What should I look for in a Chromebook?

[Buzzrock 14953]

Freshman in high school wants one for school work, the Surface that the school issued her is a piece of shit (it runs Windows) and constantly updates and reboots. 
 

Prices are all over the place and I don’t know how to tell a good one from a bad one or how much to spend. Any advice is appreciated. 

[TwiceHorn 31627]

23 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Freshman in high school wants one for school work, the Surface that the school issued her is a piece of shit (it runs Windows) and constantly updates and reboots. 
 

Prices are all over the place and I don’t know how to tell a good one from a bad one or how much to spend. Any advice is appreciated. 

I will tell you this.  I have a really cheapass one with 16GB of storage and a Celeron N3060 proc.  It does fine for most things of a light-duty nature, to include word processing and spreadsheet work, and of course general browsing and email.  The biggest limitation is that you have to be invested in a cloud storage system, preferably Google's.  Because a fair number of schools use the google ecosystem for email, etc. it probably works out alright.

You can buy Chromebooks that are spec'ed as well as any Windows or Mac laptop.  That strikes me as severe overkill, because ChromeOS is really easy on hardware resources.

A bit more onboard storage, say 64GB, is probably worthwhile and a little bit better processor than what I have would help run more windows with more stuff.  I suppose if you like touchscreens or doing the "tablet" thing, a 2-in-1 might be desirable.  So, an an older Intel i3, 64GB of storage, and 4 or 8GB memory, which would make a miserable Windows machine, would do great as a chromebook.

Realize that the applications run on a chromebook are either the browser based variants (of say Word and Office), or Android variants, which don't really run all that well on a full-screen format.  They may be better with a touchscreen.

You should be able to find a perfectly adequate one for about $500, probably less if you dig around for deals.  The bonus may be that the chassis and build quality are significantly better than similarly priced windows machines because the proc, memory, and storage can be lesser and cheaper.

Also, it may be possible to install ChromeOS on that surface and make it into a chromebook, which might be a much better user experience than as a windows machine.

 

Edited November 29, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31627]

This seems to be a good site for chromebook info and reviews. https://chromeunboxed.com/chromebooks/

Looks like you should be able to score a pretty decent one for $250-350.

One problem is that a lot of them do have Celeron or Mediatek processors.  They are perfectly adequate in most cases, but unlike the good ol' Intel "ranking" of i3, i5, i7, it's hard to know which ones are POS, and which are a bit better.

[dcbc 14545]

I've got a Lenovo convertible chromebook that runs a Mediatek processor and it's perfectly fine.  I probably paid $275 for it a year and a half ago.  On the storage, remember that most of them have micro SD slots and you can add a fair amount of storage for not a lot of money.  Otherwise, yes, you'll use google drive, Onedrive, or the like. 

My kids have the $175 models (probably Acer).  They're fine.  They do whatever they need them to do.  9th and 6th grade.

Edited November 29, 2020 by dcbc

[Buzzrock 14953]

Per my kid, she needs something that can run Google Suite and Microsoft Office including teams. Google Drive and OneDrive are also both apparently required. Can a Chromebook do all that?

She wants an iPad Pro and a keyboard but they are stupid expensive and I’ve done enough messing around with an iPad at work to know it’s not a good productivity device. So that’s out.

[TwiceHorn 31627]

14 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Per my kid, she needs something that can run Google Suite and Microsoft Office including teams. Google Drive and OneDrive are also both apparently required. Can a Chromebook do all that?

She wants an iPad Pro and a keyboard but they are stupid expensive and I’ve done enough messing around with an iPad at work to know it’s not a good productivity device. So that’s out.

Yes, even a lame one can do that.  A solid mid-range one should do it fine.  A lame one like mine will bog down using a browser based WP or spreadsheet while many other windows are open, like say surly with a page full of photos or videos, plus email page, plus some other stuff.  But, if I need to work, I can just shut that shit down and grind away.  Works pretty well, especially if putting your documents on google drive and leaving them there is acceptable (or One Drive).  I use dropbox to backup my client files on my MBP, so I can save or upload stuff from Chromebook to dropbox and then it's available everywhere.

What it basically is is a machine that runs Chrome.  Other than Android apps, which are kind of hit or miss, it has no ability to install software other than browser extensions.

ChromeOS has some limitations, but I have enjoyed mine and it makes a perfectly good computer for fucking off and light work.  Because her school employs the MS and Google cloud ecosystems, it should be fine for whatever schoolwork she needs to do.

I have never tried to make a tablet work as even a semi-serious work device.  I should think that a 250-300 chromebook would be a much better option than even an ipad with kb.  And much cheaper.

That Lenovo Duet gets fantastic reviews despite being tablet sized and with a detachable keyboard.  But if she wants/is willing to do an ipad, then that size won't matter.  And $300 currently for a 256GB.  If I had any need for another device, I would be tempted.

Edited November 30, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31627]

Well, my cheapass Acer 15" crapped out after 18 months.  I guess that's pretty reasonable at a cost of about $10/month.

I liked it well enough that I'm going to get another one, with 32GB storage and a tad stronger celery stick proc.  It's also going to be touch, 2in1 and small.  I hope I like it as well as the bigger one.  I'm partly getting those features to experiment with, as at least a touchscreen seems to be in the future of my next PC.  Im not sold on either touchscreens or 2in1, but maybe I am missing out.

But its main purpose is to spell my MBP until I need to do some heavy lifting with work.  The last one did a fine job of that, probably adding years to the useful life of it.  

Edited January 18, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[torre 1286]

4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Well, my cheapass Acer 15" crapped out after 18 months.  I guess that's pretty reasonable at a cost of about $10/month.

.  

Drive failure, power failure  ?

Always considering one for backup for reasons as you state.    Chromebooks do have USB ports, right  ?   

[TwiceHorn 31627]

No idea.  Not booting up.  The lights on the front quit working too.

Although I take care of my stuff, I think 18 months is probably reasonable life expectancy for something under $200.  I tried to open it up, but it's difficult to get the back off.

Yeah, the cheap one had 2A's an HDMI, an SD slot, and headphones.

[dcbc 14545]

On 1/18/2021 at 10:04 AM, TwiceHorn said:

Well, my cheapass Acer 15" crapped out after 18 months.  I guess that's pretty reasonable at a cost of about $10/month.

I liked it well enough that I'm going to get another one, with 32GB storage and a tad stronger celery stick proc.  It's also going to be touch, 2in1 and small.  I hope I like it as well as the bigger one.  I'm partly getting those features to experiment with, as at least a touchscreen seems to be in the future of my next PC.  Im not sold on either touchscreens or 2in1, but maybe I am missing out.

But its main purpose is to spell my MBP until I need to do some heavy lifting with work.  The last one did a fine job of that, probably adding years to the useful life of it.  

I've got a convertible (2in1) Lenovo Chromebook that has been rock solid for going on two years now.  11" screen and plenty quick. 

[TwiceHorn 31627]

Welp, it came today.  It's a wee one. Holy bezels, Batman.

But the screen is good enough.  Not sure what use I will make of the 2 in 1 features or the touch.  It makes for a kind of chonky tablet.  The tent mode might be good for watching stuff.  It's an Acer Spin 311, and the build quality is impressive for the price point.  

But, the 32GB storage gives me a bit more room to install Linux and Libre Office, so this may be more useful than the bigger one. I quit trying to use Android apps on the old one, maybe the touch will make that more practical, but I don't think so.

I had been charging my phone and some other things with the old one and I think that may have torched the motherboard.

[Handcruser 2805]

Welp, it came today.  It's a wee one. Holy bezels, Batman.
But the screen is good enough.  Not sure what use I will make of the 2 in 1 features or the touch.  It makes for a kind of chonky tablet.  The tent mode might be good for watching stuff.  It's an Acer Spin 311, and the build quality is impressive for the price point.  
But, the 32GB storage gives me a bit more room to install Linux and Libre Office, so this may be more useful than the bigger one. I quit trying to use Android apps on the old one, maybe the touch will make that more practical, but I don't think so.
I had been charging my phone and some other things with the old one and I think that may have torched the motherboard.

You bought another acer?

[TwiceHorn 31627]

11 hours ago, Handcruser said:

You bought another acer?

Yeah.  I was happy with the first one.  In addition to the USB charging, I dropped it the other day.  On carpet and not a hard hit but who knows.  

[dcbc 14545]

We've had two acer chromebooks for our kids and they both have been fine.  Shoot, I've got a 10 year old Acer netbook that's still kicking . . . just not quite as high.