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A Chromebook or Apple

most netbooks (think: Aspire One) have no CD drives but could still boot off the USB or micro-card reader. didn't stop people from replacing Linpus with Ubuntu then...

Google's Chromebooks seem to have a sort of EFI or UEFI boot so the issue is just getting into the BIOS to change boot order. then all you'd need is UNetBootin and a Linux distro image.
 
nickdalzell said:
most netbooks (think: Aspire One) have no CD drives but could still boot off the USB or micro-card reader. didn't stop people from replacing Linpus with Ubuntu then...

Google's Chromebooks seem to have a sort of EFI or UEFI boot so the issue is just getting into the BIOS to change boot order. then all you'd need is UNetBootin and a Linux distro image.
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That's what i did with my netbook. The first time I hooked up an external cd drive and installed linux on a second partition I created. It also can boot from USB thumb drive. Mine was Win XP only with the 120gb HD.
 
So I did it. Took the plunge. Bit the bullet (albeit small bullet). Proud owner of a Samsung Series 3 chromebook. It works very well. Boots insanely fast. Powers down quick. The resume from suspend is nearly instant. Faster than anything I've seen. Especially my other hardware ;)

Software is about where I thought it'd be. Again, my internet is shitty, so most of my software I installed is the 'offline' enabled software. Drive, GoogleDocs, Calendar, Gmail Offline, et. al

The offline software seems to work well. I've synced it up to my main google account, and I get sync from Pocket and Google Keep pretty much perfectly. A little lag between the pocket sync, but that's most likely a network thing.

My only 'complaints' (and they are barely that considering the price of this machine)...
> The external speakers are very weak, not just quite, but poor audio. They don't compare to my other netbook, my laptop, even my old ipod. I'll have to try another audio source at sometime to verify. Through headphones the sound sounded as expected.
> The headphone jack is very 'tough'. It takes quite a bit of force to fully connect the headphones.
> The placement of the SD card slot has my hand always touching it. non-issue, but a minor distraction.
> The power cord jack is super small, kinda makes me nervous to use the adapter.

Also, I'm pretty sure a spider climbed up the power cord from my wall, and then on to my bed. I can't verify it, but I'm pretty sure this is some kind of "Google is run by the spiders" scenario. Scary if you think about it.

All in all, I've really enjoyed it. I installed an offline text editor and have taken back up some basic web dev. It's sad how much I've forgotten haha. I'd like to install Crouton on it and maybe a linux distro (arch hopefully ;)) on a sd card I picked up.

It's nice. For $250 you can't really go wrong. Build seems nice. Connects to wireless fast. And this puppy has a USB 3.0 port! Hell yeah!
 
I think I'll wait for the next product cycle. Tempted to get a pixel but google play services aren't available here :/
 
Okay, I know I just barely got through saying I wasn't going to buy anything right now (in the aftermath of my old laptop dying), but I took a look at some Chromebooks on Amazon and this one from Acer has kind of sucked me in. :)

Considering its price, it looks pretty good. It has a hard drive! That's one of my big things about Chromebooks. And its screen--while a lot smaller than either of my laptops--isn't bad, again, for the price.

Anyone want to take a look at its specs and give me your feedback? (I haven't ordered it yet.)
 
MoodyBlues said:
Okay, I know I just barely got through saying I wasn't going to buy anything right now (in the aftermath of my old laptop dying), but I took a look at some Chromebooks on Amazon and this one from Acer has kind of sucked me in. :)

Considering its price, it looks pretty good. It has a hard drive! That's one of my big things about Chromebooks. And its screen--while a lot smaller than either of my laptops--isn't bad, again, for the price.

Anyone want to take a look at its specs and give me your feedback? (I haven't ordered it yet.)
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I think the newer Acer chrome book has a 16gb ssd instead of a hdd. They changed it after a while I believe and they now ship with ssd. Make sure when ordering.
 
i boycott anything and everything made by Packard Bell Hewlett-Packard/Compaq ever since their Pavilion and Armada disasters. i had so many just die one piece at a time. Beats Audio is also a gimmick and people drink their kool-aid just like people drink the Apple juice.

Countless Compaq Armadas of various generations, ranging from Win 3.11 to ME, all suddenly die (fry their own motherboards) refuse to boot (unless battery removed) power supplies that fail to remain connected to the laptop (1200-series) and LCDs that crack by themselves when you leave an air-conditioned room and go outside in Summer heat (Armada 1700 series)

HP Pavilion towers that come FACTORY installed with 26 trojan horses and one Klez worm.
 
nickdalzell said:
i boycott anything and everything made by Packard Bell Hewlett-Packard/Compaq ever since their Pavilion and Armada disasters. i had so many just die one piece at a time. Beats Audio is also a gimmick and people drink their kool-aid just like people drink the Apple juice.
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You're not including *ME* in that, are you? :eek: :D I don't drink anyone's Kool-Aid, but I do routinely buy HP products. And I don't have problems with them. I've never seen what you're describing...however...

Countless Compaq Armadas of various generations, ranging from Win 3.11 to ME, all suddenly die (fry their own motherboards) refuse to boot (unless battery removed) power supplies that fail to remain connected to the laptop (1200-series) and LCDs that crack by themselves when you leave an air-conditioned room and go outside in Summer heat (Armada 1700 series)
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...now it makes sense! None of my HP/Compaqs has ever run window$. Sure, they all came with that...stuff...pre-installed, but as soon as I got my hot little hands on them, poof!, all traces of M$ gone. :laugh: So I guess the key to having long-lasting, reliable HP computers is to install Linux on them ASAP.

HP Pavilion towers that come FACTORY installed with 26 trojan horses and one Klez worm.
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See above. :rofl:
 
I'm no PC guru, but I bought HP laptops 3 years in a row in undergrad (and they weren't cheap ones)....because the hard drive died every year.

Eventually bought a Toshiba and its lasted me 3 so far
 
Rxpert83 said:
I'm no PC guru, but I bought HP laptops 3 years in a row in undergrad (and they weren't cheap ones)....because the hard drive died every year.
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Wait...why didn't you just install a new hard drive? :confused:

Eventually bought a Toshiba and its lasted me 3 so far
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I've just retired my almost-7-year-old HP dv6000 laptop. I replaced its hard drive two years ago when it died, but hard drives die. *shrug* I've never held that against the computer's manufacturer.

Other HPs I've had lasted so long that I ended up voluntarily trashing them (to make way for newer, faster, better models). I harvested parts of their innards--a hard drive here, a wireless card there, and so on, to use in other computers. But I can't really recall the last time an HP/Compaq actually died on me (other than the dv6000 mentioned above).
 
the last HP i dealt with was mom's new HP Pavilion 17-incher with Beats Audio. it never could run Linux right. she ended up getting a Win8 box to replace it. remember you and i chatting about that? it always 'forgot' her desktop theme and kept reverting to default, some apps failed to work, it often 'forgot' her own password. in the end i said 'just chuck it' and she did!

You couldn't pay me to work on HP/Crappaq products anymore. the only good HP device was the old 12c financial calculator.

The Compaq 1200-series laptop power supply issue was a problem with the power supply port itself coming unsoldered from the motherboard. you cannot blame Windows for that or the strange Armada 1700 screen shatter issue. or the issue where they refuse to boot with their batteries installed. nothing better than needing a gaping hole in the bottom of your laptop just to turn it on.

Also, Windows or not, i do not feel inclined to give money to a company who installs malware onto their computers straight from their factory, and then wants to charge me money to get recovery CDs when they finally realized it was their fault.

the best reliability for me came from older Dell units (especially their CP-series laptops, those things were tough!), and the most current i use are Acer and Toshiba. they seem reliable regardless of the OS used.
 
Forget it. the reviewers all slam Google and the Chromebook unfairly based on incorrect info (you're BUYING a browser?). morons...
 
nickdalzell said:
the last HP i dealt with was mom's new HP Pavilion 17-incher with Beats Audio. it never could run Linux right. she ended up getting a Win8 box to replace it. remember you and i chatting about that?
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I didn't remember--until now! :D

it always 'forgot' her desktop theme and kept reverting to default, some apps failed to work, it often 'forgot' her own password.
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I'm still sure there was a solution, but at this point it's a moot point. All I can do is draw on my own experience, spanning many years and many HP products, and never, ever having to give up. Like I've said [a lot!], I only use Linux, so there is nothing to fall back on. When I buy a new whatever (desktop, laptop, all-in-one, scanner, printer) I expect it to work. And it has. 100% of the time.

You couldn't pay me to work on HP/Crappaq products anymore. the only good HP device was the old 12c financial calculator.

The Compaq 1200-series laptop power supply issue was a problem with the power supply port itself coming unsoldered from the motherboard. you cannot blame Windows for that or the strange Armada 1700 screen shatter issue. or the issue where they refuse to boot with their batteries installed. nothing better than needing a gaping hole in the bottom of your laptop just to turn it on.

Also, Windows or not, i do not feel inclined to give money to a company who installs malware onto their computers straight from their factory, and then wants to charge me money to get recovery CDs when they finally realized it was their fault.

the best reliability for me came from older Dell units (especially their CP-series laptops, those things were tough!), and the most current i use are Acer and Toshiba. they seem reliable regardless of the OS used.
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Very good points.
 
FYI: the Chromebook CAN be set up to dual-boot Ubuntu/Linux and ChromeOS, if you enable Dev mode. Dev mode is pretty simple, sorta like 'rooting' your device. it gives you admin access to the ChromeOS console, where you then type 'chronos' to gain a user shell, then 'sudo bash' to gain a root shell, then type some 'wget' script that downloads and installs Crubuntu, or a chromebook variant of Ubuntu.
 
wyndslash said:
I think I'll wait for the next product cycle. Tempted to get a pixel but google play services aren't available here :/
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Do they sell Chromebooks in countries where many of Google's services are unavailable and/or geo-restricted. I know they're sold in the US and UK. We certainly don't have them in China, not even Hong Kong.
 
Had my Samsung ARM Chromebook for almost a year. I had serious screen issues with it but Samsung fixed it, under warranty, for free and got it back within a week.
It's my "traveling" laptop since my main one is a giant tank. For $250, I don't care if it gets scuffed up or breaks or what. The screen is pretty bad, but the keyboard and trackpad are great. It's super light, has amazing battery life and doesn't heat up like a normal laptop.
The new HP one does look nice though, albeit the colors are a little weird.
 
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