Enjoying the chromebook

[Ramses]

I really didn't think I would, but I traded something I wasn't using at all for it and have been pleasantly surprised.

Acer c7, 16gig SSD, I put the ram up to 4gig it was so cheap.

There are some definite bugs and features lacking, but hopefully they are still working on it.
Some of these bugs would be a problem to a regular user, like the wifi that will sometimes not reconnect after suspend. And the lack of consistent notifications for gmails and such. (duh)

But it's dirt cheap new for what it is, it's light, the battery does 4 solid hours of Internet use, more if you close the lid when you aren't using it, since it goes up and down so fast.
I find myself taking it out to the shop or on the back patio or to the coffee shop instead of the tablet now, and leaving my GS4 in the holster.

I'm looking forward to further OS improvements. I think part of the charm of the thing is how cheap it was. I can afford to USE the little guy, not baby it and worry about scratches. I've observed this same pleasant freedom with cheap old cars in the pat.

Pretty slick though, the OS.
I think they could have made it less obviously browser-ey, but it's pretty decent.
I'd be significantly less pleased if it cost $400+.

 

[VirtualLarry]

A relative and I were in OD tonight, looking at the same one (I think the same one). It was listed at $199.99, Acer C7 (C710?) Chromebook, IB 1007U CPU, not sure how much RAM, I didn't read the whole tag because I really am not a fan of Chromebooks.

The fellow there was doing a fairly convincing presentation to the relative on how easy it would be to video chat. The downside is, I have no interest in getting a Google account.

(Relative picked up an Acer Aspire V5 with Celeron 847, 4GB, 500GB recently, for the primary / sole purpose of using skype with my elderly Grandmother.)

I'm not so sure they can handle Windows 8 though. I explained the myriad number of steps that you have to go through to just shut the thing off, and she didn't like the sound of that.

So now I'm thinking that I'll reformat my Acer Aspire One C-60 Netbook, that came with Win7, and ship that off with her. (And return the V5 to Target.)

It's quite a shame that no company seems to have the balls to still sell laptops with Windows 7 on them. (Edit: I meant in retail stores. Acer does still sell brand-new laptops online with Windows 7 - I just bought one a week ago myself.) For the non-touch crowd, that would still seem to me to be a viable market.

 

[Ramses]

I can't imagine anyone that isn't pretty google-centric being able to live with one of these. I suppose that is likely the point. I've considered buying my mother one. I don't know if she can grasp having to turn the wifi on and off now and again to get it to connect though. And I wish I was joking. But it's a small price to see if she'd actually use a computer, and I don't think she can screw it up.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

If you are Google-centric, then Chromebooks are likely OK for minimal web browsing and email. I suspect that's pretty much all anyone uses them for anyways.

I can't ever see this being a replacement for a real notebook experience though. Also, given how cheap the new Windows 8.1 tablets/hybrids are I don't see the point in buying one of these right now.

Bay Trail + 8.1 will give you better performance in every category while also allowing you to do everything a Chromebook can do for not much more $$$.

 

[EvilYoda]

I've had my Samsung Chromebook for a few months now as I wait for the new Haswell MBP...loaded linux on here to cover some of the shortcomings of Chrome OS. I've had my frustrations but for the most part it was $179 well spent (Amazon open box...even still had the screen cover on).

 

[Ramses]

I use mine where i used my tablet before a lot of times it seems. Web browsing in the evening while we watch a movie since I need more than one thing to keep my occupied. Watching netflix while I'm working. Music in the shop or outside. Playing online at the coffee shop. The tab is still better when there is a good app for whatever I'm doing, forums if not posting, news reading, regular reading, some other stuff. But I've had a lot more use for the thing than I thought I would. It's in no small part because it's cheap and has an SSD so I can bang it around and not worry, within reason. The keyboard sucks and I'm still getting used to some chrome-isms. On one hand I'd like a nicer faster better one, but on the other that might well kill some of the charm. Time will tell once the new wears off I guess. I might send it to my Mother, she might actually be able to use this and not screw it up. Not sure if old eyes can read the tiny screen though.

I've also got an early Acer Aspire netbook, the little blue one, with Linux Mint on it that works real well, but I hardly ever use it now. What I would do on a tiny computer, this one does better. It'd be interesting to see Linux on the chromebook.

It reminds me of a tablet sorta, in that the lack of OS and stuff to fiddle with forces me to get to and interact with the content I'm looking for rather than the hardware or the software. If I had Windows on here I'd have temperature monitors going, startup programs, memory to manage, updates to run, multiple browsers, etc, etc, etc. With the chromebook, I open the lid and am a click away from my content goal be it music or craigslist or email or whatever. Is interesting.

 

[Red Storm]

It's great for people who access everything they need through a web browser. Plus no viruses and no update prompts is great for non-techies.

 

[Remobz]

It's great for people who access everything they need through a web browser. Plus no viruses and no update prompts is great for non-techies.

That would be perfect for my girlfriend since that is pretty much all she uses the internet for. She never owned a computer in her life and only used them as a means to an end at work.

Only problem is that the size of the chromebook might be a little too big as compared to a small tablet. Then again, her eyes cannot read small text so larger text with good screen quality is more important to her than raw performance power.

Have to think about this one a little more in depth.