finally, it comes with a real bios, so I can install whatever operating system I want on it, without doing silly things like removing screws.

I would like more details on this. What kind of development are you doing? What was the specific tablet and bluetooth keyboard you got?

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#182

Post by tluyben2 »

josefresco wrote: post #22
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…

$149 is ridiculously cheap and I don't think Microsoft wants, or should want to operate in that market. At the $200-$300 price range there are many Windows choices - most with significantly better hardware and features. Microsoft: Leave the sub $200 market to others and leverage your online services to sell to those consumers.

I have a few $300 Windows 8.1 machines and although they might have objectively better hardware, my Chromebook is nicer to work with. It feels a lot less flaky than some of the Asus and Acer $300-350 machines with Windows imho.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#183

Post by SwellJoe »

hyperpallium wrote: post #153
SwellJoe wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes, all it takes to be disruptive is to be cheaper. "What market does the Chromebook create that a $200 netbook didn't already create?" I prefer to think we mostly find markets rather than create them, generally speaking. Chromebook may find a market in India or Africa or China. Places where a mobile device was everybody's first experience with personal computing, so the idea of it being intimately tied to the…

I think MS's reaction will be interesting. When linux netbooks came out, they aggressively discounted Windows for them, fending off the linux threat from below. MS/intel already have some incredibly cheap tablets (and Windows 8.1 reportedly runs well on them). Seems logical that MS will discount again. All they have to lose is everything.

That was an interesting, and scary, wielding of their power actually. I'm happy they don't have quite that much power anymore.

The reason I say it was scary was that it was a moment in time where you could watch a class of computers from one generation to the next get worse because of limits imposed by Microsoft on OEMs. I bought a Dell Mini 9 just before they switched to the Mini 10. The Mini 10 actually had half the memory capacity of the Mini 9 (1GB vs 2GB in the Mini 9), because Microsoft defined "netbook" to have a maximum memory size and CPU power, which was lower than what netbooks had already climbed up to. Microsoft didn't want to see their margins decrease on "real" computers, but didn't want to cede the low end market to Linux. They saw the power of cheap then, and will probably see the power of cheap now. The difference is they don't have enough clout with enough manufacturers to dumb down these small computers.

So, yeah, I'd be surprised if they don't respond. They already have very low cost Windows Phone licenses in order to compete with Android (but it's not really working). Honestly, I believe we're entering a post-Microsoft world, even on the desktop. It'll be five or ten more years before Windows is no longer commonly seen, but it's already not really a foregone conclusion that computers should have Windows on them.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#184

Post by kps »

Animats wrote: post #165

Can you run those things as a pure Linux system, without any tie to Google? I have an application where I run a Python program that needs WiFi and a USB port, but nothing else. I'm using old EEEpc 2G Surfs now, but they're getting old.

If you have a forget-in-the-back-of-the-closet application, you might do well simply switching to a ChromiumOS build. http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#185

Post by andmalc »

nemexy wrote: post #79

The 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…

Well the Pixel of course, but the Levovo Chromebook Yoga 11e is widely said to have the next best keyboard and I haven't heard any complaints about the touchpad. It runs around $450 US so pricier than most.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#186

Post by ctz »

bmsleight wrote: post #141
ctz wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, just this week a purchased a HP Stream 7 Signature edition for £50 (~=$50). Microsoft is definitely in the market.

£50 !=$50 £50 ~=$75 https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=50gbp+to+usd

For technology, the currency difference is almost entirely lost in poorer buying power and tax inclusive pricing.

eg. a 5K iMac is 2499 USD and 1999 GBP. That makes it about 3000 USD. Using that basis, the £50 tablet would retail in the US at 60 USD.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#187

Post by Mikeb85 »

na85 wrote: post #125
Karunamon wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really, we're in a day and age where most people can do their daily activities on the web. The usual "word processing, research, facebook" student load, for instance? A dedicated physical machine powerful enough to run even MS Word locally is a waste of money in this instance. Access to the global information network and ability to use things on it is step 0 in getting people into the modern era. All that other stuff…

Not everyone lives in a first-world country where ubiquitous internet access via wifi hotspots has been implemented, and not everyone can afford a 3G plan.

In the third world, internet access is more common than you think... My wife's family gets more reliable internet and wireless coverage than they do electricity or plumbing. When I went down there, you could go to a textile shop or open air market and I'd pick up open WiFi hotspots..m

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#188

Post by VikingCoder »

TheTaO wrote: post #168
jdietrich wrote: post #94

This is a colossal, market-moving play from Google. Look at the brand names. TRUE, XOLO, Nexian. Recognise them? Consumers in Thailand, India and Indonesia do - they are local smartphone brands. Look at the promo video. Notice how many Asian faces there are? This isn't about cheap Chromebooks, it's about a major strategic effort to court the global middle class. As with the Android One initiative, Google are seeking…

> This is a colossal, market-moving play from Google. Is it that or is it just an effort to stay relevant? If you can get a laptop/tablet that can do the same thing that this Chromebook does and has a full OS for a few bucks more, would you do it? There are tons of tablets from HP/Dell that cost 100-200$ and run full windows OS and have comparable specs to the Chromebooks. As far as I know they are selling quite well…

> If you can get a laptop/tablet that can do the same thing that this Chromebook does

That's not remotely true.

When my grandparents and parents ask me what computer they should get, or my in-laws ask what they should get their kids, I'm going to seriously consider Chromebooks. If they need to run Office, or Minecraft, clearly it's not a fit. But for the tweeting / facebooking / gmailing universe, a Chromebook is a very nice box.

And the number of zero-day exploits, viruses, keyboard loggers is way smaller for a Chrome OS machine. And the update process is a painless reboot. And I'm not helping them try to read data off of a dead hard drive (because it's in the cloud.) And if they want a second or a third, all of their data is visible on all of them. And the battery is great, the wifi works great, the build quality is great. Get them hooked up with two-factor protection, and their accounts and data are pretty well protected.

You're viewing the Chrome OS machines and their competitors, from a tech-savvy super-user standpoint. Many people don't need, don't want, and are hindered by that flexibility and power.

The maintenance cost on a "full OS" is higher than the maintenance cost on a Chrome OS. Period.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#189

Post by mcpherrinm »

ams6110 wrote: post #147
Kevguy wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a cheap Samsung Chromebook ($250 in 2013). I've never had a problem browsing with 10+ tabs open and watching hulu at the same time. It is not going to run Visual Studio of course, but it is quite capable for browsing/videos/word processing/etc.

How usable/practical is it without a WiFi connection?

What do you want to do offline? You can install chrome and turn off your internet connection today and find out how well it works for you.

Browse https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/apps?_feature=of... to get a list of apps that are available that work offline.

Re: $149 Chromebooks

#190

Post by ntakasaki »

TheTaO wrote: post #168
jdietrich wrote: post #94

This is a colossal, market-moving play from Google. Look at the brand names. TRUE, XOLO, Nexian. Recognise them? Consumers in Thailand, India and Indonesia do - they are local smartphone brands. Look at the promo video. Notice how many Asian faces there are? This isn't about cheap Chromebooks, it's about a major strategic effort to court the global middle class. As with the Android One initiative, Google are seeking…

> This is a colossal, market-moving play from Google. Is it that or is it just an effort to stay relevant? If you can get a laptop/tablet that can do the same thing that this Chromebook does and has a full OS for a few bucks more, would you do it? There are tons of tablets from HP/Dell that cost 100-200$ and run full windows OS and have comparable specs to the Chromebooks. As far as I know they are selling quite well…

It's sad to see folks celebrating computing devices that are more extremely locked down than even the iDevices. A Windows PC/laptop is much more open than a Chromebook.

Can Mozilla even make a Firefox browser for ChromeOS? Only Google can make system and native apps, unlike the iDevices where you can access most of the native functionality even if you have to go through Apple's approval and you're not forced to upload all your information into Google's cloud with paltry local storage like 64GB on even a 1500 dollar machine where the information is mined by Google and is accessible to various parties like the Government. They now even track which retail stores people visit using their Android phones or iPhones. http://digiday.com/platforms/google-tracking/

Looks like user and developer freedom are a big concern only when Apple or Microsoft infringe it(even though Win32 is much more open than ChromeOS, after all Google exploited it with the Chrome browser and bundling it with Flash and Java updates), but Google gets a free pass to lock everything down and still call itself open.

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