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2015 Chromebook Pixel

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Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#111

Post by dragonwriter »

digi_owl wrote: post #87
moskie wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet many people use their MacBooks as a browser on steroids. Those people are the target audience of the Chromebook.

The whole ChromeOS project seems to have gotten underway because someone at Google observed how much of the computing time was spent inside the web browser. the problem with ChromeOS, imo, is how limited it becomes once you pull out the net connection. Never mind the whole lockdown unless you flip that "developer" switch.

> The whole ChromeOS project seems to have gotten underway because someone at Google observed how much of the computing time was spent inside the web browser.

Well, I think there is something in that direction, but quite a lot in the direction of "the whole Chrome project at Google -- including ChromeOS -- was started because someone at Google realized that Google would have more reach if people spent more time in the browser and had less reason to use non-web software, so they set out to address the issues that make out-of-browser software necessary for what users want to do with computers."

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#112

Post by stanmancan »

pjmlp wrote: post #80
dman wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can install linux on it. I own the previous version of the Pixel and I run ubuntu on it and its close to perfect. Two things I would change are 1. Improve thermal cooling or move to a underpowered cpu. I have worked around it by rate limiting my CPU to not go over 800 MHz. With a few tweaks, it sips ~8.8W and gives me > 6 hrs of battery life. 2. Make the hinge a bit stiffer. My only other complaint is that it ref…

> You can install linux on it. I own the previous version of the Pixel and I run ubuntu on it and its close to perfect. Yeah, just like buying a Windows laptop to install Linux, meaning using the laptop for another purpose than it is being sold for.

I get what you're saying, but I feel like the example you're providing is off. When people buy a laptop, the major selling point isn't that it runs Windows, it's typically the hardware in it. It just happens to come with Windows because that's what most people use. A major selling point of the Chromebook is that it runs Chrome OS, so in this case yeah installing Linux on it kind of defeats the purpose of buying a Chromebook.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#113

Post by pachydermic »

chatmasta wrote: post #15

Can you boot linux on it?

I use Crouton [1] on my cheapo chromebook and it works pretty OK for lots of tasks. I mainly just watch youtube on that thing, so this solution works since I only occasionally want to hop on Linux to get some stuff done.

[1] https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#114

Post by lsaferite »

If the specs* they list are correct, it charges fully in 1.5 hours, which, at 60W, is 90Wh of storage. 90Wh over 12 hours is 7.5W of power usage. That's a nice small number. It's 50% more than the new MB, but significantly more computer as well.

*: They claim to charge enough for 2 hours in 15 minutes. The charger is a 60W charger.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#116

Post by gress »

jonathantm wrote: post #86
state wrote: post #50

I really wish this didn't look like a bad imitation of an Apple product. Surely it's possible to build a nice looking laptop that doesn't look so similar to a MacBook. If you're going to do something different, just be different. I think these things are actually kind of sweet, but I can't stand the way they look.

#fanboy4life Show me a good looking laptop and I'll show you a laptop that somebody will say looks like something Apple made first. There are many ways this does not look like an Apple laptop. But you know what? It doesn't fucking matter. Buy it, don't buy it. Like it, don't like it. Whatever. Just - for the love of Ullr - please don't dirty this otherwise wonderful website with such fucking banal commentary. Say som…

Try to brush it away, but laptops didn't look like this before Apple made them look like this. This may have minor differences from from Apple's design, but let's be honest about the fact that the design is based on Apple's and not anyone else's.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#117

Post by meatcar »

ja27 wrote: post #48
nandhp wrote: post #22

> What's in the box: Chromebook Pixel; Universal Type-C Charger, 60W; Quick Start Guide So the new MacBook isn't the only USB-powered notebook anymore. It does, however, appear to have two type C ports, along with two type A ports (USB 3.0), headphone, and SD card. The type C port also supports display out (up to 4K). It also has a "regular" processor (Intel® Core™ i5 Processor, 2.2GHz or Intel® Core™ i7 processor, 2…

> So the new MacBook isn't the only USB-powered notebook anymore It never was. First USB-C powered though. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/08/hp_chromebook_11/

> charges via the microUSB port

The HP Chromebook 11 is not USB-C powered.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#118

Post by nfoz »

lsllc wrote: post #37
chatmasta wrote: post #15

Can you boot linux on it?

Would be very interested to see how well Ubuntu runs on this. As a once die-hard Apple fan I'm so sick of the mess that is Mac OS X Yosemite that I'm willing to abandon Apple and try a Linux laptop, but only if: 1) The wifi and sound work out of the box 2) Battery life is better than 2hrs 3) Suspend/resume works

You may consider the Dell XPS13 when the Linux edition comes out. See http://bartongeorge.net/ for status updates.

I too am shopping for a Linux laptop. It can be tough.

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#119

Post by rcarmo »

tolmasky wrote: post #20

I just bought one, I'm going to give it an honest shot at being my only computer. As the reviews say, most of what I do is web (and web dev), so I would really like it to work. The question is will I be able to do any sort of docker/node/server-sidey stuff. We'll see. I'll give it a fair shake and even try running that stuff remotely. The Android apps thing is an interesting stop gap, maybe it'll be easier to get a t…

You can try Caret, which is a very nice editor, and Zed, which works with Dropbox. However, you will not be able to do much (if anything) with Docker without going into developer mode, and even then it will depend a lot on whether this model will break Crouton in any way.

I'd say the tiny amount of storage will make it really hard to do anything productive with containers...

Re: 2015 Chromebook Pixel

#120

Post by vertex-four »

digi_owl wrote: post #105
moskie wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But again, that doesn't really matter to people who are using their laptops as a browser on steroids. Whether you're using a Macbook or a Chromebook, you're SOL in either case if you mostly do your work in a browser.

True, but i was not thinking just about work. I keep seeing them pitched as simple devices for home "computing".

The thing is, home computing is, for the vast majority of people, accessing email, Facebook, and various web information sources 90% of the time. If the Internet's not working, for the most part, they wouldn't be able to do whatever they were doing in the first place, ChromeOS or not.

Using office-type apps at home is not something that's done every day any more - my family do it incredibly rarely on their Windows desktop.

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