Chromebook?

chuckwagon

chuckwagon

Legendary Skial King
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My wife is shopping for a new laptop. The one she liked best so far is actually a Chromebook. I have seen that you can run a Linux distro on top of a Chromebook using Crouton for a little more robust PC. Does any have any experience/advice with. Chromebook or Linux on one?

Trying to decide if this is an ok option or if I should steer her toward a Win PC. She is open to Linux because she is not used to Win 8.


Thanks any advance for any assistance.
 
chuckwagon said:
My wife is shopping for a new laptop. The one she liked best so far is actually a Chromebook. I have seen that you can run a Linux distro on top of a Chromebook using Crouton for a little more robust PC. Does any have any experience/advice with. Chromebook or Linux on one?

Trying to decide if this is an ok option or if I should steer her toward a Win PC. She is open to Linux because she is not used to Win 8.


Thanks any advance for any assistance.
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lets see if @Just_Something_Here knows anything since he's always shoving linux down our throats every chance he gets
 
chuckwagon said:
My wife is shopping for a new laptop. The one she liked best so far is actually a Chromebook. I have seen that you can run a Linux distro on top of a Chromebook using Crouton for a little more robust PC. Does any have any experience/advice with. Chromebook or Linux on one?

Trying to decide if this is an ok option or if I should steer her toward a Win PC. She is open to Linux because she is not used to Win 8.


Thanks any advance for any assistance.
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I think deciding depends on what she needs a laptop for:
  • Work: Not a Chromebook nor Win 8 PC. The different interface might make it hard for her to work and Chromebooks... well... their key configuration sucks: (Chromebook Key Config) Notice something. Yeah, the caps lock key is replaced with a search key, really annoying because it opens up a search tab similar to ones found on Windows 8
  • Relaxation: Doesn't really matter, whatever she's comfortable with. I recommend testing each and seeing what she likes best
  • All-Around: My mind's saying a Linux cause it takes a day to get used to the interface if you're absolutely clueless and it doesn't share the annoyances Chromebooks or Win 8 PCs have.
These could be different depending on how good/bad Win 10 is. Maybe waiting until Black Friday to check for laptops with Win 10 might be the right way to go. That's my 2 cents.
 
Honesty, Chromebooks are just even simpler macs. If you think a simple Browser is lacking, a Mac is a good inbetween.
 
Windows 8 is honestly a huge pain in the ass. A lot slower hence its futile animations and addition to worthless gadgets. I would suggest installing a different operating system, anything but 8 or 8.1. Good luck though.
 
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☁ Filikos ☁ said:
Windows 8 is honestly a huge pain in the ass. A lot slower hence its futile animations and addition to worthless gadgets. I would suggest installing a different operating system, anything but 8 or 8.1. Good luck though.
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8, 8.1 are just as fast as 7 in my experience. I just use 7 because it's what I'm used to. I will though have to upgrade to 10 for DX12.
 
Cr33p3r said:
8, 8.1 are just as fast as 7 in my experience. I just use 7 because it's what I'm used to. I will though have to upgrade to 10 for DX12.
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Well maybe the computer I bought with it just fucking sucks then XD. But if I was wrong then feel free to use it then.
 
Cr33p3r said:
8, 8.1 are just as fast as 7 in my experience. I just use 7 because it's what I'm used to. I will though have to upgrade to 10 for DX12.
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I dont think his wife is looking for a windows 8 computer, nor does she understand them, as chuckwagon stated. An apple laptop would be great, I used to play tf2 on one, and they are very user friendly. Linux is not all that bad, it is free and I believe it comes with a free anti-virus or something. If she is looking for something that she will occasionally use, then go for a linux laptop. If she uses the laptop a lot then go with apple.

Windows 8 shines when used on the Surface, or any type of touch screen device.
 
Oddly enough, I was talking to Bott the other day on IRC about getting a netbook and using linux on it.

Win8.1 is alright if it comes with it, but just so you know there's a distro of Ubuntu designed specifically with netbooks in mind.
If she looks at a model over $250 she's probably better off with a full laptop/desktop. The whole point of netbooks is being lightweight an inexpensive. And with cloud storage the small HDD shouldn't be an issue unless she has a huge amount of media that can't be held elsewhere.
 
For the folks suggesting a Mac, price is an issue. We are looking $200-300.

DaivdBaekr said:
Oddly enough, I was talking to Bott the other day on IRC about getting a netbook and using linux on it.

Win8.1 is alright if it comes with it, but just so you know there's a distro of Ubuntu designed specifically with netbooks in mind.
If she looks at a model over $250 she's probably better off with a full laptop/desktop. The whole point of netbooks is being lightweight an inexpensive. And with cloud storage the small HDD shouldn't be an issue unless she has a huge amount of media that can't be held elsewhere.
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Yeah I showed her a virtual Linux box running on my laptop. She thought it functioned more like Windows 7 than Windows 8 does. lol

I showed her some little 11inch screen netbook-like machines, but she wants a bigger screen. She wants a 13/14 inch, 15 is too big.

Now she has found a touchscreen laptop. So Win 8 makes sense for that. Although I don't think she will like it.

I am seriously looking at getting a Chromebook and installing Ubuntu on top of it with Crouton. I think it would be perfect for the web browsing she does, then she can hot key into Ubuntu if she needs to something a little more robust.

Now she has found a touchscreen laptop. So Win 8 makes sense for that. Although I don't think she will like it. IDK
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☁ Filikos ☁ said:
Windows 8 is honestly a huge pain in the ass. A lot slower hence its futile animations and addition to worthless gadgets. I would suggest installing a different operating system, anything but 8 or 8.1. Good luck though.
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Just FYI- the shell of Win 8 is better than Win 7, Less memory leaks etc. The consensus of people (including me) think the UI is worse.

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Thanks for the opinions/advice everyone. Keep it coming.
 
BO$$ said:
I dont think his wife is looking for a windows 8 computer, nor does she understand them, as chuckwagon stated. An apple laptop would be great, I used to play tf2 on one, and they are very user friendly. Linux is not all that bad, it is free and I believe it comes with a free anti-virus or something. If she is looking for something that she will occasionally use, then go for a linux laptop. If she uses the laptop a lot then go with apple.

Windows 8 shines when used on the Surface, or any type of touch screen device.
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Apple computers are really only necessary for someone that does a lot of work on the computer or a graphic designer. I don't think it is really worth buying for other things, since it is $1000-$XXXX. And Boss, you must have been playing TF2 on really low settings because Apple laptops play games horribly, which is a very well known fact.
 
we have something like 55 chromebooks at my school for the students to use, they're pretty handy because the battery lasts really long and they can be charged in bulks inside the crate they come in

but it's bretty much just a browser plus google apps (which are just as good as the windows programs)
if she's fine with just that then go for it


edit: maybe the student chromebooks are dumbed down versions but i wouldn't really know
 
Lmao "go with a MacBook"

I always feel a laptop is the way to go when deciding between a laptop or tablet
 
chuckwagon said:
My wife is shopping for a new laptop. The one she liked best so far is actually a Chromebook. I have seen that you can run a Linux distro on top of a Chromebook using Crouton for a little more robust PC. Does any have any experience/advice with. Chromebook or Linux on one?

Trying to decide if this is an ok option or if I should steer her toward a Win PC. She is open to Linux because she is not used to Win 8.


Thanks any advance for any assistance.
Click to expand...

Chromebooks are mostly Internet machines. If you like playing INCREDIBLY insecure Flash player games, allowing Google to spy on you and whatnot, then go for a Chromebook, if you need Photoshop, you can purchase a monthly subscription to use it on your Chromebook too.

However, if you want to install Windows or a flavor of Linux on your Chromebook without using hackery, make sure it's an x86 ( Intel ) processor, so you don't have to put up with nonexistent drivers for ARM-based CPUs and especially GPUs.
 
☁ Filikos ☁ said:
Apple computers are really only necessary for someone that does a lot of work on the computer or a graphic designer. I don't think it is really worth buying for other things, since it is $1000-$XXXX. And Boss, you must have been playing TF2 on really low settings because Apple laptops play games horribly, which is a very well known fact.
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What's funny is that even longtime Apple fans are saying that Apple's OS's are becoming bloated. There was a link I found some time ago where a few former longtime Apple fans are criticizing Apple for becoming much more bloated, filled with useless social media garbage to turn a profit because idiots like convenience.
 
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