Ozbargain favorite Chromebook is down to $379. Might have time to price match with Officeworks. Hurry!
CamelCamelCamel.
Thank you for this precious information.
I almost purchased it 3 hours ago, but decided to wait for feedback/comments.
I reckon will wait till the price down to $299 or lower in April's Easter sales, just in case…hehe.
Great device for video conferences as the microphones are excellent at eliminating background noise.
Price is okay at $399 if you need it today, but same price at JB Hifi while Harvey Norman is still $498. Under $350 is a bargain.
Some apps optimize background noise well. Google meet does a great job (may be AI) but few apps like webx are trash.
I think the multiple microphones also contribute significantly as I find similar experiences across multiple conferencing tools, although I agree Google Meet is the best, especially if you share a Chrome tab, rather than full screen.
I got it for $312 from the earlier Amazon sale… but returned it. Keeps freezing, if you wanted to do anything more than open a tab or two… be warned it's really a mid-range phone with a big screen and keyboard. When it works it is fun tho…
It is not a mid-range Android device. It is a Chromebook with all the advantages including full Chrome browser and avoiding work profile restrictions.
I regularly run a half a dozen or more tabs including multiple email and chat clients in Chrome and a second browser for personal stuff.
I agree it is not a premium device, but the price is also not premium.
"I regularly run a half a dozen or more tabs including multiple email and chat clients in Chrome and a second browser for personal stuff."
and they are all okay? when you switch the tab would they refreshed by themself? so how NTSH said his were freezing ? i assumed both of your machines are without too much tweaks, right?
There were quite a few complaints in the thread back in January that it was slow out of the box, but after some time and updates, seemed to get smoother. I had the same experience. Maybe Ntsh just gave up early.
For just over $300 you couldn't beat it. For $399, it's still good value.
yeah, mine couldn't handle all @NigelTufnel says his can… if I opened GIMP that was ok for a short time but then flicking between apps got real sluggish.
I kept it for about a month… maybe I needed to wait for more updates…?
Ultimately, it was being unable to escape Chrome (and google) that also tipped me over the edge… but that's a different discussion!
Also I should say everybody's use and way they use computers is different… if your expectations aren't too high and you understand what it means to be in the Chromebook world, then for $400 it's good.
Also not all linux apps can work on it as it's an ARM processor.
I've used this daily for work for 6 months now, primarily to connect to conference calls, including presenting content. It sits alongside a laptop with 2 external screens and 32GB memory that is often close to 100% used, so I don't push it to the extremes, but that isn't it's purpose.
The most annoying bug is sometimes the screen rotation is incorrect when I connect the keyboard.
If your plan is to run linux, especially graphical applications, then buy a more expensive device with more storage and memory.
Hear, hear! Agree that it is a well built feature rich Chromebook Table hybrid with entry to mid level performance for a Chromebook but
very usable and great value around $400 or below. I have this myself as well as a Chromebook with a faster Pentium Silver N5000
and 8GB ram, and although some processes are smoother and faster, the Duo is still fast enough for most task with reasonable
expectations and a joy to use for it's designed purpose.
I haven't had any such issues with it. It was sluggish to begin with, but after some updates it runs great.
Multiple tabs with video, sketchup, gimp.
It's become my go to device for most stuff for convenience.
Can anyone confirm if ChromeOS on these things support network printing via WiFi?
I think google print got canned recently
I thought it got canned because they got printing working properly on Chromebooks. Could be wrong.
I don't have this device but I have been able to print from ChromeOS via WIFI to a network printer.
ASUS C202SA => Lexmark MX310dn
Yes, ChromeOS does IPP printing the same as Linux or MacOS. It "just works".
My daughter is changing schools, currently has a Mac but new school uses Microsoft so we need a new computer. I’ve always had Mac so any advice would be really helpful. I really don’t know what sort of RAM she would need for school etc etc etc. but also don’t want to spend a fortune so something that ticks her schooling needs would be great, thanks.
If they use microsoft, don't get a chromebook. Different operating system.
Yes and no.
My kids' high-school is Microsoft-based, and they officially recommend Windows.
But many kids use ChromeOS, Macs or even iPads (with keyboard) and all work just fine with the Microsoft servers.
Microsoft is not the evil company it used to be, and now plays well with other platforms.
You can use Office 365 etc with Chromebook, no problem.
Can't if you get the new M1 macbook :(
8gb RAM is ideal. I’d avoid any machine with just 4.
Make sure it’s i3 or i5 etc. A lot of cheaper laptops have glorified Celeron (slow) processors.
Aim for SSD storage. Avoid spinning hard drives or EMC storage.
Windows 10 takes about 20ish gig of your hard drive space (OS and recovery etc).
Hope this helps.
Find out what programs they use, then see if any are not cross platform.
Often they use programs that are on both.
Also do they make having a computer mandatory or advisory?
If its the latter, then she could probably do most on the Mac and just do the other "manually" as thats the way those without a computer at all can work.
When my son went to school, thats how it worked. (ironically the next year the school switched)
Thanks everyone for the replies. They haven’t specified MAC or PC computer needed, just that they use Microsoft office.
I mainly use my duet for online schoolin and mine also freezes if I open couple of word documents and +3 chrome tabs. If it had bit more power it'd be such a great device but for now I cant use it more than checking emails, online meetings and surfing. If I paid for $300 it would be absolute bargain but I paid $500 and its meh.
Cracked my digitizer on mine 😔 but I never really used the touch screen anyway tbh
Just a handy little device for a weekend away, don't need to bring the lappy
I bought one of these for $365 from Officeworks. Even at that price, fantastic value. Battery life is also amazing.
I get the point about freezing but usually thats after it wakes up from being asleep for a long time or your remove the dock. I just power it off and on and it fixes that but this doesnt happen too regularly.
Got one of these a few weeks ago for $374 for my son to use at school. He didn't end up using it so I claimed it. I was impressed, I'd never used Chrome OS before. The device itself is good for the price, it certainly doesn't feel cheap. The screen is 1900x1200 IPS and looks great.
I bought some dongles for it to add USB Type A, HDMI, Ethernet, etc
Down to $379 now!
Got one with price matched at Officeworks - $360
It was ~$313 back in Jan