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Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

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Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#11

Post by xemdetia »

hyperman1 wrote: post #4

I've wondered about this a while ago: Is it possible to do real work on an android or chromebook device. I'm on trains, busses, ... a lot, in general without internet. And I just take a laptop. Dont care about mac win or linux. I do some bookkeeping in a spreadsheet, or some programming, I write some text. I hate to do anything productive on this (cheap) smartphone. No keyboard or mouse, basic software is missing,...…

I prefer a small factor notebook (or netbook if they become relevant again) with as long battery life as I can find. As soon as the smartphone breaks down I pull out the compact laptop and do what I need to do. I haven't seen any reason to do anything else that isn't a hyperspecific kludge. Especially when you are issued a work laptop.

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#12

Post by chewz »

hyperman1 wrote: post #4

I've wondered about this a while ago: Is it possible to do real work on an android or chromebook device. I'm on trains, busses, ... a lot, in general without internet. And I just take a laptop. Dont care about mac win or linux. I do some bookkeeping in a spreadsheet, or some programming, I write some text. I hate to do anything productive on this (cheap) smartphone. No keyboard or mouse, basic software is missing,...…

Termux on Android plus Apple Bluetooth keyboard plus Chromecast to anything with HDMI port is the most compact / portable enviroment I have. And quite powerful with latest VIM, node, nvm, Go, awscli, gcloud and whatever you like.

For everyday work I use ChromeOS on MacPro 13 and 10 year old Thinkpad x230. With Debian sid in chroot. All apps work in GUI (so in Chrome as apps) like Instagram, Tinder, Spotify, Youtube Music, even MS Word. There is also VirtualBox included.

I haven't used Windows laptop in 10 years or so. What am I missing?

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#13

Post by liveoneggs »

hyperman1 wrote: post #4

I've wondered about this a while ago: Is it possible to do real work on an android or chromebook device. I'm on trains, busses, ... a lot, in general without internet. And I just take a laptop. Dont care about mac win or linux. I do some bookkeeping in a spreadsheet, or some programming, I write some text. I hate to do anything productive on this (cheap) smartphone. No keyboard or mouse, basic software is missing,...…

best buy guy is right: a cheap windows laptop can do everything a chromebook or linux machine can do and more, probably better.

However (this is big) cheap windows boxes come loaded with, basically, viruses right from the manufacturer so you need to be technical enough to clean them up.

Chromebooks are better if you can't uninstall all of the junk from Toshiba or whoever but vanilla windows on the same price point is, by almost every measure, better.

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#15

Post by MaupitiBlue »

liveoneggs wrote: post #13
hyperman1 wrote: post #4

I've wondered about this a while ago: Is it possible to do real work on an android or chromebook device. I'm on trains, busses, ... a lot, in general without internet. And I just take a laptop. Dont care about mac win or linux. I do some bookkeeping in a spreadsheet, or some programming, I write some text. I hate to do anything productive on this (cheap) smartphone. No keyboard or mouse, basic software is missing,...…

best buy guy is right: a cheap windows laptop can do everything a chromebook or linux machine can do and more, probably better. However (this is big) cheap windows boxes come loaded with, basically, viruses right from the manufacturer so you need to be technical enough to clean them up. Chromebooks are better if you can't uninstall all of the junk from Toshiba or whoever but vanilla windows on the same price point is…

You realize that MS lets you download an app which puts an installer for a clean Windows install on a usb stick?

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#16

Post by liveoneggs »

MaupitiBlue wrote: post #15
liveoneggs wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

best buy guy is right: a cheap windows laptop can do everything a chromebook or linux machine can do and more, probably better. However (this is big) cheap windows boxes come loaded with, basically, viruses right from the manufacturer so you need to be technical enough to clean them up. Chromebooks are better if you can't uninstall all of the junk from Toshiba or whoever but vanilla windows on the same price point is…

You realize that MS lets you download an app which puts an installer for a clean Windows install on a usb stick?

I had not heard of that. Is it a new thing?

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#17

Post by JohnClark1337 »

qes wrote: post #6

Why is a Best Buy employee's opinion relevant? They hire teenagers off the street who don't know anything but are willing to talk all day like they do. I used to work there, albeit years ago, but the amount of misinformation spewed by "product specialists" rivaled politics.

I'll always remember back when the rumors about the upcoming new Nintendo console (later known as Wii U) were circulating. A Best Buy employee saw me browsing the games and started talking about how the new Nintendo system would be twice as powerful as the Xbox 360 and PS3 combined.

Also yeah, Chromebooks are cheap and limited. That's why they're good for kids and old people.

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#18

Post by mmwelt »

_8j50 wrote: post #5

I am usually anti-google and I would never use a chrome book. But man! I had to edit a pdf a while ago and it was such a horrible experience on windows. A free app on adroid did it easy-peasy. I would still prefer windows over a chromebook but I don't think people who prefer a chromebook are clueless either.

What kind of editing were you doing? I've found PDF-XChange[1] to be pretty good on Windows, it has all the annotation functions.

Disclaimer: Not in any way affiliated with PDF-XChange, just a long-time user.

[1] https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#19

Post by millstone »

chewz wrote: post #12
hyperman1 wrote: post #4

I've wondered about this a while ago: Is it possible to do real work on an android or chromebook device. I'm on trains, busses, ... a lot, in general without internet. And I just take a laptop. Dont care about mac win or linux. I do some bookkeeping in a spreadsheet, or some programming, I write some text. I hate to do anything productive on this (cheap) smartphone. No keyboard or mouse, basic software is missing,...…

Termux on Android plus Apple Bluetooth keyboard plus Chromecast to anything with HDMI port is the most compact / portable enviroment I have. And quite powerful with latest VIM, node, nvm, Go, awscli, gcloud and whatever you like. For everyday work I use ChromeOS on MacPro 13 and 10 year old Thinkpad x230. With Debian sid in chroot. All apps work in GUI (so in Chrome as apps) like Instagram, Tinder, Spotify, Youtube M…

You’re running ChromeOS on a 13 year old Mac Pro? What am I missing?

Re: Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

#20

Post by chewz »

millstone wrote: post #19
chewz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Termux on Android plus Apple Bluetooth keyboard plus Chromecast to anything with HDMI port is the most compact / portable enviroment I have. And quite powerful with latest VIM, node, nvm, Go, awscli, gcloud and whatever you like. For everyday work I use ChromeOS on MacPro 13 and 10 year old Thinkpad x230. With Debian sid in chroot. All apps work in GUI (so in Chrome as apps) like Instagram, Tinder, Spotify, Youtube M…

You’re running ChromeOS on a 13 year old Mac Pro? What am I missing?

On 13 inch Macbook Pro Retina 2015..
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