Hi all,
Was looking at getting a light weight laptop on the cheap for browsing and mild productivity for when travelling.
Has anyone had any experience with recent models? Are they good value for money or not cheap enough for the hardware provided.
I am invested in the Google ecosystem already via android phone. Would also look to use Citrix app for work. Windows solutions are killing me.
Any thoughts are appreciated, cheers.
Thanks, and very detailed review.
if you want to find out if it's for you, open chrome browser and never leave. the only exception being to change wifi/time/sound.
Would also look to use Citrix app for work.
Citrix receiver on Google Chrome app store is rated 2 stars. Hmmmm. So expect a few bumps on the road.
Yeah looks poop on closer inspection was hoping to login and run with it.
There's a native os solution but looks like would need some configuring.
Oh well back to lugging the old work brick around for now.
Might you be better off with one of the dual boot tablets? Windows for work, Android for play!
all "apps" on chromebook are pretty much just the browser window without the URL/toolbars.
Most programs that have an app allow some type of web login, that they've modified for creating the app
I'm also curious about these - I was going to run Linux on it (apparently you can), but I'm concerned about the processors as they're all the N2840-level - are they any good for multitasking on Linux, has anyone tried? I typically have email+facebook+google tasks+calendar+google keep tabs open & pinned in my Chrome as well as a terminal or two. Would only be using it for typing, but not sure if just having that many tabs open in the background would make stuff churn. (I really want the i3 Chromebooks like the i3 acer c720, but you can't get them in Aus…)
Seems similar to my use. It is fine till you end with a couple of dozen tabs open. I used Crouton since it is really easy to install. I probably should have just wiped it and installed Linux directly as some things don't work properly in Crouton/ChromeOS (e.g. internet over bluetooth).
I've got the Celeron c720 with 2GB of RAM. It's quite snappy running Arch Linux, but it's a very lightweight setup. I'm not sure how it would run Ubuntu or other heavier distros. Battery life is crazy good, to the point where I don't even know how long it lasts. I'd estimate more than one work day, less than two… probably 10 hours of actual run-time + very fast and power efficient suspend mode.
you can run crouton, but imo it gets too fidgety. Plus it runs like a VM, so if you need to say turn up the volume, you have to go back into chromeos and increase the volume, then go back to crouton, which would then give you the ability to turn it on max. Same with most settings like wifi etc.
If you really wanted a low cost Linux box, you'd be better off buying something like an HP Stream - unless you just love tinkering. Leave the Chromebooks for running Chrome.
Thanks for the comments guys, that makes me about more optimistic about multitasking on a N2840 (something lightweight like Arch is fine). I have no issue with a cheapie 11" laptop (e.g. HP Stream), but the reason I'm zeroing in on Chromebooks is that they're so light and portable - the HP Stream 11" is almost 1.6kg compared to the Chromebooks being about 1.2kg (or the Macbook Air 11" being 1.08kg - drool - though that's really just out of my budget).
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=1123198
I wrote a review there (and followup)
If you can do it in a chrome browser, then this is the product for you. If you can't, then a chromebook is useless.
Now ive got a plex server running, it's good, but previously onboard codecs are sketchy
battery life is probably the best ive ever had in a laptop.