CHROMEBOOK, SHOULD I GET IT?

evanbeaulieu

at the end of my junior cert im thinking of getting a chromebook because it is realtively cheap. i have looked at reviews on whats good and whats bad a small bit but was wondering if anyone would recommend it?

Torqay

The "offline capabality" of ChromeOS is still appalingly poor. If you don't have a permanent internet connection (i.e. a mobile hotspot) you're buying a paperweight (and not a particularly cheap one).

Also keep in mind that Google's online storage is only free for the first two years, after that, they charge exorbitant fees.

riclad

See http://www.powercity.ie/?action=Laptops&grpclass=10-30&action=eoldeals
the point of a laptop is to be mobile,
A chrome laptop is only of use when its connected to wifi,
its offline mode is very limited.
I cant see any point in getting one .,
Even buy a secondhand laptop ,on adverts ie, 150 euro , and buy a new battery .
A standard windows laptop ,can play games,dvds, music,video even when theres no wifi signal ,and its easy to put in larger hardrive or more ram.
Plus theres 1000 s of free windows programs avaidable .
There,s usually good deals in powercity ,or harvey norman sales,
especially if you don,t need the very latest model laptop.

Overheal

Nobody needs a chromebook.

Even when you get right down to it, you use it to go play a flash game, and.... oh it looks like you don't have a powerful enough processor to run that. Boo. So much for that jazz.

Truthfully, get a laptop, for the better performance and the vastly expanded functionality.

Bonhomme

Hi!

I've got the Samsung ARM chromebook, and to be honest it doesn't seem much like a computer as we've come to know them.

It's more a glorified tablet with a keyboard attached. But if you know that *all* you'll need is web browsing and text/spreadsheet editing, and you know you'll always have access to wifi, go for it. It's very light and the battery life is incredible.

Otherwise, though, it might be worth the extra money and weight to get a proper computer.

(It is possible to jam Ubuntu on chromebooks to make them act like actual computers, but there are lots of things still broken and unsupported such as crashing when you shut the lid...)

hfallada

If you live in Dublin get it. I don't have wifi for a hour a day when I'm on the bus. But if I walk 2 mins down to the next bus stop the bus has wifi.

Like if your only in 4 th year I say it's grand for Facebook, YouTube and he odd prjoect

evanbeaulieu

Ya I was just thinking because its cheap but if not does anyone know of a second laptop that is usually good? Website?

riclad

Last day today Harvey norman laptops,sale
You,ll get nice one for 300 euro,appro
http://www.harveynorman.ie/computing/laptops/
Don,t just go by prices on the website.

Get at least 2gig ram, 15inch widescreen,windows 7 ,if possible.

PropJoe10

Gotta say, I think its bad form that Google dont offer permanent free cloud storage to people that buy Chromebooks, considering they dont really have hard drives to speak of. Charging people for the cloud storage after the two years is just mean

khan1

Avoid chromebooks mate. Like others have said, if you dont have an internet connection then its pretty much useless. Invest in a proper laptop. cheers!

wingnut

I have a chromebook and love it, but only as second/third device. You would have to think of a chromebook as more of a tablet replacement than a laptop replacement.

It is very easy to run Ubuntu on these and install offline apps like libreoffice, torrents, gimp etc. Its actually very useful offline despite what some of the posters say.

However, if you get the ARM version not all of the Ubuntu software works on it.

Pros -
Cheap, Light, Portable, Instant on / superfast reboot, full web with flash and chrome apps, Ubuntu Software like libreoffice for offline.

Cons -
Poor external monitor support (hotpluggin HDMI crashes), no good for gaming (even flash web gaming), not a huge amount of software out there.


Could I use it as my only notebook - hell no! Its perfect for weekends away etc when you don't want a heavy/expensive laptop with you!

Jonny7

Don't bother with a chromebook

Just get a netbook or laptop.. they are great

I have several, the one that gets the most use is an 11.6 inch with a matt screen and a great battery.. can veg outside in the sun, take it on journeys, watch movies on the sofa

sasta le

How about a netbook?