• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

A Chromebook or Apple

i am reading and hearing a ton of rumors that colleges won't allow the use of Chromebooks. i have one myself and love it, but it would be limited if you're not tied to the cloud and might not have access in college
 
It seems alot of schools from elementary to colleges are thinking about using them.

Google estimates that schools can save an average $4000 per deployed device over three years of ownership. This is partially attributed to lower IT department expenses, as Chrome OS is seamlessly and automatically updated. Web-based management consoles reduce the time it takes admins to deploy changes to users and apps across multiple classrooms. Perhaps the most appealing draw is the security of Chromebooks. When Chromebooks boot up they perform a self-check to ensure no tampering has occurred, and there’s no need for spyware or anti-virus tools. Google’s Chrome OS relies on the company’s existing suite of cloud-based services like Gmail and Google Docs, in addition to many educational apps in the Chrome Web Store. None of these need to be traditionally “installed” and since they don’t run locally, Chromebooks can boot up in under 10 seconds thanks to the lightweight OS.
Add in 100GB of cloud storage on Google Drive, and the advantages begin to outweigh those of PCs and even iPads.
Click to expand...
 
I may look into getting one since I gave my Acer Aspire One netbook away. At least the Chromebook screen is larger then the AAO!
 
I just bought one for my son today. He's a junior in high school but also is a post secondary student in college (meaning he's taking college courses while in high school). He needed a laptop for school work, I just can't see how you can beat it at this price.
 
it has a full-size keyboard, is constantly updated, never gets malware, and boots in seconds. it even shuts down instantly. i've never experienced a crash or anything. websites always display full desktop view and never mobile view. there's literally tons of apps/games available (even Star Wars: The Old Republic and BattleStar Galactica MMOs) and most even have Android ports. a lot of Android games are in the Chrome Web Store.

The only thing that really gets me is why this particular linux-based distro (ChromeOS) can run Netflix natively but if i try it in Ubuntu it wants Silverlight! why one and not both?
 
the Acer C7 has both wifi and ethernet options, yes. i have wifi everywhere i go so i always have a connection. it also has four USB ports, media card reader, VGA out, and an HDMI-out port (full-size HDMI)
 
I can't justify spending much money right now on another toy, but I'm intrigued by the Chromebook, especially if I can get one really cheap!

I think I understand its basic functioning, but I would like clarification from those in the know. They're diskless, correct? But they have SD card ports? You can't install anything (for example, the GIMP), and it's essentially useless without an Internet connection. The apps are all Google. What about my home network? If there's no hard drive, I can't mount the other computers' drives on it...so how would I use them? Let's say I wanted to save something on my network, how does that work? Or are you stuck saving everything in Google's cloud?
 
MoodyBlues said:
I can't justify spending much money right now on another toy, but I'm intrigued by the Chromebook, especially if I can get one really cheap!

I think I understand its basic functioning, but I would like clarification from those in the know. They're diskless, correct? But they have SD card ports? You can't install anything (for example, the GIMP), and it's essentially useless without an Internet connection. The apps are all Google. What about my home network? If there's no hard drive, I can't mount the other computers' drives on it...so how would I use them? Let's say I wanted to save something on my network, how does that work? Or are you stuck saving everything in Google's cloud?
Click to expand...

From what I understand you can use Gmail and Docs without an internet connection. I'm assuming it saves the emails and doc that you are working on locally on the 16GB static drive.

It is an internet machine so yes, without an internet you will lose most of it's functionality. There are USB ports so I would assume you could save anything you want on a memory stick (and of course the onboard static drive).

I'm planning on saving a few GB of music on the Chromebook for my son when he doesn't have an internet connection.
 
I've been thinking about picking up the 3 Series Samsung chromebook, but I'm not 100% sold yet. As some of you know, I don't have a steady internet connection, so that would take a huge hit out of the general 'chromebook' experience. But, I'm thinking that throwing a second linux install on an SD card or USB would be awesome.
 
the C7 has a media card reader that is like a 4-in-1. a simple SD Card/MicroSD Adapter will work fine. as for internet, i hardly see myself in a position without anymore. the apps are not all Google, as mentioned there are tons of apps such as games like BattleStar Galactica and a few games normally found in Android. there is native Netflix support and i think Amazon Instant Video as well as Hulu both have web-apps in the web store as well.

Moody, the biggest benefit is that it runs Linux and not Windows.

I considered the Sammy too but its huge lack of external ports and such turned me off. if i am not mistaken i read the specs for the Acer C7 and it is said to have a 360GB hard drive, but the Samsung only has a 16GB SSD. I've been using the free storage that Google Drive gave me when i set this one up, and it's pretty fast. no download/upload delays since it's basically saving internet-to-internet. contents in Drive are also available to Facebook and other sites that allow you to browse/upload images.

There is also a feature that allows the apps to run as apps, and not appear as simple Chrome tabs. had to stumble on that one.
 
I thought the Acer version came with an internal hard drive not the SSD type? Maybe it was the first gen, I guess.
 
that was what i meant. the Samsung has a tiny SSD but the Acer C7 has a massive HDD for a Chromebook. here, the C7 is the best deal, and it along with the more expensive HP Chromebook are the closest thing you get to a full-size laptop. they don't feel like netbooks and the keyboards are plenty big.
 
I wonder if you can install linux on it and keep the ChromeOS also? I haven't heard much talk about anyone doing that. I believe I read someone just installing another OS on it though.
 
well, the hardware is about average netbook spec, an intel CPU, a bit of RAM, and i would bet the only thing stopping another OS is a bootloader of some kind. but i am not interested in that as there is already plenty to offer in ChromeOS as it is. ChromeOS runs a Linux kernel anyway so it really is a matter of getting things like Xorg or such going.

So far my one gripe is no BlueTooth support. which means i need ye olde corded headphones to listen to music privately. been spoiled by my noise-canceling amp-boosted wireless headset lately.
 
saptech said:
I wonder if you can install linux on it and keep the ChromeOS also? I haven't heard much talk about anyone doing that. I believe I read someone just installing another OS on it though.
Click to expand...
Since I was under the impression that all Chromebooks were diskless, I didn't think this was an option. Now...I need to do some looking around. :)
 
I was thinking of getting one, but my school already has a lot of computers there, so I don't need one. In the classroom, I use a Note 10.1
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom